Warfarin Side Affects??

Hi I recently had heart valve replacement surgery and have been put on warfarin for the rest of my life. My question is this, how will warfarin afect my day to day life. I have a very keen interest in contact sports, such as soccer would I be able to continue to play these, and what are the risks in doing so? Is it possible to still have waxing done, i.e of the chest? And finally how long will it take for the INR to become stable, i have been on it for 5 weeks now, and my INR is at 3.6, I have been told it needs to be at 2.5. I am currently taking 4/5 mg on alternate days.  What are the risks of the INR being too high? Thank you

[Cleveland Clinic]

Sol,

Thanks for the post.

Coumadin is a medicine that causes thinning of the blood by interfereing with the normal mechanisms that cause a clot to form. When you injure yourself, these natural mechanism are what cause arrest in bleeding. Unfortunatelty, the downside of coumadin is an increase in bleeding due to this fact.

I generally would advise against contact sports for most on coumadin as it can increase the risk of internal/external bleeding associated with trauma. Im not sure about the waxing question, but I believe its fairly traumatic and would at minimum probably be associated with excessive bruising.  When the INR is too high the risk of bleeding is increased.

Hope this is a start. Many people in the forum are on coumadin and might be able to guide you on how they have successfully adjusted to taking coumadin.

good luck

[Konopka1955]

Hi,  I noticed your post and you have alot of questions.  I take coumadin and it took me about 3 mos to stabilize.   But with every season change in the Northeast it will make my INR either go up or down.  How much green veggies I eat will effect it.  But don't stop eating them - its just a matter of consistency. How consistent are you? The best advice I can give is to stay 'consistent' in how much vitamin K you intake.  Although if you exercise that can effect your INR levels as well.  So you need to be fairly consistent in that as well.  Its very hard to say; - so many things effect the levels.  But I think testing often is the key to taking this drug.  If your active and don't want to get your INR to high or to low which either way can be dangerous..  I would test weekly.    

I test myself at home - ProTime Machine.  I test once a week.  I would not feel comfortable going any longer without getting tested.    

There is a web site that has many patients who take warfarin/coumadin and there is even one forum titled  "active lifestyles" - there are many people who are active that might be helpful.  The web site is:  http://www.valvereplacement.com/forums

Best Wishes and my advice:  don't worry - you'll get the hang of it - just be patient, consistent in life and test often.  My doseage changes almost every 3 mos.  Its not as bad as it sounds.  It becomes a way of life and you don't even think about it after awhile.   :-)      
Konopka

[Mobunny]

My Dad was on Coumadin..he has atrial fibrillation. The small town doctor kept increasing his dose because the pro-time wasn't what he thought it should be. By August of 2005, he was up to 12 mgs daily. Yes, 12!
Oh, then he had a surprise brain stem hemorrhage. No signs, no symptoms of headache or neck ache. Then WHAM. Violent vomiting, loss of bowel control-someone happened upon him in a deserted country church parking lot and called me & I knew it was bad from the pin-point pupils & altered consciousness. He was flown to St. Louis-Barnes Jewish, with a bp of 240/130, in greatly reduced consciousness,where they reversed the state of his blood with Vitamin K and transfusions of blood products, they drilled a hole in his skull and put in an intra-cranial tube and monitored the pressure that had built up...he was in the ICU for quite a while and actually lived, despite his obesity and age of 72, high plood pressure, a-fib, etc. They admitted that it was probably the coumadin that caused it.
They put in a pacemaker and he went through rehab at another hospital and is back here at home, all his memories and thought processes in tact, he's walking (slight balance deficit) and doing everything he did before!
However, no more coumadin for him! Rat poison...he says.

[kcm]

Hello I am a 28 yr old that has been diagnosed with a DVT and PE since 2003. I suffered this by taking the contraceptive Ortho Evra Patch. My question Is I have been placed on coumadin for life and up until this yr I haven't had a problem. As of now I have had 2 occurances of gross hemuturia. Which is otherwise known as blood in urine. I am unsure as to how to proceed. Should I continue the coumadin and run the risk of bleeding? Or stop coumadin and run the risk of clotting? (previously I was taken off of coumadin placed on asprin and developed another clot) Please advise! Next time it may be my brain that bleeds!

[cdausman]

Your questions are very serious and should be addressed to your doctor.

[cheesecake381]

A related discussion, high blood pressure med question was started.