Thanks for keeping us woozy Warafin users in your test loop. Wonder if I should put that request in. Is it alot more expensive? ARe they monitoring it weekly?

My INR was 3.1 last week and now they want me weekly. Maybe I should of had a real salad. The kind I eat the only greens are peeled cucumber and 1 stalk of celery along with colored vegies. I too have gained 5 lbs since my PE, 2.5 months ago. Oh well we'll lose it in the future. Today I took a 2 hr coarse of Qi-Gong. Very lightheaded but I persevered.

I got a good message today from someone who said that after our coarse of thinners is over you will feel yourself again. And as we all know without the thinners we might not see 12 months from now so we just got to get more used to it with time.

Hope you're feelin better with the real drug.

that's great news because I know you wanted to change so much - well done for getting what you wanted - you go girl. Keep us posted. I dont think we UKers have the option to switch to Coumadin - only warfarin here - but not sure - anyone know? x x x

Muku,
I really hope it helps too Ive been miserable on thinners I feel sick all of the time, and I have like 7.5 more months to go!!!

The brand was 30$ more a month, which sucks bc Im brok but its worth a try to see if itll make me feel better, if it doesnt Ill switch back to warfarin but Im really hoping it will take some of the side effects away or lesson them.

I want to feel like me again Im so anxious to be me and I cant be me.
Part of me feels like I will not feel better until Im off thinners too, I have heard this also from someone thats on DS. She told me she started to feel herself again about 2 months after stopping thinners.

Its hard to except that you just have to feel like crap for over a year and theres not much you can do to remedy it. But In the grand scheme of things it could have been a lot worse, I try to remind myself of this but i get so impatient! Halloween usted to be one of my favorite times of the year! this year the only festive thing Ive done is bring my hematologist a bag of candy blood as a funny... thats so sad... 8( I used to be so outgoing and planned things now thats the extent of my festive side bringing my dr some candy??? UGHH Im 21 I want to feel like it...ill never get this year back so I hope that the 3 quarters of my 22nd year I spend after thinners will make up for this time.

I have to keep thinking that something great awaits all of us for our suffering.

Wow sorry for the ranting.

Keep ranting! And keep us updated! I'm curious to follow your progress - I hate my drug regimen (warfarin) so much that I've considered asking my doctor if I could go back to lovenox shots, instead. At least then I wouldn't have to go in sometimes twice a week for monitoring, not to mention that maybe my joint pain would go away...

When I got out of the hopsital last Friday for my DVT and PE my doctor insisted I use brand only Coumidin. He said they have the best results with brand only.

I never had to do levonox, but if I dont improve I think Ill actually think about jabbing myself twice a day if it makes a difference I hate feeling horrible all of the time, its just soooo bad, and I get scared ill never be me again!

I LOVED Lovenox, and I did ask my hematologist if I could use it instead of warfarin. He just looked at me like I was nuts. The shots did not hurt at all, and I felt more secure knowing it was therapeutic all the time. Only drawbacks were the monster bruises on my belly and the prohibitive cost - that's $100 per shot in the US, 2x daily... that's why unless you have a bonafide allergy to warfarin or coumadin they don't like you to stay on Lovenox for the long haul.
Also have read that really long term use of Lovenox can contribute to osteoporosis.
But definitely keep us posted on the Coumadin/Warfarin comparison and I'll keep my fingers crossed it works out for you!

My doctor prefers the brand Coumadin because it is more reliable than the generic. I hope you will feel better with the Coumadin! I have not noticed any side effects other than the ones from PE. The one exception may be fatigue, but it is hard to tell how much comes from the PE and how much from the Coumadin. I just know I'm tired of being so tired!

I work in the medical field and worked with Cardiologists for many years. All of them used brand name Coumadin over Warfarin. There aren't many drugs out there that doctors insist on brand name only, but that has always been one of them. I knew one doctor that didn't care what patients used as long as they didn't go back and forth, they had to pick one and stay with it. With my insurance my Coumadin is $40.00 a month. I have always been taught that with generic meds you have differnt companies making them and you can have fillers, etc in the meds, so I felt safe knowing I am getting the actual brand name. It is worth it to me to spend the extra cash. I had enough trouble regulating my INRs at first!