how long does it take?

[jax]

i have a medical procedure on the 29th and have to come off coumadin and bridge with lovenox to have it done. i figure that she will have me off the coumadin for 3 days before the procedure. my question is though how long after going back on my regular dose should it take before i don't have to bridge anymore? just trying to get a general idea of how long i will have to give myself those shots for.

 

[MarkU]

It takes the same length of time to get back in range - about three days. That's how long it generally takes your body to metabolize the Coumadin through your liver.

I've done Lovenox bridges three times. I after I got over the psychological barrier of giving myself the first injection it really wasn't a big deal.

Hope all goes well.

Mark

 

[AgilityDog]

I've only had the one procedure post ohs, and don't remember too clearly how the post op stuff went -I was on drugs y'know...That said:

Depends on what you are having done. If minor surgical, they may not want you to bridge after the procedure because of bleeding around the site (i.e., pacemaker replacement, big dental work (right, Ross?)) so you'd maybe be told to just start back on coumadin that evening after the procedure, and be back in range in 2-3 days. Really big surgical, you'd be in the hospital on heparin drip most likely.

If it's a colonoscopy with no surgery involved (archaic to require you to come off the coumadin, but that's another discussion) then you may be told to bridge a day or two afterward until you've had 2-3 days on coumadin and are back in range (although the lovenox will Frack up your INR monitor and show a Heparin error, so you can't get a reading).

I suggest you discuss this with your doctors.