Hello Ibug, I was in the hospital for 7 days. it took 5 days for my INR to get too where the doctor wanted it 2-3. Just don't worry it will happen soon and it will work. I have been on Warfarin now for a month and its not bad. The only thing is that I have to go to the hospital once a week to check my INR levels and to report any change but I really don't mind doing that. Thing will get better for you just be patient and have faith it will all work out. I will pray for you that you go home soon. God bless

The dose of warfarin is very individual, they don't want to overshoot in a dangerous way so it can take a bit of fiddling to find your dose. It takes a couple days for the new dose to settle out too, unfortunately it's not an instantaneous change. I usually need to fiddle with my dose each time the seasons change and my produce consumption varies. I'm sure three days feels like an eternity however it's not very long in terms of warfarin metabolism. Hang in there, you'll get there.

I badly wanted to go home too and my Mum refused to take me so I understand your frustration!

Thank you both. Tomorrow it will be a week in hospital. Starting on the Rivaroxaban made everything seem too simple I guess it’s hard not to expect quick results.
My Dr told me today if in another two days my IRN isn’t up that I could possibly go home but have a person go to my home to do daily heparin injections by needle into my hand until it does increase. It sounds awful but so does staying in the hospital any longer. Has anyone had experience with heparin injections ?

It took about a week for my INR to get to in range. I was sent home with Lovenox, to self inject in the stomach. Fortunately, I have a bit of a pudgy stomach, so it wasn't too bad. After that it took about a month of tweaking the dose to get a stable INR, but just very small changes. Since then I've been very fortunate to have a very stable INR, ( I have a genetic clotting condition, so on coumadin " indefinitely".

Like corvid100 I also had to do the injections to the stomach, so I could get out of the hospital sooner. The shot going in didn't hurt, it was when the needle came out that it stung like hell so I counted to 10 & used some choice curse words till it subsided. The shots helped me get my INR under control though after a few days, & didn't need to do them again after that.

I was taken off heparin today and given first needle in stomach. I was told I need 2 back to back INR tests of 2.0-2.4.
I had my first INR reading of 2.0 this afternoon. Very frustrated and really hoping my reading in the morning is acceptable.
And I’m not so sure I can give myself the needle and your right it hurts more when you pull it out.

That's great news, you should be sitting pretty at home very soon!

Thank you everyone for your support. I’m home sweet home. My last INR reading was 3.0.
It’s been traumatic to say the least. So glad I found this support group.

It took me nearly 3 weeks to find the correct dose! Of course they started me off very slowly 5 mg per day and then slowly increasing in three or four day intervals to the point where I was taking 85 mg per week. I got so tired of the doctor visits that I bit the bullet and spent over thousand dollars to purchase my own machine and testing strips because my insurance would not pay for in-home testing. Since March I have gotten extremely good at keeping my INR between 2.0 and 3.0 I self regulate when I miss a dose I watch my INR Very closely it is definitely a struggle and a totally new way of living. In the end my doctor is so pleased that I took the proactive approach at INR management He allows me the freedom to self adjust my dosing however most of the time that’s not even needed if I find myself getting really close to the 3.0 Mark or even slightly above then I simply eat more salad for a few days to compensate.