Warfarin side effects.
- Thread starter AmyR
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chaconne
Well-known member
More likely it's from surgery recovery. The symptoms you mentioned sound consistent with that. I have heard of people having headaches due to Warfarin, but this seems to go with an INR that's too high. You should check out this previous thread:
http://www.valvereplacement.org/for...old-due-to-Warfarin&highlight=warfarin+chills
http://www.valvereplacement.org/for...old-due-to-Warfarin&highlight=warfarin+chills
pellicle
Professional Dingbat, Guru and Merkintologist
Hi
which on the scale of things is nearly nothing. I take about 7mg a day and others 5mg so 2.5 is an exceptionally low dose.
I would be tempted to say the latter (symptoms of post op). IF you have some morbid dread of warfarin and approach taking your pills like a person being led to the gas chamber then perhaps it may be a psychologically enhanced feeling. I have noted a pathological (unbased on facts or evidence) fear of Warfarin here on this group.
I think you'll be right.
PS: if you are worried about things then I'd ask them to get a blood test done to identify if you have the CYP2C9 gene (and as well the VKORC1 gene variant which effects its metabolism too). There are some variants of that gene(s) that make people more sensitive to the effects of warfarin (and so needing a lower dose by as much as 35% to achieve the same effect. Given your low dose perhaps they have already done this and that's why your dose is low).
I would look more closely for signs of bleeding such as your stools being discoloured darker or having darker patches (perhaps indicating blood from your intestine) and any swelling in places which seems strange to you. Bleeding is the main side effect of warfarin and is related to high INR (and thus to dose).
which on the scale of things is nearly nothing. I take about 7mg a day and others 5mg so 2.5 is an exceptionally low dose.
I would be tempted to say the latter (symptoms of post op). IF you have some morbid dread of warfarin and approach taking your pills like a person being led to the gas chamber then perhaps it may be a psychologically enhanced feeling. I have noted a pathological (unbased on facts or evidence) fear of Warfarin here on this group.
I think you'll be right.
PS: if you are worried about things then I'd ask them to get a blood test done to identify if you have the CYP2C9 gene (and as well the VKORC1 gene variant which effects its metabolism too). There are some variants of that gene(s) that make people more sensitive to the effects of warfarin (and so needing a lower dose by as much as 35% to achieve the same effect. Given your low dose perhaps they have already done this and that's why your dose is low).
I would look more closely for signs of bleeding such as your stools being discoloured darker or having darker patches (perhaps indicating blood from your intestine) and any swelling in places which seems strange to you. Bleeding is the main side effect of warfarin and is related to high INR (and thus to dose).
The fact that you're having the symptoms right after taking the Warfarin doesn't make it sound like the Warfarin is causing those symptoms. Warfarin's effects are very slow -- it takes about 40 hours after you take the Warfarin to get the full effect.
It is possible - though highly unlikely - that you may be sensitive to some non-warfarin component of your pills -- the dye that they use to color the pill or the stuff they use to hold it together - but these issues haven't been reported.
What you're feeling is probably post-op, or just a psychological reaction to having to take the pill. (FWIW--critics call Warfarin 'rat poison', trying to make it sound scarier than it really is -- there's a line of rats that developed an immunity to it, so it can't honestly be called 'rat poison' any more)
It is possible - though highly unlikely - that you may be sensitive to some non-warfarin component of your pills -- the dye that they use to color the pill or the stuff they use to hold it together - but these issues haven't been reported.
What you're feeling is probably post-op, or just a psychological reaction to having to take the pill. (FWIW--critics call Warfarin 'rat poison', trying to make it sound scarier than it really is -- there's a line of rats that developed an immunity to it, so it can't honestly be called 'rat poison' any more)
If you don't mind, Amy, I'm curious. Did your doc prescribe 2.5 mg of warfarin without also prescribing an INR target range? Or are you being tested, and 2.5 happens to be the dose that keeps you in range?
I ask because of the way you said it, and because I know a fellow who was prescribed a fixed dose of warfarin, along with both Plavix and Aspirin, in the hopes of preventing clot formation. It seems a little odd to me that a doctor would do that. Someone above mentioned that he takes 7mg daily, and that others take 5. I need 11 mg each and every day to stay in my range of 2.0-3.0. There are people who need just a half of a 1mg tablet to accomplish the same thing. That to me, makes it a little odd to prescribe warfarin by dose, rather than dosing to a range.
To actually answer your question, those don't really sound like warfarin effects, though each of us is different. Warfarin does take some time to do what it is made for, but who knows? Maybe there are possible, more immediate side effects for some people. Seems unlikely, but stranger things have happened.
I ask because of the way you said it, and because I know a fellow who was prescribed a fixed dose of warfarin, along with both Plavix and Aspirin, in the hopes of preventing clot formation. It seems a little odd to me that a doctor would do that. Someone above mentioned that he takes 7mg daily, and that others take 5. I need 11 mg each and every day to stay in my range of 2.0-3.0. There are people who need just a half of a 1mg tablet to accomplish the same thing. That to me, makes it a little odd to prescribe warfarin by dose, rather than dosing to a range.
