Holy Crap

This product got a plug on Have I Got News For You, tonight.

I thought it was a spoof, but if it is, the web site is a masterpiece of misleading information.

It is actually a gluten-free breakfast cereal. The product page is here and I only have one problem with it and that is that it contains cranberries, which are a no-no if you are on Warfarin.

My other problem might be putting on a lumberjack shirt and high heels to eat it.

An Afternoon Of Rhinitis

Yesterday was fairly typical of what I go through.  My nose seems to run from the time I get up until I go to bed.

An Afternoon Of Rhinitis

The picture shows all the tissues I got through in a couple of hours.

It used to be bad when I was a child,  I can remember my mother constantly boiling up handkerchiefs on the stove, both for myself and my father, who was similarly effected.

But it’s never been as bad as this.

It seems to have started when I was in hospital in Hong Kong, and it just seems to be getting worse and worse.

Could it be long term effects of the Warfarin?

Rat Poison And Sprouts Don’t Mix

This cautionary tale about mixing brussels sprouts with anti-coagulant drugs, like Warfarin, should be noted.

The trouble is that I like my sprouts, so I’ll go easy on them over Christmas.

I think though, I’ll do a before and after INR test.

I feel a bit of scientific research coming on!

Offering Pineapple on the Tube

Coming back from Oxford Street today, I took a bus to Euston, where I picked up my supper in the Marks & Spencer there.

I had read somewhere that pineapple chunks are good when you have a dry mouth like I have, so I bought some to have with my supper and keep in the fridge to snack on.

There were signalling problems when I got to the Victoria line and by the time the train moved off it was very hot.  So I took out the pineapple chunks and ate a few.

I offered them round and there were no takers.

When I got home, I then had a thought that they might react with my warfarin.  They don’t.

92 Clubs – Day 45 – A Day Off

I had to visit the doctor for my Warfarin check, so I took the day off.

Perhaps, I’m slacking, but I only have three more clubs to visit.

92 Clubs – Day 38 – A Day Off

This was another doctor’s day, essentially to have my INR levels checked. But there was a machine failure, so I’ll have to have them checked next Monday.

I should say that my INR levels and Warfarin intake has now been the same for nearly eighteen months.

Sunday Times On Strokes

They have a series of articles on strokes today.  One in particular talks about the new drugs to replace Warfarin. Information for the article was provided by Boehringer Ingelheim.

So who makes one of the new drugs?

You got it in one!

Am I changing?

No! All the doctors I’ve seen from the stars that appear on TV, to the newly qualified have advised me against them.

The reason is that it took us many years to know all the Warfarin problems.  The biggest is actually people getting rather mixed up, as to what is the dose.

Solving that is a managememt problem and doesn’t require a new drug with unknown side-effects.

In the article, it says that with the new drugs, the great advantage is that you take one a day.  I have taken the same dose of Warfarin for over a year now and the dose  is 5 mg (pink) most days and 4 mg (1 blue and 1 brown) on Saturday and Monday.

What could be simpler?

Diet and Warfarin

With the scare from Denmark about Marmite, I thought I’d check that my diet was OK? Especially, as I’m on a gluten free diet and take Warfarin.

It can’t be too bad, as I’ve been on the same level of Warfarin for about seven or eight months now and the last test was in the correct range.

I found this informative page in the Grown Up Congenital Heart Patients Association web site.

I liked the section about alcohol.

The interaction between alcohol and warfarin is complex. Alcohol acts as a mild anticoagulant. It also can affect the metabolism of the liver, which s important tor metabolising warfarin. As a rule of rhumb, two to three drinks per day – glasses of wine. beer etc -(typical cardiologist input) are unlikely to affect your warfarin levels. Intermittent binge drinking (typical medical student input) leads to an increase in INR (international ratio, the measurement used to check warfarin levels in the blood) due to warfarin being metabolised more slowly. Chronic heavy alcohol intake (Harley Street cardiologist input just joking!) results in a lower warfarin level because the alcohol increases the metabolism of warfarin.

It’s good to see a bit of humour in sites like this.

But then it says it’s a site for grown ups, by which they mean young people and adults.

INR Test – 23rd May 2011

Result: 2.3

Dosing Recommendation: 4.8 mg/day

Next INR Test interval: 56 days

Repeat INR Test on 18th July 2011 at 11:00.

Be Nice To Nanny and You’ll Get Your Warfarin!

As I’ve said before Warfarin testing in this country and I suspect most of the world is complicated and it may be prone to error.  Two respected doctors have told me that.

Today, I took a prescription to Boots to get some more Warfarin tablets.  They wanted to see my yellow book, which I hadn’t got with me.  So I got the third degree! I wasn’t rude, but as a scientist who understands the way Warfarin works well, I resent being treated like an idiot. It’s not the pharmacist’s fault, but the person, who made up the new rules.

Now, my INR has been spot on for months and the dosage has only changed marginally since December last year.  That change was when I changed surgeries and the new one now does the tests themselves on a small monitor, whereas the previous surgery did it by blood tests that were  analysed by the hospital.  The change is that previously, I was on 5 mg. a day and 4 mg. at weekends, and now it’s 5 mg. a day and 4 mg. on Saturdays and Mondays. Or as the computer printout says, one 3 mg. and one 1 mg. on Saturdays and Mondays.  I don’t like the inference that I can’t  work out how I can give myself a 4 mg. dose, with 3 mg. and 1 mg. tablets.

Thev pharmacist indicated that next time if I didn’t bring the book, I wouldn’t get the Warfarin.

I actually think the next time I go, I  might not take it, as I prefer to keep it safe at home.  After all suppose I dropped it, I would then have to go back to the doctor for another book. But I would take a photocopy of my last INR test result. To me that is much more important as it carries the date of my next test.

One thing that is worth noting is that testing method one using blood tests and analysis at the local hospital, said I should be on 4.8 mg. per day. On the other hand testing method two using an electronic monitor in the surgery, said the dose should 4.8 mg per day.

In other words, both methods carried out in a correct professional manner gave exactly the same result.