Hi Jan,
What can I say,for the time being I live in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and believe it or not, for the INR they still draw blood from the arm vein, like 3 ml every time,
I also go once a week, and I suppose 3 ml is not to much and I have to admit that is not so bad with the pain and the bruise this way.

Manuela

I'm in Dublin and since may10th have been attending a clinic to check INR levels, taking blood from my arm's. it was twice the fisst week, then weekly, then fortnightly and this week it's extended to 3weeks. I am on warfarin for 6months after a DVT april24th. they dissolved the clot, or most of it april29th & put a stent in to keep the vein open. they suspect may-thurner the reason for dvt.
I am squeamish about seeing blood, so always have to look the other way!
Sorry that the pricks upset you maybe you could do the arm letting instead.... not such a sensitive area as the fingers.

best of luck.

While vein draws start getting really old after a while, particularly when you're going once a week, can you ask if they can alternate between finger pokes and vein draws. Also, your blood is your blood no matter where you're draw it from, but I wonder if they could poke your forearm. There are some diabetes pen pokers that enable you to do that, but it may be a special kind of pen.

I did the finger pokes for the first 6 months I was on warfarin and I was going once a week that entire time. There were times where the nurse wasn't poking me just right or getting enough blood, so we'd have to do it over and over several times. I'd walk out with a bandaid on every finger. I spend my work day on the computer, doing a lot of writing. Pounding on they key boards after that started to hurt and the pads of my fingers were always bruised

I do vein draws even now, although my INR has been really stable over the last year so I'm only going once a month, which is great since I can only have blood draws out of my right arm due to past DVT in the left arm. You get creative finding new spots to draw from because of vein scarring.

I wonder if the forearm is an option? I really don't want to say anything to the ladies at the clinic. They are scary efficient at their job. Also, most of the people there are being treated for cancer. So really, I have absolutely nothing to complain about.

I have been getting weekly blood draws from my forearms for the last 6 weeks with no problems. Doesn't bleed much and doesn't bruise, except when my coumadin levels spike. Can't seem to get my dose right so I am pretty sure I will be going in weekly until they take me off the coumadin. :(

Hey - was on 4-6 hourly veinous samples whilst on heparin drip..... I know that pricked fingers are a bit nasty, but a row of holes in yr arm veins are much worse - I'd have been delighted to have fingers stabbed every 4 hours instead!!!!!!!

The home health nurse were taking mine from my arm. But, I was just released from home health (after a month and a half) and now I must do finger pricks at the cardiologist office. I agree with you, finger pricks are the worst! I would much rather get an IV than one finger prick

The reliable hand-held INR/PT meters are a relatively recent development. For all the decades before the 2000s all that was available was clinical vein draws from the arm. I've been subject to both and I prefer the finger-prick. I can prick my own finger, whenever I want, at my own convenience, as often as I see fit, instead of having to miss work and forego work-travel opportunities to keep clinic appointments.

For consistency's sake these meters are designed for capillary blood and not vein blood. The role of clotting agents, such as platelets vs proteins, may vary between the sources. However, there is an earlier post involving someone who used one of those meters and found only a 0.2 difference in INR between the blood sources.
http://www.dailystrength.org/c/Deep_Vein_Thrombosis_DVT/forum/6085820-vein-vs-finger-prick-inr

There are different gauge needles. Diabetics' meters have developed over the years to work with ever smaller samples that can be obtained with thinner needles, all the better since they need to prick themselves several times a day. The size of the needlepoint is inversely proportional to the gauge size. Higher gauge, smaller perforation. 21 gauge lancets ensure an ample blood drop for our somewhat klunkier meters and strips. Diabetic meters may specify a 28 or 30 gauge. We can try the thinner gauges but may end up wasting strips for insufficient blood sample. If you are using a clinic, obviously it is in their interest to use the thickest gauge to avoid the expense of wasted strips, which cost them about $4.50 each.

Thanks for the info! I hadn't thought about the difference between capillary and vein blood. They are definitely making sure they have enough blood. It really is more like being cut with a small x-acto knife than pricked with a needle.