How long for INR to drop from 3.5 to 1.0 for lack of coumadin?

[LA_Cruiser]

I called the pharmacy this morning after taking my last coumadin pill for a refill. I later got a call informing me that the coumadin nurse didn't allow for the refill saying that I had an appointment on the 24th.

According to my calculations I'll be 6 days without coumadin. I believe they're not too happy for my missing 3 out of four appointments on average.

I think I'll just try another clinic tomorrow instead of waiting 'til monday.

God Bless

 

[Nancy]

Hi LA-

You call that nurse right back and INSIST on getting your refill. That's unbelieveable! What is she thinking about, if anything?????You can't be without Coumadin for that period of time. You don't need a stroke on top of everything else you've been through.

I just don't understand some of the stories that have been on this website recently about horrible Coumadin management. Where were these people trained?

You stand up for yourself, no ifs, ands or buts.

And why are you missing so many appointments? They're important, you know. You've got to take care of yourself better, LA.

 

[LUVMyBirman]

I don't think so!

Yes, you call right back and leave an URGENT message for your doctor. Beleive me....that nurse will call your RX in on that note!

In any case, you cannot go one day without your Coumadin. Tend to drop like a rock myself in one short day. This is something you should not have to worry about! It's a given life long therapy!

 

[Les]

CALL THEM NOW!
I had the same thing happen. Once, I was out of the country for almost two months, thereby missing my monthly labwork. I took enough Coumadin with me for each day while I was gone, but when I returned home to refill, I was told by the pharmacy the doctor had put a "hold" on it. They wouldn't authorize a refill until I came in! Luckily, my pharmacist gave me half a dozen or so to get me through until my "doc" authorized it. As Gina says, it is a given life long therapy, but they sure don't act like it is....

 

[Ross]

Two words--Law Suit

Marco what do we have to do to get you to keep your appointments? Being too busy is no excuse. If your not alive, you won't be busy. Shame on you! Go stand in the corner for 2 days, give me 4 Hail Bristol Myers Squibbs and 4 Hail Barr's.

 

[Guest]

The way that I handle this situation is to ok a refill for enough warfarin to last the person until the appointment.

You obviously can't go without it.

The law suit problem is a two edged sword. If you die from a clot or bleed, your survivors could claim that the clinic did not exercise due diligence by allowing you keep getting warfarin without proper monitoring.

It is time for you to adapt your self-destructive behavior to the fact that you require a medication that can be dangerous if you do not take care of yourself. If you are old enough to drive, then you are old enough to accept responsibility for your own health. What do you need, a court to declare you incompetent and appoint a guardian to get you to the clinic?

 

[LA_Cruiser]

How stupid can you get....................

How stupid can you get....................

I should've called coumadin clinic YESTERDAY as soon as I was informed of a refill denial.

I had asked them for a perscription for a self-testing machine (about 5 months ago) and they indicated that ONLY the doctor could do that. I saw the doctor various times between then and my last monday appointment though I KEPT FORGETTING to ask (do us pumpheads have major memory problems or is it just me?) the doctor for a machine perscription.

I did ask last monday and he said, oh no, that's for coumadin clinic to decide. Does this sound like 'the run around,' if not, how close is it to be classified as such?

I called coumadin clinic about 30 minutes ago and I'm waiting for an answer at this moment.

 

[Ross]

Click on this thing below, print the forms and take them with you. You can't forget if you have them in your hand! Gotcha, you have no excuse now.

http://www.hometestmed.com/images/docs/QAS-GettingStarted-ProTime-Packet.pdf

 

[LA_Cruiser]

1,750mg. short

1,750mg. short

I got a call from coumadin clinic that I needed 'to go in' for the extra coumadin needed to carry me to my 11-24 app. and that they cannot prescribe a coumadin machine that it's someone elses department.

I hung up on her (I have this 'minor' problem of hanging up on people). I do this when I feel that an extra second or two more and I'll dive into a nervous breakdown head-first.

My body is 1,750mg. short of coumadin at this point and I figure it'll go to 2,250 before I get my next 'fix.'

I'm doing tomorrow what I should've done today, get checked at a Long Beach clinic.

I spend most of my time in Long Beach and this clinic is more convenient to me (I live in coastal LA/LAX area.

In retrospect I should've opted for the porcine valve. I'd prefer 5 years of porcine then 20 years of 'mechanical problems-aggravations.'

The mechanical valve choice will be one of my worst decesions in my live.

So which department is in charge of assigning self-test machines? In my opinion of UCLA it could end up being the janitorial department.

One thing I forgot to ask the doctor this past monday is WHY my blood circulation is 70% worse then before my operation (54% of normal pre op, 38% of normal NOW).

