Anticoagulants DO NOT THIN BLOOD. Blood Thinner is a term that misidentifies what anticoagulants do.
When you talk about 'thinning,' the converse is 'thickening.' When we talk about 'thinning,' we're talking about viscosity -- a 20 weight motor oil is thinner (lower viscosity) than a 40 weight motor oil (higher viscosity). The 40 weight oil IS THICKER - it doesn't pour as quickly, it sticks to engine parts better than 20 weight oil, and it sticks to parts at higher heat and pressure.
Viscosity does not apply to what anticoagulants do.
Anticoagulants affect factors that cause the blood to coagulate. Anticoagulated blood is not thicker than normal blood -- it just takes longer to clot.
The higher the INR gets, the longer it takes for the blood to clot. Above a certain point, there is a risk of internal bleeding. There's increased bruising. There may be blood in the urine. Perhaps having an INR that is too high may result in what that ridiculous article in StopAFIB called a 'clot emergency.'
Conversely, for those of us who have mechanical valves, having an INR below 2 can produce an extremely devastating situation -- clots can form on the valve or the portion where the valve attaches to the blood supply. These clots can break free, causing strokes or pulmonary emboli, or other life threatening events.
Regular testing (I suggest weekly, in most cases, or more often if you change sources of warfarin, drastically change diet, take antibiotics, or in other situations) is essential to manage INR. Self testing is the least disruptive way to do this (much easier than going to a lab or clinic).
No, aspirin is not an anticoagulant (and certainly NOT a 'blood thinner') It works differently from warfarin. Its results can't be determined using meters or lab tests. It affects clotting through an entirely different mechanism than warfarin does -- it makes platelets less 'sticky.' The result of too much aspirin would be increased clotting time, and this is why medical professionals are careful when prescribing NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) to people taking warfarin.
As Carolinemc said: "Education is the key. The more you learn, the more you know. "
But if the source of your 'education' is bogus (like the StopAFIB site), 'learning' from them doesn't make you know more - it makes you 'know' erroneous information.
Others here have stated, and repeated, ad nauseum, accurate information about what anticoagulants do, the function of aspirin in relation to clotting, why 'blood thinner' is an incorrect term, why 'blood thinners' don't affect blood thickness (viscosity), and other important facts in relation to our mechanical valves and managing our INR.
Many of us on this forum have mechanical valves, and trust our lives to getting accurate information. Much of the information (especially that from Pellicle and many others) is accurate. Stuff from other sites, where the main motivation is ad revenue, have no reason to give accurate information. Worst case - some sites may exist to get ads from companies that manufacture anticoagulants for people with AFib and use erroneous or intentionally inaccurate information to make warfarin look bad, thus driving sales of alternative anticoagulants. They can't be trusted. Their BS is debunked here. They can't be trusted as reliable, accurate sources of information.
Repeating false, erroneous, potentially dangerous 'knowledge' does none of us any good.
