Al: Magazine needs enlightening!

[catwoman]

Got our July 2005 Consumer Reports issue this weekend.
Saw a comment in an article about Vitamin E that caught my eye. There's a paragraph with boldfaced wording BLOOD THINNING. "Avoid taking vitamin E if you take anti-clotting drugs, such as daily low-dose aspiring or warfarin (Coumadin), since the vitamin can further thin the blood."

I'm thinking of e-mailing Consumer Reports that a person on warfarin CAN take vitamin E, knowing that it will prolong bleeding times, and be prepared to additional blood tests to determine changes in warfarin dosage. Something along those lines.

However, I -- a mere warfarin patient with no medical credentials to my name -- would not come across as very knowledgeable. Not as much as someone like Al Lodwick.

Al??

I'll do it otherwise....

 

[Guest]

I think that their statement is correct.

Vitamin E affects the platelets. This will prolong bleeding time. However, this will not show up on the INR test so you cannot adjust the warfarin dose accordingly. The PT/INR measures only the thrombin part of the clotting mechanism. Things that affect the platelets cannot affect the INR. The do affect bleeding time which is a breed of, shall we say "cat".

 

[catwoman]

I think that their statement is correct.

Vitamin E affects the platelets. This will prolong bleeding time. However, this will not show up on the INR test so you cannot adjust the warfarin dose accordingly. The PT/INR measures only the thrombin part of the clotting mechanism. Things that affect the platelets cannot affect the INR. The do affect bleeding time which is a breed of, shall we say "cat".

OK.
I've never taken any vitamin E supplement, either pre-op or post-op, and didn't use any of the scar-reducing preparations, which I believe do contain vitamin E.

Yes, it's another breed of cat. Longhair or shorthair???

BTW, I was in Castle Rock on Saturday. The internet had lied to us -- said temps were to be about 70 degrees Saturday. NOT!!! Our rental car told us it was 43 degrees @ 1 p.m., and my friend said she saw a few snowflakes. We went to the outlet stores shopping for bargains, including a jacket for me. Didn't find one, but I was impressed with how the outlet mall has grown. I was there 5-6 years ago when it was fairly new. I will definitely have to return and bring my husband and bring several empty duffel bags for our purchases.

 

[Guest]

Yeah, Saturday was cold. If you stand in the west parking lot of the outlet mall and look up the hill to the southwest, you see he golf course where my son is the head pro.