Just leveling out.

vero1 · May 11, 2005

Hi all, my husband Genaro is just now getting his INR regulated at 3.4. The first couple of days after getting home it was at 1.7 can you believe it, they had him on 1mg (arggggggggg), makes me soooo mad, anyway thank god nothing happened to him, he is doing pretty good, still going to get picked 2 times a week who knows for how long. Any way this friday will be a month of his surgery and I couldn't be more thankful for how good he is doing, tommorow he has his first post-op appointment. Question, does ben-gay and creames like that interfere with coumadin??? Thanks, Veronica.

geebee · May 11, 2005

Good to hear from you and happy to know all seems to be going well. It can be very frustrating when they slowly bring up the INR. I still don't think they really understand the dangers of it being low. Now he is protected and the testing will start easing off. I am sure Genaro has some arm bruises to heal.

Take care and stay in touch.

Ross · May 11, 2005

If he's leveling out and stabil, there is no need for them to test him twice a week. I do hope they aren't changing dosages with every visit are they?

Gemma · May 12, 2005

Hi Veronica!
It's great to hear from you, I think we were all starting to get a little worried. Like Ross, I hope Genaro's warfarin dose isn't being changed too often or he could end up on a real see-saw. As his INR levels out he should be needing less frequent tests.
Don't know about ben-gay I'm afraid, maybe the pharmacist could help you? Or no doubt Al Lodwick may have an answer.
Hope all continues to go OK.
Gemma.

hensylee · May 12, 2005

good to hear from you. We were concerned.

My brother has his INR done once a month unless the numbers rise/fall. Then the cardio tweaks the dosage to fix it. Like now, it's been two weeks and I have to take him today to get it checked because of a change in his dosage two weeks ago.

WendyD · May 12, 2005

Hi Veronica,
Glad to hear that all is ok.
We were wondering how things were going with Genaro.
Very best wishes to you all
Ernie & Wendy

Guest · May 12, 2005

There are a few reports of things like Ben Gay affecting the INR. I don't think that they are conclusive enough to say don't use it. But, if his INR gets too high, you might look at this for a reason. It probably would not make the INR go above 5 which is the point that I start getting concerned.