Drink before INR test, does it affect the reading?

[Brinntache]

Took my INR and it was 3.7 instead of my usual 2.5-3.0.
I had a healthy vodka lemonade an hour before. Would alcohol actively in the blood affect the reading?
I don't want to start adjusting my dosage if I was just a dumb ass. Thoughts? Experience?

 

[pellicle]

Would alcohol actively in the blood affect the reading?

Not sure, as i test in the AM and have not (yet) started drinking that early. My initial reaction would be "No, it shouldn't" but this deserves further research.
A follow-up test in (say) 6 hours should clarify if this is the case as INR may not have dropped that far in that time even is you do adjust dose.

Please follow up if you do this.

 

[pellicle]

also, just to clarify my logic.
If you adjust your dose (say, by removing 2mg) and take your dose; you can test again in a few hours and if the reading has normalised then just take that bit of the dose you kept aside at that point. This should not appear in the overall results as any significant variation in dose (given its 2 day half life).

However I anticipate that the Blood Alcohol Content will not effect the INR measurement because if it did we'd already know that alcohol would have drastic effects on clotting if present at sample (the methodology of timing clotting hasn't changed in the Coacucheck its just encapsulated in a tiny single serve unit), and Labs would have directives to not sample if the patient had had a drink and give strict advice to not test INR around drinking.

... hmmm ... this assumes a lot so maybe its still worth a shot (snare hit) testing it tonight

 

[Brinntache]

I took my INR today stone cold sober.
3.7 again. Time to eat some kale dammit.

 

[pellicle]

I took my INR today stone cold sober.
3.7 again. Time to eat some kale dammit.

myself I'd shave off 10% from one dose and test again in 3 days

 

[Brinntache]

The second test was to see if alchohol in the bloodstream was the issue. Worth an 8$ to find out.

 

[pellicle]

The second test was to see if alchohol in the bloodstream was the issue. Worth an 8$ to find out.

not sure who you wrote this to, but if its to me then yes I knew that. I was proposing a further (additional) test in a few days to observe (whether or not you adjust your dose but such adjustment was my suggestion) your INR trend / response to adjustment.

 

[Chuck C]

The second test was to see if alchohol in the bloodstream was the issue. Worth an 8$ to find out.

I totally agree it's worth it. It's interesting that people don't want to spend an extra $8 to get data, which may impact their chance of getting a blood clot or a bleed, yet they don't think twice about dropping $6 for a designer coffee. BTW, I've been getting my strips for about $5 each online lately.

 

[Chuck C]

I find that when I have a few drinks my INR moves a little bit, but generally not out of range. For example, I might be at 2.5, and after a day of having a few beers, the next day I might be at 2.7 to 2.9. The next day it will typically return to baseline. No alarm bells. But, we are all different. There is a small percentage of the population for whom alcohol affects INR much more than others. It is always good to know thyself.

 

[RobThatsMe]

My doctor once said about being on Coumadin, "To stay in range, and get accurate readings for your lifestyle, Eat and Drink consistently."
So if you are going to drink, do it consistently. a Few drinks a night, a few dinks on the weekends, whatever fits your lifestyle. And that will at least provide you with true readings of yourself when testing. If it is a rare drink once in a while, I wouldn.t be so concerned.

Cheers,
Rob