A new wrinkle on warfarin

[yankeeman]

Last Wednesday I started having trouble with my left eye...just a little distortion after I got home from work. The next day it was much worse and the distortion had turned into little "hairs" I could see but which weren't really there. They turned into tangles of hairs and sort of a spider web. The third day I had clouds of blood im my eye (the vitreous) and could barely see out of it.

Bottom line (according to two ophthalmologists) is that the vitreous -- the "gel" inside the eye -- separated from the optic nerve on the back of the eye. That apparently is not all that unusual. What was unusual was that the bleeding was worsened by the warfarin. I'll eventually get full vision back in the eye, but it may take months. And there's no guarantee that it won't happen again.

This is only the latest in a series of bleeding problems I've had. I had minor surgery (precancerous skin cells) and it took a month for the incisions to heal. I banged my hand against a doorway (accidentally) and it took three weeks to heal. And this is with a perfect INR of 3.0 The list goes on.

Tissue valves are starting to look pretty good...beginning to wish I got one.

 

[Wise]

Last Wednesday I started having trouble with my left eye...just a little distortion after I got home from work. The next day it was much worse and the distortion had turned into little "hairs" I could see but which weren't really there. They turned into tangles of hairs and sort of a spider web. The third day I had clouds of blood im my eye (the vitreous) and could barely see out of it.

Bottom line (according to two ophthalmologists) is that the vitreous -- the "gel" inside the eye -- separated from the optic nerve on the back of the eye. That apparently is not all that unusual. What was unusual was that the bleeding was worsened by the warfarin. I'll eventually get full vision back in the eye, but it may take months. And there's no guarantee that it won't happen again.

This is only the latest in a series of bleeding problems I've had. I had minor surgery (precancerous skin cells) and it took a month for the incisions to heal. I banged my hand against a doorway (accidentally) and it took three weeks to heal. And this is with a perfect INR of 3.0 The list goes on.

Tissue valves are starting to look pretty good...beginning to wish I got one.

Have you been tested for diabetes? I have an uncle with diabetes who has similar problems, sans Warafin.

 

[Philip B]

Bleeding Issues are New?

Bleeding Issues are New?

What's new with coumadin complicating issues related to internal bleeding? Of course, you'll bleed longer if you're taking coumadin.

-Philip

 

[Ross]

Tissue valves are starting to look pretty good...beginning to wish I got one.

So you wouldn't mind going through surgery again?

I have a lung disease where my alveolar air sacks bleed and I'm on Coumadin. My choice also. I'll accept the inconvenience of a little bleeding before another surgery.

 

[Karlynn]

I had the same thought as Wise. I think rather than attributing it all to Coumadin I would look into why you seem to have a tough time healing. I've done some pretty good cuts and gashes on myself and I have had moles removed. While I may bleed a bit longer, I've never noticed that the healing is slowed at all.

 

[Cooker]

Sorry you are having these problems?..I have had cuts etc. and they bled a little longer but did not take longer to heal?..now, I don?t heal as fast as I once did but I?m not as young as I once was?.

I have had the thoughts???should I have gone tissue????but if I had, and it lasted 15 years, I would need another one ate age 64 (I know, not old)?.but who knows what other health issues may pop up in the meantime.

 

[catwoman]

Yankeeman:

I searched through all your previous posts and found that you must be 61-62 now. That could hold a clue to what's going on with you.
If you haven't had a physical lately, now's the time.

My husband turned 62 in March. He's not exactly the most agile person in the world -- in fact, I'd say he's clumsy -- and gets cuts, bruises, pulled muscles, etc. all the time.
It seems that cuts do take a little longer to heal now, and he's not on warfarin.

 

[lance]

Look further

Look further

Hello Yankeeman,
Over the years I've had bruising, hematomas, nosebleeds, a 4" incision to remove a growth on my cheek, a 4" gash over one finger requiring 8 stitches. In every instance my healing time was not lengthy. When I gashed my finger the bleeding had stopped by the time I arrived at the ER. The incision on my cheek did bleed a little longer but nothing extraordinary.
I think your condition requires further investigation.

 

[yankeeman]

Note back (with thanks) from Yankeeman

Note back (with thanks) from Yankeeman

Thank you all for your suggestions. As usual, ValveReplacement.com has been both a comfort and a source of information.

In response to the suggestion regarding diabetes, I AM prediabetic, so that might be part of what is going on. I will discuss that with my cardiologist.

Sorry if it seems like I'm whining about warfarin. I still haven't quite recovered emotionally from the 10 days I spent in a hospital because they couldn't stop the bleeding after emergency prostate surgery. I was on a catheter for a month. They had to use an irrigation-type Foley catheter and I used up about five cases of saline while they tried to get the prostate to stop bleeding. Eventually they took me off warfarin (temporarily) and switched me to Heparin. I had several whole blood transfusions.

I know it's a trade off with warfarin, where the alternative to not having valve replacement is early death; and the alternative to a mechanical valve is a tissue valve that doesn't last quite so long. But being de facto hemophiliac wasn't something I really expected.

P.S. I'm 59.

 

[Ross]

Yankeeman some of us are damned no matter what we choose. If we all had crystal balls, all of this would be so much easier.

 

[catwoman]

In response to the suggestion regarding diabetes, I AM prediabetic, so that might be part of what is going on. I will discuss that with my cardiologist.

Yankeeman:
You've probably hit the nail on the head.