Recent content by djman

Earlier this year, I was on amiodarone for 1 month. No tremors. I read that approx 1 quarter of people get tremors. The half life of amiodarone is very long. Your Amiodarone levels could easily be 80% of what they were 30 days ago. You have to wait longer to see what the impact of going off...

CoaguChek is made by Roche Pharmaceutical. Coagu-Sense is a competing product from Jant Pharmaceutical. Jant is a much smaller company than Roche. I have the CoaguChek INRange, which is the latest from Roche. INRange takes the same strips as CoaguChek XS. Both INRange and XS are perfectly...

In March I had my aortic valve replaced with a mechanical. I also had part of my aorta replaced with a synthetic graft. (49 yrs old, had bicuspid valve with stenosis + aneurysm). What should I expect in long-term cardiologist followup? Do people normally get regular imaging? What type of...

https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03636295 Study began in late 2019 and results are supposed to be available by the end of 2022. But IMO these studies are problematic. People in this clinical study are closely monitored and they get better quality INR management than what often happens...

Thanks for the responses. Just had another test on the alternating dose. INR 2.3 which is great. Oh and I would take the other side of pellicle's bet. Based on data from my pre surgery Warfarin trial, I expect 4mg without Amiodarone. (I was fortunate to have that trial).

I'm not 17. But I did have the same valve replaced by a mechanical. If someone asked about a ticking noise, I would say "I had surgery and part of my heart was replaced". The person may ask followup questions. Or they may not.

I am not American. But look for a high volume centre where they do a very large number of valve repair and replace. Look for a surgeon that has a lot of experience in the surgery that you need. Look for a surgeon who is highly rated by his peers. I think that information is available in USA.

Agree with others. Watch and wait may be the best option right now.

For a younger person with well managed INR, bleeding events are not normally spontaneous. Rather, they are tied to an external event such as a car crash or a surgery. For a scheduled surgery eg colonoscopy you may setup a plan to bring INR down in the days leading up to the surgery.

I am 1 month post surgery. On Amiodarone which reduces Warfarin dose, plus other things which don't matter. Warfarin 2mg per day -> INR 3.2 Drop to 1.5 mg per day and test 4 days later -> INR 1.8 So until the next test my dose is to alternate 2mg followed by 1.5mg. Gonna see how this goes...

Following re-admission for atrial fibrillation, I have now had my second discharge. Back at home. Feeling good. Did notice that heart rate and blood pressure are both lower than before. Probably because of the 2 antiarrhythmic meds -- Amiodarone and a beta blocker. I can feel the lower HR...

Never ended up getting one. But did a lot of breathing exercises. Lungs much better now.

I did 4 years of watch and wait. Diagnosis 2018, surgery 2022. Hardest year was the first year. After that it all kind of faded into the background. Probably depends on your personality. I even ran a half marathon on watch and wait. Just did not ever go full sprint.

Had a minor setback. Experienced my first (and hopefully last) onset of atrial fibrillation. Went to emerg by ambulance this past Saturday. Doc added Amiodorone on top of existing Beta blocker. As of Monday back to perfect sinus rhythm. Expecting discharge by Wednesday latest. Hopefully...

That was day 6.