Switching from coumadin to warfarin

[karen wallin]

Hi guys,
Just wanted to find out if anyone has switched from coumadin to warfarin and what, if anything, happened? I have been told by the pharmacist that the two are interchangeable and nothing will be different. I am a bit unsure about this, but as I have just had a prescription refill and was given warfarin in place of coumadin, I would like to hear what you all have to say about this.

Thanks'
Karen

 

[Johnny Stephens]

COUMADIN® is a brand name for warfarin. When I was in the hospital, I was given a large supply of Coumadin that lasted for 3 months. When I went for a refill, I was given generic warfarin from Barr. My INR went up a bit but was stable so a minor dose adjustment took care of it.

 

[Lisa in Katy]

I went for about 3 months with very unstable INR. Bouncing all over the place, with or without adjustments to dose. My doctor and I finally brainstormed one day and he asked to look at my Coumadin to make sure I was taking the right dose. He was very upset when I showed up with Warfarin. Either he forgot to mark "no substitutions" on the prescription, or the pharmacy filled it wrong. He said that the Warfarin is not as accurate in dosage as the Coumadin. I don't know if this is his opinion or a fact. For the most part, I have had very stable INRs while on Coumadin, so I will stick with it. In fact, the pharmacy recently screwed up on gave me Warfarin in a bottle clearly marked Coumadin. It was important enough to me to get the right thing that I drove back to the pharmacy at 11:00 at night. (They gave me my money back too!)

 

[DickV]

One main problem with Warfarin is that, as a generic, there are various manufacturers of same. I believe the inconsistancy in doseages among these manufacturers varies. If you are on Warfarin and can keep the same supplier, the odds of your INR remaining stable are greater. Unfortunately, many large chain drug stores change suppliers or even have several shipping warfarin at the same time. If you are on Warfarin be sure to check the manufacturer's name on the bottle. If that begins to change, and your INR starts bouncing around, this could be the reason. Like Lisa, Warfarin caused me nothing but problems due to the inconsistancy. I switched back to Coumadin over 2 years ago and have not had problems since.

My two cents.

 

[Gail in Ca]

I have had no problems taking generic coumadin, or warfarin, mine is made by barr.
I was told this is the best manufacturer of warfarin to take.
When switching from one to another, you just need to check your inr and adjust if necessary.
Gail

 

[Perrster]

Warfarin vs. Coumadin

Warfarin vs. Coumadin

I have been on Barr Warfarin for two years and have had no bad experiences with it. Recorded two perfect 3.0 INR's over last couple of months.

I've been told it's not a good idea to interchange brands. Check with Al Lodwick www.warfarin.com for further details.

Regards,

 

[Granbonny]

Always been On Barr Warfarin

Always been On Barr Warfarin

Never knew there could be a difference Need to check mine today. High the first of week. Will see if salad's lowered it. Bonnie

 

[Guest]

There has never been a study that concluded that there was a problem switching to generic. There have been several that showed there were no problems. They were all done with Barr Labs warfarin, as far as I know. There is a potential problem with changing generic manufacturers, but it hasn't really shown up much. The "scientific" information came mainly from the marketing department of Du Pont when they had the rights to Coumadin. In fact when they tested Barr Labs warfarin it was made to tighter controls than was Coumadin. Then Du Pont was sued for saying that their was better and they lost. Those of you who have been taking warfarin for a while remember that Du Pont had to refund consumers $30 million (I think it was) for putting out the information to doctors saying that theirs was better. I personally switched about 200 people to generic and saw no difference in the number of problems. There are so many variables that it would be difficult to sort them all out. If you like Coumadin and think you are more stable on it, stick with it -- it does no harm except to your billfold.

 

[karen wallin]

switching from coumadin to warfarin

switching from coumadin to warfarin

Well, I think I might have to think about this some. I have the warfarin and it is from Barr, but I am on vacation and I went and got some coumadin to tide me over until I get back home. I have been on the coumadin for a year and a half and it took me a while to get stablized, now that I am I am not sure I want to rock the boat. I think I will wait until I get home when I am closer to my cardio before I mess with this. Thanks guys for all your info.

Karen