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 5 no colonoscopy

mewshep
mewshep
Hi everyone

Firstly, thank you to everyone on here for being so supportive. This is a great forum and I am not sure what I would do without it.
Ever since my PE back in December I have had problems with my GI tract. The day of my first PE I was retching and same the next day when I went to hospital. 4 months later (and lost of changes of medication) and I am still nauseus, hardly able to eat, no appetite, weak and in pain. I am now on loads of medication and investigations for all that. They have done scans, endoscopy, blood tests...they were about to do a colonoscopy yesterday but when they tested my INR levels it was 5 so they refused. Trouble is my INR is never stable - it's either 1. something or above 4 or 5. Very frustrating. I am anxious with all my stomach problems that there is something else they are not finding. I am probably being a worry-wart but my dad had DVT and PE and the medication didn't work. He kept keeling over and eventually became quadraplegic and died last year. I am worried I might be the same.
Anyway, thanks for listening everyone. Don't you just feel alone sometimes?
rmb
rmb
Usually they want you off warfarin for 3-5 days prior to a colonoscopy. Were you off warfarin?
mewshep
mewshep
No, their advice was to stay on it and if it was below 3 they would do the procedure. How annoying. I think next time I will just take myself off it and do the heparin injections.
rmb
rmb
That is annoying and a waste of your time in terms of scheduling your colonoscopy. Grrrr. I'd be ticked off.
rmb
rmb
Ok... had you already done all the prep and everything for the colonoscopy or did they check your INR before you started that?
mewshep
mewshep
I had started to prep but fortunately not go too far with it. They promised to call back today and see if they could re-schedule without another referral but they haven't got back to me. They are saying that if they follow procedure I will need another referral from a gastroenterologist (and it was private so I will have to pay) and it will take another two months. Argh!
rmb
rmb
That's crap! Who coordinated this for you- your regular doc? Are you in the United States?
mewshep
mewshep
No, I'm in the Uk. The trouble is that no one coordinated this as I was referred by a private gastroenterologist I have only seen once, my INR is looked after by a hospital 20 miles away and my general practiioner is in another place. When i had my endoscopy they all told me to prepare in a different way and I was left to guess. That is the problem with health care in the UK - no coordination...
Oh, and still no phone call so I guess I will have to wait for another referral...
rmb
rmb
You know, it's bad enough to have health problems but the run around is what gets to you. Hang in there, and try not to worry. Keep calling them too so that they don't forget about you!
Ferr
Ferr
Good Grief ,that is so crap. The standard is to have you bridge off Coumadin at least 5 days before any procedure even a colonoscopy (they might have to remove polyps). They bridge you by completely stopping the Coumadin and starting you on Lovenox or its equivalent the day of the procedure they stop the lovenox and do the procedure. About 6 hours after the procedure if they have removed any polyps they start you back on both the lovenox and the Coumadin and bridge you back to Coumadin only. If they have done nothing then they start you back on the lovenox and Coumadin immeadiatley after the procedure. Who ever heard of hummmm lets just see what her INR is and if its right we do the procedure. Get another Doctor Girlfriend!!!! your doctor is just wasting you time.
hugs and best of luck
Ferr
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