If you eat it on a regular basis, I doubt you'd see any INR fluctuation as a result. Your warfarin levels should already be adjusted to deal with this ... if indeed it could have any effect on your INR, which I don't know.

I know I eat Raisin Bran inconsistently (a ton one week and then none for months) and I've never seen a reflection of that.

Honestly, it'd be hard to pin any fluctuation of INR on just one food, IMHO. Unless you eat exactly the same foods in exactly the same amounts on two separate weeks, with the only variance being raisins, I don't know how you'd be able to pin any fluctuations on raisins. And, of course, other things can also affect the INR (like being sick), so you still couldn't conclusively pin it on raisins.

Here's the thing to ask with this (or any other food or medicine), have you personally seen consistent fluctuations in INR every time you eat a certain food? If your INR has been fairly stable up to this point and you've been somewhat consistent/inconsistent eating Raisin Bran, then it probably doesn't have a problematic effect... and I wouldn't worry about it.

I mean, if it does cause a fluctuation but you stay in range, then why would it matter? If it doesn't cause you to start bleeding from your eyeballs (something I would think you've noticed by now), then you really ought to be fine.

I've said before that I tend to eat what I want and I pretty much never notice any resultant fluctuations in my INR. I know some folks are more susceptible, so if that's you, keep track of it yourself because there's almost no rule of what is true for everyone. (For example, I saw a consistent rise in INR last summer, a time when I was eating WAY more veggies from my garden. Doesn't make any sense according to traditional wisdom, but that's how it worked out for me.)

For me, about the only thing that'll cause crazy changes in INR is adding a new medicine (antibiotics, especially). I've started to keep track of the resultant changes (the one I took in January, for example, increased my INR about .4 to .6. Next time I take it, I'll be aware of the effect ahead of time.

In short, if you haven't had any problems with Raisin Bran thus far, then you probably won't. I wouldn't overthink it too much.

Thanks TossNTurn.

You make a lot of sense. Yes, I do think way too much about this and I fear that I am getting a bit more paranoid with all my health issues now. Thanks again.

Indwen

I try to be consistent with my food consumption. My 2nd PE was in January, so I'm still adjusting. I went to a dietician and she recommended green tea, so my wife bought some and I enjoyed it. Kind of bitter but it was okay. My last INR was 5.8 (target range is 2 to 3). I don't know if my GP was puzzled but I was. I was at the hematologist this week and he said to avoid green tea. My last INR was 5.8. My wife's ears and mine both perked up at the same time. Granted I had one bottle. I'm struggling to figure out when I had it. I didn't log it in My FitnessPal.com where I log my food entries. The hematologist and I both figured it out together. The green tea would drive the INR down, so to compensate the coumadin dose would increase. Then as the tea wore off it would cause the INR to rise, thus causing the spike. That was with one bottle of green tea. Don't know if it was stronger than normal green tea, but it did have a major effect.

I went to my first dentist appointment since my PE, and when the hygenist told the dentist the number he said he didn't want to see me until it's under 3.5 and stable.

When you first start warfarin you tend to see more swings and inconsistencies with your INR. That settles down after a while. I drink green tea without any issues but I know certain foods have more an affect for some people than others.

There is a difference between being mindful of what you are eating and obsessing about every morsel. I was constantly fretting about my diet when I first was on warfarin and the end result wasn't better INR management but rather a whole lot of stress and a whole lot of joyless eating.

If you want to eat raisin brand then eat it. The only thing the nurse told me was if I ate it three times one week then I needed to do the same the next week

Advice from a long term Coumadin user. Eat what you normally eat! Let the doctors adjust your Coumadin to your diet not the other way around. Just remember when taking Coumadin it usually takes a minimum of 3 days before you would see any real changes in your INR so if you are semi consistent in your diet then you won't have any problems.