Antacids while on Coumadin

[Zoeey2011]

Hi, just wondering if there are any safe medications that I can take for gas and heartburn. Thanks

 

[Agian]

Hi. Type your medication of choice into the search field, and scroll down to where it says interactions, to see if taking it with Warfarin is going to be an issue.
http://www.pbs.gov.au/pbs/home

 

[zipped]

My cardiologist said No to antacids.............just one Doc tho........others may differ.

 

[pellicle]

Hi

Hi, just wondering if there are any safe medications that I can take for gas and heartburn. Thanks

I usually stir in a tea spoon of bi-carb soda into water (which is what most antacids are anyway). I would hard pressed calling them medications.

If you self test for INR then you can double check this yourself, but I've not heard of anything (nor can I think of any basis for an interaction.

PS: found this (circa 1978):
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...0149-0066d.pdf

SIR,-It has been suggested that antacids may
affect warfarin absorption from the gastrointestinal
tract1; in clinical studies by other
authors2 3 no change in warfarin absorption
has been reported during concomitant administration
with magnesium and aluminium
hydroxides. A report by Talbot and Meade,
however, implicated dimethicone, a constituent
of certain cooking oils, as causing decreased
absorption of warfarin in several patients.

Activated dimethicone is now used extensively
as an antifoaming agent in antacid preparations.
Consequently it was thought important to
determine if, and to what extent, an interaction
occurs between antacid constituents (including
activated dimethicone) and warfarin and
between kaolin (an adsorbent) and warfarin.
The study employed an in-vitro technique
which has already been clinically evaluated
with the tetracycline-metal ion5 and the
digoxin-antacid6 interactions.


The results (see table) indicate that for
clinically equivalent doses of antacid constituent
and warfarin sodium there was a
small decrease in warfarin absorption when in
combination with magnesium trisilicate and
bismuth carbonate; however, kaolin and
activated dimethicone showed no decreased
absorption. These findings suggest that warfarin
absorption kinetics may be affected by
concomitant administration of certain antacid
constituents. We would suggest that the
patient should be made aware of this.
J C McELN

(bold and underline mine)

it suggests only that there may be an issue with the body uptake when on antacids. So I suggest
1) time your antacid away from when you take your warfarin (it absorbs quite fast)
2) since the mention is on anti-foaming additives, then I suggest go for the main ingredients such as bicarb soda or alluminium hydroxide. Go the no name brands which are free of colours and scents and fancy stuff that is pointless (to a pragmatic spartan kinda guy like me)
3) test yourself and see

 

[dick0236]

I have taken antacids such as Maalox liquid and chewable tablets w/Calcium Carbonate for many years....without any problems.

 

[tom in MO]

I take the chewable tablets occasionally and it had not effected my INR.

 

[big_L]

I chew a variety of different brands as needed. No problems, INR is steady. I even find myself eating a few occassionally at bedtime, which is when I take my meds. Again, no INR problems.

 

[djacq]

At the risk of sounding like your mother, my concern would be why you need the antacids. I found out recently when my St Jude's aortic valve was failing, I had a large hiatal hernia that prevented me from having a TEE to determine the problem. Not too many tests to show this up. The Echos only indicated a build up of pressure and velocity. I didn't realize that you couldn't have a cardiac cath with a mechanical valve. The GI surgeon wouldn't touch me to repair the hernia. The fluoroscopy was the only thing that eventually showed something of the problem. Autopsy, which they refused to do, is the only definitive way to see the problem. So, I hope you take care of yourselves. Just saying.......