Fishing 4 Life
New member
My wife Jill and I have been on anticoagulants for the past 4 and 5 years. First Jill with Atrial Fibrillation and then me with my Mechanical Heart Valve following a damaged valve. For the longest time we made our monthly and some times bi-monthly migration to the Coumadin clinic to get a finger prick and our INR results read. We are still pretty active in our old age but felt that we were tied down from traveling because of our obligation to have our INR tested.
So in January 2013 Jill's physician suggested that she go on a new drug called Pradaxa. Yes the same drug that just paid out a $650 million dollar settlement and is under FDA scrutiny. It seemed to work and Jill didn't have to get her INR tested any more. With my partner no longer going to the clinic anymore I was going to be dammed if I had to go. I did some research online and found a few companies that actually set you up with your own CoaguChek XS meter that is covered by insurance!!! I ended up going with Advanced Cardio Services because they were very informative, nice, and got me set up with a meter and trained before any of the other companies even returned my call!
To be honest I was a bit hesitant about having to test my INR at home on a weekly basis. When I asked Advanced Cardio Services about it they informed me that it is as a preventative measure and referenced a STABLE study done on self testing, they even sent me the study. This was more than enough to convince me that weekly home testing is what was needed to keep me in my therapeutic range. Also, I wasn't going to argue with them because we were now free to travel!!!
We went all through Europe visiting Paris, San Sebastian, Rome, Greece, Turkey, it was wonderful! When we returned home 6 months later we started seeing a lot of lawsuits building up against Pradaxa in regards to wrongly death and bleeding episodes. I took this very seriously as Jill is my everything and started doing some research. I had no idea there was no antidote for Pradaxa and the fact that you couldn't measure it like an INR was a bit concerning. We made the decision to switch her back to Coumadin and she also got set up with a meter from Advanced Cardio Services in just a week's time. We have since been traveling on and off every other month or so and never have to worry about our anticoagulation status because we can test our INR every week!
If anyone else has a loved one on Pradaxa make sure to ask a lot of questions on this new drug!!! I know it is not approved for heart valves and hopefully it will never be. If you are still going to the lab every month for a blood draw or a finger stick I highly recommend calling Advanced Cardio Services to see if they can help you out like they have me and Jill. I is a life changing and freeing service!
So in January 2013 Jill's physician suggested that she go on a new drug called Pradaxa. Yes the same drug that just paid out a $650 million dollar settlement and is under FDA scrutiny. It seemed to work and Jill didn't have to get her INR tested any more. With my partner no longer going to the clinic anymore I was going to be dammed if I had to go. I did some research online and found a few companies that actually set you up with your own CoaguChek XS meter that is covered by insurance!!! I ended up going with Advanced Cardio Services because they were very informative, nice, and got me set up with a meter and trained before any of the other companies even returned my call!
To be honest I was a bit hesitant about having to test my INR at home on a weekly basis. When I asked Advanced Cardio Services about it they informed me that it is as a preventative measure and referenced a STABLE study done on self testing, they even sent me the study. This was more than enough to convince me that weekly home testing is what was needed to keep me in my therapeutic range. Also, I wasn't going to argue with them because we were now free to travel!!!
We went all through Europe visiting Paris, San Sebastian, Rome, Greece, Turkey, it was wonderful! When we returned home 6 months later we started seeing a lot of lawsuits building up against Pradaxa in regards to wrongly death and bleeding episodes. I took this very seriously as Jill is my everything and started doing some research. I had no idea there was no antidote for Pradaxa and the fact that you couldn't measure it like an INR was a bit concerning. We made the decision to switch her back to Coumadin and she also got set up with a meter from Advanced Cardio Services in just a week's time. We have since been traveling on and off every other month or so and never have to worry about our anticoagulation status because we can test our INR every week!
If anyone else has a loved one on Pradaxa make sure to ask a lot of questions on this new drug!!! I know it is not approved for heart valves and hopefully it will never be. If you are still going to the lab every month for a blood draw or a finger stick I highly recommend calling Advanced Cardio Services to see if they can help you out like they have me and Jill. I is a life changing and freeing service!
