I drank mint teas the entire time I was on warfarin. I generally avoided teas that contained herbs/plants that I wasn't familiar with. My doctor told me most teas were fine, I just shouldn't drink a few gallons of green tea unless I was going to do it regularly. A little green tea won't do much to your INR. I was never very brave while I was on warfarin though, so I pretty much stuck to the teas I knew wouldn't be a problem. If I were you I would find a tea you like and give your pharmacist a call... they should be able to tell you if anything in the tea would be dangerous with warfarin.

We just got the Keurig coffee machine, too. I thought that I might like to try the Sleepy Time Tea that came with it but first did a quick google search to see if it had any negative interactions with Warfarin since my doctor expressed some concern about my wanting to try Green Tea. I found that it has Chamomile in it which was stated as being of more concern than even Green Tea. So, I didn't have any. After discussing Green Tea with my doctor, it was decided that I would try it and see what effect it had on my INR. After 6 days of one cup per evening, my INR dropped substantially and was below therapeutic level for the first time in over a year. I can most definitely have the doctor adjust my Warfarin dosage to accommodate the low INR but am already on 9 mgs. of Warfarin and not too thrilled about increasing the dosage.

Sleepy Time Tea has chamomile in it.

"Since Chamomile has blood-thinning properties, people on blood thinners such as Coumadin and Warfarin should not consume this tea."

"Chamomile contains coumarin, a naturally-occurring compound with anticoagulant or blood-thinning effects. It should not be combined with warfarin or other medications or supplements that have the same effect or be used by people with bleeding disorders."

http://altmedicine.about.com/od/herbsupplementguide/a/Chamomile.htm

There are more. Since warfarin interacts with more meds and supplements than I've ever heard of (sigh) find a good drug/herb/drug interaction site and investigate.

About these interactions---- sometimes they're small (not that I'm suggesting that anyone experiment without their doctor knowing.) And everyone is different. A member here has written about having chamomile tea before bedtime and she's still alive. LOL Having 5 or 6 cups a day would probably show up; 'probably'.

I drink all kinds of teas, including Chamomile, and I'm not consistent about it, and it's never had a noticeable affect, or an affect that I can directly place on consuming tea.

I presume that pretty much anything OTC and herbal/supplemental in nature MAY impact my INR, but to what degree and whether it affects everyone is the unknown. You don't know until you experiment a little.

Wow, had no idea about chamomile being on the no-no list. I've drank it for years and drank it while in warfarin. It may explain why I had a dip in INR in early October. The weather here in Michigan gets cooler by then and I would have upped my evening tea about that time.

I'm always learning something new on this site :)

It's on the 'no-no' list about the same as garlic is. :) Each person will be affected by it differently.

It doesn't have any Vit K in it, just as other teas don't--- zero. But it does have an additive effect (or is it subtractive?) when combined with warfarin. IOW-----might make warfarin either stronger or weaker. Obviously that doesn't happen with everyone.

I didn't get a chance to call the clinic today but will tomorrow. It's so cold here (but not as cold as other places) and I will just drink hot chocolate and add some mini marshmellows to it - lol, until I can get an answer form the pharmacist at the clinic. Although I did find that chamomile was listed on the avoid these or no list of herbs and suppliments on some hand outs I recieved. I am really glad I changed to the clinic because I would have never known to ask about these things. My previous doctor just didn't seem to like patients to know too much.

I called the clinic today and spoke with the pharmacist and asked about he sleepy time tea. I explained about the chamomile and seeing it on the list and doing a search about it. She told me as long as I buy the tea from the grocery store and not a health food store then I should be fine. It was their experience that most patients do fine with most teas with the exception of green tea. They had chamomile on the herbs and supplements/medications list in their direct form, however the amount in teas is greatly reduced. Of course we know that what may or may not affect one person could be different for the next person. I am scheduled to have my INR checked in two weeks so I will know where my levels are then. A week ago I was at 2.6.

Yup, when I first started they said avoid green tea. Don't drink it anyway, so that's not a problem

Chris

So if we listen to all the witch doctors, we have to stop consuming any green vegetables and some not so green, not drink any alcohol, wrap ourselves in bubble wrap and not have any fun.

WRONG!!!!

Find out what YOU can have, don't become a prisoner of anticoagulant therapy, everybody reacts differently to it and also to the amount of said baaaaaad food or activity.
I'm not saying to splurge or binge, I'm saying don't make the treatment worst the the condition.

I agree with dero. There is not a single item that I enjoyed before that I avoid now because of warfarin. Actually, I probably eat more spinach now than I did before taking it. Dose to the diet, don't diet to the dose.

"There is not a single item that I enjoyed before that I avoid now because of warfarin. Actually, I probably eat more spinach now than I did before taking it.

Same with me.

When I was first diagnosed the doctor in the hospital told me no more leafy green veggies. Then I went to my own doctor and he said eat a normal consitant diet, medication dosages can be tweeked. What he did not tell me was that other medications, herbs and suppliments can react with blood thinners. It was obvious about things like aspirin and motrin. But then he did a 360 on me and said I could use motrin and other nsaids. Still never mentioned any thing else. So I change doctors and the new one says no mortrin or nsaids, just tylenol or arthritis tylenol. Keeping the second doctor but deciding to have my INR and warfarin moitord by the clinic so I didn't have be stuck by a rude insensitive lab tech an wait 48 hours for results. I have learned so much more at the clinic and I actually get to speak with a pharmacist about my INR and warfarin dose. I can take aleive as long as I take a zantac directly before to protect my stomach. But too much tylenol can actually interfer with my warfarin, which I never knew. They also gave me lot of printed information and encourage me to call when I have questions about any thing. The also want to know day, night or weekends if I have to start any new meds. I personally like this concept. Especially if there is something Ihave not had before, like the sleepy time tea.

My clinic also said to generally avoid NSAIDs due to the stomach bleeding potential, but that if I ate with or before, and not too foten, it would be fine. Although I haven't used ibuprofen and have stuck with tylenol

Chris