I might be wrong but I don't see any improvement in having gone through this 'mechanical' procedure. If there are any physical improvements they've been overridden with this mental aggrevations.

Keep your cool, don't blow your top, after all thev've got you by the through.

God Bless

 

[Johnny Stephens]

Don't call - don't wait by the phone...GO IN! (If it were me, I'd be at the ER right now at 11:08 PM). You need to make getting your INR and Coumadin routines under control TOP priority. It's not up to them, it's up to you!

 

[tommy]

LA,

Your only priority is to get your Coumadin and keep your INR under control.

Don't pass "Go". Don't collect $200. Get your coumadin NOW or you will be going to "jail".

Get in your car and go to the doctor's office. Go to ER. Call Governer Ahnold - he has a valve - he will feel your pain. Do nothing else until this is done.

Please, please, please do it right now!.

 

[LDS4EVER]

HEY LA IM IN SAN BERNDINO

HEY LA IM IN SAN BERNDINO

Hi,you know I am not having the same problems with getting the stuff ,my Dr.doesnt know what he is doing I recently had my INR checked it was 1.6 which is way too low he said it was good I had a AVR and I cant get into seeing him there is a coumadin clinic in redlands cal near here but one has to have a dr in the office building where the clinic is . and they are not excepting new patients right now ,I told allodwick he said talk to that dr and tell him they wont even let me speak to him so i left messages with the nurse the receptionists the janitor too lol but to no avail nothing and allodwick said i am in danger of having a stroke since it is too low who do i go to where to i turn to im on med-cal I dont knwo what to do TAKE CARE CHRIS

 

[LA_Cruiser]

talk to that dr and tell him they wont even let me speak to him so i left messages with the nurse the receptionists the janitor too lol but to no avail nothing

Chris, ask them (yes including the janitor, he just might be the one that can give the doc your message) that if you can speak to God anytime you need him, why can't you speak to the doctor?

Why would 'the state' want more problems/expenses (by its constituants going through a stroke due to such stupidity by the clinics) with disabled individuals when preventive actions could have avoided such. That the constituant is an idiot, misses appointments, or whatever is not reason to deny blood thinners in this fashion.

I wonder why doctors (they could participate annonymously) don't participate in this boards to be 'of some help' to their victims. An hour per month is not going to break them.

This type of consumer concern 'might' catch the eye of a newspaper (or otherwise editor) if worded intelligently, --any takers?

"If I can speak to God every day why can't I speak to you?"

God Bless all pumpheads

 

[Blanche]

You are making me sick

You are making me sick

Cruiser:
I worry about you more than I can say. But, you would rather bitch than get off your butt and do what needs to be done to keep you alive. If I lived in LA, despite the good sense that God gave me, I would find you, tackle you, and sit on your spine until you agreed to take responsibility for yourself. I'm sick and tired of your whining. You have a mechanical heart valve and nothing is going to change that. Instead of crying crocodile tears and blaming your problems on others, you shoud rejoice that your are still breathing and do what it takes to keep that so.

What you need to do is: take your medication as prescribed daily, test monthly or on what ever schedule your doctor chooses, and keep your medical and anticoagulation clinic appointments.

I'm done with you. I know that you are a wonderful, beautiful, intelligent, perfect creation of God. But as long as your continue to masquerade as a horse's A**, I give up on you.

God helps those who help themselves. Your choice.

Blanche

 

[LA_Cruiser]

Blanche, you're right......

Blanche, you're right......

...life is what we make it out to be.

But if we're all supposed to be happy with what thay throw at us things would never change, we'd still be under British rule if it weren't for 'the tea party' for one.

I believe 'each and every case' differs from the next one.

I respect your opinion and also the most ridiculous that I might encounter in this board.

I know for a fact that I'll now deeply look into my actions and I thank you for that though I also think that anyone has the priviledge of making a fool of his/herself.

THX angel & God Bless

 

[Blanche]

Crusier:
Thank you for the sweet reply. As you said, "life is what we make it out to be." It appears that you are ready to take personal responsibility and that is all I could have hoped for. When you say that you are the most ridiculous on the board, you may be right...but that's not important. What is important is that you do what is necessary to continue the productive life you have had up to now by taking your coumadin, getting tested, and keeping your appointments.

Don't feel badly about making a fool out of your self. We all do that from time to time. I was worried that you might make a corpse out of yourself.

With my kindest regards,
Blanche

 

[Nancy]

Hi LA-

I've been thinking since you started this thread about the first few posts you made here way back when. Remember?

You were so scared and so terribly, terribly sick. I wasn't sure you would survive until you had your surgery. And you were so afraid and kept changing your mind about having that old unworkable valve replaced. You almost lost your life, it was that close. You know that don't you?

