Testing my INR at home

[Nicholas55]

I’ve been on warfarin since I had a metal mitral replacement nearly four years ago. I attend the local health centre roughly weekly to get my INR tested and be given the appropriate dose. It turns out I am very susceptible to tiny changes in the dose. I’m thinking of buying a machine to use at home and then email the health centre to get my dose to avoid going in as my wife and I are self isolating because she has cancer. I’d be grateful to hear of your experiences especially which machine to buy and how the machine is calibrated. Many thanks in advance.

[Shar28]

Hi. The NICE guidelines specify the Coagucheck machine by Roche. It’s £299 and VAT free. My husband ordered one about a week ago and has been told it’s out of stock for probably a couple of weeks.

[Nicholas55 in reply to Shar28]

Thank you - very helpful - what’s your experience of getting the test strips prescribed? I think they are £2.50 each.

[Shar28 in reply to Nicholas55]

I’m afraid we haven’t got that far yet.

[Nicholas55 in reply to Shar28]

Ok thanks - we're all learning together.

[Hidden]

You may find that if you contact your doctor and ask them to refer you for a home visit due to your circumstances. That was what I was advised to do .

[Nicholas55 in reply to Hidden]

Ok thank - I may need this if I can’t get a machine before my next test on 31st.

[judes]

I have had a coagucheck for the past three years and have found it very useful and have had no problems.

The only thing I would say is check with either the warfarin clinic or your GP to make sure they are happy to prescribe the test strips, it’s a bit of a postcode lottery and the strips are expensive to buy.

J

[Nicholas55 in reply to judes]

Thank you - all very useful info - time to contact the health centre!