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.
2 weeks out of a 6 day hospital stay with clot in calf, lots in thigh and about 12 in lungs. Just taking Warfarin now, but not sure if I took my pills last night or not. had a horrible night, was ill, throwing up at 3am, I think this is a side effect. I am just going to wait and take my pills tonight? So strange to feel weak and have a racing heartbeat just taking a walk, I have to stop and stand for a while. Are there more side effects if you miss a dosage? I'm 43, was in pretty good health, used to run circles around my 2 sons, now I can't keep up at all! Any advice on possible missed dosage would be great!
Most of what you are describing (weak, racing heartbeat, etc.) can be blamed on the PEs, not on the warfarin. Those are pretty common things that most of us deal with during recovery. I'm not sure about the throwing up. I hope you are staying hydrated, that will help with everything. Also, you should talk to your doc about the nausea if it continues. Sometimes switching from generic warfarin to brand-name coumadin can help with these things.
You should make a point of making sure that you take your meds every night. Get a pill minder or set an alarm. Missing doses means your INR can drop, which may give your clots a chance to grow or get worse.
Best wishes!
I have not seen anything about vomiting, lose of energy, weakness or racing heartbeat as side effects of Warfarin but I know those are all residual effect of the clots. I had horrible palpatations and shortness of breath when I first got our of the hospital on June 17. My mother-in-law told me it was anxiety. It was pretty horrible to hear her say that since telling myself it was anxiety almost killed me.....I didn't go to the ER or doc when my symptoms first started since I was told I was anxious about my up-coming move and new grandchild.
Listen to your body, you will be tired and weak. I was told this will come and go until the clots are absorbed. If there is damage to your vein from the clots some of the symptom will never totally disapear. (example--swelling in the ankle/leg)
I keep telling myself I don't have time for a DVT and multiple bilateral PE's but I do have to stop sometimes and allow my body to rest. Be good to yourself so you can be wonderful for your sons. Best of luck to you. I am 44 and was looking forward to playing on the beach with my granddaughter and welcoming in my new grandson; I will still play with my granddaughter and welcome my grandson but I will have to allow myself to slow down a bit.
But you forgot it last night so DO NOT take yesterdays dose today. Take today's dose, call you warfarin manager and let them know what happened. They will let you know how to proceed, and probably have you in for an INR.
Getting violently ill is not usually a side effect of warfarin. Chances are you have a bug so you want to talk to your doc about this anyway. If you had remembered to take your dose last night and were throwing up all night afterward, it's just like missing a dose. Anytime you've been ill you should let the person managing your warfarin know.
If the doctor is unavailable, some anticuagulation clinics advise a 12-hour (or shorter) window. If you miss a dose at the usual time but become aware of it within 12 hours, take the dose. Thereafter, wait until the next dose and do not miss that one.
The weekly pill tray is a must for Warfarin users. So long as you know what day it is, you can visibly see if you have taken that day's dose. Overwhelmingly, prescribers insist on the drug being taken in the evening. With taking a lot of on-call emergency work in the evenings, I was able to avoid those distractions and take the dose in the morning.