Stupid anticoagulation "management"

catwoman · Jul 2, 2007

Just returned from a cat-related convention in Austin TX. Had dinner Friday night with a friend whom I had not seen in 18-24 months.
Susan mentioned that she had been on Coumadin for a DVT and was told at the clinic NOT to eat anything green -- no salads, green veggies, etc.
She couldn't stand to go without green stuff -- so she begged to drop warfarin. They let her.

This was when I was about to enjoy a side of sauteed spinach. After having lunched on a huge cobb salad with lots of avocado.

I told Susan that she was told hogwash (I used more colorfully descriptive words thought

). She knew I have my own INR machine, and said because she had to go to a clinic for her lab draws, just following the orders was easier than anything else.

bvdr · Jul 2, 2007

I have a friend who is 87. She lives in Florida and still works part time. Until last summer was in great health. She developed heart problems and ended up in CHF and atrial fib. She was put on warfarin and told the same thing....NO green. She has been up here for two weeks now. When she first arrived I tested her INR and it was 5.6. I have been giving her suggestions on how to handle her elevated INR and encouraging her to call her doctor to OK anything. She is back eating greens and we'll test her INR tomorrow. Listening to how her anticoagulation has been managed is like hearing some of the stories from this board all over again. She has been yoyo-ing all over the place and having frequent large changes in her prescribed dose. The worst thing though is that here she is 87 years old and has eaten large amounts of green vegetables and salad all her life and just as instructed she eliminated all these good things from her diet. She is a very smart woman and is catching on about the do's and don'ts on anticoagulation. I would love to see her become a home tester.

Ross · Jul 2, 2007

Betty that is what is so troubling. It's bad enough to have bad management at a young age let alone elderly. Why is it so freaking hard for these people to get on the same page?

So Susan isn't going to take her Coumadin and go ahead and eat her greens huh? God help her. Hope she doesn't stroke out due to idiots managing her. Following orders can lead to death.

catwoman · Jul 3, 2007

Ross said:
So Susan isn't going to take her Coumadin and go ahead and eat her greens huh? God help her. Hope she doesn't stroke out due to idiots managing her. Following orders can lead to death.

Seems like it was her doctors who made the decision to take her off Coumadin; she would not have just stopped taking it on her own. And I don't know exactly what led to the clot formation.

Susan **IS** a very smart cookie. Just wish I had gotten her acquainted with this website when she was still on Coumadin.

PeggyM · Jul 3, 2007

One of my cardiologists and his nurse from the past once told me that at one point they couldn't figure out why their elderly patients INRs/protimes were flucuating so much at certain times of the year. Then they discovered that the patients were eating the greens out of the gardens they had planted. All the cardio office did as far as management was know to adjust the doses during that season, which I assume was spring or summer. Made sense. As long as they know what you're eating, seasonally or otherwise, they should be able to adjust doses accordingly, instead of telling you to stop eating something completely.

Ross · Jul 3, 2007

PeggyM said:
One of my cardiologists and his nurse from the past once told me that at one point they couldn't figure out why their elderly patients INRs/protimes were flucuating so much at certain times of the year. Then they discovered that the patients were eating the greens out of the gardens they had planted. All the cardio office did as far as management was know to adjust the doses during that season, which I assume was spring or summer. Made sense. As long as they know what you're eating, seasonally or otherwise, they should be able to adjust doses accordingly, instead of telling you to stop eating something completely.

This is the difference of someone knowing what their doing and someone who hasn't got a friggin clue.

aussie girl · Jul 3, 2007

My surgeon told me yesterday that the australian govering body has only just approved home testing BUT only if you have a st judes valve ( go figure ). He is fighting to get others accepted for home testing and has managed to get approval for only two patients with on-x valves but assured me I would be number three. Thank god their are some doctors around that know what this is all about .....Mary