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It certainly helps as I was not aware it was also called by that term - thanks! Given that my MVR was over 20 years ago, it's inevitably becoming increasingly difficult to decide whether any current mental glitches are caused by Pump Head or the deterioration due to my age (and being rather...

I'm currently reading the above book and have found the sections on how the Heart Lung machine was developed fascinating. Early attempts, including using a live donor human as a sort of living heart lung machine, had very low success rates - but they ploughed on and ended up with a workable...

Although it's naturally somewhat subjective, I feel my INR has been more stable since taking a Vitamin K supplement (200ug as MK-7) daily. I was surprised that my dose didn't need much, if any, alteration. Even went on a week-long holiday to France, which normally sends my INR shooting up, with...

Yes, I agree there's not likely to be much real difference. Have never understood people spending a large fortune on Riedel wine glasses - and they most likely won't go in the dishwasher either... Our sherry glasses hold about 90ml full, so similar in capacity to yours but very different shape...

Actually that's quite a good idea - we've some sherry glasses that must be not much bigger than that, I'll try using those. Won't get much nose from the wine, but hopefully enough. In the UK it doesn't help that pubs have three different wine glass sizes. Most use a 175ml (quarter bottle), but...

Oops, sorry pellicle - I hadn't spotted you were in Oz. 7 UK units is around 5.5 Aus units. 12 UK units is a bit less than 10 Aus. I know your standard wine glasses are 150ml compared with our 175ml (but 250ml and 125ml are also available).

I'd guess my average consumption was around 7 UK alcohol units a day - that's apparently about 4 US "Standard Drinks". I think one my problems was that it was pretty much every day and my liver never had a chance to recover. I'm sure it didn't help that I'd been drinking above the recommended...

As has already been said, the golden rule with alcohol whilst on warfarin is the same as anything else diet-related - dose the diet rather than diet the dose. Couple that with the equally important "be consistent" and you won't go far wrong. In my case I consistently drank at a moderately heavy...

I've some strips that may well "expire" before I use them. Has anyone tried to "game" the system with expired strips by setting the Coaguchek XS machine date to before the expiration date? It's likely be be a month or so, not years. I understand the risk etc. etc.

I heartily agree about dosing the diet not dieting the dose. Having relatively recently become aware of the benefits of Vitamin K and the risk of calcification if it's low, I've been taking Vitamin K supplements for some months. My INR target range is between 3 and 4 as I have a mechanical...

Yes, endocarditis is not nice. I had a mitral valve repair needed which I rather foolishly delayed. In the meantime got endocarditis (I think from extraction of a loose tooth). By the time I'd been diagnosed - had night sweats and uncontrolled shivering occasionally during the day - the...

I've not seen my surgeon after the initial post-op checks. I do see my cardiologist regularly for check-ups and echos - there's nothing unusual. I was being a bit flippant with the clicking comments, like most of us, the clicking is only noticeable occasionally - it's when it stops clicking that...

I had an MVR in 2002 - the valve was too badly damaged by endocarditis to repair, so I have a Carbomedics. No problems that I'm aware of. Yes, it clicks a bit, but I don't think that's abnormal.

I've been using a Coaguchek XS since about 2011 and the predecessor Coaguchek before that. Since I'm in the UK, the strips are provided as part of our National Health Service, although I had to buy the machine itself. It's been relatively easy to use, needs a bit more blood than I gather the...

My MVR was in 2002 - most of the time it's not really audible, very occasionally in an extremely quiet environment my wife can hear it. As someone mentioned earlier, the story is quite different if I wear earplugs at night... then if I lie on my left side it's like a gentle pounding in my ears...

Congratulations - may you have at least another 17 years out of it! My MVR is only 13 years old - I have it as a contact in my address book so I get birthday reminders for it. I've religiously kept it well lubricated with alcohol so hopefully that will get me to at least 17 years before my...

I had open repairs to both an inguinal and an umbillical hernia in October. With a Carbomedics MItral Valve I'm certainly considered high-risk - normally running my INR at the UK guidelines of 3.0 to 4.0. When I previously had a hernia repaired, my cardiologist insisted on intravenous heparin...

My MVR was in 2002 so I've had plenty of time with the mechanical valve noise. As you'll gather from my username, yes it does click and it can occasionally be noticeable. My wife used to comment on it, but presumably she's now used to it - if it suddenly stopped clicking hopefully she may well...