I've been getting tested once a month for 5+ years, unless I have a high or low result. My dose hasn't changed in 5 years. I will usually hold a dose or two if my INR is too high and recheck in a week. If its too low I recheck in a week or two and it usually goes back in range. I hope you remain stable from here on out.

Thanks. Once a month would be a dream for me. I am starting to feel like a pincushion at this point. Now that I have become a "lifer" I will be much more cognizant of things going forward. In the past I felt that I could do anything for 6 months and then life would get back to normal. Well, this is the new normal.

I know what you mean. There does come a point when it becomes normal and you don't really think about it, aside from the daily med and monthly INR check.

I've got a home INR tester and the company (Roche) wants me to check once a week. I was doing once a month before I got the home tester, but once a week is fine with me. It takes less than five minutes, so still a substantial time savings over going to the lab. Also, I've had a few unexpected issues where testing once a week found the problem before there was a *real* problem.

My doctor likes the home tester too... she's given me instructions to test on a Saturday or Sunday or holiday, if necessary and my INR has been off. It is definitely more flexible and makes travel easier too.

But, yeah, once a month is totally fine once you get your dose dialed in.

I have Medicare and they will cover the cost of home testing after three months. They deal with several different companies. They also allow once a week testing. I wasn't sure that I would do the home testing, but now that you mention it, it might be a better alternative for me to test once a week rather than go to the lab once a month.
I have A negative blood type and I have been told that I am sensitive to Warfarin so maybe going a month might be way too long for me.
Three years ago I went over two weeks without testing and got myself in trouble with an INR at 3.8 which triggered internal bleeding.
So, will purse the home testing in another two months.
Glad for all the good advice here.

I test every 4-6 weeks if my INR is stable. If my INR is wonky, then
my doc will adjust my dosage and have me retest in 2 weeks.

My INR actually became more stable after being a lifer. I think I just quit trying to overthink my diet,relaxed a bit, and finding a different doctor help with my warfarin management helped. But that first 6-9 months of being on warfarin was stressful. My INR was not stable, and my doc at the time was always over-correcting my INR and had me testing too frequently when she made dosage adjustment.

My doctor, when she realized that I might be a tough case, actually asked me if I would prefer a specialist to take over.
This was only after 2 weeks and an INR that shot up to 5.6.
I told her no, that we would work on it together.
It's so much easier for me to go to a lab in my own town than have to go to the specialist who is at least a 40 minute drive to another town. Once we get on the right dose, and we're close, things should settle down.

4-6 weeks, also. Of course, I was 1.9 today, so have to go back in 2 weeks. When I get to start home testing, you test every week.

I think testing once a week is too much, whether it's at home or in the lab, but that's just me.

My doctor told me that a lot of her patients who are on Warfarin only test once a month because their INR always remains stable. As for me, I will have to really learn about the foods that can increase or decrease my INR considerably. Can I eat lots of spinach one day and none for the rest of the week? If I have a salad one day do I have to eat salad the other 6 days a week. Sometimes I eat greens, sometimes not. That's what I find so confusing.
I have a rare blood type. Would that affect a fluctuating INR? These are things I need to find out. If I do home testing, they allow one test a week with a finger stick. I can live with that if it reduces my anxiety about my INR getting out of control.

Brooklin, I obsessed about my diet for the first few months after becoming a lifer on warfarin. A dietitian had visited me in the hospital and gave me literature on what I could and could not eat. That is old school thinking. After joining this group I learned that I needed to eat like I always did and stop obsessing about it. Everything fell into place after that. I believe most people have a somewhat consistent diet anyway. It's important to include veggies in your diet on a regular basis especially when you're on warfarin. I recently developed a dense cataract and some other eye problems that the dr is trying to say is a result of warfarin plus a lack of vitamin K. I don't know if she's right (I need further testing) but I told her I don't avoid Vitamin K. I eat veggies with Vitamin K everyday. There might be times when I don't, like when I'm traveling, but my diet stays consistent overall and my INR stays very stable. The miscellaneous things containing Vit K such as mayo, I don't even think about. I just try to have a well balanced diet. The only thing I don't do is indulge in huge amounts of spinach, kale, etc. and I don't think most people do either.
I don't know if your blood type has anything to do with this. It sounds like you just need a smaller dose of warfarin and once that dose is established and time goes on hopefully you'll see a more stable INR and have less stress about it. When you were on warfarin before did your INR ever become stable?

emt4 is really sensible about this. I would just not think about it much anymore. Since you so recently started warfarin, sometimes there is an initial instability period that can last up to several months. Give it time, don't over think it and just eat like you always ate. Really, that's the best thing you can do.

I think my INR was pretty stable three years ago.
It was 2.9 last week. Doctor lowered the dose just a bit and awaiting the results of this morning's blood test.
I am getting less and less anxious. I had mixed veggies and a salad for lunch. We usually eat a big lunch and skip dinner altogether or have a snack. I cannot sleep if I eat later in the day.
Will definitely stay away from the spinach, kale and other stuff that's very high in Vitamin K.

Right, but you had been off of it for a while and are now on it again and that can still be an adjustment. Even after going off warfarin for a procedure, my INR has a hard time getting back on track after restarting warfarin, and the dosage that worked before the procedure needs to be changed after the procedure.

Well, I just looked up my INR on the PatientGateway website and although the dosage was lowered, my INR went up from 2.9 to 3.3.
Can anyone tell me what would account for that?
I don't have a clue.