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Buffy41

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 7, 2009
Messages
142
Location
Vancouver, Canada
It seems like some of you have been on warfarin before your surgery, I'm not.
Wondering how they know how much to give you to start after your operation? How often you get tested to start etc. I don't really know anything about this, except that I'll be on for life.
Is it true you need to stay away from alcohol? I rarely drink now, but am only 41 and sometimes might want to have fun with my friends :)
 
Nah, you don't have to stay away from alcohol, but you will have limit yourself to 2 or 3 drinks.
I wasn't on warfarin before surgery neither. With a mechanical valve you'll need an INR in between 2.5 - 3.5. This you will learn in time. You'll have to get once a week in the beginning and once you get into range, every 2 weeks then maybe once a month.

Hope this helps.
Me
 
Buffy as part of your learning process, see the stickies up top in this forum, then see these two links for a continuing education on Warfarin:

http://www.warfarinfo.com/warfarinfo.com2.htm

http://www.aafp.org/afp/990201ap/635.html

Don't worry, we'll help you through it all as time goes on. Your INR or how much you take is determined by what valve is being replaced and your Doctor. Don't fall for everything you here about warfarin because just about 85 to 90% of it is rubbish, myth, old school thinking stuff. We all eat what we want, drink what we want and live the way we want.
 
Hi Buffy,
I'm about your age and just a few weeks into the world of Warfarin. Every time I see "for life" written it makes me shudder! They took blood tests for about 4 days after my op in hospital and adjusted my Warfarin until it was stable between my 2.4 and 3.1 range (which I think is an odd and small range but local surgery say it's normal!?). It all takes a bit of getting used to but as my surgeon says "it's not rocket science"!
Alcohol drinking is ok in moderation which is a relief, cos I love a drink (or two, but sadly that has to do from now on).
As for how often, my health center uses a clever computer program called "Sulliven Cuff" or something like that, your blood inr (test)figure is entered into it and it decides what your dose should be for a given time period and when you need another test, anywhere between one week and ten weeks. My inr yesterday was 2.3, ie. 0.1 point below my range so I have to go back after 7 days for a retest.
But I think you have to read between the lines a little with these health care proffessionals as some of their advise seems a little dated, for example when I had my tests yesterday the nurse drummed into me the importance of absolutely NOT drinking cranberry juice, eating too many greens, eating bananas which all seems rather dated advise. She also told me if my inr level falls too low my blood will be really thick and if it goes too high my blood will be really thin ! This as you'll learn would seem to be total nonsence!
Sorry for ranting I'm still a bit annoyed by it...
This forum is the place to really find out about related stuff, there's plenty more learned folk on here than me, luckily for you!
Kind regards, Justin.
 
Woodbutcher said:
the nurse drummed into me the importance of absolutely NOT drinking cranberry juice, eating too many greens, eating bananas which all seems rather dated advise. She also told me if my inr level falls too low my blood will be really thick and if it goes too high my blood will be really thin !
Click to expand...

This is just the type of nonsense I'm talking about. Those kinds of warfarin managers will have you swinging all over the place with little chance of becoming stable. Cranberry juice has been cleared, you can eat all the greens you want and have the dose adjusted for the diet you eat to include them. You simply have to avoid binging on things. No sudden bag of spinich, salads everyday etc, unless that's what you normally do everyday. Alcohol---Best to stay away from it because of the risk of stomach ulcers from it's use, but we've had people who drank their butts off and it never affected their INR. I'm not condoning this activity, just saying we've had people here do it before.

The Thiick/Thin thing is what drives us all nuts. Warfarin does not change the viscosity of your blood like engine oil. The correct term is anticoagulant, not thinner.
 
Thanks you guys, as Justin said you read for life and it is scary. I've been so concerned about the thought of adjusting my life to take this drug forever, but didn't want to have this surgery re done several times in my life time....
as always you calm my nerves.
 
Please determine in advance they should not have you diet the dose they set; they should dose the diet you customarily and consistently enjoy. Consistency is what matters. If you have spinach salad everyday, fine, but continue to have it. If you like a glass of wine with dinner, fine, but continue to have it. Sure, you can miss a day here and there but be reasonably consistent.

The old thinking about you having to eat the diet that will prove THEY chose the right dose is just that.... old thinking. Your coumadin manager has to learn the dose that is correct for you and your diet/level of activity.

It may take a bit until you are steadily in range but that is very normal and almost expected to a certain point.

The good folks here who are so knowledgable about warfarin/coumadin will help you along as they have so many others.
Good luck. You'll do fine.
 
Buffy,
I've said it before 'I don't like coumadin'. That said, I have not changed one thing about my life except the testing. I eat what I want and drink moderatly when I want. I think moderation is the key to about everything.
As previously said, we have a new puppy so right now my arms and hands look like I've been thru a war......Sharp puppy teeth and claws. Worse due to the coumadin but I'll survive just fine. Wouldn't change it.
 
Buffy41 said:
Thanks you guys, as Justin said you read for life and it is scary. I've been so concerned about the thought of adjusting my life to take this drug forever, but didn't want to have this surgery re done several times in my life time....
as always you calm my nerves.
Click to expand...

