Not sure what INR numbers to trust.

[marc_kowal]

So last Thursday I home tested with my InRatio2 and it was 3.1
This past Tuesday, I was in the ER and they did a venous draw at 2.28
This morning I home tested and it was 3.3

They did put me on a 5 day anti-biotic, but that seems to actually lower my number. Nothing has changed in my diet or daily routine, so I don't understand why the big number change in a week. I'm not sure what numbers are accurate now. I know there can be a .4 variance with the my InRatio2, but is it normal for numbers to jump around like that within a week?

 

[Bina]

So last Thursday I home tested with my InRatio2 and it was 3.1
This past Tuesday, I was in the ER and they did a venous draw at 2.28
This morning I home tested and it was 3.3

They did put me on a 5 day anti-biotic, but that seems to actually lower my number. Nothing has changed in my diet or daily routine, so I don't understand why the big number change in a week. I'm not sure what numbers are accurate now. I know there can be a .4 variance with the my InRatio2, but is it normal for numbers to jump around like that within a week?

Your INR readings were all taken a few days apart so, YES, those numbers are very possible and "normal".
INR is not an exact figure and this is why our doctors give us a range for our INR numbers (2.5--3.5)
It will fluctuate normally according to how our liver processes the Coumadin and Vitamin K in our diets.
No need to worry, you are doing just fine

 

[dick0236]

The big swing from 3.1 to 2.28 and back to 3.3 might have been the different testing methods, venus draw vs finger stick. What did the ER put you on an anti-biotic for....maybe that medical condition played a part in the INR swing. I have found, for me, to stick with finger stick unless my INR goes crazy. I would forget the ER INR and test again in a week, or so, to see where you are. I have never been given a "for sure" definitive answer as why the venus draw and finger stick sometimes give significantly different numbers......???

 

[Protimenow]

This is an issue that I've faced recently, too. I had a stroke in April because I believed that my meter was giving me an accurate INR (accurate meaning that it was very close to the lab results). I trusted that a 2.7 REALLY WAS in range, and that a value slightly below 2.5 was also in range, and nothing to do much about. I learned later that my meter was reporting considerably higher than the labs.

My experience with the InRatio strongly suggests that it's always reporting higher than the labs -- a value of around 3.2 - 4.2 or so, on this meter, is probably one that would keep me in range (if my blood draw was on the same day as the fingerstick). It's a bit troubling to me to see that my other meter - a ProTime - which I always thought was even closer to the labs, seems to give me a reading that is about as much BELOW the blood draw (that's venous blood) as the InRatio is high. If I could afford strips for both meters, I'd take an average of the two and assume that this averaged value is pretty close to the lab value.

If it was up to me, with a few recent blood draws to compare to my meter, I'm pretty comfortable with anything over 3.1 as reported by my InRatio. (Your recent experience with the blood draw being considerably lower than your InRatio is not surprising or distressing. It wouldn't hurt to get another blood draw to compare to the InRatio's results, just to give you an idea of the actual variance between venous and capillary INRs).

 

[catwoman]

So last Thursday I home tested with my InRatio2 and it was 3.1
This past Tuesday, I was in the ER and they did a venous draw at 2.28
This morning I home tested and it was 3.3

They did put me on a 5 day anti-biotic, but that seems to actually lower my number. Nothing has changed in my diet or daily routine, so I don't understand why the big number change in a week. I'm not sure what numbers are accurate now. I know there can be a .4 variance with the my InRatio2, but is it normal for numbers to jump around like that within a week?

Who put you on an antibiotic and which antibiotic is it? If the ER doctor RXed the antibiotic, I can understand the increase in INR. Many antibiotics kill the good flora normally found in the GI tract. About 50% of your vitamin K is produced in your own body, in the GI tract. Therefore, antibiotics or diarrhea can disrupt the normal production and will increase your INR. Some antibiotics have more of a track record on affecting the GI tract than others, and you won't know it unless you run an INR test.

And I agree with Bina and ****.