it seems to be a bit contracdictory as far as the side effects go - personally i have found that each time i have increased my dose of warfarin i have been feeling yucky and very tired for a few days and then i start to feel well again, in the early days i suffered with terrible heartburn and put that down to the warfarin too although i cant be certain. some seem to have no side effects - it will be interesting to read what other answers you get.

When I first started it, I had heart burn and diarreah. I felt tired and cold. It was better after my INR was stable around 2.3/2.5.

I also found that if I don't take it with food, my stomach gets upset, so I take with a smal amount of food; handful of nuts, banana, etc.

Lol, M2LR - that made me laugh - taking it with food - when all this started for me i was like a baby taking my tablets so i had a glass of juice, 3 sweets (normally chocolate) and my tablets all lined up - no one was allowed in the kitchen beside me either! Sometimes it used to take me a good 5 mins to take them all - im expert now! lol
I too felt very cold to start with.

I seem to have floaters in my eyes (little ghostly things flying around). I actually get these regularly, but never when I'm not wearing eye makeup, and I haven't worn anything but lipstick since mid January. The warfarin's the only thing to which I can attribute them! (They also don't wash out with tears, the way my makeup-floaters do.)

For 3-4 days after a dosage increase, I get a horrible heart-pounding feeling a half hour to an hour or so after taking the meds, and that lasts for 10-30 minutes. Once my body's used to the new dose, though, it seems to go away. (Crossing my fingers there.)

As for the rest of my lovely symptoms, I'm not sure what's due to the warfarin and what's due to the PE itself.

Yeah, I think everyone forgets that you've just been through a major physical trauma. So your body is going to be behaving in weird ways for a while, warfarin or not.

When I first went on warfarin, I had a lot more GI upset and acid reflux, but I have GI issues anyway. It just seemed to heighten it for a while. Also, I have some hair thinning with warfarin, but it's not outrageous and I think I notice more than anyone else. But other than that, that's it for me.

F-A-T-I-G-U-E!

I had it before -but it doubled since on Coumadin.

Since I have had aches and pains all over my body due to another condition for years---- hard to tell if they increased.

dragon------- about your floaters:
"Eye floaters are those tiny spots, specks, flecks and "cobwebs" that drift aimlessly around in your field of vision. While annoying, ordinary eye floaters and spots are very common and usually aren't cause for alarm."

http://www.allaboutvision.com/conditions/spotsfloats.htm

They can't wash out with tears or an eye wash--- they're in the vitreous humor of the eye.

BUT----- it's interesting that they appeared only after starting treatment.

If you're worried, perhaps see an opthamalogist?

Cave76 - nah, I'm not worried. Just annoyed :) When I get floaters due to makeup, they do wash out with tears, so it's just been aggravating to have these stick around is all.

I put my initial GI issues (both ends, IYKWIM) down to the Lovenox, not the warfarin. At least, it went away after discontinuing the Lovenox.

One thing I learned the hard way is that Warfarin and Bactrim interact in an awful way. Mr Dr should have known that when he gave me Bactrim recently for a UTI. Sick as a dog. No more Bactrim so hope I don't get the UTI back as well.

Very cold at first... kept turning up the heat, but it has stabilized now. Hard to tell if other aches and pains are related to warfarin or the arthritis that I have (and the 6 broken ribs from last February -- hmmm, last year was NOT a good one for me).

I looked up possible side effects on a website that I use for work (I confess I work in the quality assurance department with electronic medical records so I have a lot of resources that probably could get me thinking too much!) and some of the side effects are the exact symptoms one has with PE....so how do you know if what you are feeling is PE, PE healing, or warfarin side effects? When I first started it I was cold all the time, I am still cold but not as bad. I also noticed I do not have an appetite, I get hungry but nothing sounds good to eat.

Many of those types of side effects are listed on all kinds of drugs not just warfarin. Serious side effects with most drugs are rare, but they have to list them.

After a while, it gets easier to sort out what's what. As you recover, you gain more confidence to understand what's anxiety, what's PE related, etc.

And seriously people, QUIT READING STUFF.

I'm not saying don't get educated. You should read side effects of any drug you take. But if you're in a very anxious state, maybe hold off on all the doom and gloom reading. It will make you sick, literally.

And all of which is really ironic. There are many women here who either never read or bothered with all the worst case side effects list on birth control pills but now are freaked out about warfarin. That is fascinating to me.

Well considering I am exposed to medical records not reading some things is going to be hard unless I quit my job ;)

I never took BC pills, so can't say much about that. I do read all information regarding medication, and tests ordered. Working in the field I do I have seen some HORRIBLE mistakes made that could potentially harm a patient, so I like to be as educated as possible about tests and medication.

As a matter of fact I just caught my hematologist this week asking me to come in for a repeat test. We have not gotten the resuilts from the original back yet - so guess what? He made a mistake and was ordering the wrong test.

I don't think you can ever be over educated when it comes to your health or your own medical records. I highly recommend those that can get a copy of their records and read them. I have and there were errors in there. Getting records corrected is very very difficult. But at least if you know there is an error you can address with any of your health care providers in the future so they are aware of it.

As for questioning about side effects, I was just wondering if other people had any and if so what to make a comparison to how I have been feeling.

Not dismissing or minimizing anyone's actual side effects, but it's really hard to know. Correlation does not equal causation. Many things we may have felt before but didn't really notice, but having such a traumatic physical experience tends to make us more aware, some might say hyper aware, of what is going on with our bodies. Totally understandable.

I had some weird GI issues if I drank too much (which is rare, and probably not the greatest of ideas anyway), the next morning was tough. But other than that, I am not aware of any side effects of warfarin on me.

Chris