I take Warfarin.What shoul I do to stabilize my INR level?

Answer 1

Warfarin is a blood thinner.

You usually take it in tablet form at night and then in the day time (initially every day but then a couple of times a week and then stretching out to monthly) you get a blood test to check your INR which measures how thin your blood has become.

Warfarin acts on the liver to suppress vitamin K dependent clotting factors (II, VII, IX and X) by competitive inhibition. The warfarin sits in the spot that vitamin K binds to and stops the liver from making the protein. More vitamin K means more proteins. More warfarin means less proteins.

Some people are naturally very difficult to stabilize and will go haywire at the drop of a hat.

Things that will make the INR go up and down are changes to:

- medications (particularly those that affect protein binding)
- diet (particularly protein and vitamin K intake)

medications can be kept stable usually
it is a bit unrealistic to keep protein and vitamin K intake constant but theoretically that would help somewhat too

work with your doctor and particularly let them know if you are on any new medication or over the counter preparations

Answer 2

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Answer 3

Talk with your DOCTOR!