how much asprin to temporarily replace coumadin??

[coldflawlove]

Okay' heres the deal. My boyfriend is supposed to take 10 MG's of coumadin sun. Tue. Thur. And Saturday and 12.5 Mgs Mon. Wed. And Fri. He doesn't have health insurance. We have found a doctor that is reasonably priced considering he doesn't have health insurance but his doctor won't write him for his blood thinners until he gets his INR. His doctor doesn't do the test in the office and it has to be done at the hospital where they want upwards of $150 to do the INR. That's money he doesn't have right now. So he hasn't had his blood thinners in almost a month now. I was wondering his much aspirin he could take to keep him in a range that is safe for him until we can get the money together to get the tests done and get the money for him to go back to the doctor. Please someone help!!!!

[caregiver222]

To state there is "no amount of aspirin that will replace Coumadin" is not correct. To compare the effects of aspirin vs. Coumadin go to the United States government health database "Pubmed". There are several studies available to review. While it is true the drugs have different modes of action there are alternatives to  Coumadin. If you stop taking Coumadin and there is a hiatus, and start again there can be a fatal reaction. If Coumadin is stopped you have to go on intravenous heparin again for several days before re-starting. Because Coumadin is a standard treatment a physician cannot suggest otherwise. The patient has to bring this up and state "I want an alternative".

[skydnsr]

All of that said, if I absolutely had no way to obtain coumadin, I guess I would take an aspirin a day.  It is not a substitute for coumadin, but it does have some anticlotting properties, and maybe it would be better than nothing.  I don't think more than one regular-size tablet a day will do any more good than the one tablet.  In fact, a low dose 80mg ("baby aspirin") tablet might do just as well as the regular size 320mg tablet.  It's better to try something than to do nothing.

But if aspirin could truly substitute for coumadin, almost nobody would be on coumadin.  Everyone would just take aspirin, unless they had some specific reason not to, such as an allergy to aspirin.  The reason coumadin is prescribed for some types of health issues is that it does things that aspirin can't do.

[skydnsr]

There is no amount of aspirin that will take the place of coumadin.  The two drugs work on different types of clotting systems.  Aspirin is an antiplatelet agent.  It keeps platelets from sticking together and forming a clot.  Coumadin keeps your liver from using vitamin k to manufacture other types of clotting factors in the blood.  If it were me in your BF's situation (and I do take coumadin), I would find any way I could to get back on coumadin ASAP.  I really don't understand the doctor's insistance on an INR test at the present moment, because all it will show is that your BF has been off of coumadin for the past month.  If he has not had any coumadin in the past month, he just needs to get back on his normal dose, and then he will need to test in about one week.  Does the doctor not know that your BF is completely off of coumadin?  If the doctor does not understand this, I would simply get a "new patient" appointment with the doctor as soon as possible and would explain at the appointment that I had not taken any coumadin for the past month.  There is no point in doing an INR test on someone who does not have any coumadin in his system.   If the doctor does not understand that, then I would not think that particular doctor knew enough about coumadin to prescribe and manage mine.  As far as the $150 for the test, it shouldn't be that expensive unless you live in a remote area and there is only one facility within many miles that can do an INR test.  If you live in a reasonably large city, there should be alternatives.  I can post a few thoughts on that, if you're interested.  If you live where there truly is only one lab though, you may be stuck, at least for now.