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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To Warfarin or Not

jenlozi
jenlozi
My 6 month period is coming to a close in three weeks. I am anxious to get off of Warfarin and end all of the side effects, however they have been lessening as time goes on and I am more able to keep my INR stable. I have 3 doses, and If I have eaten cabbage, or something Hi in K I up the does a little. I usually take 3 Mg. and throw in a 5 about twice a week.

My question is. I have a trip in July to Africa coming up. It is 22 hours of travel. I asked the doc if I should stay on Warfarin until then. He said I COULD, Not that I SHOULD. so It is my decision. I used to fly about twice a quarter and now do not fly at all, so my risk is a little less. So I am not sure is I SHOULD hold out and stay on it and deal with the side effects, or not.

Thanks for the advice
rmb
rmb
What do you gain by staying on warfarin until your trip? Not sure what side effects you have but I guess it's a matter of figuring out if the side effects are worth it. Did you discuss lovenox for your flight?
ShilosMommy
ShilosMommy
Well, I agree to some degree it would depend on how much whatever your side effects are affect you. But actually I think it kind of makes sense to stay on warfarin through your trip (provided it's not some months-long excursion where you'd have the problem of getting testing). You're already on it, and if you just stay on until after you're back home again, then you wouldn't need to worry about getting lovenox for the flight. Even at that, some doctors want patients to take it and others don't care, but I think if I were in your situation I'd probably stay on it through the trip and then stop taking it after getting back home.
ShilosMommy
ShilosMommy
I just saw that your trip isn't until July. That's a pretty long period of extra time to stay on warfarin if you don't need to be on it. For some reason I was thinking the trip was coming up just a couple of weeks after you were to stop the medication. So I amend what I said before and I'd probably just take the lovenox shots for the days traveling.
Ferr
Ferr
Lot of variables and unanswered questions in your post, why are you even on Coumadin, what side effects are you experiencing, ETC....
jenlozi
jenlozi
Sorry, Had a bilateral PE in October. was on Birth control and fly a lot. My only 2 risk factors. No more birth control, so the doctor feels like alleviating that risk factor I should be fine from here on out. But I'm concerned if I go off of Warfarin and then may have some re-occurring clotting then the trip will be off.

I have had weight gain. 15 lbs in the 10 weeks. Having some GI issues, along with the ickiness feeling and headaches and fogginess. extremely achy joints, thought I was getting early on-set arthritis until I started reading all of the posts. On top of being very sensitive to perfumes and dyes,etc. Things I think I can manage until July at least, but definitely not for ever.
TossNTurn
TossNTurn
Might be easier to just come off of it and do Lovenox shots for the trip. You can do before and during flying and you should be in good shape. Does seem like a lot of extra time to stay on the warfarin if you don't have to.
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