3.9 to 2.9 Rollercoaster Ride!

[terodac]

I take 10mg a day, I have been home testing for about a month now. I have watched it every week go to 3.9 I adjust my dose by 10% taking 5mg one night and 7.5 the next it goes to 2.9. I tested again in three days and I am at 3.3 which is just perfect for me. My question is do any of you think I should just take 10mg everyday except like Sunday take 7.5 to keep it around the 3.3. I just feel dizzy at 3.9 and my range is 2.5-3.5??? Just need some advise.

 

[Ross]

I think you should stay right where you are. So your taking 4 days of 5 and 3 days of 7.5?

Coumadin is not going to cause you to feel dizzy. Something else is responsible for that.

 

[Bina]

You should not feel dizzy at 3.9
I am totally not understanding your dosing and results.
Could you type out what you have been doing in date order?

 

[sue943]

I am confused.

 

[dick0236]

I think you should stay right where you are. So your taking 4 days of 5 and 3 days of 7.5?

Coumadin is not going to cause you to feel dizzy. Something else is responsible for that.

I agree with Ross . If you are currently within your range, don't change anything.

 

[terodac]

Ok sorry! My dosage is 10mg a day 7 days a week, with this dose I have been staying at 3.9, I don't want to be that high because of bruising and I feel dizzy at times. After checking I was at 3.9 so I cut my dose last week, one night I took 5.mg and the next night I took 7.5mg, which took me down to 2.9 then I started on my regular dose of 10 mg. three days later I was at 3.3 which is right where I like it. My question is should I take 10mg six days a week and 7.5 one night a week to keep it in my range? So all I would be cutting is one dose once a week by 2.5 mg.??

 

[Bina]

YES.
If you were taking 70 mg per week, and running a tiny bit high, then a 5% decrease would be fine.
5% of 70 = 3.5 mg decrease....or the cut of 2.5 mg as you suggested would be a good tweak to start with.

 

[Philip B]

What rollercoaster?

What rollercoaster?

Perspectives and opinions may vary, but I wouldn't describe 3.9 dropping to 2.9 as a rollercoaster. Personally, few weeks go by where my INR stays in the same place. It typically moves up and down as my metabolic rate fluctuates due to a lot of different reasons. I'm happy if I keep it within my range of 3.5-2.5.

I'm puzzled to hear that you believe your dizzy spells are related to your INR of 3.9. I've never heard of coumadin making anyone dizzy. That's a symptom that might be worth checking with your doctor. I've had lots of dizzy spells and a few blackout issues over the last four weeks, but the cause was more related to someone hitting me with their car while I was bicycling.

-Philip

 

[Ross]

One assumes they are dizzy because everyone keeps calling Coumadin a blood thinner, which is incorrect. It is an anticoagulant. It cannot cause dizzy spells, even if your INR is above 6. Something else is going on there, but it's not the higher INR.

Please make use of the coumadin calculator I have posted at the top of this page.

 

[dick0236]

Perspectives and opinions may vary, but I wouldn't describe 3.9 dropping to 2.9 as a rollercoaster. Personally, few weeks go by where my INR stays in the same place. It typically moves up and down as my metabolic rate fluctuates due to a lot of different reasons. I'm happy if I keep it within my range of 3.5-2.

-Philip

I fully agree. A single test can be influenced by many reasons other than warfarin levels.... machine or test strip tolerances, diet, metabolic rate and maybe even the weather, etc. I make small dosage changes based on INR "trends". If I got a 3.9 and then a 2.9, I'd wait to see what the next test showed. Only if I got and extreme INR, 5.5 or 1.5, would I take immediated action, and the first thing I would do is retest to make sure I hadn't gotten a screwy first test result. That is what I do....but you need to do what makes you comfortable.

 

[terodac]

Oh I did the 2.9-3.9 ride for a about a month, that is why I was asking advise. I guess my spells are not really dizzy just don't feel well at 3.9 after it drops I feel much better! Thanks for your help!

 

[Karlynn]

terodac - my INR's almost always look like yours. If I have 2 similar tests in a row - I question my machine! . It's just normal for me - I rarely make dosage changes.

Could you describe how you don't feel well? I've been over 7 on my INR and was clueless, until the test, that I was that high. I haven't ever been able to tell if I was high or low by how I feel. A few people do say that they can tell when they're too high, but since 3.9 isn't too high, I'm wondering what it is that clues you in.

 

[dick0236]

terodac - my INR's almost always look like yours. If I have 2 similar tests in a row - I question my machine! . It's just normal for me - I rarely make dosage changes.
.

I'm like Karlynn. The following are my results for 2009 YTD. For me these are very acceptable numbers and I have made no dosage changes this year....5mg/day, 35mg/wk. I test every two weeks.
3.6
3.1
3.6
2.6
3.7
2.6
3.2
3.3
3.3
3.8
3.3
3.3
3.1
3.1
3.4

Its a learning experience. I've noticed that many
new people to Warfarin try to establish a single target number or try to stay within a very narrow range.......Good Luck

 

[terodac]

My vision and just don't feel quite right would not call it dizzy just goofy, I think also it is Pump Head! I believe in this problem and I had these problems a lot right after my surgery, but almost everytime I feel like this my INR is above 3.5. It just makes me feel very strange like I am not all together.

terodac - my INR's almost always look like yours. If I have 2 similar tests in a row - I question my machine! . It's just normal for me - I rarely make dosage changes.

Could you describe how you don't feel well? I've been over 7 on my INR and was clueless, until the test, that I was that high. I haven't ever been able to tell if I was high or low by how I feel. A few people do say that they can tell when they're too high, but since 3.9 isn't too high, I'm wondering what it is that clues you in.

 

[Ross]

It's not your INR causing it.

 

[Hank]

Any feeling of diziness at 3.9 is 100% NOT related to your INR.

My opinion - 3.9 is a good spot to be in.

If you want to contact me via PM - I'd be happy to tell you my theories on it

 

[catwoman]

I agree with others, that your dizziness is not the result of an INR of 3.9.

Also, again, 2.9 to 3.9 INR is NOT a rollercoaster ride. Now, if you were going from 2.0 one week to 5.2 the next, then 2.5 the third week, up to 5 on the 2nd, yes, that would be a rollercoaster ride in my book. I'd be wondering why you are yo-yoing, who is making calls on adjusting your dosage, what other meds you are on, what your exercise regimen is, etc.

What you need to do is to record in a daytimer or on a calendar whenever you have "feel odd" or out of sorts. Jot down day, time, exact symptom and anything unusual you have done that day.

I have done this with my ophthalmic migraines if I start having more than one in a long time. I never had any until post-op, while still in the hospital, and I continue to have them sporadically, even two or three in one day, sometimes several in a week, and then I can go several weeks without any.

Recording your symptoms by day, time, frequency will give your doctor(s) a better idea of how to help you, if there definitely is something going on. We tend to get used to symptoms and brush them off. (Many of us did this with our deteriorating heart valves w/out realizing it was our heart that was the culprit!)