Wow! Didn't realize levels can change so fast

[DachsieMom]

Interesting...I did my weekly test on Thursday at 8 am and it was 2.5. On Friday, I went for a blood draw around 11:30 (had not done that for 9 months, as I switched to home testing) because my cardio wanted to check my iron. I immediately came home and tested with my meter because I was curious about its accuracy. My Coagucheck had me at 1.9. Lab results were 1.7....so coaguchek was pretty accurate but how can the level change that much in 24 hours??? I can't recall what I had for dinner that night.

 

[pellicle]

Hi

I keep saying this, and saying this and saying this like a stuck record .. tick .... tick ... tick

INR can and does change fast and when it does it can swing fast and far.

There is a totally unsubstantiated unable to bear scrutiny myth out there that "oh once you're stable you only need to test every month ... "

90% of the time it doesn't change ... but like ... would you walk across the road and only check every (say) 4th time you crossed the road? I recently was looking at some of the feedback for an INR app and some nong complained that he couldn't set his test interval to greater than 2 months. Two Bloody Months!

and your change isn't even far! I know (from personal communications) Ski Girl recently had a INR swing up to 5 (and no she wasn't slugging on the Grapefruit juice this time).

Did you accidentially miss a dose? Such a drop... Did you take any antacids soon after or before your warfarin? Some of them have a compound that can inhibit the uptake of warfarin.

 

[marc_kowal]

Hi,

Keep in mind that all home meters are allowed a certain percentage of variance. I can't remember what that percentage is but I remember how shocked I was at how high it was. My Alere meter was always at the upper end of the tolerance and was all over the place compared to a veinous draw, so I switched over to a Coagucheck. You INR may not have changed that much, but the meter was just within it's allowable variance.

 

[RTZdad]

I have found that there are some things that affect my INR numbers inconsistently. I tend to stay in the same diet, but for some reason my numbers get screwed up I I eat a lot of red meat. The strange thing is that it doesn't always result in the same variance. That is the benefit of having a home monitor. Huge differences within a few days for me is always a result of a missed dose. It happened a few times and I could never remember with absolute certainty that I had taken my meds. I've had it happen several times, so I finally just bought one of those 7 day pill boxes that took the doubt away.

Tom