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Hi All! Been a while since I've been on the forum - so greetings to my old pen pals. I missed my dose last night and its been so long since that has happened that I forgot the protocol. So I took a full dose this morning. I see that I probably should have just taken a half dose this morning...

Hi all. My INR recently spiked to 5.2. I couldn't figure out why. Then I remembered that I recently switched out some of my Coumadin with Warfarin because the insurance company no longer covers Coumadin. So I did a little digging and found this article and this FDA publication. I had heard...

Hi. A family member has a persistent arrhythmia. It might be tachycardia. They tried cardioversion three times. The first two times it didn't stick and the third time it just wouldn't take. So they are recommending ablation. Has anyone had good or bad outcomes with this? Also, how...

Hi. Long time since I've been on. Hope everyone is doing well and that newcomers are getting the great support I got when I first signed on. It turns out that when I home tested on the 15th (Friday - 3 days ago), my INR was 2.2. I had been taking 8.5mg/day. So I bumped it up to 9mg/day...

Hello and Happy Holidays! I haven't posted in a while so I hope everyone is doing well. Yesterday, I was sitting awkwardly in a chair such that I think I was putting pressure on my foot in an unusual way. I stood up quickly and stepped on my foot only to feel a sharp pain followed by some...

Hi. As many of you know, I am a mech-valve-carrying member of this community. I am interested in answering the question of how accurate home monitors are. To help with this, I've created a survey using "surveymonkey.com". If you have done any "parallel tests" in which you tested at home...

So I realize this doesn't really fit the heart valve forum topics, but I have met lots of interesting and intelligent people on here so I though I would put this out there. I think our educational system is broken and i think many agree but just dont know how to fix it. So let's try! Just as...

Hi. I'm about 9 months post-surgery and doing great. I continue to feel so very grateful to this community on the forum. You have all been a tremendous source of support and continue to be. I try to post any findings that might be relevant to others, and it is in this spirit that I am...

Hi. I just came across an interesting finding. Quest Diagnostics apparently has a test that is intended to reduce the uncertainty associated with initial Warfarin dosing, which reduces risk during the start-up period. The idea is that there are two identified genetic factors associated with...

Hi. I'm beside myself :) I've been home testing with an InRatio monitor from Alere and running parallel tests from the lab. It turns out the readings covary almost perfectly (see attached graph), but there is a spread between the two results that is bigger when my INR is higher (I've seen...

Hi. Does (or did) anyone else have trouble regulating body temperature after surgery? If so, for how long? I am 3 months out as of yesterday (yay!), but I seem to have bouts of feeling like I've lost my core heat and can't get it back. I don't seem to have a fever during these times - in...

Hi. I'm taking 50mg of Toprol (Metaprolol XL) daily post surgery. At first I took 25mg, then started having lots of PVCs, so they boosted my dosage to 50mg. The PVCs went away, but I think they were situational and would likely be mostly gone anyway. Following surgery, I had some orthostatic...

Cold-eeze (sp?) is the brand for those zinc-based lozenges that purport to reduce the intensity and duration of cold viruses. I think there's some kind of warning on the Cold-eeze package about Coumadin - like "check with your doctor if you are taking Coumadin". Has anyone had experience with...

Hi. Sorry, not sure which is the best forum for this topic. I have a mechanical valve and take coumadin. It strikes me as a good idea to wear something that indicates this to medical personal in case of emergency where I am unable to communicate. So some questions came up for me: 1)...

Hi. I would like to begin testing at home, so I'm doing my due diligence here about which machine to get. I think I looked into it briefly before and thought that InRatio looked like a better fit for me, but I don't remember why. Is there a summary of the pros and cons to each system? The...

I understand that most people have at least some unusual perceptual side effects from surgery. I seem to have two. One is that many foods that are not spicy (e.g., chocolate pudding, tomatoes, etc.) taste spicy. The other is that when even a little water streams onto my face during showers, I...

After showering today and cleaning the incision areas, one of my chest tube holes began to weep fluid with a fairly reddish color. The weeping seemed light until I leaned forward and the gauze was instantly saturated. My INR this morning was 3.8 so I was told to take no coumadin tonight. The...

I came home Tuesday night and felt worse due to the transition stress. About an hour before leaving the hospital I experienced what I can only describe as "brain shocks". I was sitting in a recliner fidgeting minimally when it felt like some stuck defib paddles on my head. I had two if these...

Over the mountain. Starting on the other side. PEM

My surgery will be in less than 36 hours. I have a form of Mediterranean anemia called Thalassemia Minor. Because it is the minor form, there are no symptoms. However, in a blood test, my hematocrit shows up as below normal (the normal range is 40-50 and mine shows up as low 30s). I just...