Drinking while taking Warfarin(Coumadin)

[Barry]

...As you see, I don't think I'll be content with two or three drinks. I would drink more if I was allowed to...

As you noted, you had an alcoholic's pattern of drinking. One of the problems with learning to drink moderately - that makes it impossible for some folks - is that alcohol disinhibits you as it literally anesthetizes the frontol lobles of your brain. You know that resolution you made to have only a couple of drinks? That resolution is in the frontal lobes of your brain, and as they become anesthetized, so does that resolution.

There's an axiom in AA, an organization comprised of folks with this problem, that speaks to this: "One drink is too many, and a dozen isn't enough."

PS As you learn to enjoy music without a few drinks on board, you may want to avoid drinking songs! BTW, I'm a music freak, too, tastes running to blues, jazz, and obscure folkie ethnic music. How quiet our homes must have been before recordings and radio were invented!

 

[Guest]

There is a strong cultural component, too. We lived 6 years on the Navajo Reservation. One of my friends told me that part of their problem was that they had no history of having a drink to be sociable. Historically they made small amounts of intoxicating beverages but it was essentailly introduced with white culture. The idea was always to get the Indian drunk. The idea persists today. When a Navajo has a drink it is with the idea of starting to get drunk. Few of them grasp the idea of having one or two drinks and then going home.

 

[Karlynn]

When a Navajo has a drink it is with the idea of starting to get drunk. Few of them grasp the idea of having one or two drinks and then going home.

Being a mother of 2 college students, that seems to be the college mindset as well.

 

[Guest]

When Arizona was being organized as a state they moved the capitol from Prescott to Phoenix. As a consolation prize to Tucson they put the University there. One saloon owner who had high hopes of a lot of business from state legislators made one of the dreat understatements of all time. "I'm ruined. College students don't drink beer."

 

[Mary]

Being a mother of 2 college students, that seems to be the college mindset as well.

It was my college mindset! I went to a Catholic university in the early 70's and drinking/getting drunk was part of the curriculum. I drank enough during those four years to last a lifetime. I also smoked like a fiend.
I gave them both up once I started having children. It seemed like a much more worthwhile pursuit.

 

[Moo]

My Testing Results...

My Testing Results...

I would like to know what you are doing

I'm just like you, I drink to get drunk . Not everyday, I drink once a week at most.

I've seen too much cross-talk about the effects of alcohol, so I have been doing some testing of my own and here are my findings so far:

Preface: I've been on coumadin for 4 months and have remained in range 90% of the time, and 9.9% I was below 2.5 and once I was over 3.5 (3.8). I recieved my INRatio about 3 weeks ago. I did not modify my diet in any way during the last 2 weeks (if anything I ate less salads)...

3/31 - INR 2.0
3/31 - I finally got fed up and went out boozing, about 8 beers (2 pitchers).
4/2 - INR 2.1
4/4 - INR 2.9

4/8 - Boozin' and darts, 6 Beers and 1 shot of Tequilla.
4/11 - INR 1.9
4/13 - INR 2.4

This confirms my initial thoughts, the only issue with drinking and coumadin is the increased chance to fall or otherwise bruise/cut yourself...

I'm figuring Al and Ross will say something to the effect of '2 tests in 2 weeks doesn't prove anything' and to that I say 'prove me wrong '. If anything, I would say that alcohol decreases the effectiveness of coumadin.

Feel free to argue.

Rich

 

[Mary]

The real problem with alcohol is not the increase in the INR, it is the irritation to the lining of the stomach. The two drink rule is more to prevent this. If the irritation causes a tiny spot of bleeding the warfarin may help it to become a significant bleed. The amount you can consume is up to the individual. I suspect that if your stomach ever feels upset after drinking, then you are approaching the bleeding stage.

Rich,
Al says the real danger is with the possibility of stomach irritation leading to a bleed.
Be careful in your experimentation.

 

[Ross]

I'm figuring Al and Ross will say something to the effect of '2 tests in 2 weeks doesn't prove anything' and to that I say 'prove me wrong '. If anything, I would say that alcohol decreases the effectiveness of coumadin.

Feel free to argue.

Rich

I'm not going to argue. I'll just say that it never ceases to amaze me at people being given a second chance at life and are so willing to take unnecessary chances at losing it. It's your life, if you want to take the risk, be my guest. When I was your age, I was doing and saying the samethings. Little did I know that in a short time, all that great health I had was about to become just a memory. Believe it, it can happen in the blink of an eye.

