Anyone have a good list of foods, etc that can thin the blood?

[kerri73]

I'm one of those people who has been a serious INR rollercoaster lately! Too high, then too low. My INR on Tuesday was 3.8 (just slightly high), so my cardiologist had me hold my dose at my regular 5mg. Yet today when I went in for a procedure (TEE) it was 6.4! I didn't eat anything other than spinach dip that I can think of that would affect it at all!

And spinach is on both the vitamin k and vitamin e lists - which is worse?

This stuff's about to drive me nuts, I tell ya. I really want to look into the home tester - then I can just test it myself more often. Now if my insurance will help me with that...

Anyway, if anyone has a good compiled list of what would cause the thinning, I'd appreciate it - I saw the vitamkin k list, so I'm printing that one off.

Thanks!
Kerri

 

[Johnny Stephens]

then I can just test it myself more often.

Hi Kerri

Frustrating, isn't it? I've been there, right after my surgery. It will settle down.

Testing more often will just make the roller coaster worse. I infer from your post that you've tested 2x this week already. You need to be focusing more on the general trend over time, as opposed to managing it on a minute-by-minute basis. Coumadin adjustments don't show up right away, and the half-life is fairly long. Having said that, the spinach you mentioned would have had the opposite effect (lowered your INR) than you suspect it had.

Is it possible that you're already adjusting too often?

There is lots of good info on Al Lodwick's site : http://www.warfarinfo.com

 

[kerri73]

Thanks for that website, Johnny - I'll check it out!

The only reason I've had my blood checked twice this week is because of the TEE I was having yesterday. Otherwise it's a week at most... then off to 4 weeks if I'm good. But whenever they let me go 4 weeks, it's almost a guarantee that I'm off the charts. (I've done this routine since 1997 when I had my MVR.) It just seems like lately it's on more of a rollercoaster than usual, so I wanted to make sure I wasn't eating anything that would have an adverse effect.

Thanks again!
Kerri

 

[Ross]

Kerri don't use that chart to base your diet on. It just doesn't work. Take it only for basic idea value and nothing else. Dose the diet you normally eat, don't diet the dose of Coumadin your on.

If you can get set up for hometesting and insurance would cover it, you'd have much tighter control over your INR and could test weekly then. You might want to pop in at www.ptinr.com and check into that possibility.

We see the biggest problems with people not knowing how Coumadin works. You've been on it along time, so I would hope that your manager does know, but if not, here is yet another link to help you regulate yourself:
http://www.aafp.org/afp/990201ap/635.html

Also be sure to check out Al Lodwicks site at www.warfarinfo.com.

 

[Nancy]

Hi-

My husband has been on Coumadin for 28 years. It fluctuates a great deal.

I see from your profile that you have several issues and possible surgery in the future.

Do you have any issues with fluid retention along with your symptoms?

One of the things that can drive Joe's INR whacky is fluid buildup and then the diuresis that is needed to get rid of it. It puts him into rollercoaster mode for a couple of weeks.

Diet is actually one of the least bothersome things for Joe and his INR. The worst offenders are frequent medication changes and the fluid problem (CHF). He cannot avoid either of the above.

 

[Karlynn]

Summer heat is also a good INR messer-upper.

I've been on Coumadin over 13 years and have never been all that stable. I test once a week for my own security (I home test). But I've also learned to do my own dosing. Since taking charge of that my INR has become more stable than before, but I'm still not rock solid.

 

[Guest]

There are VERY few food that thin the blood. If they do, they affect platelets and don't show up on the INR test.

Your comment about eating spinach dip seems backwards. If you ate a LOT of spinach, your INR should go down.

 

[kerri73]

Yeah, the only reason I said the spinach dip thing was that it also has vitamin e in it, which is said to have a reverse effect on coagulation (read that in an article this past week in my cardio's office and did some research). I had to take a double-look at it because it referenced all leafy greens in that category (along with fish - the omega-3 oils or whatever). Who knows!

 

[Guest]

Vitamin E may effect clotting but it effects the platelets and doesn't show up on the INR. So you might increase the risk of bleeding without any warning.

When you take warfarin a lot of the stuff you read does not apply to you (ie clotting does not equal clotting does not equal clotting) You need to get very specific about what clotting mechanism you are talking about.

 

[Blanche]

Kerri:
I think that what you are looking for is a list that shows the vitaimin K content in certain foods. Can't find one right now, but will keep looking. In the meantime I hope that this link will be of some interest to you. http://www.vitacost.com/science/hn/Drug/Warfarin.htm#Dni-Other

You might also want to take a look at Al Lodwick's site. It's has a wealth of information and may give you the background to better understand anticoagulation and the ways in which the anticoagulant drugs work.

Blanche

 

[tobagotwo]

Just a note that many of the foods that "thin" blood (slow down or delay coagulation) don't show up in your INR measurement at all, as they work in other ways (aspirin is one). So people on ACT should be cautious about which ones and how much of them they eat.

Best wishes,

 

[Guest]

A lady with a mechanical valve was brought in to the clinic today by her daughter. The daughter was very unhappy that her Mom's INR was 1.6. I started asking questions and discovered that the daughter had purchased Glucerna and was having her mother drink it because she "wasn't wating right". I said that I was pretty sure that it had vitamin K in it. The daughter's protest was that she had asked the pharmacist if it would be good for her mother and was told yes. When I asked if she had told the pharmacist that Mom was on warfarin, I got this funny look. I told her that she had to come to terms with the fact that her mother was in a very special class of people - those who take warfarin. I said that she could no longer believe anything that she saw in an ad or anything anyone told her unless they knew that she was taking warfarin.

We went to Glucerna.com and sure enough the nutritional information was that each can contains 25% of the RDA. She was trying to get her Mom to drink two cans per day.

The conversation as they were leaving the clinic was something like Mom, I had no idea that I could be causing you harm - I'm so sorry. Mother's reply, I keep telling you that I am doing fine, I don't need somebody looking after me. I'm perfectly capable of dying on my own.