hematocrit and hemoglobin

[Karlynn]

Just got off the phone with my cardio's nurse. My (now I'll probably screw this up) hematocrit and hemoglobin are slightly below normal, so she wants my INR to be 3 - 3.5. I asked if this meant I was anemic, she said no. I guess I'm all confused, and will call the doctor back next week to have her explain it more to me. But I was wondering if anyone had any knowledge on why the higher INR range is prefered.

edit: did a little research on the net. My hemoglobin must be normal, it's 14. sumthin. My hematocrit is 37.5 I read that low normal is 38.5, so I'm not too far off. Let me know if I'm wrong, but she's wanting me to keep my INR high due to the room for error in my INR testing because of the cell to liquid ratio.

Am I in the ball park Al????

 

[bvdr]

I don't know but am waiting to be enlightened. I would think that a higher that normal hematocrit might require a higher INR since it would seem that less fluid between the RBCs might increase the clotting risk but I don't know why the levels you state would require any change whatsoever....but as I say, I'm waiting to be enlightened.

 

[Mary]

Nope,
My "medical consultant aka hubby" said he had no idea either. Let us know what you find out.

 

[Guest]

The higher INR is completely off the wall. There is no science behind this.

Your H & H is nothing to be alarmed about.