I had a severe reaction to Avelox...I was walking back from the ladies room at work and it was.. .whooo somethings wrong! For me it felt like a PE, chest was tight, breathing rapid , pluse rapid...but I felt like I couldn't move ( although I figured it was the meds)..had to call an ambulance and off to the ER. They were great couple shots of benedryl and I was better.But I do have an IVC filter and the Doc did say he wouldn't feel right sending me home if we didn't check to make sure a PE didn't get through the filter..so we checked. No PE.

Zithromax was the 2nd antibiotic I was put on during my 10 days in the hospital. The first antibiotic they gave me didn't help and I was seriously ill. I responded well to the Zithromax with no side effects.

There are approximately 200 drugs, rx and over the counter, that can cause dangerous health issues when taken while on Warfarin. There are over 300 that can cause moderate health issues and of course not quite as many minor issues.

Granted, I take Warfarin and it's been around for a very long time. But, I often think that maybe it's time to turn to a newer generation blood thinner in which INR levels are not a concern and the drug interaction list is a bit smaller and less concerning.

All drugs have risks associated with them. But when I ever saw the lists of stuff to stay away from, I really started to question my agreement to take Warfarin. I don't know about anyone else but every ache and pain or headache that I get, taking tylenol or acetomiophin products, which is what I was told I could take, makes me hold off until I absolutely can't take the discomfort any longer.

Funnier still (not really funny) is I take 2 medications every day that are known to have "moderate" drug interactions with Warfarin. I have to take those two meds. No choice. My doctors know about all of the drugs I take on a daily basis but didn't seem concerned. I am concerned but they keep talking over me. "No, it's not a problem. Warfarin doesn't cause this, doesn't cause that" blah blah blah blah. But guess what, it does when mixed with other drugs. Even the prilosec I was taking, suggested by the hospital, can cause moderate issues. Like itchy skin!!! I started a post on that and found out it's the prilosec that caused my skin issues. -_-

Sorry, I'm on a rant. -_- Thanks for being patient with me.

Well here's the thing. Almost anything can potentially interfere with warfarin, but that doesn't mean you absolutely cannot take it.

If you were on a medication prior to starting warfarin that interacts with warfarin, your dosage of warfarin is going to account for that. I take 2 drugs that potentially interact with warfarin but since they're accounted for already, my INR is fine. That's why your docs aren't concerned.

The potential issue is when you introduce a new drug post warfarin use, but even then, if you're monitoring your INR, it's not that big of a deal.

And no, if I have a headache, why would I wait to take pain relief? I get me some tylenol.

Deep breath, sister...

RMB is right. Many of us take drugs that can/do interact with warfarin, but we take them regularly so our dosage is adjusted to deal with it.

Say I take a drug every day that brings my INR down, I just take a slightly higher dose of warfarin to adjust for that. If you take anything regularly, your warfarin dose should be adjusted to address that.

Of course, with starting something new, you should keep an eye on your INR for a couple weeks, but then you should be able to adjust your warfarin dose (if necessary) to account for the new med. Anytime I add anything new to my regime, I keep an eye on my INR for a couple of weeks, just to see if it does anything.

Of course, it is harder if you take something short-term, like antibiotics, but even that is manageable.

And why delay taking Tylenol? It doesn't affect INR for the most part, so ought to be fine to toss back at any point. I take it semi-regularly myself.

I have a bottle of tylenol in my desk drawer at work, in my nightstand drawer, in my kitchen cabinet, and in my medicine cabinet. I am loaded for bear when it comes to headaches. I get them all the time because of my allergies and sinus issues, and most recently due to a TMJ diagnosis, of all things. Ain't nothing stopping me from nipping that business in the bud.