diarrhea from coumadin

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witzkeyman

witzkeyman

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Joined
Jan 17, 2008
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229
Location
South FL
my cardio swears that coumadin doesn't cause diarrhea. presently, I have hives and he told me that coumadin doesn't cause hives. from what I have read warfarin (coumadin) causes both. Chronic diarrhea also causes higher INR. he told me he's been doing this since 1975 and he knows what he is talking about. I'm waiting on his nurse practicioner to have a paper filled out to collect short term disability for my job. he refused to fill out the paperwork so I can get the INR machine for home monitoring. I'm so frustrated, I just had to vent.
thanks.
 
Find a coumadin clinic to work with, you may have better luck getting an INR monitor. Go to your primary doc and tell him you want to home test and see if he's supportive, he can write the prescription for the monitor just as easily as the cardio. If neither will work with you, find new doctors.
 
Louise said:
Find a coumadin clinic to work with, you may have better luck getting an INR monitor. Go to your primary doc and tell him you want to home test and see if he's supportive, he can write the prescription for the monitor just as easily as the cardio. If neither will work with you, find new doctors.
Click to expand...
very good suggestion.
 
Go shopping for a new cardio doc

Go shopping for a new cardio doc

I agree with Louise. Why deal with a doctor who refuses to respond to your needs? There are plenty of doctors who wouldn't mind working with you in a positive manner.

So, if your present doctor insists that coumadin isn't causing your diarrhea or hives, what is his diagnosis for the problems?

I've not had either as a result of taking coumadin. I did develop as nasty rash from an allergic reaction to a blood pressure medicine.

It's hard enough to traverse the problems the insurance companies throw at you when you're trying to get a home monitoring machine; why deal with a doctor who drops a road block in your path.

-Philip
 
What does your Primary Care Physician have to say about your diarrhea and hives?

FWIW, I've NEVER seen anyone associate Coumadin or Warfarin with either and never had such a problem myself over the last several years.

Hopefully your PCP will support your desire to do Home Testing.

'AL Capshaw'
 
This topic is timely ................

This topic is timely ................

When I asked about different generic manufacturers for warfarin Ross posted a link to Genpharm (a Canadian company).
They mention diarhea as a side effect. I don't recall anything about hives but other manufacturers lists may differ.
What does your cardio have against home monitoring?
In Canada the hospitals performing heart surgeries have blood clinics for monitoring ACT. Contacting the clinic in Toronto General Hospital allowed me to home test.
Have you contacted the hospital for their views on home monitoring? It's a good place to start asking questions.
 
very timely

very timely

My ACT doctor thinks my diarrhea is caused by warfarin (Lance, I checked mine, it is APO, another Canadian generic company). He has prescribed Sintrom for me (it is a coumarin derivative, no spelling error, coumarin is the active or base ingredient or something in Coumadin), unfortunately it is not covered by Ontario Drug Benefits (I am on provincial disability) and is costly ! I am going to try and get him to ask for a special exemption; I tried it for 2 weeks out of my own pocket, and although at the time it didn't seem to help much, when I switched back to warfarin, I think it had helped more than I thought.

If you want to e-mail me or PM me, feel free to do so.

BTW, today is 6 months exactly post-op, and this has been going on since I came out of hospital almost.
 
I am almost positive that the coumadin/warfarin is causing the diarrhea. at 5mg, I have chronic diarrhea, and at 2.5 mg I have very soft stools. I haven't really taken Immodium because I don't want to get constipated, since I will always have to take it. I'm not sure about the Canadian drug you mentioned. I'd rather go with COumadin but at a lower dose and use something else to increase my INR. once the doctor approves the home monitoring I will tinker.
 
ALCapshaw2 said:
What does your Primary Care Physician have to say about your diarrhea and hives?

FWIW, I've NEVER seen anyone associate Coumadin or Warfarin with either and never had such a problem myself over the last several years.

Hopefully your PCP will support your desire to do Home Testing.

'AL Capshaw'
Click to expand...
well, thats good to know. it might be the Lopressor I'm taking. hopefully it is, since I won't have to take that for life. thanks for the info.
I'm going to meet with a dermatolagist next week for the hives. Lopressor causes hives from what I've read.
 
You are flirting with danger and maybe even death

You are flirting with danger and maybe even death

My dear young man:
I beg you, please educate yourself on anticoagulation management before you do something drastic and cause yourself to have a stroke. I implore you to use this site to gain information that will help you in your choices.

