INR and Pneumonia

[RandyL]

Hello folks, been a while since I have posted.

I tell you this last year and a half has been nothing short than an outright War on my body. I have weighed 265 lbs twice and have weighed 210 lbs twice which I am currently at.

I am home 3 days now from the hospital after a stay of 10 days with pneumonia. I also developed an abscess in my right lung with left me on pretty strong antibiodics for 6-8 weeks.

Anyways the reason for my post is to remind everybody about your INR levels. I pretty much run my own show when it comes to dosing my coumadin since I home test. I have been so stable that I only tested once a month and I have always been in range with very few if any minor dosage changes. Well I developed a chest infection which lingered on for a month with fever and chills and the usual feel like crap scenario. I went to the Doc and got antibiotics which didin't even make a dent in my infection. I had only been testing my INR once a month like I said because I have been so stable. Well I went to test and 7.5 was my reading, figureing an error and retested got 7.8. I didn't panic just held 2 doses waited 2 more days and retested. Still 6.5 but coming down. I got it under control but being sick and not eating sky rocketed my INR levels taking the same dose.

So, if you get sick you need to test more often and keep a watchful eye on your INR. If you stay sick for an extended period keep both eyes on your INR.
Thanks,
Randy

 

[Marguerite53]

Wow. You have not been having any fun at all!! Glad to hear that you are out of the hospital and on the mend.

Hope you are soon headed back out on your boat to do some more of your beloved fishing. Please stay in touch and keep us posted on your progress.

Best wishes!! Marguerite

 

[ALCapshaw2]

I 'ASS-U-ME' that you are aware that antibiotics arre notorious for raising INR, right? (see www.warfarinfo.com)

And, as you noted, not eating, or not eating the same, can also have an effect on INR.

Glad you are 'on top of it' now.

'AL Capshaw'

 

[kbheart]

Randy,
I hope you're feeling much better, soon! That's quite a catch in the picture!

 

[Mary]

I was wondering the other day where you'd been, Randy.
I hoped that you were too busy fishing to be posting, but I guess it's hard to fish all the time if you're in the hospital-- suffering from pneumonia.
Take care of yourself and try to let us know how you're getting along.

 

[geebee]

Randy,

Thanks for reminding us. We should all know this but, with all the "pump head" talk lately, it is something that can slip our minds, especially when we are feeling poorly.

I am so happy to hear you are doing better and sorry you have been so ill. I had pneumonia in January and know what a problem it can be.

Stay well and enjoy those "fishees".

 

[twinmaker]

Hey Randy! Glad you're home from the hospital. I too am now just recovering from pneumonia. My INR last week was 7.3. Being on the anitbiotics and prednisone really messed up my INR. My appetite is still way off. I just can't stand the thought of food. I probably don't have to tell you this, but take it easy. My doc says it takes a good month to get to feeling back to normal. Take care and rest as much as possible. LINDA

 

[Karlynn]

Randy, it really is high time you started living a boring life. So sorry to hear of your illness and associated problems. So have the fish in Florida had a vacation lately?

Thanks for the helpful reminder on INR's, illness and antibiotics.

 

[Blanche]

Randy:
You have been missed. Glad to know you are on the mend. Al had pneumonia last year but his case of very mild...nothing like the very bad time you had. I send wishes for a speedy return to your healthy self. May I sugggest that you ask your doctor for a culture for endocarditis after you have recovered?
Best wishes
Blanche

 

[RandyL]

Randy:
You have been missed. Glad to know you are on the mend. Al had pneumonia last year but his case of very mild...nothing like the very bad time you had. I send wishes for a speedy return to your healthy self. May I sugggest that you ask your doctor for a culture for endocarditis after you have recovered?
Best wishes
Blanche

They actually did a TEE before I left to make sure there wasn't an in fection om my valve.

 

[Blanche]

Getting a TEE is certainly a very good thing. You might just want to check into a culture for endocarditis also. Hope you are totally mended soon.
Blanche

 

[imhayley]

Nice fish!

Nice fish!

Hi Randy Sorry to hear you have been so sick and had to go to the hospital. I hope you get better soon and are out fishing in no time!! Wishing you the best.

 

[EVELYN]

Hi Randy

Glad to hear you're home!!! Please ask your dr. about the pneumonia shot....our gal told us once every 5 years....and we're both prone to it. Sleep lots and lots, you need it. I had it one time and was absolutely exhausted for a month post hospital stay. Take care of yourself.

Evelyn

 

[Susan BAV]

Hi Randy-

Welcome back! You and your fish stories and your fish pictures have been missed! I too have been wondering where you've been.

Sorry for what you've been going through and I hope things smooth out for you now. Regarding pneumonia, I wanted to tell you about my (usually extremely healthy) husband's experience from when he had pneumonia several years ago. In the weeks and months afterward, he kept having recurring bouts with bronchitis and coughing troubles and the doc just kept putting him on nearly perpetual antibiotics. Turns out that not all of the coughing, months later, was from bronchitis but he had developed a pretty significant and bothersome yeast infection from the excessive antibiotics. So please watch out for that also.

Glad you're doing better. Take care and keep in touch.

 

[GeorgeM]

Randy

Glad your feeling better now, and hopefully you'll get your INR levels back in range soon.

You say that you now test yourself monthly. I'm going to start self-testing myself. Any reason why you wouldn't do it weekly to keep on top of things ?

Best Wishes

George Montgomery

 

[RandyL]

Randy

Glad your feeling better now, and hopefully you'll get your INR levels back in range soon.

You say that you now test yourself monthly. I'm going to start self-testing myself. Any reason why you wouldn't do it weekly to keep on top of things ?

Best Wishes

George Montgomery

I was very stable, no need for weekly testing and those test strips aren't cheap.

Susan Thanks so much. YEAST INFECTION? Thought that was confined to the females. How do I know I have one?

 

[Susan BAV]

Susan Thanks so much. YEAST INFECTION? Thought that was confined to the females. How do I know I have one?

I've taken a fair amount of antibiotics over the years and never had any problem. And I don't know if my husband's situation was common or rare; he's always been extremely healthy otherwise.

But In my husband's case, he had been taking a lot of antibiotics for maybe about 6-8 months following the pneumonia (all prescribed) and then developed random dark raised spots that looked like bruising which appeared from his waist down to his ankles and his coughs were worse. At that time, I had just read some article in Reader's Digest about an early cancer symptom that looked like bruising so I sent him back to his doctor. Happily, that was a false alarm.

The dingdong doctor just did a scraping of the spots and said it was a yeast infection and then gave him a topical cream for the yeast spots and more antibiotics for his coughing; like a bandage for gangrene! That didn't make any sense to me so I trotted up to a local "nutrition and vitamin" store and got him something that was supposed to get rid of the problem. He was so full of the yeast inbalance that it was leaching out of him. The stuff worked and his cough went away without that last course of antibioitics. What he took from the health store was some form of "healthy flora" that would work down in the intestines rather than just in the stomach. I don't know what something like that could do to a person's INR though.