Then you told us the story about your heart and how it was fixed up the first time when you were a small boy. As each chapter of your story began to unfold, the fact that you have survived at all is miraculous.Then we found out that your heart was mended those long years ago by a fantastically skilled surgeon using what amounted to battlefield methods, and you were operated on using an ice matress. And you were just a little fellow at the time. You lived all of those years with that old battlefield patch.

When you finally decided to have surgery to replace your deteriorated valve, you were on the board all the time, and even wrote to us from the hospital library. Remember that? You thought you were not going to make it. But you did.

Your heart was mended once again, and you now have your life back.

It is a miracle, and that's all I'm going to say about it. I remember it all.You've come a long way in this world.

God Bless.

 

[LA_Cruiser]

THX Blanche and Nancy....

THX Blanche and Nancy....

..I need a slap in the face more often then I'm getting them Blanche, -everyone needs them 'one-in-a-while,' but my problem is that I need too many too often!

Andy Grove of Intel claims (--although he's talking business I believe that it applies 'all around' to everything) "Only the paranoid will survive."

Paranoid is an understatement in my case (that's why I think that if we're not living under a particular person's skin we will never know the reasoning of their actions/inactions or the necessity of.

I've lived 40 years 'in a paronoid state' not knowing when and if 'the thing' might up and burst, constantly tripping over in my frantic search and efforts to 'make it' before my body gave out.

That's why I postponed this surgery for over two years, I had fires to stop and fires to start. I admit that in all the hysteria I might have ended up moving further in reverse.

---Nancy, of course I remember, why do all of a sudden you want to assume that I'm a pumphead

It's because I feel so greatful of being alive that I feel so desparate in my lack of progress. I'm trying to put an income source together with 2% of normal abilites and it causes me great frustration in a system asking me to spend that energy in ways that will set me further back.

If it weren't for this board I'd be 1,000 times more miserable then I am, --I'd probably be in the greenhouse! For that I thank you guys.

One thing that I've always believed is that people 'do their best,' --under their circumstances (whichever those might be for each particular lunatic).

I might be a good example 'of a bad example' but belive me guys, those are my maximum capabilities 'at this point in time,' God knows I'm trying to do better.

THX angels for your concern and tell the rest of the pumphead gang that I said Hi.

 

[tommy]

LA,

Did you get your Coumadin or Warfarin ?

 

[LA_Cruiser]

Hi hosacktom ....

Hi hosacktom ....

I went to my app. today. Tested 2.4. -About a month and-a-half ago I had tested 2.6 and I was expecting to test about 3.5 in todays test.

Being that I missed seven 2.5mg pills (17.5mg NOT the 1,750mg I had mentioned earlier my INR dropped. Now I have to re-test in a week.

On Thursday I went to pick-up the pills to 'make it' to my 11-24th app. and asked them what was the difference of my picking them up in person as to have had them 'delivered' by the pharmacy.

They said that this is 'the way' they operate and that they HAD 'to see me.' I got my regular dosage and was instructed to continue it 'til sunday. I asked her about 'the missed' dosage and she indicated that 'just as sleep' you cannot make up for a lost dosage, --baloney!

I truley hate being 'on the streets' if it's NOT necessary and I feel that THIS particular visit was not necessary as nothing 'was gained.' (-well SOMETHING was gained, by them, an extra CHARGE!).

Just recentley a car rear-ended another car killing the male driver and his two young children. LA has the worst conggested streets/freeways in the nation. Good enough reason to plan on accomplishing two or more things per trip.

I'm paranoid of making 'unnecessary' trips (and of small cars).

About 20 years ago In Denver, my car was rear-ended while waiting at a RED stop light. Eventhough I pressed harder on the brakes (I saw the car comming too fast, via the rear view mirror, and though this SOB is going to hit me!) My car was forced about three feet onto passing traffic (another car, -he had the green, almost hit my car's front end).

I read about a little girl (12 or 13 year-old) that was killed by a car 'at dusk' when she went to the local 7-11 to buy a chocolate candy bar (that's what the newspaper reported) about 15 years ago. To this day I wonder of 'the neccessity/urgency' of that candy bar. Did she 'crave' that candy or was it one of her parents that sent her to the store (to her death?)?

I'm paranoid of unneccessary trips (and small cars.

I saw the following poster at the coumadin clinic:

Harbor-UCLA Medical Center
Patient rated clinics
Highest rated anti-coagulation clinic
100% Satisfaction
Patient Survey, 2002

--If this is a '100% rated clinic' I wonder 'on the procedures' of the worst. I wanted to find out WHO this 'rating agency' was but NOBODY knew (three coumadin nurses et al!)!

Does anyone know who 'rates' this clinics?

God Bless all pumpheads, YES you too