coumadin and ProFibe for reducing cholesterol

[sharon]

Well, I gave the policosinal 2 months and it just brought my LDL cholesterol down 10 pts and upped my HDL 2pts. My ND said to not bother taking it anymore. So I am on to the next thing.

ProFibe is a fruit pectin (no grapefruit pectin because of interaction of grapefruit with lots of meds) that you use 3x a day and is supposed to really, really, really take your cholesterol down. It does not break down in the small intestine as some other fibers do, instead it breaks down in the large intestine due to the fact that the pectin is protected by soy protein through some patented process which keeps it from breaking down in the small intestine. It was invented by an MD - Dr. Cerburg and his research team at Univ of Fla and has been around for 11 yrs. You have to drink lots of water with it and it may cause you to do a lot of tooting so they recommend Beano.

Has anyone ever heard of ProFibe?

Sharon
St Judes AV 4/11/97

 

[Nancy]

I haven't heard about it, however when you mentioned soy products I starting thinking--vitamin K, which could interfere with Coumadin. And, not too sure what action it either performs or prevents in your intestinal tract, which might also cause variations in your INR.

I hope Al Lodwick can give you a good answer before you invest too much money in it.

On the other side of the coin, if it's anything like the actions of Metamucil and other fiber remedies, it'll probably be OK.

 

[Guest]

If something lowered the cholesterol by 10 points and raised the HDL by 2 points, I would consider it a success. My clinic includes a lipid management service. What we usually find is that when the total cholesterol goes down the HDL tends to go down along with it. Raising the HDL is extremely hard to do.

Nancy pointed out that soy can have vitamin K causing the INR to go down.

I would also avoid taking fiber for about two hours before or after other medications. Many can be bound by the fiber and not get absorbed. Get your INR checked once a week after making the change. Keep doing it that often until you get two readings in a row that are in range. Whjen you run out or stop it, you should repeat the process in the reverse order.

 

[sharon]

If something lowered the cholesterol by 10 points and raised the HDL by 2 points, I would consider it a success. My clinic includes a lipid management service. What we usually find is that when the total cholesterol goes down the HDL tends to go down along with it. Raising the HDL is extremely hard to do.

Nancy pointed out that soy can have vitamin K causing the INR to go down.

I would also avoid taking fiber for about two hours before or after other medications. Many can be bound by the fiber and not get absorbed. Get your INR checked once a week after making the change. Keep doing it that often until you get two readings in a row that are in range. Whjen you run out or stop it, you should repeat the process in the reverse order.

Thank you for the advice Nancy. Actually I'm almost a vegetarian. In the past year I've reintroduced salmon into my diet once a week due to my husband's urging me to do so. I eat a lot of soy products throughout the week and that doesn't seem to bother my inr, but I will take Al's advice about testing frequently.

Thank you Al for your advice. I know that the 10 pt reduction of my LDL is good but not good enough. It still was 166 and my HDL went up to 58. My triglycerides went up to 149 from 134. So although it was successful my total was still 254. The info that I had read on the policosinal said that it could lower it 25% and that was what I was hoping for. I will do as you say and test often and use it 2 hrs before or after I take my coumadin. I'll let you know in a month if this has helped me at all. According to ProFibe's technical staff (I called them before ordering) because the fiber is protected by the soy protein it doesn't allow it to bind with meds because meds are broken down in the small intestine and ProFibe doesn't break down until it reaches the large intestines thus eliminating the binding effect of other fiber products such as metamucil.

Sharon
St Judes avr 4/97

 

[tobagotwo]

Grapefruit Juice

Grapefruit Juice

A note about grapefruit juice. Depending on your meds, you may be fine to have grapefruit juice as long as you don't drink it near the time you take your pills.

Pat loves grapefruit juice, but the prescription bottle has a warning label. The druggist was very plain regarding Pat's Lipitor. As long as she didn't drink the grapefruit juice within an hour or so of taking the pill, he said it should cause no ill effects.

You should check with your druggist about it, depending on what type of prescriptions you take, and how often. Check again, if your prescriptions change.

Best wishes,