Ruh oh....took Coumadin 12 hours apart and I was already elevated

[DachsieMom]

I really need to get better at this medication thing. Just went to take my Coumadin and it was not in my pillbox (but my morning thyroid meds and aspirin were still in there!). Only thing I can think of is I took coumadin this morning before work (7.5 mg) but I also would have taken my 7.5 mg regular dose around 7 pm yesterday. Hope that's ok. Last week I was 3.9 per my Coagucheck but 3.4 at lab blood draw a mere 4 hours later, so I was out of range. (That is another story....,takes me 5 finger pricks to get a good test!). I was 2.3 via home test a few weeks back, they raised my dose, I shot up to 3.6 the following week via home test, so they lowered my dose, and then I still went up to 3.9 last week via home test! I'm supposed to test again Thursday but thinking my screw up might cause an issue.

 

[pellicle]

Hi

Its all OK, I've taken my dose twice in a row (long story) and so I just took none the next day and carried on as usual.its not the end of the world, and in a few days you will be back to normal.

It should NOT take five finger pricks to get a good test. Did you watch my video and follow that method?

 

[DachsieMom]

Yes, I did watch. Thank you. I have no idea what I am doing wrong. I get error 5 repeatedly. It's only been a few weeks. Hopefully I will be better at it soon!

 

[dick0236]

Yes, I did watch. Thank you. I have no idea what I am doing wrong. I get error 5 repeatedly. It's only been a few weeks. Hopefully I will be better at it soon!

You will get better at it. The error message 5 is "applying blood to the test strip". I stopped using the "pencil lancet" that came with the meter and asked Roche to send me some 23 gauge lancets (REF 04348150001)for a deeper stick(1.8mm). They did the trick and I have little problem getting a big droplet of blood. I also agree with Pellicle that "its all OK". Just stay with your normal routine. BTW, Pellicos video is a good primer for anyone starting self testing.

 

[pellicle]

Hi

I have no idea what I am doing wrong. I get error 5 repeatedly. It's only been a few weeks.

It sounds like you are trying to minimise the blood sample, when its better to have more (no, essential to have more).

Did anyone train you? (No one trained me and I wasted some strips early on too)

Make sure you get a "FULL HANGING DROP" to apply to the strip. Do not follow the tiny smear method that diabetics use. If you don't get a good drop then you will just waste strips time after time. Also even if the machine grants that as being on the edge of enough having a puny sample has resulted in less accurate readings when I compared to the Lab vein draw.

If you have really low blood flow (like always cold hands, pale fingers) then you need to do something to encourage the blood flow first. I find doing a few dishes of washing up helps particularly in winter, or really soon after a shower.

Make sure to wind the band down the finger towards the tip.

Lance on the side

Do a practice run on non measure days and see that (like in my video) you get that sort of drop.

Best Wishes

 

[DachsieMom]

Thanks! Today I made it on the second try, so I consider that a success! It was 3.4. I was tempted to go to the lab and test to double check (last week the lab was .5 different) but wasn't certain if that would be covered by insurance.

 

[pellicle]

3.4 is good. Nothing wrong with that.

Glad to hear your getting better. If you watch that vid, look for the details like:. How the finger turns red (meaning there is blood) , how much comes and forms a drop. Do not touch the blood to the strip till you have that hanging drop ..

Best wishes