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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Donnarae 02/27/2012

Hello folks! I haven't been posting lately, although been reading here as I have been doing OK. Broken ankle healing nicely and no more air brace. I can do a small amount of exercise on it. My INR levels have been really good for the last 5 readings, starting early January. today I went in after almost 4 weeks (my scheduled appt) to find that my levels dropped from 2.3 to 1.9. He wasn't terribly concerned as it was just a bit below therapeudic levels. He increased my dosage from 5 to 7.5 but just for today. I don't think that I had been eating more 'bad' food lately.... although I know that my diet had been a bit off... eating out more, fried foods, sandwiches, etc.... so thinking that might be the cause. Anyway, he wants me back in 2 1/2 weeks for a check. I'm trying to not get anxious about this slight dip, but I tend to stress about stuff in general.... any good words (or bad for that matter)? Thanks, Donna

cave76 02/27/2012

That small drop in INR?----- I've had that happen to me but the doctor just adjusted me Coumadin for a day or two and I paid a little more attention to my diet and it went away never to appear again. Yet. But if and when it does I know it can be handled fairly easy as long as your doctor is notified.

Had you changed any supplements? Supplements CAN affect your INR so I hope you always tell your doctor when you add or stop it.

Donnarae 02/27/2012

I haven't taken anything new, but did use some ear drops yesterday that said something regarding coumadin, but showed the dr. this morning and he said not to worry,,, so maybe that did do something. I only get INR checked at the clinic and he is the one that sets the dosage so they would be notified... do you check yourself?... I know that there are kits that you can buy and do at home. I'm afraid that I would be checking all the time...............

cave76 02/27/2012

@donna----- Congratulations on being proactive in your health. I have to remind myself to not step over the line from being 'proactive' into obsessing. LOL

Yes I do test myself with an Alere home kit. But only people who will be on Coumadin for a LONG time (lifetime in my case) and over 6 continuous months.

Doctors may not even approve its use even if a patient wanted to buy it themselves (I don't know about that, just guessing)

I limit myself to once a week. Even though I'm tempted----- but my insurance only pays for 4 times a month so that's a disincentive. (grin)

Donnarae 02/27/2012

I hope that I'm only on for 6 months as they know that the clot came from my broken ankle that I taped up (note to self... do NOT do that again). I guess that I like having the coumadin clinic do the testing each appt as it is the same machine (probably just like the home kit) each time. I noticed that the hospital who take from arm in large amounts reads a bit higher I think. I had to do a slight adjustment last month also, just taking a bit LESS one day as I was over 3... and it adjusted nicely back to the mid 2's until today...

Hmmmm.... don't know if my insurance has a limit on the number of visits or not.. I know that I went 5 times in January, but only 2 in February ... I have BC/BS Federal.

TossNTurn 02/27/2012

A 1.9 isn't anything to worry about. A regular person has an INR of about 1.0 so you are still much, much safer than that! I would bet that you'll be back in range in a day or so with the adjustment in dose. Even if you aren't testing again for another couple weeks, you'll probably be fine during that time.

I wouldn't stress about it too much. I know that is sometimes easier said than done but I hope you can manage it ...

Donnarae 02/27/2012

I have decided (at least for today) to not worry about it. I took my increased dosage and will go from here. I did tell the clinic that maybe I needed to increase my wine consumption to help out the coumadin increase. I finally got up the nerve a few weeks after my discharge to have my evening glass of chardonnay (with the complete OK of clinic and primary care dr.), so maybe just not enough vino! Thanks for y'alls input... it is nice to have people who have been there to bounce things off of!

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