W.'s Guestbook

W. Carter  If your INR is low you will need to increase your warfarin by at least 10% of your weekly dose and wait a week to see if that raises it. I am sure your pro time clinic is doing that.

Exercise will make it metabolize faster too. Depending on how many hours that you exercise weekly, you might cut that back by a couple of hours and see if that works.

Certain medications (OTC and Prescription) can either raise or lower your INR. You can check online with the certain interactions that each carries in combination with Warfarin.

Last but not least, the dreaded vitamin k veggies. It's really the easiest phase of the Warfarin therapy but gets the BAD rap. All you need to do is be consistent with the quantity that you consume weekly and don't over do it. Say you eat a fresh spinach salad twice a week keep doing it every week. Your green leafy veggies are the highest. I eat all the green beans, coleslaw, iceberg lettuce salads, broccoli, etc to my hearts content. Most green veggies are low in vitamin k content.

DO NOT DRINK V8 JUICE OR GRAPEFRUIT JUICE EVER! Both will really effect your INR.

I am 14 mo. post op and my INR is stabilized to the point that I check it once a month. It usually ranges between 2.5 and 3.0. My recommended range is 2.5-3.5. At 5 mo. I was having trouble like you are having, fluctuations and bleeds. Hang in there and work with your anticoagulation clinic on getting it stabilized. Tell them every change in medication and diet you have, they are pretty good at getting folks in their range.

I see you had a mitral valve replacement so to be safe you should be at least at 3.0, i'm sure that you have already been told that.

Hope this will help some, W. 😃

Janea Christensen  Thanks for your response W. I was told V8 juice was good to take if I had a bad fresh vegetable day. (I didn't eat my proper servings). BUt if you look on the ingredient list for V8 the first 3 ingredients are tomatoes celery and carrots which all have very low quantities of Vit K. It does list spinach but come on....it's probably very little because if it had a significant amount of spinach the drink would be green, or actually, probably brown. Anyone who has made green smoothies knows that! So why would V8 juice affect INR? I messaged my anticoagulation clinc about it but they won't respond. I am wanting to get to the bottom of truth. I don't think most people really track their diet obsessively but I am wondering if I need to because of my issues.

W. Carter  It's true your INR is easier to manage if your a junk food junkie. I'm a meat and potato + junk food type of person. I have joked with the anticoagulation doctor that i'll probably die from cancer since I don't eat any cancer fighting foods. I just never have been one to eat or really like fresh veggies and fruits. 😳

W. Carter  Tom I am a firm believer that everyone should make their own minds up on what kind of surgery that they undergo. Good luck and speedy recovery!

Tom Wilken  I agree but what seemed such a confident decision now feels anything but so now. Getting a second opinion at Cleveland clinic

W. Carter  Tom, I really didn't have a problem, I had a good surgeon and he recommended a mechanical valve. He told me that most people under 65 go that way. He also told me I would have to be on Warfarin the rest of my life. I told him that sounded fine. I didn't even know what make of valve and graft they used until 3 mo. post op. I think we can over think things sometimes and get confused. You wouldn't take your car to a mechanic and tell him how to fix it. You take it to him and let him diagnose the problem and fix it the way that he thinks is best. Sometimes it's just best to leave decisions up to the professionals. I'm still here 1 year later and enjoying life. :-)

I know that the internet has got to be a nightmare for doctors and surgeons. People get on the internet and chat with people that are what I like to call "keyboard doctors" (same as armchair quarterbacks) and get their heads screwed up then the doctors and surgeons have to deal with them.

Claire M Miller  Well I onyour way it is 5 am my husband and daughter are on our way to Deborah heart and Lung . I want to thank all of you. This site has helped me know I can do this. God bless all of you.

W. Carter  Your quite welcome Gregg, the walking will help. I am 10+ mo. post op and my little 6 lb. terrier and I log in about 20-30 miles a week. She is 12 yo and i'm 58 and retired so we both need the walks to stay in shape and keep the weight down. :-)

W. Carter  Everything is fine, I had it Friday. They kept me overnight due to bridging and chf. I still have 5 days to go bridging, and it makes big bruises on your stomach where you inject it. I'm at home now with my baby, I had a friend keep her. It is very painful and everything down there is black and blue. I'm up walking a bit and another friend is cooking my meals. Thanks for asking!

Jean Raber  Ouch! Sure doesn't sound fun. But hope it will soon be a dim memory. Glad you're back with the pooch and hope the cooking is good at least.