Cindy---- you mentioned COPD which isn't discussed here too much. Did you post here by mistake?
But.....
From:
http://copd.about.com/od/livingwithcop1/a/Copd-And-Alcohol.htm

"Study results related to COPD and alcohol are conflicting, at best. Here is some of the good news:

1. In healthy people, drinking wine (in moderation) is associated with better lung function in the short-term and over a lifetime.

The not-so-good news concerns heavy drinking, which isn't your lifestyle.

The article ends with this good advice:

"The best thing to do if you enjoy drinking alcoholic beverages is to discuss your options with your health care provider. After all, identifying a safe amount is going to depend upon many other factors, like which medications you take, what other illnesses you have, whether you still smoke, and so on."

But because this is a PE forum---- I'll add what I have read: alcohol in moderation might affect your INR but if a person drinks at about the same level each week, the warfarin dose can be adjusted to fit.

My guess? You'll be o.k. with the level of wine you've reported. But talk with your doctor, please.

Not sure if I'm responding to COPD or PE, However; I was told by the Coumadin clinic that if I were to drink wine - to drink only one glass and to increase the amount of vitamin K that I intake by eating more green leafy foods. It will help to balance the blood thinning effects of the alcohol

You can drink in moderation while on warfarin. I know this isn't related to this specific discussion so sorry Cindy.

You don't have to eat vitamin k rich foods to compensate for one glass of wine. I think this could actually jack up your INR more than the glass of wine itself. I drink socially and it has never affected my INR. For some people it may but for many it doesn't seem to have much of an affect.

I think the bigger issue with warfarin and drinking is over drinking and getting impaired, causing you to fall, hit your head, get in a fist fight, whatever because you can bruise and bleed more .

Every doctor I've consulted with since my PE has said that having alcohol is fine in moderation. At first I was told that I had to be consistent with it just like you would be with eating foods rich in vitamin K and I had a cocktail nightly before dinner. My INR was just fine. During times where I forgot to have a drink or didn't have one because I took cold medication or whatever, my INR was also fine. It is often said that some doctors suggest that you don't consume alcohol because you may fall or get in a fight and start bleeding.

Currently, I'm having green tea nightly and will check to see if that has an effect on my INR. After that, I'm trying Tumeric.

@incryts,

You don't have to worry about the green tea. :) At least not a cup or two per day. It does have some caffeine though.

These are just two of the many medical centers or anti-coag clinics or hospital handouts that advise not drinking green tea because of how it 'will affect your INR'.

Palo Alto Medical Center
http://www.pamf.org/anticoag/patients/handouts/Warfarin_and_Diet.pdf

University of Maryland Medical Center
Source: http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/green-tea-000255.htm#ixzz2I5fjq75Q
******************

I traced this false information back to two possible sources; one government database that showed how much Vit K ( a LOT) was in a pound of dried green tea leaves! The other was a case study of a man who drank gallons of green tea per day and died!

Here is the correct information about green tea.

USDA database for nutrients
http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/4248
[Shows all brewed tea (one cup) except chamomile, as having 0 mcg Vit K]

Well, I guess I was asking about the wrong issue - I should have mentioned Dementia!!! Yes, this was intended for the COPD board. The pulmonary emboli have finally dissolved and I am on warfarin for life. In the meantime, the COPD progressed from mild to moderate.

Aiyiyiyi! But you were all helpful in any event, as usual.

Hugs, Cindy

Aw Cindy, have a nice glass of Cabernet and don't worry about it!

Hahaha Cindy....I could totally have done the same thing!!

Obviously, I don't know anything specifically about the COPD issue, and some alcohol is okay with warfarin, but if you're on any other medication for the COPD you might want to be more cautious. I don't drink all that often, but my family went out about a month ago to eat Mexican, and I was in the mood for a margarita. Now I always drink margaritas when we eat Mexican.....never have had any issues. But I failed to remember that I was on three brand new heart meds. I had just a regular size drink, and I got SO SICK afterward!! Never in my life have I reacted like that. I only just about a week ago figured out it was probably my new medicine that caused the reaction. So just maybe be sure to check that out first. Or ask the people on the COPD group (as I'm sure you've already done)!

Green tea lowered my INR to 1.5. I cannot drink it.

MARGARITAS.... mmmmmm

@Cave76... Well, I had my INR checked yesterday and just got the results. After 6 days of having one cup of green tea per day, my INR is below therapeutic level for the FIRST time since my PE was discovered and I was transitioning from Lovenox to Warfarin (over a year ago). I had no other dietary changes or any other type of change that would account for a severe drop like that.

You're the second person here to say that (unless you posted twice).

I can't explain that and I'm certainly not going to say that you're wrong.

Since a cup of green tea has zero Vit K could there be some other changes in your diet to cause that drop? Can other extenuating events in your life have caused it?

Since I control my INR mostly by diet when there's nothing else going on--- like a cold or new medication etc---- I do look at the Vit K content of foods carefully but not obsessively as some believe. It's my health and my life so.........

It's not always 'green and leafy' that has high Vit K. One cup of canned beef stroganoff soup has twice the mcg of Vit K as one cup of cooked broccoli.

Some here say that starting to come down with a cold can change INR (I'm just giving that as an example, I hope you understand.)

I know by reading here that the INR can change for almost no reason, seemingly ---according to others here who report that mysterious drop or raise for no apparent reason.

I'm counting on you to not read 'snark' or 'argument' into this discussion. I really like to get to the bottom of things---- that's all. With your permission I'd like to continue this conversation but will understand if you don't care to.

I will repeat that there were no other changes. I had a cold in late November and that did NOT change my INR, nor did 20 days of antibiotics...nada, zilch, zero. I repeat, my INR has been consistent for a year until now. I have a highly respected, intelligent pulmonologist who has never expressed any concern about other things that I've added to my diet until I mentioned green tea. He specifically asked me to make NO other dietary changes while I tried out the green tea and then had my INR checked again. Did...Done.

I think it's just another example of how some things may affect some people more than others Vitamin k consumption impact to INR isn't exactly exact.

With green tea, maybe it also has to do with the concentration of the leaves, how long it's steeped, the type of green tea, your own metabolism etc Dunno. But it's not surprising that some people may experience a goofy INR from it For me, green tea doesn't have a noticeable impact on my INR but that doesn't mean it's the same for everyone.

I was just on a course of antibiotics that typically would affect ones INR. It didn't do a damned thing to mine. I think it's important to just be aware that some things MAY affect one's INR, and then eat and drink what you choose to knowing that. In the end, if you want to know how something is or isn't going to affect you, you just gotta experiment. All the documentation about what to eat and not eat isn't going to address individually how things are going to affect a person And sheesh, if I took all the warfarin diet and vitamin k information I received while in the hospital and have read on line as gospel, I'd be eating dirt sandwiches for the rest of my life as to not muck up my INR.

Now where's that margarita? Ok, so it's only 9:00am her, but surely it's cocktail hour somewhere in the world.

Hmmmm, I don't know about the Vit K content in dirt, let me get back to you...