Mystery bruises

[Maryka]

Even though my INR readings seem squarely on target, I seem to have developed some HUGE bruises on my arms and legs. I am trying to think what could have happened to bring this about. I am supposed to be taking a baby aspirin but I had a hard time finding the old baby aspirin I took. Maybe imy current apirin is is too high??? I am taking generic warfarin. Maybe this batch is not standardized in strength? How worried should I become about these bruises?:confused2:

 

[Nancy]

You need to have a blood platelet count done. That is one thing that can cause spontaneous bruising.

 

[Ross]

Ah you have one of those little evil tiki dolls coming to life and beating the crap out of you!

 

[Maryka]

Well, the seriousness of these mystery bruises came to light today when I was getting a CBC blood test, so maybe I will have an answer soon. BTW, I try to avoid green tea, but i wonder if I somehow got some green tea with some iced tea I have been getting at McDonalds lately ("unsweet tea" is what I order). I was told, early on, to avoid green tea. Was that a myth? Hmmm.

 

[Ross]

Green tea can increase INR, but like everything else, you'd have to drink a heck of a lot of it.

 

[Bina]

When I was taking low dose Aspirin in addition to my Coumadin, I had more bruising.
I have quit the Aspirin.

 

[Jkm7]

Baby aspirin is 81 mg
Full, regular aspirin is 325 mg
If you have been told to take baby aspirin but have taken regular strength, you have been taking 4x what was prescribed.
Ecotrin (coated aspirin) is available everywhere in 81 mg strength. Every grocery store, Walgreen's, CVS, WalMart etc in our area always has it.

 

[Philip B]

Mystery Bruises

Mystery Bruises

I've never had brusies magically appear. Usually, I've engaged in some kind of activity that causes bruising. For me, bruising tends to be a little worse since I started taking coumadin. I've had some pretty bad accidents which resulted in pretty intense bruises; the bruises healed without any problem.

Personally, diet has little affect on my INR. I have a difficult time imagining how many gallons of green tea I'd have to drink to affect my INR.

-Philip

 

[Maryka]

I get many an "insight" when I wake up in the morning. (Maybe we all do that?) THIS MORNING (very early) I woke up and realize that these mega-bruises are appearing at spots that were low spots as I lay in bed asleep. For instance, the worst mega bruise, so far, is on my left arm which is the lowest point of my upper body extremities when I sleep on my left side. (I am a side sleeper). Then I realized that the bruise on my right arm was what was low on my right arm while sleeping on that side. The big bruise on my left inner leg was low during another side sleep episode.

So I looked up what this could mean on the internet. Lots of horrible options (like cancer), of course. I am thinking my bloodpressure may get very low while I sleep and, in conjunction with my anticoagulants, causes pooling blood to form these mega bruises.

Research yesterday evening reveals my new lowdose aspirin is fine--just weird because it contains a bunch of calcium causing the pill to be quite big.

It is a big holiday weekend here in the US, of course, so I am not sure I can get much good advice from my doctors until next Tuesday. I am tempted to quit taking my aspirin this weekend. The bruising does not seem to be an emergency at this point, however, so no trip to the ER seems required. Getting the results of yesterday's CBC blood test will help a lot.

 

[olefin]

Research yesterday evening reveals my new lowdose aspirin is fine--just weird because it contains a bunch of calcium causing the pill to be quite big.

I've been taking 81 mg aspirin and warfarin for almost 19 years. No problem with bruising and I've had INR more than 6 many times.

Your bruising sounds very strange and if it was myself I would see a doctor ASAP.
Good luck.

 

[Glenda]

I have CML (chronic meloid leukemia) and I have bruises periodically. They are a perfect round shape, most of the time about the size of a quarter, always in my stomach area. The doctor have tested my platelets and everything seems to be okay. I think it just goes along with the leukemia. Of course I'm on a really strong chemo drug called Gleevec that I take every day. It could be causing the bruises. They don't bother me so I don't worry about them.

 

[Philip B]

Mystery Bruises

Mystery Bruises

I've woke-up a few times with bruises that weren't there before I went to bed. The reasons for mine were pretty easy; my wife either kicked me or smacked me while I was sleeping...I probably had it coming.

It really sounds like a serious sit-down with your cardio doc would be a good idea.

-Philip

 

[Maryka]

Well, I quit taking my low-dose aspirin for the weekend. No new bruises and the huge one on my left upper arm (about the circumferance of a softball) seems to slowly to be getting better. Of course, I decided to get up and go to the bathroom several times during the night so as to get my circulation going again (by being upright and walking). It is Sunday today, so I guess I can get through the weekend OK. ERs are so crowded on weekends and you get exposed to whatever coughs and viruses are going around. (The best way to go to an ER is by ambulance because they wheel you directly in--bypassing the contageous masses! However, I don't think my bruises would qualify me for an ambulance.) Oh, and I decided to choose to fall asleep on my back, thus sparing my arms and legs from pressure points. By Tuesday my Friday blood test results should be available and I can get ahold of some good doctors. (Unfortunately, I still have not hooked up with a new cardio and I do not trust my main cardio--see other posts on this--but I probably will get an opinion from my heart surgeon's PA. I will also call my Internist who is also a kidney expert.)

 

[Maryka]

And I take Metropolol and warfarin at bedtime

And I take Metropolol and warfarin at bedtime

My heart surgeon's PA told me I should take these two meds at bedtime and the rest in the morning. Do the rest of you take these meds at this time of day?

 

[Freddie]

When I was on Metropolol, I took my 2, half doses 12 hours apart. A half at 10am and the other half at 10pm. The warfarin I take around 5:00pm.
Not sure if this helps your cause.

 

[Maryka]

That sounds like a good suggestion, Freddie! I may change the timing to halves as you did. It will be interesting what I learn (if anything) on Tuesday!

 

[Bina]

Verify what the dosing protocol is for your Metoprolol....Here in Canada we use the twice daily pills, but I know in the States the once per day version is widely available. Please check before doing any changes !

 

[Freddie]

Verify what the dosing protocol is for your Metoprolol....Here in Canada we use the twice daily pills, but I know in the States the once per day version is widely available. Please check before doing any changes !

Very good point Bina!
I believe my Metoprolol pills were 25mg which I split in half (just to clarify things)

 

[Maryka]

My buises continue to get better and no new ones are visible to me. I guess I am doing something right, but what is it? That is the problem of doing several things at once to fix things. Probably the aspirin is the difference. I WILL NOT cut my metropolol in half without talking to someone. I will look at the dosage when I get next to my pills again.

Back to the aspirin--the whole buising thing seemed to have started when I had to get a new bottle of baby aspirin. My little supermarket next door only had this stuff that had a bunch of calcium mixed with the (yes, low dose) aspirin. That makes the tablet the biggest pill I take. I think it might be a generic. I will look at it again. Maybe there is something wrong with that pill. Surely calcium does not make aspirin more powerful, right? Or maybe something I eat or drink is making the aspirin more powerfull? Spreading the metropolol over two doses may help too...Tuesday (when the medical offices open) is almost here!

 

[Ross]

As far as I know, Calcium is calcium and has nothing to do with the strengthening of the asprin. If stopping it worked, then it's pretty obviously the cause and I'd be sure to mention it to the doc during your next scheduled appt.