Coumadin questions

I didn't know which forum to post in, and I searched coumadin and this forum had the most hits, so I went with it...
Anyway, I was wondering some things...
I was put on coumadin about a month ago because I got blood clots in both lungs. I went back to the ER a few weeks later because I was having really bad pain, and they put me on prednisone, tapering from 60mg down. I talked to my pulmonologist's office and let them know that I had been seen in the ER and told them about the prednisone. Apparently the message didn't get to my doctor or the coumadin nurse, so my INR went through the roof. After 2 weeks, I went in to have my INR checked, and it was 6.7.

I've been REALLY tired the past week. On top of things, I had my period (the first since being on coumadin) and it was heavy.

Can my INR being so high make me exhausted? I feel like I could sleep for days and it not help at all. In fact, I went to sleep last night at about midnight and didn't wake up today until 3pm.

I feel like I'm new to all of this (the coumadin at least) and could use some knowledge that the dr's don't tell...the little things you learn when you've been on it a while.

Thanks!

Ginny,

I talked to my pulmonologist while I was in the hospital about tests for blood disorders, and he told me that we would have to wait until I'm off the coumadin to test, since the coumadin would alter the tests. Are we talking about different tests? Maybe I'm thinking about other tests than you. I'll have to google the syndromes you listed and learn more.

Is my crohn's flaring...that's a million dollar question. I've had tests, and everything has come back normal, so my GI has decided it's anxiety causing symptoms, and they changed the dose of the Effexor, which didn't change a thing. I think there's something going on in my system, but it's just not showing in tests. Though I might add that my bloodwork has been abnormal for months, and they haven't figured out why certain labs are high. It makes it harder to figure out what's going on when new things like the blood clots happen and new meds are added to the ones I'm already on.

It's possible also that depression is causing the fatigue. I'm not in a good place right now...things aren't going well in my life, and health issues just compound the problems that are already there.

Thanks for listening, and I appreciate any advice you may have.