help! with coaguchek

[Emma]

Hiya,

I am having our first coaguchek problem in 4 years!
It is giving me funny results on Chloes INR.
These are her most recent results... (her range is 3 - 4)

11/03/05 - 3.2
13/03/05 - 3.5
19/03/05 - 3.5
24/03/05 - 3.5 at 7.10am so i retested
24/03/05 - 3.2 at 7.20am on a different finger
this morning, about 10 minutes ago it tested at 3.5 again on yet another different finger!

She has never had the same result more than twice which i why i keep retesting. Normally i only do it fortnightly.

What do you think I should do?? Bearing in mind i suggested a possible trip to the hospital for bloods to Chloe and shs bordered on hysterical!!

Surely that result of 3.5 constantly can't be right but I've never had problems with coaguchek before so not sure what I'm meant to do and I don't have any support with it - I do coaguchek and dosage changes etc on my own, so now I'm totally b*******d (excuse my French!!)

Any help would be appreciated as I can now see a hospital stay in sight and am feeling quite nervous!

Emma
xxx

 

[Gemma]

Hi Emma,
Firstly - Jim's had the same result a couple of times in a row before now, so it's probably nothing to worry about. The fact you got a 3.2 in between the 3.5s suggests it isn't "stuck" on one result.
Secondly - you could either a) do a control test or b) test yourself Maybe Chloe could do it for you . The second way may actually give you a better idea if it's right as the control ranges are huge whereas your INR should be approximately 1 (apparently it can be around 0.8-1.3 without warfarin for some weird reason). Just a thought!
Thirdly, is there an anti-coagulation clinic or GP or someone you could ring for advice? Maybe Roche except they'll probably be closed until Tuesday.
Hopefully, it's nothing to worry about and Chloe has somehow just managed to have extremely consistent INR recently .
Good luck,
Gemma.

 

[Emma]

Phoned cardi ward...

Verdict - one venus test and admission depending on result.

Advice upon being asked 'Can we not test it on ourselves to see if it
gives a normal '1' result and is not stuck on 3.5'? - NO!

Result of phone conversation - i tested on Jason which gave result
of '1' YAY! and Chloe has progressed from hysteria to hiding under
bed after now being told we DO have to go to hospital for a blood
test! Add to that tears from mummy at seeing Chloe's and you don't
have a happy family!

Update later
Emma
xxx

 

[Gemma]

Oh dear!
Well, it sounds like it's working OK if Jason's a 1 (very nice of him to volunteer himself for testing . I'm sure it isn't recommended protocol for "normal" blood to be used as a control but I know a couple of people here have mentioned doing it before.
I'll be keeping everything crossed that you just go to the hospital, get 3.something there too, and can be home again later - all much happier .
Jim and I are off to the Lake District for a week shortly so I'll have to wait until next weekend to find out how it all went.
GOOD LUCK
Gemma.

 

[Ross]

It sounds fine. I wouldn't worry about it unless it was a reading out of range bigtime. Testing Jason proved it's not the strips or machine, she just has an unusually steady INR.

 

[Guest]

DO NOT DO ANYTHING. This is perfectly normal. We run tests on our 4 or 5 CoaguCheks every month or so and get exactly the same type of results. The test is not pinpoint accurate. These are acceptable results. The fact that you did a control and it came out normal proves (as Ross said) that everything is OK. I tell people that it is as rare to get three readings in a row on a CoaguChek as it is on a slot machine. It happens but not very often. You have borne that out - it happened once in four years. You don't need to take any action at these levels. Our clinic has probably done 50,000 CoaguChek tests, so I have had a lot of experience with this.

 

[JimChicago]

Sometimes I've noticed the same INR but slightly varying pt times such as 20.3 and 20.4 - both times may yield the same INR as the INR is rounded to nearest .1

Since INR's are so hard to manage the only thing that seems unusual is when it is rock steady in range.

 

[Guest]

Jim,
I agree

 

[Emma]

thankyou!

thankyou!

Thankyou all - you're excellent at replying fast and i looove this site!

and thankyou again Al - I wish i had read your reply before all the tears and venus bloods today - would have saved a lot of hassle but anyway, heres what happened...

Well, after much persuading, I got Chloe to our local hospital where
a promise from a (very, very sexy!) doctor of seeing what the Easter
bunny had left early calmed her down for a while.

I couldn't explain fully earlier in my email as I was typing and
dressing at the same time - not easy! When I phoned the cardi's they
wanted her up there in case INR was off the scale but I covinced them
our local one would be ok.

Their reasoning for us not self testing on us to check it's accuracy
seemed a little ridiculous to me (and I'm afraid I did tell them
something to that effect too). The staff nurse, with doctor beside
her, told me they... 'wouldn't advocate that as if you got a funny
result it may worry you and the machine is used to Chloe's blood
only!!!!' Yes, I'm sure the machine would reject anyone elses bloodas
it's 'not used to it'!! Daft twonk!

So anyway, to cut a long day and lots of tears short, the SHO was
actually very good and got the blood fairly quickly after managing to
find a vein that wasn't destroyed from years of testing and canulas
etc and let us home on the condition we come straight back if the
result was dodgy. Phoned up 4 hours later for result and it was fine -
3.4, so turns out the machine was not wrong and although its very,
very unusual to have such a consistent result, coaguchek has again
proved its accuracy and the reason for my using it! So YAY coaguchek!!

Emma
xxx

 

[Brian]

CoaguChek help

CoaguChek help

Hi Emma,
I have gotten almost the same result many times, even if you test one right after an other, there is always a small percentage room for a difference. Even the lab techs will tell you that. I think you are right on track and most likely you shouldn't have to worry. What I do once a month or even once every two months is; I do my own test in the morn and then with in an hour I go to the lab and am tested. I find my results and theirs are sometimes bang on and sometimes out by as much as .4 either way...basically it is an average of variables I am thinking.. I use the lab as my comparisson check to my machine.
I've had my CoaguChek S for 11 months now, my 1 yr surgery anniversary date is tomorrow March 26...and I'll tell you, it all seems a blurr now...did all of that really happen to me? I am so pleased I listened to the doctors when they told me it was time..they know what they are talking about. To stabilize my INR, I take 10 mg one day, then 10 mg the next, then 11.25 mg , then 10 mg, then 10 mg again, then 11.25 mg then 10 mg then 11.25 mg, it keeps me right on track. I used to take 10 mg for days and then check, sometimes it was right on and somedays it was way out, either low or high. I also just like my rat poison dosage, try to take some form of Vitamin K rich food each and every day...(brussel sprouts, brocolli, etc.) Those foods are good for all of us and we shouldn't cut them out. I treat them just as I do my rat poison...as a daily dosage..

This little machine that I was fortunate to have purchased last year has made my life so much easier and has taken the worry out of most of this whole blood thinning issue. I don't worry at all, I just try to deal with it. As far as bruising goes or bleeding...mostly (like 99.5% of the time) it is a non issue. Maybe my age helps, maybe it is my metabolism I am not too sure.

I'm just so happy to be healthy and not have the worry about my old valve finally closing up..for me it was a lot of years of worry about my condition...if I had only known and had this website to rely on back then, it would have made things so much easier with the "unknowns".

Happy Easter everyone ,
Brian Anderson
Champion, Alberta

 

[Gemma]

Hi Emma,
Phew - that is good news! I knew it would be OK really but was still wondering all week!!!
As for the Coaguchek rejecting anybody else's blood - HELLOOOO!!! Don't clinics all over the world use them on an assortment of patients day in day out? Do they have to give the machines counselling every time a new person's blood is put on the test strip? I don't think so!!! Surely the only reason you would've worried would be if you had got some number miles away from 1 if testing on Jason?!?
Anyway, glad to hear Chloe got home in time for her pressies from the Easter Bunny .
Gemma.

 

[Emma]

Thanks Gemma!!
I know - i laughed at the staff nurse when she told me it was 'used to Chloe's blood!' LOL - and thats a nurse on a cardiac ward! Jason is now starting to understand why I don't go much on what they say.

Did you have a good holiday??

Emma
xxx

 

[Ross]

Wow everyone Emma has "Trained her machine". I wonder, will it sit up and beg too?

 

[Emma]

pmsl!!!!!

pmsl!!!!!

it can do all that AND also roll over! I'm working on the potty training right now

lol

Emma
xxx

 

[Ross]

it can do all that AND also roll over! I'm working on the potty training right now

lol

Emma
xxx

Got any Pics?

 

[Gemma]

Hi Emma,
We had a great time thanks - it rained most of the first 2 days (well, what was I expecting from the Lake District in March?!) but we got in a couple of long bike rides and walks (well, more like scrambles up mountains actually). Not sure what Jim's INR will be like tomorrow (he has a blood test in the morning) - but it's OK, he's doing a Coaguchek first to compare results (pigs will be flying before his anti-coag clinic lets him just self-test and do his own dosage) and as it's used to his blood I'm sure it'll all be fine .
Gemma x.