Right now, you are dealing with the competence of ignorance when you say, "go with Coumadin at a lower dose and use something else to increase my INR." THERE IS NO SOMETHING ELSE. If you start tinkering, "once the dr. approves home testing" you could tinker yourself in to an early grave, or you could become a person who is unable to do even the most simple things for yourself.

You are an educator which means that you should know a great deal about learning. You need to use those skills to deal with anticoagulation concerns.

You can start by watching the clip on anticoagulation that is on a stickey at the top of the Anticoagulation Forum. Then, go to must have References and read-up on Anticoagulation and other topics.

My husband had two strokes in 2000 because of an anticoagulation problem. You have no idea how that changed his life and the lives of his friends and family.

Young man, I really fear for your survival.

Blanche
 
Thank you Blanche.

I was just about to post that if there was "something else" to increase our INR's we'd all be doing it and not deal with Coumadin.

When people read posts from those of us recommending changes, or telling what we would do, we do so based on solid knowledge of how Coumadin works in our bodies. It is something we have learned by educating ourselves from reliable sources such as www.warfarinfo.com - not by using a trial and error approach based on our own "what ifs".

Witz - please seek out a reputable Coumadin Clinic and have them deal with your issues. Your doctor has already demonstrated his lack of knowledge by telling you to hold for 3 days to get the warfarin out of our system. I don't care if he's been dealing with the drug since '75 - he has NO clue.

I would certainly not start messing with your Coumadin dose to stop your diarrhea. Get your INR in range and seek out the advice of professionals.
 
One more suggestion:

If your Primary Care Physician (PCP) can't help you with your diarrhea, go see a GastroEnterologist (a.k.a. GI Doc)who specializes in Digestive Diseases.

The ONLY alternative to Coumadin / Warfarin that I am familiar with is a Heparin Drip or Lovenox Injections. I 'think' I heard of some alternatives that are used only when the patient cannot tolerate Coumadin. Most likely these are quite expensive as they are NOT commonplace and have few users to share the costs of development and distribution.

'AL Capshaw'
 
Blanche said:
My dear young man:
I beg you, please educate yourself on anticoagulation management before you do something drastic and cause yourself to have a stroke. I implore you to use this site to gain information that will help you in your choices.

Right now, you are dealing with the competence of ignorance when you say, "go with Coumadin at a lower dose and use something else to increase my INR." THERE IS NO SOMETHING ELSE. If you start tinkering, "once the dr. approves home testing" you could tinker yourself in to an early grave, or you could become a person who is unable to do even the most simple things for yourself.

You are an educator which means that you should know a great deal about learning. You need to use those skills to deal with anticoagulation concerns.

You can start by watching the clip on anticoagulation that is on a stickey at the top of the Anticoagulation Forum. Then, go to must have References and read-up on Anticoagulation and other topics.

My husband had two strokes in 2000 because of an anticoagulation problem. You have no idea how that changed his life and the lives of his friends and family.

Young man, I really fear for your survival.

Blanche
Click to expand...
Blanche,
first of all I'd like to send condolences and best wishes to your husband. I'd like to say first of all I don't drink or smoke cigarettes. I have heard of people that thought it was O.K. to drink 3 or 4 beers a day. that's just plain stupid. People do take multivitamins with Vitamin K, correct?because of this they will have to take higher doese of coumadin. it works the other way around also. It works only if one is consistent. the person taking the multivitamin with Vitamin K MUST take it everyday. correct me if I'm wrong, as long as I can have the number meet the prescribed INR. personally I'm taking 30 mg of Coumadin a week. I'd like to gradually (over a lot of time, and once I get my machine) lessen it to 25. I'm not planning on going lower than that EVER. there are supplements that can raise the INR. if I took this supplement everyday and was in range, would this be a bad thing?
 
witzkeyman said:
Blanche,
first of all I'd like to send condolences and best wishes to your husband. I'd like to say first of all I don't drink or smoke cigarettes. I have heard of people that thought it was O.K. to drink 3 or 4 beers a day. that's just plain stupid. People do take multivitamins with Vitamin K, correct?because of this they will have to take higher doese of coumadin. it works the other way around also. It works only if one is consistent. the person taking the multivitamin with Vitamin K MUST take it everyday. correct me if I'm wrong, as long as I can have the number meet the prescribed INR. personally I'm taking 30 mg of Coumadin a week. I'd like to gradually (over a lot of time, and once I get my machine) lessen it to 25. I'm not planning on going lower than that EVER. there are supplements that can raise the INR. if I took this supplement everyday and was in range, would this be a bad thing?
Click to expand...


