Warfarin on holiday and different time zones

[Horses68]

Hi thereI'm traveling on holiday and its a different time zone, I take my warfarin at 6pm but where I'm going it will be 1pm ( 5 hours behind) do I take it at uk time, 6pm or local time 1pm

[Jalia]

I don't know what the official guide line would be but as a Warfarin user of very many years, I would take mine at 24 hour interludes , whatever that might be. Not in the middle of the night though... Warfarin takes a while to get into the body so I doubt whether a few hours difference will matter a great deal anyhow.

[Horses68 in reply to Jalia]

Thank you Jalia, that's a great help.

[BlueGreenPink]

Hi there, I agree with Jalia. My husband had a surgical procedure recently. They restarted his warfarin the morning after (he had been told to stop warfarin for a couple of days beforehand) and slowly (over several days) they moved the time back to 6-7pm (which is his normal time).

[Patdanlis]

Hello Julia I took my warfarin at GMT which worked well for me

[Classof1988]

I wouldn't worry about precise timings. I have been taking Warfarin for 36 years. When I started I may have taken it around 18:00 (can't remember) but for years I take it last thing at night before I go to bed. That could be any time between 22:00 and 02:00. When I was working, I occasionally did night shifts (mostly 7 back to back but sometimes just a couple) so I took Warfarin mid evening before going to work (I think, it is quite some time ago). When I couldn't avoid early turns (getting up at 01:30 or 0230😥) I would be taking Warfarin at around 20:00 if I could discipline myself to go to bed that early. I have travelled frequently within the EU and also to Moscow, the Caribbean, Turkey, Canada and the USA (NYC and Texas) so my body is quite comfortable with changes in time zones. The key thing is to have a consistent regime that helps you remember to take it. I would suggest taking it at your usual time of that is what works best. I have never felt any changes while I am away and I have not seen a correlation between travelling in different time zones and changes in INR. Your INR will be checked regularly so if there was a problem it would be picked up. Have a great holiday!

[HenningLob]

I don't know what the official advice would be and I suggest that you ask at your warfarin clinic or ask your Dr so that you get professional advice. It is actually my husband who takes warfarin but I am the spokesperson here! He has on occasion taken his warfarin an hour or even a couple of hours early/late if he needs to for some reason. I hope you find a satisfactory answer that works for you and have a good holiday!