Recent content by sharon

Hi Azatadine, What helped me was meditation tapes - ( my valve was replaced almost 25 years ago). Now I just put on headphones and plug into my phone and listen to sleep meditation. There are lots of choices now. My favorites are Jason Stephenson or The Honest Guys. They have a lot of different...

Hi Pellicie and Vitdoc, Thanks for answering. Have been checking probiotics out more carefully and have also come across more info that it could help produce vitamin K. I decided to stop taking the probiotics. I do not have a home tester. My cardiologists office did testing until recently but...

I started taking Envive every other day about 4 weeks ago. My INR went from 3.0 a month ago to 1.8 today. Nothing else in my diet has changed. I have read that the probiotics can produce Vitamin K. Anyone else have similar problems after using probiotics? Sharon Feldman St Judes AVR April 1997

Hi Dick and Pellicle, Thanks for your posts. Dick, with the coumadin and the acetaminophen together nightly, you must have adjusted your coumadin levels without even realizing it. Pellicle, thank you for explaining that wikipedia piece. I read it and couldn't understand what the heck they...

Got my aortic St. Judes valve in April of 1997. My coumadin levels have been pretty good all these years, just some minor glitches. I recently fell (the cat got under my feet), and needed surgery to put some pins into my fractured hip. I have needed a bit of help for the hip pain, and have...

My husband and I are moving to Richmond, VA in a couple of weeks, and I was wondering if anyone on this site lives there, and know if there is an anti-coagulation clinic there? Someone told me they thought there might be one. My Rochester, NY cardiology office started to do INR testing a few...

Hi Everyone, I have a ProTime 3 home tester that I bought in 2002. It seems to be working fine. I don't need it anymore because my cardiologist does it for us in his office for free (I paid for the machine and all of my tests out of pocket as my health insurance co. wouldn't pay for any of...

Hi Warfarinking, This April will be 17 years since I had my AVR surgery. Green tea has never been a problem for me. I read that only if you eat the tea leaves themselves will there be any problem. Sharon St. Judes AV 4/97

Thanks everyone. I really appreciate all your help. I'll let you know which unit I wind up with. S

Hi Ross, Bina and Phillip, Thank you for the help. With my old protime I turn the machine on and watch for the prompts and then insert the cuvette test strip. Then I use this gadget that pricks the finger. After wiping away the first drop of blood, I have to get a few drops of blood into this...

Hi Everyone, I've been using my Protime - the 3 channel kind - for many years. I can't tell you how many times I've had to redo tests. I would estimate that I've screwed up at least 1/3 of my tests over the years. I've never found it easy to use for some reason, but when I do it right, it's...

Just wanted to know the life expectancy of my PT3 model. I took my INR about 10 minutes after the lab draw yesterday. I got 1.9 and I found out this morning that the lab got 2.6. I had gotten a 1.9 a few weeks ago and thought that it was either because I started taking ester Vit C -500 mg...

I decided to take Ester C - 500mg once a day. I have a ProTime (older version) that needed to be charged - so I plugged it in and while it was charging did my test. My inr was 1.8. The only difference was that I had started the Ester C about 5 days before. I went to the coumadin home testing...

Fluke or Ester C Hi All, I just got back from visiting kids and grandkids and I'd like to thank everyone who answered my question. I guess it's unanimous no one believes that the protime caused a low false test result because it was charging. I did google ester c and couldn't find anything...

Fluke or Ester C Forgot to tell you that I stopped taking the Ester C right after I saw the 1.9 the other day. As I said when I retested it tonight it was 3.2 Thank you for any insights you might have. Sharon Feldman St Judes AVR 4/11/97