Warfarin (coumadin) And Pt-inr Levels (Top voted first)

I am 19 years old and have had 4 blood clots so far due to a birth control pill. I have to go every week and get my INR levels checked. Right now I am taking 4 mg on even days and 5 mg on odd days. My levels go from 1.7 to 4.4 to 3.8 to 2.4. I really dont like going every week to get my finger poked, especially at my age. Is there a recommendation that anyone can give me, like a different blood thinner, that I can talk to my doctor about? Or just any advice will help. Thanks

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Here's the deal with warfarin therapy: you can eat any darn thing you want, but you have to have a more or less consistent diet and adjust the medication to the diet. The best way to do it is to self-diagnose. Get your doc to write a scrip for weekly self-testing and calibrate your personal reaction to the stuff. After a few weeks you will get the dosage figured out and can adjust the frequency of testing downward. My preference is to eat foods which have an INR raising effect and reduce the medication. Of course all this has to be supervised by a clinician. Warfarin has this advantage over the newer anticoagulant meds - if you develop a bleed they can give you vitamin K and turn off the warfarin. As far as I know, there is no stop button for the new medications. I have taken warfarin for about nine years and gotten away with it so far. "So far" is the operative term. I'm 77, own a motorcycle and ride bicycles for exercise. Every doctor visit starts with "tsk tsk" from the medic.

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You get your finger poked the way diabetics do? Dang! They stick needles in my arm in veins to draw blood--what are my doctors missing? My arms look like hell!

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Hi Julie,

I'm sorry to hear about your situation, that sounds rough. I don't have any experience with blood thinners so unfortunately I can't recommend any new ones to you, but according to live strong.com, there are foods that act as natural blood thinners. Maybe you incorporate some of these foods into your diet while you try to find the right medication.

These foods can be divided into four categories:

1. Foods containing salicylates; which are aspirin-like substances that can block vitamin K absorption. "Vitamin K is essential to the body's blood clotting process, so reduced absorption inhibits platelet aggregation."

Foods that contain salicylates include: spices like curry and paprika, and most fruits.

2. Foods rich in vitamin E: almonds and walnuts, vegetable oils, mangos etc...

3. Foods containing omega-3 fatty acids: fish oils, hemp seeds, flax seed oil etc...

4. Foods with natural antibiotic properties: garlic and onions, pomegranate juice etc...

Here is a link to the webpage that I got the information from: livestrong.com/article/311259-foods-that-are-natural-blood-thinners/

I hope this helps!

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Thank you so much for the info!

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Julie, I had a pulmonary embolism that was caused by a DVT in left leg that broke off and traveled to my lungs. My doctor did genetic testing and found out that I have 2 different blood clotting disorders, Factor 5 Leiden and Factor 2. I would suggest that because you have already had 4 blood clots that you have some type of testing done. If you have a blood clotting disorder you can never take birth control pills again and may have to be on warfin.

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Stop the birth control pills. They may be cause of your too frequent clots!

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My husband has had headaches for a few days and he takes warfin. Today his blood check was 1'7 would that make him have headaches and pains in his groan.

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ask your Dr. about Xeralto

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I understand that warfin needs to get chedked every week, but my experience with Xarelto and Eliquis have not been a good one.

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For self monitoring, finger-stick type, suggest to your doc that he prescribe it. See what your insurance will do. Medicare picks essentially all of it up. Here's a website to call to the doc's attention: coaguchek.com/coaguchek_patient/landing

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I've been on Warfarin for years for low protein S. I want to take Hemp Oil for pain. I'm 76. Ride my bike & walk daily, active for my age. Will Hemp oil case problems?

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Re: Janice (# 3)

I take birth control and I'm on warfarin. It's safe

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