Last week, I was worrying about attending a conference where I'd be doing a lot more walking, sweating, and probably less eating than usual. I figured that the extra activity and dietary changes may affect my INR. I even speculated on slightly increasing my dose of warfarin to accommodate for anticipated drop in INR.
I got good advice not to do anything to change my dosing.
I heeded the advice.
I packed my fully charged ProTime 3 meter and brought a test setup for two tests.
It turned out that I wasn't able to do the tests because my meter was packed without a case. Because of this, the button on the front of the monitor was frequently pressed -- and run down the rechargable battery. I left home with a full charge -- at the hotel, the meter was dead. I didn't bring the charger.
I'm thinking that most meters have the same kind of issue -- a front button that turns the meter on and off. I could have had similar dead battery problems with any of the meters (although I realize that the InRatio and CoaguChek also use AA or AAA batteries - and these can be removed for travel and replaced when the time's right for testing).
As it turns out, when I got back, my INR tested just fine. Although I wanted to test during the conference - I never did before - and it probably wouldn't have mattered if I had. I don't think that this five day trip did enough to change my INR drastically to matter.
So - a few thoughts -- if you pack your meter into a suitcase, be sure it's in a case of its own to prevent damage to the buttons, or consider removing the batteries when you aren't using the meter - or bring along the charger.
And don't necessarily expect changes that may not actually happen.
In the words, I think, of Ronald Reagan 'Trust, but verify.' (If you have concerns about changes in INR, feel free to test -- but you probably won't have to)
I got good advice not to do anything to change my dosing.
I heeded the advice.
I packed my fully charged ProTime 3 meter and brought a test setup for two tests.
It turned out that I wasn't able to do the tests because my meter was packed without a case. Because of this, the button on the front of the monitor was frequently pressed -- and run down the rechargable battery. I left home with a full charge -- at the hotel, the meter was dead. I didn't bring the charger.
I'm thinking that most meters have the same kind of issue -- a front button that turns the meter on and off. I could have had similar dead battery problems with any of the meters (although I realize that the InRatio and CoaguChek also use AA or AAA batteries - and these can be removed for travel and replaced when the time's right for testing).
As it turns out, when I got back, my INR tested just fine. Although I wanted to test during the conference - I never did before - and it probably wouldn't have mattered if I had. I don't think that this five day trip did enough to change my INR drastically to matter.
So - a few thoughts -- if you pack your meter into a suitcase, be sure it's in a case of its own to prevent damage to the buttons, or consider removing the batteries when you aren't using the meter - or bring along the charger.
And don't necessarily expect changes that may not actually happen.
In the words, I think, of Ronald Reagan 'Trust, but verify.' (If you have concerns about changes in INR, feel free to test -- but you probably won't have to)