Warfarin - Rat poison

[Jkm7]

I'm embarrassed to ask but I really want to know and this is the only place I can ask my stupid question......so please bear with me.


Warfarin is often referred to as rat poison. Is it actually or is that figurative?

I saw a post by Phoenix where he mentioned asking his cardio about 'rat poison' dosage in the event he finds himself in the middle of Chile or the Andes or wherever and out of his coumadin.

Is this a joke? If so the joke is on me as I half believe him.

If this is totally stupid, please remove the thread. Thanks.

 

[geebee]

Don't know if it is still used as a rat poison but, yes, they did(do) use warfarin to kill rats.

 

[Jkm7]

So Phoenix wasn't kidding? One could actually use a pinch of rat poison in the emergency situation he described? There must be ways to accurately measure the powder???

 

[geebee]

So Phoenix wasn't kidding? One could actually use a pinch of rat poison in the emergency situation he described? There must be ways to accurately measure the powder???

I would doubt that this is pharmacutical (sp?) grade so I would hesitate to ingest it even in an emergency. Also, since it is meant to kill rats by making them bleed to death, I would think the dosages are pretty massive and hard to reduce to the levels we take to prevent clots.

 

[Marty]

I'm embarrassed to ask but I really want to know and this is the only place I can ask my stupid question......so please bear with me.


Warfarin is often referred to as rat poison. Is it actually or is that figurative?

I saw a post by Phoenix where he mentioned asking his cardio about 'rat poison' dosage in the event he finds himself in the middle of Chile or the Andes or wherever and out of his coumadin.

Is this a joke? If so the joke is on me as I half believe him.

If this is totally stupid, please remove the thread. Thanks.

You may find this link interesting. From our old friend Al Lodwick.
www.warfarinfo.com/rat-poison.htm

 

[JimL]

I bought some D-con a few years ago for a mouse problem, and studied the box carefully for similar reasons. There is no warfarin included. Al Lodwick explained that the mice and rats have become somewhat immune to the warfarin, and now take something stronger.
It would have to be an extreme emergency to take a pinch of rat poison if coumadin weren't available. I would think the risk of going without coumadin would be far less than taking a pinch of D-con.

 

[Jkm7]

Thank you all. I was only on warfarin briefly after getting my tissue valve but this question interested me. Besides....who knows that I may again have to someday go back on coumadin.

Appreciate you taking my question seriously.

 

[Blanche]

Please feel free to ask any questions that you like. There are no dumb questions, and in fact some even make us laugh a little...which is good.

Although Warfarin (Coumadin) has been used as pest control, to those of us with mechanical valves or a-fib, it is a life saver.

I have a very lovely friend who says, "Sometimes, especailly if you believe and look very hard, you can find the good in the bad."

Kind regards,
Blanche

 

[Jkm7]

That's a wonderful philosphy to live by. There is always some good to be found....one need only look. Thanks for the reminder.

Blanche.... Please do not think I was making light of the need for warfarin. I certainly needed it immediately post op and could well need it again in my future. I take it very seriously. I am woefully uneducated about it and trying to learn all I can and all you wonderful people here have been godsent teachers.... the BEST!!

 

[Karlynn]

Rat Poison is sometimes used "affectionately" as a warfarin term by those who take it because that is where it got it's start. We know what it is, we know what it does to save our lives.

Sometimes the use of the term scares people. They think - I don't want to take something that kills rodents! What people don't realize, and Blanche intimated this, there are many things that the medical world uses that aren't necessarily good when looked at in a free-form way, but can be life enhancing or life saving in a controled environment. Coumadin is highly controled. Botox is highly controlled. Flu vaccines etc.

On the reverse side, my husband always gets annoyed when he hears a commercial that touts a product as being "all natural" or "straight from nature". His comment usualy is something like "A rattlesnake bite is 'all natural', but it can kill you."

I really thank the person that first looked at a barn full of dead rats and thought "Hmmmm?"

 

[Bina]

Interesting question, but referring to warfarin as "rat poison" has become quite out-dated.

 

[Jkm7]

I'm so new to all this that what is old is new again.....to me.
I had no knowledge or interest in coumadin six months ago. It wasn't anything that had to do with my life. Oh how things can change 'in a heartbeat'.

 

[catwoman]

Interesting question, but referring to warfarin as "rat poison" has become quite out-dated.

I've seen a few jokes here about buying our "rat poison" in the Wal-Mart garden center (as opposed to a pharmacy).

 

[Bina]

I realize that alot of experienced warfarin takers will use the term "rat poison" in a friendly, joking manner....but when I was just starting out on ACT the term totally freaked me out.

 

[hensylee]

not a stupid question. I have been on this board for more than seven years and I hear the 'rat poison' thing, too, but didn't realize that it was also a really used as a rat poison.

 

[Cooker]

I don't care what the stuff is......I would take poop pills if the kept me from stroking out

 

[ALCapshaw2]

not a stupid question. I have been on this board for more than seven years and I hear the 'rat poison' thing, too, but didn't realize that it was also a really used as a rat poison.

Warfarin has been used as a Rat Poison for WAY LONGER than it has been used for anti-coagulation in humans.

Note that NOT ALL Rat Poisons use Warfarin.
There are a few different types.
One learns these things living in the country !

 

[aussie girl]

Whats that saying........

"One mans meat is another mans poison"

maybe we should change that to read

"One rats poison is another mans medicine"

Mary