It really ain't that bad. After awhile you just take the pill without really knowing it. Since it will become very routine, its a good idea to have a seven day pillbox to remind you if you have, or haven't take your pill for the day. Consistancy in taking the drug, eating what you like, testing your INR routinely and drinking alchol in moderation is the key. When I had my valve done...way back in the olden' days, I was actually prescribed a bottle of beer per day while I was in the hospital post-op.

Until I was in my 60s', warfarin was the ONLY drug I took daily. Now I take a small handfull of pills. Warfarin is the only one I take that is directly related to my surgery. The others are for cholesterol, hi blood pressure, allergies and a daily vitamin. The nice thing is that warfarin has made it possible for me to get this far:p;).
 
Warfarin use and Dose adjustment

Warfarin use and Dose adjustment

Ross said:
This is just the type of nonsense I'm talking about. Those kinds of warfarin managers will have you swinging all over the place with little chance of becoming stable. Cranberry juice has been cleared, you can eat all the greens you want and have the dose adjusted for the diet you eat to include them. You simply have to avoid binging on things. No sudden bag of spinich, salads everyday etc, unless that's what you normally do everyday. Alcohol---Best to stay away from it because of the risk of stomach ulcers from it's use, but we've had people who drank their butts off and it never affected their INR. I'm not condoning this activity, just saying we've had people here do it before.

The Thiick/Thin thing is what drives us all nuts. Warfarin does not change the viscosity of your blood like engine oil. The correct term is anticoagulant, not thinner.
Click to expand...





Hi , Kvntoday here,
I agree with everything that administrator says, there is too much nonsense going on about Warfarin and providing you do not "Binge' you can lead a normal life and don't let the scaremongers get you going into a panic.
I do my own dosing as I have a "Coagucheck " and I then send the INR reading to a computer /Doctor service who immeadiately send me a new dose and time for the next test.I do enjoy a drink at night and sometimes I will have maybe 3 glasses of wine or I might have 2 to 4 stubbies of beer and I do not adjust my diet except I try not to have too much Bacon or Liver (Which I love)
I am 64 years old and my valve replacement was genetic and it is a mechanical one , my GP picked it up about 25 years ago so it has always been monitored combined with my A/Fib which I believe had something to do with the Aorta valve regurgitating/ Leaking.
During my valve replacement they did a full Maze Procedure which failed and I am now in Permanent A/Fib which is a bit of a nuisense but I live with it.
I was a fanatical sportsperson ,running , cycling etc for years and I think this also contributed me getting A/Fib?
I am just trying to get on with my life and I do try and keep fit but I certainly do not have the energy that I had so I just do a lot of walking and working around our rural property.
I hope this does give some comfort to othe members....

Regards...Kvntoday
 
Hang on... "I try not to have too much Bacon or Liver" by Kvntoday. That's a new one on me ! I love bacon and liver, why's that on the moderation/dont eat list ??

Off to grill some bacon now whilst I'm still in ignorant bacon bliss !
Justin
 
Buffy41 said:
I've been so concerned about the thought of adjusting my life to take this drug forever, but didn't want to have this surgery re done several times in my life time....
as always you calm my nerves.
Click to expand...
The one and only real adjustment to your life will be to remember to take the drug. Outside of that, your going to laugh, and I'm not kidding, about the things your worrying about now. It really is a matter of taking your med, complying with INR monitoring, being semi consistent in what you eat and that's about it. ;)
 
greg said:
As previously said, we have a new puppy so right now my arms and hands look like I've been thru a war......Sharp puppy teeth and claws. Worse due to the coumadin but I'll survive just fine. Wouldn't change it.
Click to expand...
:eek:.......And you didn't bleed to death? I swear I read somewhere that Coumadin is a blood "Thinner". :D
 
Woodbutcher said:
Hang on... "I try not to have too much Bacon or Liver" by Kvntoday. That's a new one on me ! I love bacon and liver, why's that on the moderation/dont eat list ??

Off to grill some bacon now whilst I'm still in ignorant bacon bliss !
Justin
Click to expand...

I can see salt as reason for bacon, but other then that, there isn't any reason to avoid them. Liver doesn't have much Vit K to it. Less then most would think.

I like liver too and can't wait to have some teeth to eat with!
 
Throw way any food guidelines for warfarin that you have. Eat what you want to eat and just have them adjust your dose accordingly.

I've been on warfarin for over 17 years. I do absolutely nothing to accommodate the fact that I take the drug - other than taking it nightly and home testing about every 2 weeks. If you wouldn't stop to think about what you are doing or eating if you were on aspirin therapy - then you shouldn't with warfarin therapy.
 
Bacon and Liver

Bacon and Liver

Woodbutcher said:
Hang on... "I try not to have too much Bacon or Liver" by Kvntoday. That's a new one on me ! I love bacon and liver, why's that on the moderation/dont eat list ??

Off to grill some bacon now whilst I'm still in ignorant bacon bliss !
Justin
Click to expand...

Don't worry Wood butcher? I love it too but when I was in Croatia last year I had a lot of spicey meat and what looked like and tasted like very salty bacon and my INR shot up to 4.5 so I had to leave off the Warfarin for 2 days then back to 6mg daily and it went back to 2.1 and I stopped the spicey food .Just a thought, I have a list provided by the hospital and it does say about Bacon or liver can increase INR.......Kevin
 
Thanks for all the great advice, Now you have me concerned about something else.....alot of you seem to enjoy liver, I can't stand it and hope I don't like it after AVR.......LOL
 
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