To actually answer your question, those don't really sound like warfarin effects, though each of us is different. Warfarin does take some time to do what it is made for, but who knows? Maybe there are possible, more immediate side effects for some people. Seems unlikely, but stranger things have happened.
pellicle
Professional Dingbat, Guru and Merkintologist
Hi
not quite sure I understand the Laughing Out Loud on this ...
certainly you will be weaker than you probably understand, but that will change as you recover.
yotphix raises some important points in better detail
I would look into this if I were you. Don't accept the doctors as word of god. Sure 99 percent of the time they are right, but you should always keep an eye out for that 1%.
I'd ask the reasons, cos I agree with:
its the INR range that's important, and the dosing should be designed in concert with measuring your INR to achieve that range.
Don't be dismissed with mystical replies either ... ask and expect answers.
all the best for your recovery
lol thanks for the replies guys.
not quite sure I understand the Laughing Out Loud on this ...
i think i am just over thinking it. I guess m just weak post op and not ready to accept it.
certainly you will be weaker than you probably understand, but that will change as you recover.
yotphix raises some important points in better detail
I would look into this if I were you. Don't accept the doctors as word of god. Sure 99 percent of the time they are right, but you should always keep an eye out for that 1%.
I'd ask the reasons, cos I agree with:
its the INR range that's important, and the dosing should be designed in concert with measuring your INR to achieve that range.
Don't be dismissed with mystical replies either ... ask and expect answers.
all the best for your recovery
As others have said already, it's definitely the range that's important. For me, 7.5 mg/day is my usual dose - unless I take an antibiotic or have too much wine or dehydrate (it's going do be 105 degrees) or something. For me, although I went for nearly 18 years with haphazard INR testing - and survived to talk about it - I feel much more comfortable being able to test weekly using my own meter. Self-testing has been a great thing for many of us here - and studies show that patients who regularly self-test are in range a lot more than those who don't.
Don't overthink warfarin -- it isn't the curse that some would try to make you believe that it is.
Don't overthink warfarin -- it isn't the curse that some would try to make you believe that it is.
tom mac
New member
Ever since starting warfarin 13 years ago I have been prone to migraine-like visual disturbances, which normally last about 30 minutes and seldom occur twice in the one day (I was referred to a neurologist who reassured me that they were nothing sinister). Today I have had several over a four hour period and have also found out that my INR is low (2.1). Does anyone know if there is a connection between the low INR and the visual disturbances? :confused2:
There is no correlation between INR and the visual disturbances. You're referring to ophthalmic migraines (one of many labels). I started same about 2 days' post-op -- probably before they started me on Coumadin. I'm sure I was on heparin drip, moved to Lovenox shots, then pills added before discharge.
I mentioned the visual disturbances to my surgeon, and he didn't understand me. When I was discharged, I stayed with my parents for 2 weeks. I mentioned the visual problems to my dad and he told me he also has them, had consulted a neuro-opthalmologist. My dad has never taken warfarin.
Years go I mentioned these "auras" to a friend who had retired as a professor at an optometry school in Memphis, TN. He said that they can be due to disturbances in blood flow. I still get them occasionally. They're just a pain in the butt, you can't do anything for them.
I've been getting these 'ocular migraines' for many years. I've gotten them for decades before my AVR. I don't think that there is any relationship to the warfarin.
Originally, I thought that they replaced actual migraine headaches - and much prefer the temporary inconvenience to the debilitating pain of an actual migraine. Fortunately, the migraines stopped once the ocular disturbances started.
When I get these ocular things, I often have something caffeinated, and sometimes also have a chocolate bar. These occasionally stop or shorten the length of the 'attack.' As I'm sure you're aware, bright lights seem to make these worse, and may even cause them to occur. If I have the time, and the luxury of a bed or chair, it sometimes seems to help just to lay down with a t-shirt (or something) over my eyes to reduce the amount of light. For me, these annoying interludes last about 20-30 minutes. If I lay down, with my eyes covered, they usually last 1/3 - 1/2 hour.
I doubt that warfarin has anything to do with these things -- but there may be some blood pressure or other issues at play here. These things are annoying, it's best not to drive when they come on (although it's probably not unsafe to drive with one occurring, if you can't pull off the road while they're happening), but they DO resolve.
Originally, I thought that they replaced actual migraine headaches - and much prefer the temporary inconvenience to the debilitating pain of an actual migraine. Fortunately, the migraines stopped once the ocular disturbances started.
When I get these ocular things, I often have something caffeinated, and sometimes also have a chocolate bar. These occasionally stop or shorten the length of the 'attack.' As I'm sure you're aware, bright lights seem to make these worse, and may even cause them to occur. If I have the time, and the luxury of a bed or chair, it sometimes seems to help just to lay down with a t-shirt (or something) over my eyes to reduce the amount of light. For me, these annoying interludes last about 20-30 minutes. If I lay down, with my eyes covered, they usually last 1/3 - 1/2 hour.
I doubt that warfarin has anything to do with these things -- but there may be some blood pressure or other issues at play here. These things are annoying, it's best not to drive when they come on (although it's probably not unsafe to drive with one occurring, if you can't pull off the road while they're happening), but they DO resolve.
