Pulmonary Embolism Support Group

I was sent home with a packet about the drug. It specified no alcohol, so I abstained. Others did not go down such a strict path. Regardless, yes there is a tricky mix involved, as explained at http://www.warfarinfo.com/alcohol.htm among other places.
I would rather not get started about someone with a serious pulmonary condition continuing to smoke.
There is only so much you can do to protect people from themselves. It is the patient's responsibility to take charge of their condition.

Hi, your friend is taking Lovenox shots, probably. Drinking can interact with the Coumadin, but I think even more than that, you can do really stupid stuff when you drink, like falling, hitting your head, getting in fights,etc. This puts you at greater risk for injury, thus at greater risk for bleeding. To me, that's always been the thing I think about. Also, if you are really a heavy drinker, it impairs your memory, which is critical when taking coumadin (taking meds every day, the same time of the day, at potentially different dosages can get complicated and requires keeping track).

I allow myself one to three drinks, but nothing more that will make me impaired in anyway.

Smoking... I don't even understand why people ask about smoking. I mean, a life threatening lung event and smoking cannot be a good thing, right?

But here's the deal and what you need to know for yourself. I admire you trying to be a good friend, but it's almost impossible to do that for someone who doesn't take good care of themself. You have to be realistic about what you can control, the level of support you can provide,etc. If your friend is in denial about his/her drinking anyway, I doubt there's much you can say or do, regardless of the PE/DVT. Frankly, I suspect your friend doesn't know about the effects of drinking and warfarin, because he/she doesn't want to know. I mean, there's no good reason to not know; the warnings are on the medication materials they give you so it's not like anyone is trying to hide it. This person is 32 years old, not a child. There's gotta be some ownership of the situation on the friend's part.

My dad is an non-recovered alcoholic, so I totally understand where you're coming from. But you can only do what you can do and the rest is up to the person, know what I mean? It's hard to make people do what we know is best for them.

Good luck and try not to worry youself sick.

Awesome advice RMB.
My ex husband was an alcoholic who eventually committed suicide, so I know all too well the frustration and heartache of watching someone you love harm themselves.

The only thing I want to add to what RMB and More2be have already said is that besides bleeding from a fall or fight, there's also the chance of bleeding internally because alcohol can irritate her stomach lining - also throwing up can cause bleeding in her esophagus - and if she thinks she can take advil or asprin for the hangover, she can't without further risk of bleeding. If she thinks DVT/PE sucks, internal bleeding is no day at the beach either.

It may be more non-threatening to her if she knows she can still have a few drinks, best over the course of hours and with some water breaks in between - rather than thinking she has to give it up completely. If she can be responsible for the 6 months (hopefully thats all) she'll be on warfarin for, she's that much safer.

For the heavy smoking, check out Alan Carr's Easy Way to Stop Smoking. Hokey title, but it works...and there used to be a free download on the web - see if you can find it for her. It's also a non-threatening way to approach quitting smoking - you get to smoke throughout the whole book, then you crush out your cig at the end and never look back. I don't know why it works, but it does.

Found the free download on Easy Way to Quit Smoking...

http://www.pdf-search-engine.com/t...

There's an official website that shows Ellen Degeneres and Ashton Kutcher interviews about quitting smoking with this book too.
www.theeasywaytostopsmoking.com

Good luck!

Thanks soooo much, More2be, rmb, & LauraLu. The advice you gave me helped a lot. The warfarinfo site was very informative, and I'm going to get the info from the "quit smoking" site. The more concise info I can give my friend, who is right now down and overwhelmed, the better chance she will have survival guidelines. This PE Support Group would be an excellent place for her to understand that this is not just something that happens to elderly people (which she mistakenly is thinking) and that she's not alone with the struggles and fears.
Thanks again to you. Such a help!