Coumadin and alcohol

[catwoman]

Just for all y'all's information:

Last Wednesday (3/17) my INR was 3.1. Friday night I had a glass of white zinfandel, which I have only very occasionally. The next night I decided to have a martini; told a friend I thought it would boost my INR.
Sure did! My INR was 4.2 last night.
Alcohol's the only thing I can attribute it to, because I'm religious about enjoying a good-sized salad every day. No OTCs, anything else to explain the difference. (I knew Coumadin can increase the INR -- as well as decrease it. Remember seeing something that Al had posted in the fall about a Broncos fan imbibing a little too much after games. )

When I left a message with this week's test on my PCP's number, I did mention that I had had a glass of wine AND the martini.

Guess I'll go back to "tasting" my friends' drinks again instead of ordering my own. Less caloric that way and cheaper, too.

 

[Ross]

Must have been an awefully strong Martini. It shouldn't have knocked you that far out of the ball park. Everyone is different when it comes to metabolization, so I guess it's possible.

 

[SJJ]

Marsha,
I wish you hadn't posted that! I was doing just fine with my nightly small glass of wine when you had to go and remind me how much I love a dry vodka martini on the rocks..........mmmmmmmm. Maybe I'll eventually experiment and see if I can trade 1-2 glasses a wine per week for one martini. Having just gotten into range, however, I'm still working on achieving relatively dependable INR stability and don't want to muck things up. I'm such a good girl when it comes to healthy eating habits, does an occasional chocolate binge throw things awry? I don't see it on any caution lists.
Sue

 

[Ross]

CAUTIION: The Surgeon General has determined that breathing the atmospheric air can cause your INR to swing wildly!

Thank You, that is all. This has been a Public Service Announcement.

 

[tommy]

Marsha,

Was the martini shaken or stirred?

 

[catwoman]

Tom:

It was probably shaken. I prefer mine barely stirred.

This was a Bombay Sapphire Gin martini. My friend had a Grey (Gray??) Goose Vodka one. Maybe it was the gin sted vodka that did it?? I did ask for lots of olives -- there were 6 in my drink. Do y'all think it was the "greens" that raised my INR?

On stirrer taste-test, Carolyn's martini was better than mine.

 

[Sherry]

Hi, Marsha,
Hey, I drink a glass of red almost nightly, and my INR tends to be on the low side constantly. On another front, my triglicerides are superb which the doc thinks might be due to the red wine consumption. Guess everyone is different. I agree with Ross about the "atmosperic air"

 

[catwoman]

Forgot the beer!

Forgot the beer!

Oops! Forgot the small bottle of Corona lite beer I threw into the pot of chili I made Monday night.

Thought of that this morning when I was having breakfast and reading my Culinary Institute of America book on health cooking techniques. It said that, depending on cooking length, size of pan, surface area, type of alcohol, some alcohol will remain in foods, that not all alcohol cooks out.
One of the cases cited was cooks who throw a bottle of beer (sans bottle, of course!) into a pot of chili.

Can't imagine that would have had much affect, though....

Told the friend I had dinner with last weekend about my INR results/"experiment." She was on Coumadin for about 18MO following a clot in her foot. Carolyn & I will be rooming at a Disney resort in Orlando FL for a convention in June; she has vowed to watch me at the bars like a hawk. Meanwhile, she'll get to enjoy a martini.

Sherry:
I take 6mg X 7 of Coumadin. I try to stay 3.0-3.5.