I've been on Coumadin consistently since 2002. Last December I had hip replacement and was taken off it for about 5 days (using Lovenox). It took me six weeks to get therapeutic; I remained at 1.1 for those six weeks.

Sometimes it takes awhile, it doesn't necessarily mean Coumadin/Warfarin is not working for you. It's one of the frustrating things when you start anticoagulant treatment as most will tell you. Hang in there!

I have my INR controled between 1.5 thru 3.5 with Wafarin dosage from 3mg thru 5mg. Now I have been taking 5mg daily for 9 days it brings my INR up from 1.6 to 2.6 today. I guess when it gets to higher than 3 after a week when INR being tested again my PCP will lower the dosage. In your case it sounds like your not responding to the Wafarin very well. We're all different. Different people has different respondings to the same med which is quite normal. There're must be some med good for you in the market. Your PCP should be able to find it for you. good luck to you!

I had the same experience. It can take a while.

Also a word of caution - once it starts to take effect you may find that it shoots up pretty quickly and your dose may need to come down some. If it starts to jump up, you might want to get tested regularly until it is controlled well.

Good luck and don't worry - you will get there. Until you do, the fragmin will be doing a great job.

Thanks for all you support.. Makes me feel a bit more comfortable!

I have been on warfarin since August, when I lfet the hospital is was 1.8 and stayed between that and about 2.8 since, they have adjusted my dose several times (increasing) and I went this past Monday and it was a 1.4 so not sure what the heck happened, I watched my diet and didn't miss a dose that I recall so they up-ed my dosage again taking 10 mg 3 times a week and 7.5 on the other days.

Hi, it took me almost 6 months to get in therapuetic range (15mgs a day for the most part) and constant monitoring for a while to stay there. Then at a certain point, it started getting too high. For the last 4 months, I've been consistently therapuetic on 12mgs 6 days a week and 11mg once a week. But it can all change again. It's just a tricky drug and it can take a good while to get the INR therapuetic.

I agree with what everyone has already said, it can take awhile to get theraputic. In 2 and half months I never have been, from low 1.3 to the next few days high 4.5 and so on changing every few days. I was found to have a wafarin intolerance though so that might be the reason why.
It can be frustrating and seem confusing, but hang in there. I hope you'll be theraputic soon.

My PT/INR is stable at 2.1. I take 5mg three days and 7.5 four days.
It shot up to 5.2 one time, but came down within a week. The heparin
injections should keep you safe until you can get stable on warfarin.
I understand it must be challenging for you at the time, just keep
working with your Doc and you should be fine. I was at 1.6 when I
stopped the heparin injections, and have been 2.0 or above since
then.

I think IRN is really is a concerto of events that leads you to stability on warfarin with the doctor(s) as conductor :-) I think the critical instrument is your body, how it eventually becomes accustomed to the drug; what you eat, drink, other medicines and your weight, stress, etc. dramatically affect INR. Once you have all the variables aligned INR seems easy and you think darn this isn't so bad! But for each person getting all of the variables aligned can be a bear or easy as the case may be, and you have read many examples here.

It took me 8-10 weeks to get theraputic with constant monitoring and adjustments (and lovenox as the safety net) after being released from the ER. To ease the transition, I eliminated all vit K foods and got in the zone (2-3 INR) and then it spiked... So I put vit K foods back in my diet and settled into to zone comfortably. I had my IVC filter removed 1 1/2 weeks ago and during the process they lowered my INR to low 2s (got as low as 1.7) and now after the procedure my INR is 1.9 and slowly climbing back up. I think once you get in the INR zone be steady with the external variables as much as possible and if you bring it down for a procedure expect a couple of weeks to adjust it back again. I'm pretty sure during these adjustment phases limiting the external variables that move the INR is helpful to the doctor and you getting your INR back into the zone more quickly (again each individual is different).

So coumadin seems to be more analogous to steering a boat than a car. Whip the wheel in a car and you get instant results, whip the wheel in a boat and there is a delayed reaction... -P