I don't think Blanche meant any disrepect ONLY concern, I'm sure! Coumadin can be a life saver when taken w/proper monitoring but it can also be a life ender when not! Just concern my friend, just concern!:)
 
witzkeyman - you're part right, but not completely right. There are supplements and medications that affect your clotting, but don't affect your INR - Lovenox is an example. There are supplements and medications that increase the anticoagulation of Coumadin and raise the INR, such as Garlic, Gingko, and many antibiotics. There are supplements and medications, like Ginseng and multivitamins, that affect your INR negatively.

Frankly, since supplements don't have very high standards, I would be careful in using them as a substitute for Coumadin. The bottle of Gingko that you buy this month may not have the same amount of active ingredients as the bottle you bought last month.

Additionally, my personal opinion regarding home testing devices is that you should be very comfortable with your INR and Coumadin before beginning to use one and make your own decisions as to your dosage. Setting any kind of goal for weekly dosage is premature at this time. What makes 25 more magic than 30? I take 48 because I metabolize it very quickly AND I like veggies. Find a good Coumadin clinic or at least a better doctor and leave it up to the experts for a while.
 
I take 76 a week. This is neither way too much or way too little Coumadin - it's what I need. I have no additional risks than someone taking 40 or 20 a week. So there's no reason to try and attain any certain dose of Coumadin. The best dose is the dose that keeps you in range. Your INR in range is all that matters. Just because I take 76 a week and you take 30 does not mean that I am at double the risk of bleeding - the dosage amount has nothing to do with risk - it's the INR you attain from the dosage that is the key.

Please don't take supplements for the express purpose of raising your INR and keeping your Coumadin dose lower. This is not a safe way to manage your INR. If you choose to take supplements for their intended purpose - that's fine. Just be regular and consistent about it.

I think it's too soon for you to assume that hives and diarrhea are a direct result of your Coumadin, particularly if you are taking anything else new. (If you were to look on the side-effects list for 99% of the prescribed drugs you'd see both diarrhea and constipation listed as possible side effects.) I think you first need to get your INR in-range for a while without trying to figure out ways to reduce your Coumadin dose.
 
witzkeyman,
as Karlynn said,
Please don't take supplements for the express purpose of raising your INR and keeping your Coumadin dose lower. This is not a safe way to manage your INR. If you choose to take supplements for their intended purpose - that's fine. Just be regular and consistent about it.

There is a good possibility that you may have to increase your coumadin dose as you get stronger and more active anyways. I think your playing with more than fire here. I'm sorry to say that I agree with the others.

We are all very concerned.
 
hey Lisa,
thanks for bringing up gingko, because I took gingkobiloba before my surgery. I feel it helps me think clearer, but that's besides the point. I have read that if you taked a certain amount of St. Johns Wort and Gingko Biloba, you can counter the effect to stablize the INR. I'm not interested in lowering the INR. I'm interested in raising, although I'm at a very premature stage presently.
You are eating veggies, and to me this is a perfect example.
I have a low tolerance for the coumadin, but am not interested in seeing a GI doctor, because the effects of some of those drugs that work on stomach acids can have horrible side effects.
You are taking Coumadin to fit your lifestyle, as I would like to do the same. I must also use precautions also, because if the diarrhea stops, the INR goes down. My doctor and surgeon were more concerned at lowering my INR, and said that higher INR's are dangerous as you can hemmorage and bleed in your brain. I was also told that there are ways to dissolve a clot with certain drugs. I didn't ask about if the clot would dissolve completely or move around causing other problems. the general feeling I am getting is that clotting doesn't happen overnight. It is usually when a person takes St. Johns Wort, drinks beers regularly, or eats brussel sprouts on a semi-regular basis. I am a little obsessive-compulsive, and I know I will be testing myself every other day for the rest of my life, but that is just how I am.
 
Blood can be replaced from bleeding. Brain cells cannot be replaced from Stroke. If your not stable on your Coumadin, stay away from natural products until you are. Coumadin dosing is not something to toy with.
 
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