What Does A INR Of 5 While On Coumadin Indicate?

Posted on Fri, 10 Feb 2017

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Fri, 10 Feb 2017 Answered on

Fri, 10 Mar 2017 Last reviewed on

Question : I take Coumadin 5mg one day and 7.5 the next. I take one Ultram in the late afternoon. I take two Mapap and a Amenbin late at night. My INR was 5 Monday . Stopped Coumadin for two days. Had INR Wednesday and it was 1.8. Got back on Coumadin 5 mg and repeated INR and it was 1.6 today. All was ordered from Dr. What do I do?

Answered by Dr. Ilir Sharka (53 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
I would recommend as follows:

Detailed Answer:
Hello!

Welcome and thank you for asking on HCM!

I understand your concern and would explain that acetaminophen contained in Mapap, can increase the effects of Coumadin, leading to an increased INR (like in your case).

I agree with your doctor decision to stop Coumadin for a couple of days. As your INR is 1.8 now, I would recommend taking another 5mg for two days and then perform another INR test.

If it results below 2, I would recommend taking Coumadin as before: one day 5 and one day 7.5 mg.

If your INR levels will be between 2 and 3, I would recommend taking coumadin 5mg daily.

INR levels should be repeated after a couple of weeks and then every month, in order to make the appropriate changes.

Hope you will find this answer helpful!

Kind regards,

Dr. Iliri

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar