For a scary moment I couldn’t remember if I forgot to take my Warfarin, or not…

… I don’t think I forgot to take my Warfarin, but I can’t remember taking the pills.  It’s now 9 o’clock at night.  I try to think how many tablets were left in the pack after taking them yesterday. I have not been keeping my Warfarin log sheet because I have been on the same amount daily for a long time and didn’t think it was necessary.  Perhaps I have become complacent about taking my Warfarin dose!

If I was certain that I forgot to take my Warfarin then I would still take it, even at 9pm at night.  I have a rule that any time before midnight is okay for my dose, not ideal but okay.  But if it is past midnight then I don’t take it and miss a dose.

So what do I do if I am unsure whether I have taken my medication of not?

If I decide not to take a dose now that will mean that I may miss a dose.  This will move my INR a lot but it will not be as drastic as taking two lots of 16mg of Warfarin.  Taking a double dose of Warfarin could be catastrophic.  Could you imagine taking 32mg of warfarin in one day?  Wow! No, that’s too scary.  So the best approach is to not take it.

I decide to check my INR on my Coagucheck machine.  That way I will have an idea about whether I have missed a dose or not.  My INR reading is at 2.9 so there is a very high probability that I have not taken the Warfarin.  However, 2.9 is still within my range and manageable with foods or a wee alcoholic drink.  There is no way I can chance taking another dose or even half a dose.  I could call the hospital and ask their advice, or NHS 24, if I am really unsure.  Yet I can manage 2.9 so my definitive plan is…

…don’t risk double dosing on Warfarin, take my next dose tomorrow and I will go and make myself a nice wee Pimms for tonight to help my INR.

… and the moral of the story?  Don’t become complacent over ‘bloodthinners’ such as Warfarin. I will be printing my INR record again and ticking off when I have taken my dose.  It’s so easy to get it wrong and ever so dangerous.