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American Heart Association guidelines for antibiotics is that they are recommended for those with mechanical valves. It does not appear that you got a mechanical -- your profile mentions "valve sparing" surgery. You could dispense with the antibiotics. Not sure why your doctor insists on it...

Did you mention the PVCs to your doctors? It's not uncommon pre-op to have those. And it's pretty common to have some a-fib & PVCs immediately post-op as your heart remodels. I had episodes of tachycardia up to about 2 months post-op, and then they stopped. I called my surgeon's office when I...

Deana: Yes, I remember when you had that stroke in 2006 -- seems like you were on Interstate 30 near downtown Fort Worth when it happened and you were able to get to a hospital PDQ. I haven't had joint surgery and have never had to withhold warfarin, even for a colonoscopy. Yes, you will drop...

I've had an echo every year since my MVR. John had an echo every year since his MV repair until now. He gets to skip one next year. His dad had MVR in 1979 (porcine valve). After several years of hearing "you're doing just fine," he decided to skip going to the cardio. Not a good idea ... His...

Yes, that was WarrenR. To the best of my knowledge, he was ot bridged. I have never bridged. LMWH can cause bleeding issues, so I have not decided what I will do when I am faced with that decision -- whether to go off warfarin completely (and face a clot or stroke); to bridge with Lovenox or a...

I stayed on warfarin for my last colonoscopy. The GI doctor did want me to come off warfarin. I told him if I was taking it for a-fib, I would do so, but with a mechanical valve in the mitral position, I would not. So we compromised. I got my INR down to 2.5, per his instructions. It was not...

I have some paravalvular (perivalvular?) regurge around where the mitral valve was sewn in. I had TEEs done in 2007 and 2009, I think, and it's been stable. Nothing to warrant another TEE at this time. My doctors have not given me any restrictions. However, when I book a motel or hotel room, I...

Don't know where your doctor gets his/her information but I just did some internet searches trying to find a correlation between sleep apnea and BAV -- and found nothing. If there was a connection, there would have been something at the Cleveland Clinic's wwebsite, since it is the #1 heart...

Grapefruit juice interacts with many prescriptions, not just warfarin. At one time, the prescribing leaflet that Bristol-Myers Squibb inserted with Coumadin, the trademarked name of warfarin, specified herbals and other items that can affect the INR, such as licorice or anise, I beleive. The...

I've had a similar pain, and it started before my MVR. It usually manifested itself as I was bathing a cat in our kitchen sink, so perhaps it was due to how I was standing. I've had it several times recently, once 3 weeks ago when I was at a St. Louis mall with my sister, her daughter & twin...

What other meds are you taking? What are your normal eating habits like? Your warfarin dosage is whatever it takes for you to be in range. Some people do have to take 12-15mg/daily. Your pain could be connected to muscle spasms, activity, possible GI problems that are unrelated to warfarin.

I assume your dad has been checked for a UTI (urinary tract infection). One of the symptoms of a UTI is blood in the urine. Is the blood visible to the eye? If so, he does need to see a urologist. I had a UTI earlier this year, with microscopic hematuria. Took 2 different antibiotics to clear up...

I've never worried about it. And never seen anything unusual in my INR diaries over the years.

Another reason: If you have to take an RX that will affect your INR, you generally test before starting, then several days afterwards. That would throw you into another couple of visits to your doctor's office or lab. It is sooooooooooo nice to hear my doctor say, "This (RX) may affect your...

I'm dumbfounded that a doctor would be saying it's better to be under range than a little over range. Doctors frequently assign a patient a very narrow INR range, and that does create the INR yo-yo. You must remember that they are not the patient. If you were to ask your doctor if he/she would...

My first monitor cost me nothing. I had United Healthcare then. However, I started having issues getting strips covered by insurance. I was told that my policy did not cover INR testing supplies, because they were expendables, not durable medical equipment -- even though it covered diabetics'...

I agree -- do NOT adjust your dosage beforehand. What would happen if you did NOT eat the liver & onions? Best to adjust based on a test, not on what might or might not take place.

Jenebug: First of all -- R-E-L-A-X!!! I know it's hard to do that when everything is new, but trust us veterans that you'll be just fine if you eat your normal diet. You just gotta do it consistently. Eat a balanced diet, without wild swings all the time, and you'll be fine. Your body needs a...

Bill: Thank you for your take on this. I always appreciate your posts regarding pharmacology. Do doctors ever role-play and put themselves in the place of their patient? After all, we’re not just a file, a chart, a name. We’re the ones who would stroke out – NOT the prescribing doctor.

Where in the U.S. will you be relocating to? As said previously, some cardiologists manage the anticoagulation therapy, sometimes it's the family doctor. My family doctor has written my RX for Coumadin (at first) and now warfarin. He signed paperwork each time I purchased an INR monitor. I...