***you will drive yourself and others crazy by worrying so much .***

I don't think I ever mentioned that I was worried, or was anxious or was obsessive about my PEs or its 'diet'. Others seem to think that I am, however.

There's a big difference between wanting to know facts and 'worrying'.

I've also spent a lot of time in the last few days at NASA's site reading about the solar storm that was in the headlines. I didn't get anxious about that nor did I wear a tin foil hat. (grin) I just wanted to know the facts.

I remember reading about a member here who said she carried her cell phone around with her for quite a while after her PE because of anxiety. (grin) I didn't do that. But if it helped her----- that's great.

Panic attacks and anxiety are mentioned in this forum --- and I feel a lot of sympathy for those sufferers. However, I haven't had a panic attack. Fingers crossed.

***So go have a huge salad with lots of lima beans and Olive oil dressing****

I believe I will. LOL

since you keep referencing your dose....... what dose are you taking??

It just comes across as a little obsessive, Cave. I think that's it, and it maybe you aren't. But that's how it reads.

I think if it's just for your own research, have at it, but folks should know in general that they don't have to monitor their food intake to this degree.

And I take it back. When I first was on warfarin, I did monitor my food because my INR was so stubborn. So I gave up on the greens and the what not. That was sooooo the wrong thing to do. For one thing, it made me feel like hell. And for another, it did really stress me out and drive me mental. Once I was put on warfarin for life, I thought, holy hell I cannot maintain this level of diligence and hyper awareness of what I'm putting in my mouth (hello, eating disorder). Once I stopped trying to manage my INR through omitting all the foods I thought were the issue and just relaxed and ate like a normal person, my INR finally got above 2, and has been relatively steady for about 4 years. Although, like I said, there still were times where my dosage had to be tweaked, despite eating consistently. That's just the nature of warfarin, our bodies changing, metabolism, activity, etc

I think the subject of diet gets some of us fired up because there really is an old school mentality of warfarin management that I don't think necessarily holds true or even makes sense. There are some people here who've said that their doctor or their warfarin clinic have told them to eliminate vitamin k from their diet. That's complete nonsense and WRONG. Someone here once said that they didn't want to put mayo on their husband's sandwiches because of vitamin k. One, it's mayo, so it's not like you're eating it by the cup load, and if you are, your gonna have bigger issues than your INR, and two, have your husband make his own damn sandwiches.

Anyway, people can do what they want of course, but I think skihillguy (sorry I'm speaking for you) and I are just saying, eating doesn't have to be unhealthy or joyless, merely because you're on warfarin. My doc always says, he'd rather me eat really healthy, and adjust the dosage as needed. Makes perfect sense. .

****I think if it's just for your own research, have at it, but folks should know in general that they don't have to monitor their food intake to this degree.****

I don't think I ever suggested what people should eat (or not eat) in this thread.
This IS information only. Not advice.

Someone said:
**** I don't mean to sound rude but I don't think it's a very good idea listing foods on this site in this manner otherwise ur sending the wrong message to others.****

Think of it as a warfarin user's Wikipedia. (grin)

People can read it and act on it any way they want. There are almost always more 'lurkers' than participants in any forum. A few of them might be interested.

rmb said:
***Once I stopped trying to manage my INR through omitting all the foods I thought were the issue and just relaxed and ate like a normal person, my INR finally got above 2, and has been relatively steady for about 4 years****

That's great news! I hope that everyone who does that attains the same results.

***There are some people here who've said that their doctor or their warfarin clinic have told them to eliminate vitamin k from their diet.****

Yes, I've read that here and in other places. SO wrong, I agree. After reading this forum I find that many doctors need to read up on warfarin/diet/dosing----- well almost everything about PE's and their treatment.

My coag clinic handed me a brochure with a list of high Vit K foods. Beets were listed. (Oh, I also love beets and should include them in my list of lesser foods (grin)---- and they're almost zero Vit K). What the coag clinic meant was BEET GREENS! So perhaps another lurker here might benefit by that knowledge, if they received the same list.

No, eating while on warfarin does NOT have to be joyless even though I want to know the Vit K of what I'm eating. My diet isn't. And it's certainly healthy, both from a general standpoint and from a person on warfarin.

skihill:
I didn't mean to ignore you----but I haven't 'referenced' my Coumadin dose, if that's what you mean.

I've just listed what the doses are for different 'lesser foods'.

Beets---almost zero Vit K in the beet.
A whopping 697 mcg per cup of the beet GREENS.

me being the longest person here on warfarin.42 years .i eat a lot of vegetables every day i have a huge garden .i don't mean any disrespect .if you did the exact same thing every day and ate the exact same thing you r INR numbers still would move around .i take 5 mg and have the entire time it's been as high as 8 and as low as 1 .then never change my dose .and after a while it would just go back to 2.5 .i've been doing this longer then most of you .i tell the doctors what to do.if i went in and it was high i don't change my does i have it rechecked in a week .there machines can be off. human error .forget vitimin k
i don't mean to upset any one or think i'm a know it all .i just don't want to see people scared more then they are .

I think reading about these vitamins can be helpful for some, however...do we really know how many micrograms of Vitamin K have an effect on the warfarin? Not really.

I could eat a plate of spinach and not see a change, where as someone next to me could eat half a plate and see their numbers change. Not likely, since they know that Vitamin K can react with warfarin.

However....

I've been reading about warfarin and alcohol and many studies say that alcohol increases the thinning effect. I think it's different with me. About three weeks ago, I had three glasses of wine. Woke up the next morning with my back hurting again, my number went from 2.3 to 2.1.
Two weeks ago, I drank again. My back is still hurting and my number went from 2.1 to 1.7. AND I accidentally took a higher dose on one day when I am supposed to take a lower dose and my number STILL fell.

I am just really thinking that people have NO idea what this drug reacts or doesn't react to in some people. Even our side effects differ from person to person. The ONLY one I am ever asked about is unusual bleeding or bruising.

i think the biggest problem is the doctor want to make changes to fast .i went in at 3.1 and they wanted me to take just a half does .i didn't i just had them recheck in 7 days it was back to 2.5 .
i think they do most of the changing to protect them selves from law suits . keep good notes and try and find the pattern .

Right. X amount of vitamin k may impact one person but not another person. Alcohol has like 0 affect on my INR. I think the general knowledge of the big vitamin k hitters is important when just getting a sense of how it could affect you, but if you could nail it down that precisely, given each individual's metabolism, activity level, caloric intake etc, there'd be no need for regular INR testing.

Right. X amount of vitamin k may impact one person but not another person. Alcohol has like 0 affect on my INR. I think the general knowledge of the big vitamin k hitters is important when just getting a sense of how it could affect you, but if you could nail it down that precisely, given each individual's metabolism, activity level, caloric intake etc, there'd be no need for regular INR testing.

Right. X amount of vitamin k may impact one person but not another person. Alcohol has like 0 affect on my INR. I think the general knowledge of the big vitamin k hitters is important when just getting a sense of how it could affect you, but if you could nail it down that precisely, given each individual's metabolism, activity level, caloric intake etc, there'd be no need for regular INR testing.

Sorry for the multiple posts. Apparently, I love the sound of my own thoughts.

Sorry for the multiple posts. Apparently, I love the sound of my own thoughts.

Sorry for the multiple posts. Apparently, I love the sound of my own thoughts.