Low dose Vit K supplementation for Warfarin users.

[Caitlin]

LINK

A recently published case series describes eight patients on chronic warfarin therapy whose widely fluctuating INRs stabilized after adding low-dose (100 mcg) oral vitamin K to their daily regimen.1 The number of INRs in the therapeutic range increased and the standard deviation of the INR measurements decreased.

Hi Al, Hi all.
Anyone familiar with this? I have long thought it was a fascinating idea. We need a standardized amount of VIT K as much as we need to keep our INR in range. Why not take Vit K and balance Warfarin to that? It looks like some beginnings are being made to do this.

Anyway, I'd appreciate your thoughts!

 

[Ross]

It seems weird, but it actually works. Most all find that they have a more stable INR with a Vit K supplement of some sort. Just need to make sure it's always the same amount taken.

 

[AgilityDog]

Lots of us take multivitamins with a small amount of Vitamin K - mine is about 25 mcg. If I buy a bottle of 300 pills, and take daily, that's a year's worth of bottom line stability for me.

But many of us have noticed that it's much easier to keep your INR stable if you eat your veggies regularly than if you try to avoid all sources of vitamin K. That's because you can't really avoid it completely, (much like sodium) and if you really limit your K, when you do eat something green your INR swings widely.

It just takes the "scientists" a long time to catch up to those of us who live on coumadin/warfarin.

 

[Cris N]

I take a multivitamin with 25 mcg Vit K AND a 100 mcg tablet. Every day. This really helps to stabilize my INR. I seem to be quite sensitive to Vit K in veggies and this helps me avoid the yo-yo effect.

I should add that I do eat plenty of greens - just not a consistent amount.

 

[Bill B]

Yep, my cardiologist brought this exact thing up last time I saw him. I was only on warfarin 1.5mg/day and having issues with high/low INR. So, he prescribed 100mcg of vitamin K per day, which I believe is close to the RDA. My diet is very deficient in vitamin K which is only present in substantial amounts in dark green veggies, so the idea made sense, and your link mentions that dietary deficiency of vitmain K is associated with unstable INR. I decided to just try more green veggies instead of a pill. My warfarin requirement increased a bit and so far my INRs have remained stable after a dosage adjustment. So, this is another nail in the coffin of the idea that people on warfarin should avoid green veggies (vitmain K).

 

[Jkm7]

It seems weird, but it actually works. Most all find that they have a more stable INR with a Vit K supplement of some sort. Just need to make sure it's always the same amount taken.

It really comes back to the philosophy we all agree to here........ dose the diet; don't diet the dose. We always say it is important to be consistent with diet but eat what one wishes. A consistent dose of Vitamin K is the same theory, isn't it?

 

[Caitlin]

It makes so much sense to me. Glad for your feedback!

 

[bunker395]

On the Warfarinfo site Al Lodwick talked about taking a small amount of Vit k each day. The example he used was going into a room that was pitch black and then turning on a 50 watt light as opposed to being in the same room with the 50 watt light already on and turning on a 75 watt light and the effect that would have on you. The point he made was that having a small amount of vit K in your system all the time made for less of a INR swing when you eat food with high amounts of Vit K. I know this approach has worked very well for me.

 

[ALCapshaw2]

Many of our members just make sure that they eat one or two green vegetables every day and that seems to keep them in balance without the need for supplements.

I like the Light Bulb Analogy -

NO Vitamin K is akin to walking into a room with NO light
Taking a small amount of Vitamin K would be akin to turning on a small light.
BIG DIFFERENCE.

Now consisder walking into a room with a 50 Watt lightbulb turned on.
Taking a small amount of Vitamin K would be akin to changing that light to a 100W bulb or adding another 50 watt light.
SMALL DIFFERENCE.

'AL Capshaw'