 

[Moo]

My interest...

My interest...

Rich,
Al says the real danger is with the possibility of stomach irritation leading to a bleed.
Be careful in your experimentation.

My testing is strictly to find the effects of alcohol on my INR. Knock on wood, I have an iron gut... I eat hot sauce everyday (Frank's Red Hot is like ketchup, and tabasco sauce makes things more fun to eat ) and in 25 years, i've never coughed up blood or anything close. (Now I probably will )

Al had posted to me about alcohol affecting coumadin's metabolism and I want to have statistical data to find out one way or the other.

Rich

 

[RCB]

Give him a break

Give him a break

I'm not going to argue. I'll just say that it never ceases to amaze me at people being given a second chance at life and are so willing to take unnecessary chances at losing it. It's your life, if you want to take the risk, be my guest.

He is still a "youngen"- give a chance to grow. Have you forgotten Ross, what it is to be 25 and care free Those were the good old days

 

[Ross]

He is still a "youngen"- give a chance to grow. Have you forgotten Ross, what it is to be 25 and care free Those were the good old days

I know, see the addition to my post that you quoted.

 

[William]

Thanks for the data Rich. I like to tie a good one on myself from time to time and have wondered how that plays with the INR test. Your research helps. Cheers, Will

 

[RCB]

Yes

Yes

I know, see the addition to my post that you quoted.

You only find that out with age- nobody could tell me anything either when
I was was young

 

[Ross]

You only find that out with age- nobody could tell me anything either when
I was was young

You know, thinking about it, I'm suprised I lived long enough to make it to the point of rapid health decline. For most of the stupid stuff I did, I shouldn't have lived to be 30.

 

[Mary]

I know, see the addition to my post that you quoted.

Hey guys,
Rich has already been through alot. That's why he should know to be careful.

Rich, you should be careful. Your signature line reads, "Never settle. There's always something better."

Unfortunately, life also teaches. . .

"Settle. There's always something worse."
Don't learn it the hard way.
Mary

 

[RCB]

You know, thinking about it, I'm suprised I lived long enough to make it to the point of rapid health decline. For most of the stupid stuff I did, I shouldn't have lived to be 30.

12345

DITTO

 

[RCB]

Hey Mary

Hey Mary

Hey guys,
Rich has already been through alot. That's why he should know to be careful.

Rich, you should be careful. Your signature line reads, "Never settle. There's always something better."

Unfortunately, life also teaches. . .

"Settle. There's always something worse."
Don't learn it the hard way.
Mary

What do you think Ross and I have been through- A walk in the park!

 

[Ross]

What do you think Ross and I have been through- A walk in the park!

I know I've been through hell and back twice. I have no desire to even remotely think of a third time. I'm tellin ya now, the third is going to be the one I do not come home from.

 

[Blanche]

Moo, and now William:
I can't tell you how sad I am at your dangerous attitude about anticoagulation. As the spouse of a stroke survivor, whose INR was 1.9 when he was struck down the second time, I pray that you will not repeat his experience. He had what the doctors called a Coumadin failure that was not related to alcohol comsumption. When he was struck, my dear one could not talk, walk, use his hands, or control bodily functions. Had I been at work that day instead of at home, he could have languished there on the bathroom floor for 10 hours before being found. The 21 day hospital stay, over Christmas and New Years was very exhausting and stressful as there was one night when he started bleeding out at Midnight. Today, he is doing well. He likes to say that everything works, but some things work differently. Now, he does have a compromised speach pattern that most people can understand, but he will never dance again, nor will he run, drive a car, or even climb a ladder. His short term memory is compromised. It is good that he retired for I doubt that he could hold a job.

I wish you well.

Blanche

 

[Mary]

Ok Guys.
Of course I don't think you've been through a walk in the park. But I wasn't trying to adress your situations. I was addressing what you said.

You both say, "give him a break, he's young."
I say, He's been through three surgeries which makes him old enough to know better. And I still say, "Be careful."

And if either of you decide to start experimenting with alcohol to determine the effect it has when it interacts with coumadin, I'll offer the same advice.

But only if you post and say, "Feel free to argue" like Rich did!

Actually, in Ross's case, I'll do more than that!