Stopping coumadin forever - concerned

[Darryl's heart]

I had my mitral valve repaired about 2 weeks ago. They used a plastic ring to reshape the leaflets on the valve and put them back to how they're supposed to be. I'm presently taking 10 mg of coumadin. The Doctor's have told me that I will be on the coumadin for about 6 to 8 weeks. I'm thankful that I won't need to be on this for the rest of my life. Although this is just for a short period of time, I'm still concerned about what happens when I just stop taking it? They haven't said anything to me about weaning me off of it. So, I'm not sure what they'll do. Does anyone have an experience they can share or have an idea of what they'll do or what I can expect? I'm just concerned that I'll develop a clot. Thank you.

 

[bvdr]

Darryl, the reason you are put on the coumadin temporarily after the repair is that clots can form on the not perfectly smooth edges of the surgical site such as suture lines. As the healing progresses these areas smooth out and the risk goes way down.

When you discontinue warfarin the level drops slowly over several days so there is a natural "weaning" so to speak that occurs. I have never heard of a rebound clotting response or anything similar to that. Has anyone else?

 

[RCB]

Stopping warfarin after valve surgery

Stopping warfarin after valve surgery

This was routine years ago and nothing happened to most people.
As more and more people had surgery, doctors began to notice increases of stokes occurring months and years after stopping warfarin. Numbers were small because not very many people wanted to take a chance on heart surgery for
over ten years after I had my first and second. I know I was taken off warfarin for my first and second surgeries and not advised to go on it full time till 1968. Maybe Al Lodwick knows when they first adopted warfarin protocol, but It did not become a normal RX till after 1981 for me. I noticed nothing after stopping warfarin, till years later when I had a TIA and stroke. With your repair, going off warfarin is nonevent, but something to be happy about. You don't know how lucky you are that you were able to be repaired!

 

[gadgetman]

As a fellow "valve repaired" member I was not that concerned. I was on it for 4 weeks after my surgery. As I was going to my Daughter's for two weeks and was to stop while there, the Nurse and Cardio both said I should (no absolutes or guarantees really--no matter what the Doc says) not experience any problems. The Nurse gave me a slip of paper outlining the warning signs of a stroke and said if I experienced any (and she stressed ANY) of them to get to an ER post haste. Didn't really notice any change after stopping the coumadin except the slow decrease in nose bleeds (which I had never had before starting the stuff). Still took me some time to get up the nerve to "BLOW MY NOSE".

I've had the same Cardio for over 13 years now and he knows me inside and out (so to speak). He told me they would monitor things very closely for several months and make changes as necessary.

May God Bless,

Danny

 

[weekycat]

It was not a problem at all

It was not a problem at all

I had my mitral valve repair almost 3 years ago. I was on Coumadin for 8 weeks. I had an appt with my cardio at that time, and told him that the surgeon had said I could go off of it after 8 weeks, and he just said, "Ok, then go off of it". One baby aspirin per day had also been prescribed by my surgeon, so I asked if I still needed to do that, and the card said, "Nope, you don't need that either".

I have an annuloplasty ring also, and It's my understanding that once your own tissue grows around the implanted ring, there's no more risk of stroke than there was before surgery. Is that right, Betty??

I was thrilled to be able to get off Coumadin for good, mostly because I didn't like looking like a battered wife from the bruising while I was on it.

 

[Guest]

There is no residual effect. 24-48 hours after stopping warfarin, it is as if you had never taken any.

 

[Marty]

One of the beautiful things about a repair is after the stitches heal you do not need Coumadin-period-. I have never heard of a repair patient having problems after going off Coumadin. I wish i could have had a repair.

 

[gadgetman]

One of the beautiful things about a repair is after the stitches heal you do not need Coumadin-period-. I have never heard of a repair patient having problems after going off Coumadin. I wish i could have had a repair.

God made that choice for me, thank goodness. I went to sleep before my surgery expecting to come out with a new valve replacement. Repair was not even an option discussed by my surgeon, just the choice of the type of replacement. God must have done something in there because my surgeon was a very worried dude (remember my post about receiving a visit from the "Heart Transplant Team ). Even Dr McGiffin was surprised.

May God Bless,

Danny