Hi @yorlik. Good to see you again. Your report touched on some experiences I have had with A-fib and "blood thinners." First, INR is "international normalized ratio" which is calculated by a test laboratory, showing the ratio between the PT (prothrombin time, how long it takes for blood to clot for a specified laboratory reagent used to conduct the test) and an ideal clotting time for the particular case. The INR typically ranges between 2.0 and 3.0. Mine jumps closely around 2.5. Second, a couple of years ago, my INR jumped up to 5.6 (taking "forever" to clot) so my medical team had me skip Coumadin a couple of days to bring it back down to 2.5. By the time it settled around that number, I developed clots in my heart, one of which lodged in my brain causing a "small stroke." So I'm really careful about taking the right amount of Coumadin every day and checking my INR on schedule. Third, my regimen is underpinned by the tragic death of a neighbor and friend who fell in his garage and suffered a head injury. He was on Coumadin, so I knew he needed immediate medical diagnosis in the new hospital just a mile away. EMT took him there, but within an hour he was loaded on a helicopter that carried him to the large regional hospital 20 miles away. He died of a cranial hemorrhage within the hour. Turned out that the new hospital didn't have a common Vitamin K antidote on hand to neutralize the Coumadin and help his blood to clot. Now, my first question to a medical care service is whether they have a Coumadin antidote on hand for immediate use. No Vitamin K, no treatment affecting my circulatory system. Martin

Hi Yorlik - Being on blood thinners is not dangerous at all. With atrial fib 24/7 I would not even try to talk my doctor leaving me off a blood thinner. With atrial fib 24/7 you are at a very high risk of a stroke. I would rather have some bruises now and then (and believe me, I do get those!) but who cares! I would rather being safe than sorry. For the last 28 years I've been at the lab for a blood test once a month, and sometimes more often if the INR was off the required number. A Vit-K shot is rarely needed (I never did in all those 28 years), only if your INR is totally off the charts. Often I can adjust the INR by changing how much coumadin I take for a couple of days. By the way, INR stands for "the International Normalized Ratio (INR) and is a calculation based on results of a test.