Author: Alex Thompson

Warfarin Oral: Uses, Side Effects, Interactions, Pictures, Warnings & Dosing

Remember, keep this and all other medicines out of the reach of children, never share your medicines with others, and use warfarin only for the indication prescribed. Grapefruit juice, cranberry juice, noni juice, and pomegranate juice may interact with warfarin and lead to unwanted side effects. Avoid the use of these juice products while taking this medicine.

They can use these results to calculate the international normalized ratio (INR), which they use to standardize the results across different labs and testing centers. The PT and INR help a provider monitor how well warfarin is working to prevent blood clots. The results tell them if they need to adjust your dose. Ask your doctor before using any medicine for pain, arthritis, fever, or swelling.

Warfarin Tablets

This includes aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), naproxen (Aleve), celecoxib (Celebrex), diclofenac, indomethacin, meloxicam, and others. These medicines may affect blood clotting and may also increase your risk of stomach bleeding. The dosage is based on your medical condition, lab tests (such as INR), and response to treatment.

1. As with all medications, warfarin may produce side effects in some people.
2. Make sure you don’t miss your appointments because your doctor determines your warfarin dose based on your blood tests.
3. Do not flush medications down the toilet or pour them into a drain unless instructed to do so.
4. The 10-hydroxywarfarin metabolite as well as a benzylic alcohol metabolite undergo an elimination step to form dehydrowarfarin.

You may still bleed more easily for several days after you stop taking warfarin. It is important that all your doctors and dentists know that you take warfarin. In addition, warfarin is usually not the right choice for people who have difficulty taking their medicines as prescribed. That is because it’s important to take warfarin in precisely the way a healthcare provider recommends each day. You will need to take these tests several times so that your healthcare provider can raise or lower your dose accordingly to get your INR in the acceptable range. For example, if your INR is too low, you may need to take a higher warfarin dosage every day.

Drugs that affect CYP450 enzyme

You will need frequent “INR” or prothrombin time tests (to measure your blood-clotting time and determine your warfarin dose). You must remain under the care of a doctor while taking this medicine. Many other drugs can increase your risk of bleeding when used with warfarin. Tell your doctor about all medicines you have recently used. Official product monographs mention a study in 15 women.Label,17 Warfarin was not detected in the breast milk of any woman and 6 infants were documented as having normal prothrombin times.

On the other hand, if your INR is too high, you may need to decrease your daily dosage. Blood clotting involves specific proteins and blood components. Proteins called “clotting factors” activate through a series of reactions that ultimately help form a blood clot.

Furthermore, if given initially without additional anticoagulant cover, it can increase thrombosis risk (see below). The FDA has stated that generic warfarin products are interchangeable. However, consult your doctor or pharmacist before switching warfarin products. Be careful not to take more than one medication that contains warfarin unless specifically directed by the doctor or health care provider who is monitoring your warfarin treatment. Some foods and beverages, particularly those that contain vitamin K, can affect how warfarin works for you. Ask your doctor or pharmacist for a list of foods that contain vitamin K.

Talk to your doctor about the risk(s) of taking warfarin. Different dosages often come in different-colored tablets, making taking precisely the right amount easier. Vitamin K is a closely related group of compounds found in some foods. The “K” comes from the German word for coagulation (koagulation). Warfarin activity is determined partially by genetic factors.

This medication is used to treat blood clots (such as in deep vein thrombosis-DVT or pulmonary embolus-PE) and/or to prevent new clots from forming in your body. Preventing harmful blood clots helps to reduce the risk of a stroke or heart attack. Aspirin, aspirin-like drugs (salicylates), and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs such as ibuprofen, naproxen, celecoxib) may have effects similar to warfarin. These drugs may increase the risk of bleeding problems if taken during treatment with warfarin. Carefully check all prescription/nonprescription product labels (including drugs applied to the skin such as pain-relieving creams) since the products may contain NSAIDs or salicylates. Talk to your doctor about using a different medication (such as acetaminophen) to treat pain/fever.

Drugs.com provides accurate and independent information on more than 24,000 prescription drugs, over-the-counter medicines and natural products. This material is provided for educational purposes only and is not intended for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Data sources include Micromedex (updated 3 Mar 2024), Cerner Multum™ (updated 4 Mar 2024), ASHP (updated 12 Feb 2024) and others. Avoid activities that may increase your risk of bleeding or injury. Use extra care to prevent bleeding while shaving or brushing your teeth.

Before taking warfarin,

As with all medications, warfarin may produce side effects in some people. However, the most common side effect of warfarin therapy is unwanted bleeding. Bleeding is most likely to occur if a person’s INR is too high.

So, you may want to ask your healthcare provider whether one of these different treatments might work in your situation. To decrease your risk for bleeding, your doctor or other health care provider will monitor you closely and check your lab results (INR test) to make sure you are not taking too much warfarin. Tell your doctor right away if you notice any signs of serious bleeding. Follow the directions on your prescription label carefully, and ask your doctor or pharmacist to explain any part you do not understand. Do not take more or less of it or take it more often than prescribed by your doctor.

So, if you add or change medications, you may need to get a new INR test. In a person not taking warfarin or another anti-coagulation medication, the result of a typical INR test is around 1.0. The goal for people taking warfarin is usually to get an INR between 2.0 and 3.0. All patients must be appropriately selected and trained.

The main tests used for this purpose are an international normalized ratio test and a prothrombin time, also known, respectively, as an INR test and PT test. If you are pregnant and have a mechanical heart valve, warfarin may be worth considering despite these risks. The risk of dangerous blood clots due to the artificial valve usually outweighs other risks. However, talk with your healthcare provider to weigh the risks and potential benefits in your particular situation. Warfarin is slower-acting than the common anticoagulant heparin, though it has a number of advantages. Heparin must be given by injection, whereas warfarin is available orally.