Micro brews and Anti-Coagulation

[mac]

I have no taste for beer at the moment. 7 days post op and I really want to let my heart heal. But eventually I'm going to want a tasty micro brew. That being said when the wife and I go out to a brewery we have 2 or 3 pints. Her 2 me 3. Maybe 3 times a week on the high end. We very seldom drink at home, maybe a glass of wine with supper sometimes. How will this effect my numbers? If I decide to have acouple beers ( pints) in acouple weeks will it affect my numbers, or would it take going out and drinking a 12 pack of some crap beer to really spick my inr. I know quiting completely would solve this whole issue, but so would suicide. Anyway, love the feed back.


11/19/09
1 by-pass
AVR
Carbo medics mechanical ( no Clicking )
Dr. Suri Mayo Clinic

 

[Ross]

Alcohol is a weird thing. Some people, it does nothing, others it rises, others it falls. You'll just have to see where you come in on the weirdness scale. Most likely, it won't have any effect, but you won't know until you try.

The issue with Alcohol is not so much what it does to your INR as what it does to your stomach. If your prone to ulcers and get an active bleed going, it's very hard to stop. Alcohol is great for irritating the stomach lining.

 

[AgilityDog]

One of the issues with alcohol is it dehydrates you, unless you also drink plenty of water in between drinks. So the dehydration raises your INR.
Then, alcohol itself is an anticoagulant (at least according to the TV show C.S.I.), so although your INR may not be affected, it's like combining aspirin and warfarin. Do it carefully. And, like aspirin, can irritate the stomach lining.

If you home test, you can test yourself the morning after a beer or two and see what that does to your INR.

Of course, junky beer may have less alcohol, so Miller light x 16 oz may have less effect than a good microbeer x 16 oz.

 

[Ross]

I have my 2 (sometimes 4) bloody mary's with 80 proof Vodka and tomato juice and it doesn't phase my INR at all.

 

[ctyguy]

I am also a micro-beer fan and its my experience that if I have two or three pints that my INR will jump a few tenths of a point. But nothing dramatic. As long as your consistent with diet (including beer) your numbers should remain relatively stable.

I take 6mg a day and I will knock back 2 or 3 beers on Friday night and then again on Sunday when football is on. The coumadin clinic told me if I have 3 micros on Friday and then again on Sunday that I can cut my daily dose from 6mg to 4mg for that evening. Thats what works for me but your doc is where you will get your best advice.

Consistency is key to INR management.

 

[R&N Brown]

Some Sundays I will have a couple of beers while watching football, then other weeks I don't. I test on Tuesdays, on the weeks I had beers it tends to increase my number a small amount. I can almost figure 1 tenth per beer.
On the flip side If I have a decent size romaine salad it equals the alcohol out.
Dose the diet...Diet the dose....Once you get use to it it's not tough to figure out.

I've never had stomach issues so I've got nothing for you on the ulser potential.

 

[Ross]

Thats what works for me but your doc is where you will get your best advice.

Not always, as many of us can confirm.

 

[Philip B]

Beer & Differences

Beer & Differences

As others have indicated...how much a few micro brews affect INR is an individual thing. Sure, there are generalities that can be considered, but it's difficult to predict what will happen to your INR on the basis of my experience or the experiences of others.

If I have several beers or several glasses of wine, I always run a few extra INR tests over the course of a few just to see if the alcohol has had any impact.

The nursing staff at the hospital and my cardiologist advised me to avoid consuming alcohol until my body had got rid of all the chemicals that I got during surgery. Evidently, some of the drugs they use during surgery don't play nicely with alcohol. It took some time to get all the crud out of my system.

It also took a long time for my taste to come back. Eating was a real chore after surgery because nothing tasted good. While the thought of having a beer or glass of wine seemed appealing, it probably would have been a waste until I got my sense of taste back.

-Philip

 

[mac]

taste and etc

taste and etc

I am so glad everything taste good and I want to eat, eat eat. I also had a 10 oz micro tonight along with our favorite pretzel at the brewery. Took an hr to drink it along with a glass of water, but, mmmmmmm, a treat for the wife and I after a long week.

 

[westie]

old wives tales

old wives tales

.
mac, it is no suprise you have not got much taste for beer only 7 days post op. even i gave up beer and wine for 2/3 weeks post op. but you do get full marks for turning up at the pub only 7 days after open heart surgery; i reckon that is pretty hard case mate!

anyway, i drink 3 beers/wines almost everyday, plus two heavy sessions over the last 2 years with zero effect on inr.

to a certain extent, i think the "dangers of drinking while on warfarin" are just more old wives tales like "do not eat lettuce, do not use sissors, do not shave with a razor blade, do not work on cars, do not play contact sport blah blah"

can anyone point me to professional studies on the interaction of warfarin and alcohol detailing the proven dangers; do they exist?

yes, i accept that alcohol exacerbates stomach bleeding, but so does asprin. now it probably is sensible not to take both of them, but i suspect alcohol is no bigger a danger than asprin?

 

[Ross]

If your predisposed to ulcers, are an alcoholic and binge drink, then your likely going to get yourself in trouble.

 

[westie]

2 out of three

2 out of three

If your predisposed to ulcers, are an alcoholic and binge drink, then your likely going to get yourself in trouble.

so does that mean one is probably ok if one is only a binge drinking alcoholic?! (without a predisposition to ulcers)

or put another way, is the real problem being predisposed to ulcers which is going to be a major problem for all warfarin takers; with increased risk arising from alcohol or asprins

 

[Ross]

I honestly don't know. Under theory, yes. I guess I'm testing that theory to see if it holds water.

 

[JimL]

I'm glad you were able to enjoy a microbrew (what flavor?). I was just in Milwaukee, and we did the Sprecher tour. I don't know what it was about our group, but people kept dropping off their unused tickets at our table. We probably had seven or so a piece. We had the same experience at Lakefront this past summer. Life is too short to drink bad beer.

 

[mac]

Micro brew's

Micro brew's

It was an ipa, about 8%, drink slowly, lick your lips, and enjoy.
Agreed, life is to short to drink bad beer.

 

[ctyguy]

I had two pints of Anchor Steam today. absolutely my favorite.

 

[jjay32]

I love micro,s just finished a double bastard (10.5%) no new valve yet, so Inr is down the road. I can tell you now I am not giving up my micros! I will dose to the diet !!

 

[Bridgette]

I used to have a glass of wine every night, but have just lately given up/cut right back, to see if that will help my arrhythmia issues. I tested my INR and didn't notice any real change, so for me anyway, having a drink every night made no difference to my INR.

Bridgette