Anti-inflammatory gels/creams and their effect on INR?

[T in YVR]

Tore meniscus in my knee (again)...hurts like crazy. I know that acetaminophen based drugs like Advil do not play nicely with warfarin/INR. So, I bought a topical anti-inflammatory cream/ointment for my knee to help reduce the pain and hopefully speed up the healing (a gel called Voltaren). I have not started to use it yet. The one I bought is off the shelf, but there are prescription based versions that are stronger. Has anyone used these types of topical ointments to help heal an injury instead of an oral med like Advil? Any effect on INR? I assume it likely would not affect my INR unless I used a ton of it, since it is pretty localized and perhaps not a massive dose, but am not sure. I have tried searching it on the net and you get varied opinions. Apparently the absorption into your blood stream is much less when compared to an oral anti-inflammatory. Figured I would ask the experts

(I will check my INR regularly after I use it to be sure...)

Any insights would be appreciated,
Thanks,
Tony

 

[RobThatsMe]

Hi Tony,

At the moment, due to having Plantar Fasciitis, I am Meloxicam, (Mobic) an anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID).
I know that NSAID's can raise havoc with keeping INR level stable, so I have been testing every 3 days since I went on it over a week ago.
My INR was 2.6 the day I started taking the medication, 3 days later it dropped to 2.4, and 3 days later it was 2.7. All were within range for me, but I will continue to monitor my INR every 3 days while on this drug for the next 3 weeks. I have never had any stomach issues, or bleeding internally, but always aware that these type of drugs can cause these issues, especially to those with weak tolerance internally.

If you are able to check your INR often, I would use the medication you need to provide relieve, and adjust accordingly,

Rob

 

[Bina]

I was pretty sure that I remembered these "analgesic" / "anti-inflammatory" creams as having NO real effect on coagulation and INR... but they CAN effect your platelets and if that is an issue for you,
or you have other bleeding issues, or if you are taking daily Aspirin, then best to be careful.
Sometimes a safer treatment may be just using ice packs or heat on your affected knee. Best wishes.

Digging around for the medical info now......
Here it is:
http://www.webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-54/voltaren-oral/details#interactions
http://www.webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-3...itle-salicylates-anticoagulants/intrtype-drug

 

[bradvo]

Tore meniscus in my knee (again)...hurts like crazy. I know that acetaminophen based drugs like Advil do not play nicely with warfarin/INR. So, I bought a topical anti-inflammatory cream/ointment for my knee to help reduce the pain and hopefully speed up the healing (a gel called Voltaren). I have not started to use it yet. The one I bought is off the shelf, but there are prescription based versions that are stronger. Has anyone used these types of topical ointments to help heal an injury instead of an oral med like Advil? Any effect on INR? I assume it likely would not affect my INR unless I used a ton of it, since it is pretty localized and perhaps not a massive dose, but am not sure. I have tried searching it on the net and you get varied opinions. Apparently the absorption into your blood stream is much less when compared to an oral anti-inflammatory. Figured I would ask the experts

(I will check my INR regularly after I use it to be sure...)

Any insights would be appreciated,
Thanks,
Tony

What worked best for me was when I had my knee drained and got a cortisone injection.

I was pain free for about 3 months and now messed up my shoulder, MRI tomorrow at 9am