From what I recall, just drinking alcohol does not have an effect on INR -- or has a minimal effect. However, there is a component in wines - especially the red ones - that can influence INRs. It's those components that can keep you from drinking too much wine.
I have personal doubts that binging on beer occasionally will have much impact on your INR. I don't know that your clinic nurse was correct in her warnings against beer (specifically). Although warfarin and K are processed through the liver, as is alcohol, I'm not sure that a healthy person with good liver function would really see a link between consumption of beer and changes in INR.
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Also -- this sounds like a good time to suggest that you get your own meter and do your own testing. If you can afford the strips, you can test a day or so after your binge (or even a few hours afterwards, if you're really concerned), to see if your INR is changed.
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There's a lot of outdated, bad, and simply incorrect information about warfarin and anticoagulation, and a lot of it simply gets repeated and taken as fact. (For example - the myth that warfarin somehow 'thins' the blood remains a persistent, inaccurate description of what it actually does; the idea that you should completely avoid greens (and sources of high amounts of Vitamin K) also persists; the idea that a temporary drop in INR below 2.0 requires immediate bridging is another one that some seem to adhere to religiously). The idea that drinking too much beer will make your INR spike extremely high is probably another one to be taken with a grain of salt -- or verified with an INR test or two.
I have personal doubts that binging on beer occasionally will have much impact on your INR. I don't know that your clinic nurse was correct in her warnings against beer (specifically). Although warfarin and K are processed through the liver, as is alcohol, I'm not sure that a healthy person with good liver function would really see a link between consumption of beer and changes in INR.
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Also -- this sounds like a good time to suggest that you get your own meter and do your own testing. If you can afford the strips, you can test a day or so after your binge (or even a few hours afterwards, if you're really concerned), to see if your INR is changed.
---
There's a lot of outdated, bad, and simply incorrect information about warfarin and anticoagulation, and a lot of it simply gets repeated and taken as fact. (For example - the myth that warfarin somehow 'thins' the blood remains a persistent, inaccurate description of what it actually does; the idea that you should completely avoid greens (and sources of high amounts of Vitamin K) also persists; the idea that a temporary drop in INR below 2.0 requires immediate bridging is another one that some seem to adhere to religiously). The idea that drinking too much beer will make your INR spike extremely high is probably another one to be taken with a grain of salt -- or verified with an INR test or two.
