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.

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INR 1.4. My doctor reacts quickly

gottabreath
gottabreath
I call and get the results of my INR it's 1.4. My doctor calls me tonight and says take a Lovenox injection immediately and take 5 mg of my warfarin instead of 3 mg Take 5 mg tomorrow and then recheck Coumadin on Sunday but to go to ER if I start felling funny. Now I in a state of panic had to take a Xanax just to calm down because I had finally started not having his looming fear and now here we go ahead feeling every minor pain. Is this normal to keep dropping every week.?
ShilosMommy
ShilosMommy
I don't know how long you've been on coumadin, but it's not unusual to have difficulty finding the right dose for you in the beginning. Every person processes the medication a little differently, so it's not the kind of thing that's easy for the doctors to know how your body will react to it until they observe it. My INR had trouble stabilizing for months, but that's exactly why doctors keep a close eye on it especially in the beginning. Try not to worry too much about it, just adjust the dose as your doctor says to do, and let him figure out how much you need.
gottabreath
gottabreath
I had my PE on May 12. I had been stable running about 2.5 then it would go to 4.7 then back down to 2.5 then 1.8. Then 3.7 then 1.8 then down to 1.4 it keeps going down. I guess having to take shot immediately scared me but he said that I would move anticoagulants within 5 minutes. He moved my dose from 3mg to 5 mg for the next 2 days then redraw on Sunday.
CeallachKnits
CeallachKnits
Mine's been doing the same thing. Turns out it goes down on my cycles....you might take a look at that.

I see my dr Tuesday specifically to discuss managing the bleeding and probably anemia.
deleted_user
deleted_user
Your doctor is probably just being cautious, which is a good thing. The first time my INR dropped below therapeutic range (1.8) I was terrified I was going to have to give myself shots again, but I was 3 months out, so my doctor said not to worry, just increased my dose slightly. 2 weeks ago my INR was 1.5, the lowest it has been since a week post PE. Fortunately it was back up to 2.4 last week, and I only have 2 more weeks on warfarin, so it's going to drop below 1.5 pretty quickly here anyway, so I guess I just needed the practice freaking out! :)
deleted_user
deleted_user
Greetings, Gotta!

I can totally sympathize with you. However, count your blessings that you have a doctor that is very cautious and attentive.

Being that your PE was in May, I am sure that is the reason he/she wanted to get some lovenox in you until the upped coumadin would kick in. Mine had dropped to 1.4 and doc said, we'll just wait and see what it does next week. UGGGGG

Mine bounces around alot here lately. But we have found a dosage again that is working to keep me in my target range of 3 - 3.5. I have several genetic factors and severe asthma and that is why doc wants me "so high."

I do totally understand your anxiety. PE's ... well heck clots in general, make you extremely paranoid over a lot of things ie, a crampy leg, pain in chest, etc. We all go thru that and with good reason. We all have suffered a potentially fatal event.

But as you go along in your recovery, you will be able to 'relax' a little more. This site and these wonderful pe survivors have helped me more than i could ever say with words.

Hang in there, Gotta, and be thankful you have a responsive doctor. This is a good thing.

Hugs and wishes for good health!