Just wondering how often you home test?

[marc_kowal]

I just received my InRatio 2 monitor last week , and right now my doctor wants me testing once per week, providing everything was staying in range. I was thinking once a month having a venous draw performed, just to make sure my monitor is accurate. I was going to see if I could get extra strips and lancets from Allere, just in case I want to test the morning after some "out of the ordinary" meal. Just curious what others do?

 

[RTZdad]

I received my Coaguchek XS on Saturday and the nurse that they sent out to train me said that I can check every two weeks if I'm in range. I'm not sure how much the supplies will cost after my initial supply is exhausted (100 lancets). I am interested in reading what others who regularly test say too. I wonder if testing too often will cause me to overreact to changes in my diet and cause more fluctuations in my numbers. Sometimes too much information isn't necessarily a good thing. She also recommended that I test Monday through Friday, usually in the morning, in the event that I need medical advice. If you get a reading that would be cause for action, it is easier to contact your doctor during the week. It would also lessen the chance that you have to talk to the on-call or after hours physician or take a trip to the ER. I thought that was pretty good advice.

Tom

 

[AgilityDog]

Do NOT test "after an extraordinary meal." This is not diabetes, and you don't want to over correct. You'd have to eat a HAIL of a lot of kale to cause a severe drop. I dunno if one can even eat that much spinach at one sitting.

Testing Once per week is fine, once every 2 weeks is ok if you are very stable, with your doctor's approval/depending upon your contract with Allere
You DON'T need a venous draw once per month, and the lab draw will not be identical to your home monitor. The home monitors are accurate.
Lancets cost about $5 per hundred at the drug store, but are generally received as part of your supplies from Allere.
strips, if not received through your insurance/allere as part of your "lease" can be purchased on line for about $250 for 48 strips.

 

[Madsometimes]

My clinic will allow me to go six weeks between tests if stable. Needless to say, I ignore that advice and test weekly or fortnightly. I call in out of range results, unless they are only .1 or .2 out, in which case I test again in a few days.

 

[Freddie]

I too have a Coaguchek XS and test every 2 weeks.

For the first 2 years of receiving this monitor I compared it to lab draws (yes for 2 years, every 2 weeks I did this) and noticed that the vein draw results were most often .2 lower than the monitor.

I don't fret for the .2 difference if I'm in my proper range and test in another 2 weeks.

Don't be surprised if your monitor is .2 or .3 higher than your vein draw if you do decide to do a compairson. It's my understanding that with the Coaguchek XS that difference is acceptable. (I could be wrong, hopefully Bina can clarify this).

 

[Protimenow]

If I have the supplies, I test once a week. If I start an antibiotic, or something that may change my INR, I may test a bit more often.

Recent experience with my TWO InRatio monitors (Alere replaced my possibly defective monitor) suggests that the difference from lab values could be uncomfortably high -- perhaps as much as .5 or.6. This means that if my InRatio tells me I have a 2.8 (theoretically in range), and my INR from a lab is closer to 2.0, I may have to be a bit concerned.

I don't have an XS, so I can't say anything about correlation with blood draws.

I just got cuvettes for my ProTime 3, and I'll be using that - weekly, probably - to compare to my InRatio.

At this point, with a possible difference of 1.0 or more from one meter to the next, I'm not convinced of the accuracy of either meter (or is the lab messing up, too?).

For me, weekly testing makes a lot of sense.

Back in the days when you had to drive to a lab, wait to be poked, wait for the results, pay the lab and the doctor, etc., doing monthly tests made some sense. Today, for five or six bucks (okay, maybe a bit more), being able to do the test at home makes it seem pretty reasonable to test weekly. At least it does for me.

 

[Bina]

I just received my InRatio 2 monitor last week , and right now my doctor wants me testing once per week, providing everything was staying in range. I was thinking once a month having a venous draw performed, just to make sure my monitor is accurate. I was going to see if I could get extra strips and lancets from Allere, just in case I want to test the morning after some "out of the ordinary" meal. Just curious what others do?

You may enjoy testing every week but it isn't likely that you will need a monthly blood draw, see how it goes after a few weeks.
Also, you don't need to test after an "out of the ordinary" meal, especially if you are testing every week. Most foods really don't affect
our weekly INR all that much as long as we are mostly consistent. Any new diet plan, or new supplement, would need supervision though.
(I'm testing every 2 weeks because my INR is rock steady.)
Enjoy your monitor

 

[jarno1973]

I have been on warfarin and testing myself for almost 6 months. My initial plan was to test every week but I have found myself testing more often. Most of the time I do this for peace of mind. My INR has been fluctuating a bit but not really extreme and most of the time I have been in range. I am just months after my second surgery within one year and every now and then little pains come up, I dont feel so well or I get worried that something may be wrong again. In those cases, the first thing I will do is take my blood pressure but often I also take an additional INR just to make sure nothing strange has happened. Besides this I have been experimenting with alcohol to see the effects which has cost me some strips. Eventually I think I will end up testing weekly and once things get really stable maybe even less. I will probably do additional tests before I plan to do something "extreme" like drinking bigger amounts of alcohol or engaging in injury sensitive sports. I have been home testing from day one but I can't imagine doing without. In my opinion the only reason to test less would be to save money. The more you test, the more peace of mind, the more you learn about your INR behavior and the better you can manage.

 

[Protimenow]

I've been an advocate of weekly testing for quite some time. In the past, I've gone more than a week, and with not always good results.
I've tested more frequently if I've made changes to dosing or diet - or if, for example, I've had an INR that is below 2.0 - and I wanted to gauge the results of a dosage increase. If my INR is 'out of whack', I may test a bit more often.

HOWEVER, it's good to be careful NOT to overreact to your INR -- making changes in dosing may be inappropriate and can start the dreaded 'roller coaster' effect, where the INR keeps going up and down in response to the all too frequent (and probably unnecessary) dosage changes. Remember that Warfarin/coumadin has a long half life, so that a change in dose tonight probably won't show up for a couple days.

So - test more often, if you must, but don't do any rapid, knee-jerk dosage changes.

 

[hook]

I go a week sometimes two. When I travel and eat a lot more salads and green stuff I like to check more often.