I couldn't leave the hospital until my INR was between 2 and 3. Fortunately, it's stayed that way since. What type of doctor is monitoring your coumadin level? A GP or a specialist?

I go to "CoumaCare" at my clinic, the 2 nurses work only with coumadin patients Seeing the lung pulmonary dr. on Monday.

when I first tried the drug mine went really high like yours. This time round it was in range after only two days, and now over a week later its still in range so I'm just lucky I guess. I'm supprised they let you go home before you were in range. It's a lot of fiddling around with doses at first, especially if your at home and not having your blood checked as often as you would in hospital. When are you having your next blood test?

if you have any major concerns or questions, as your GP to refer you to a haematologist. I have a pulmonary specialist who I see regularly, but I met my haematologist for the first time on Monday and it was the best session with any doctor I have ever had. Instead of specialising in lungs which is who I thought I wanted to see because of all the pain, my haematologist specialises in blood clots so he knew so much more about the causes and the reasons behind it all than the lung specialist did. I've written him a letter today to thank him for his time because it really was that great. He's the guy who monitors my INR for me too.

They wouldn't let me leave the hospital either until I was at 2 and I was stuck at 1.1 for a week.
Turns out I found a Doctor to give me the Lovenox in his office so I could leave while they are still trying to adjust my level which has been anywhere from 2.3 to 4.4. They have me skipping doses. I am down to 7mg of Cumadin a day and no vegetables at all. Don't forget green leafy vegetables and even marinara sauce and raise your level. The Mayo Clinic has a website with a Coumadin diet on it that tells you which veggies are low, medium and high in vitamin K. That is what messes up our levels. Judy

Windyjo, you ask the best questions on behalf of us new guys! I went home from the hospitals at a 1 too, because I was/am on the Lovenox injections. It's been a week, and my INR has not been higher than 1.7k. I want to be off the shots, but that sounds scary, the up and down! How often do you get tested? Does it feel different, your body, I mean, what is the effect of having the level be so high?

I also couldn't leave the hospital until my INR was in the therapeutic range (between 2-3). It was at 2.4 when I went home. That was almost two months ago and I am not able to get my INR above 2 since. I watch what I eat, am very careful about adding any new medications or supplements, etc and that doesn't seem to help. I see a cardiologist ( heart damage from the PE-he was my primary care md while I was in the hospital) and he said that some people are resistant to warfarin and coumadin. They keep playing with my warfarin dosage every week. I have an appointment with the doc today to review a recent CT scan (to see if new clots have developed since the INR is so low). I am going to ask him if I need to have take the Lovenox shots, do I need to be referred to a hematologist, even though all blood work has come back negative with regards to any issues with my blood, do I need to switch to Coumadin (I heard that this stays in your system longer than warfarin, but you hear SO MUCH STUFF that you don't know what's fact or fiction). This whole low INR thing is starting to take a mental toll on me. I'm always worried I'm going to drop dead from a clot.

I had to be in the therapeutic range also. I was home one week and my number dropped to 1.1. They put me back in the hospital for another week. It has been 2 years and I am still up and down. They say all the meds I take for lupus and fibromyalgia affect it, although some foods do as well. My doctor has the finger poke process so I don't have to give vials of blood for each check. This is my first time that I will go 4 weeks before testing again. I am so glad to find this site and talk to others who have been through it. I have felt solo for 2 years.

I seem to be lucky in that my numbers have been staying around 2.5 for the past week. Unfortunately my GP is of the belief that once a week blood checks are good enough, but I'm a little freaked out by it. I was told that the numbers are very important, and until everything is balanced out, regular checks would be necessary. I was just informed that my numbers dropped to 1.9 today, so I should up my dosage for today, and get it checked again next week. Am I wrong in thinking that this is too infrequent? Any info is greatly appreciated.
Thanks

Others may have some insight into this, but I think a weekly INR check is pretty standard until your INR level is consistently in therapeutic range. It takes a couple of days for a single dose to kick in so a weekly test may more accurately reflect how the medication is working.

I went for weekly checks for a few weeks and then, because I was within range, they said I didn't have to come back for a month. I went back 3 weeks later and now I'm at 1.4. They upped my cumaden and I go back next week. I think it might have to do with some salads I ate. When I first got out of the hospital, I was scared to death to eat anything green. Now, I guess, I've gotten more lax.

my INR was 1.5 this past friday. that concerns me, but 2 weeks ago it was 6, I don't get it but the nurse keeps me at 5mg and go back the 30th, I ask myself , why so long? Freaks me out, makes me anxious

The first time that the nurse told me to come back for an INR in a week, I simply didn't wait that long. It was too anxiety-provoking. I went back at 5 days and asked to do it then, and they agreed. Now, they've said wait 2 weeks, but to call if that makes me too worried, and I probably will. Most of us didn't get diagnosed immediately for PE, and I think we have a right to err on the side of being cautious now, in our own health care.

I was able to leave the hospital, my INR was at 1.7 when I left, but was doing heprin shots daily and warfarin for 4 days after being discharged, I once was over 3 a few times, but for the most part in the last month I have been within the theraputic range. Now today, I was very low 1.19, shocked me because we were doing so good, so tonight I have to take 10mg. and then 7mg for the weekend, I go back Monday to get it checked again. That made me really axious today, was doing pretty good this last week with the anxiety until today. Scary!

i wasnt allowed to leave the hospital til i was 2-3 either...i think they actually let me go at 1.93...i had been in the hospital for almost 3 wks at that point (i had heart surgery before the PE) so i wanted out...and since it was the hospital i worked in, they knew me enough to feel ok with me going home and monitoring myself. its been 3 months on nov 13th, and my INR is 1.46...a wk before it was 1.45, so ive increased .01 what a joke!!! i understand all of you in the fear of developing more clots, etc...with inr's being so low, but its rare. theyre rare to begin with, and our inr's are higher than the "regular" persons inr is. each of us has different symptoms from taking coumadin or warfarin (there is a slight difference)...and its not easy, i feel for all of you, especially those of you just starting off on this. but i promise, it does get better, a little easier, but we are always on a higher alert. i get mine checked at least once a wk, sometimes twice...what helps me most is just getting the blood tests, so im not so worried that im too high or too low. all i can say, is DEEP BREATHS (as long as you dont have lung damage from the PE and it hurts to breathe that deep...man, we really are screwed in every facet, ha) it helps with the anxiety. best to you all.