Pulmonary Embolism Support Group
By far the most common form of pulmonary embolism is a thromboembolism, which occurs when a blood clot, generally a venous thrombus, becomes dislodged from its site of formation and embolizes to the arterial blood supply of one of the lungs. Symptoms may include difficulty breathing, pain during breathing, and more rarely circulatory instability and death.
Just looking ahead, does anyone know if there are guidelines or a protocol for who is or may be eligible for a low intensity (1.5-2 INR) protocol? The only thing I've seen is that APS would probably require 2-3.
I thought I read that someone was on it here.
Chris
I thought I read that someone was on it here.
Chris
Tom in Connecticut, AKA Retirednavy02, is THE answer man of the DVT discussion group, including about everything there is to know about PREVENT.
http://www.dailystrength.org/people/213554
The trials are relatively recent and obviously involve a trial-size population. The risk of bleeding incidents appears to be reduced considerably with low-intensity while resulting in VTE recurrence rates of 8 per cent vs 22 per cent for control groups. Obviously there are risks that vary from individual to individual.
Doctors would be understandably skittish to put patients on a protocol similar to PREVENT with the limited history and the liabilities involved. As a next-best thing my physician is willing to direct the dosing toward the 2.0 level and keep it from creeping up to 3.0. When I need to bring the INR down but cannot get thorugh to the doctor for a dosing change approval, I heat and eat a can of spinach, which has many times an adult RDA of vitamin K. By having a home meter with extra supplies I can keep tight control of INR much as consciensious diabetics can keep tight control of their glucose.
@Chris - go for the meter it gives you the freedom and control to do more, I could never have skiing for 13 weeks in Whistler if I'd had to pay for local blood tests, as it was with the meter I just did the test myself and emailed the result to the clinic for the necessary dosage adjustment.