Drink Wine?

shop deals on amazon
Shop deals on ebay
Advertise with us
Valve Replacement Forums

Help Support Valve Replacement Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
You might picture binge drinking as a set of steps. Nobody knows how many steps there are to the door the represents a GI bleed. The INR doesn't count the steps. It is unlikely that there are only 2 steps. More like 30 or 40. One day you will almost certainly open the door. The false sense of security from "nothing happened so far" is one of the major dangers.
 
I've drank like that all my life and had no problems. In fact, I've gone months without picking up a beer. Binge drinking is something that just happens not something I plan. The older I get the less frequently it occurs. I understand the danger and am aware of it. On the other hand, I like to live my life without fear and complete restrictions. Having said that, I do all else in respect to my condition ( exercise daily, eat healthy and routine check ups and physicals).
 
Natanni said:
Actually Kate, I do think that alcohol comsumption does affect a person's INR. While Nathan has not seen it happen personally yet (and home testing was a help with this as he was able to test many times when his clinic was not open, we would not have known that he personally has not had an effect from this otherwise) I know people that have seen fluctuations with even 2 drinks.
Click to expand...

Natanni not to pick on you, but these other people, did they test before drinking and after drinking and come up with a .2 or whatever variation? Tell them not to drink and do the samething, they'll see the same results. It's just the nature of INR.
 
allodwick said:
You might picture binge drinking as a set of steps. Nobody knows how many steps there are to the door the represents a GI bleed. The INR doesn't count the steps. It is unlikely that there are only 2 steps. More like 30 or 40. One day you will almost certainly open the door. The false sense of security from "nothing happened so far" is one of the major dangers.
Click to expand...
Al,
Are you saying drinking at all is dangerous or drinking a lot is dangerous?
 
Oh dear...I love a good sip of wine daily. I don't get drunk, or party heavy, but I do like to tip the grape when I can. ;) I think once I do get confirmation when I will have my valve replacement, I will go totally holistic and give up all the wine, junk food, and salt. Water and Macrobiotics! ...oh JOY! :D
 
LadyBlue said:
Oh dear...I love a good sip of wine daily. I don't get drunk, or party heavy, but I do like to tip the grape when I can. ;) I think once I do get confirmation when I will have my valve replacement, I will go totally holistic and give up all the wine, junk food, and salt. Water and Macrobiotics! ...oh JOY! :D
Click to expand...
Then just why are you having the surgery???????;) :D ;)
 
I have a couple of glasses of red wine with dinner 3 to 4 nights per week. I wouldn't consider myself to be a binge drinker, but on weekends or at social gatherings I may have up to four to five glasses over the course of an evening.

Discussed drinking with both my surgeon and cardiologist after my surgery - neither had any problems with it. Their only advice (which also applied to my diet) was to be consistent with whatever I did.

In 5-1/2 years, I've never seen any correlation between my INR level and my alchohol comsumption.

What I have seen is a very noticeable affect on my INR related to my activity level - if I singificantly increase or decrease my workout volume.
 
I'm still confused. When you go the the Coumadin website, they very clearly recommend that alcohol not be consumed while on their medication, yet many people on this site have obviously been told by various doctors that drinking in moderation or the same amount every day is okay. The scientific study referenced seems to focus on alcohol's impact (or lack of impact) on INR, but that seems to miss the point of the real danger, which is stomach bleeding. Even Al, our fabulous Coumadin expert, seems uncertain - suggesting that some drinking is probably okay but cautioning that how much is "too much" is difficult to predict and that there are no warning signs when one is getting close to a serious bleeding situation.

Is it reasonable to assume that the risks associated with drinking on Coumadin are serious but rare, so that most people can safely drink in moderation but that some very small portion will end up with life-threatening complications? If this is the situation, is there some way to determine who is most at risk? I hate to belabor this, but it seems like an important issue that we just don't know enough about. Kate
 
Kate,
My guess is that if a person has issues with stomach bleeding without being on coumadin (whether due to alcohol or other things), then being on coumadin could make drinking more dangerous. I do not think coumadin and alcohol will CAUSE stomach bleeding in those who drink lightly. As I mentioned in my earlier post, I have been on coumadin for over 25 years, drink lightly and have no signs of stomach bleeding. Apparently that is the case for many of us.
 
I've been on coumadin for nine years and enjoy a small glass of wine or two an evening with no problems. (In fact, I've enjoyed some wine with the previous poster on a Chicago trip once.) However, something that I've learned is not to buy those big wine glasses that are so popular now. The glasses I drink out of are small and hold 5 oz. tops, which is the recommended daily allowance anyway. The key here is moderation.
 
INR @ 7.6 what to do ? ?

INR @ 7.6 what to do ? ?

Hi everyone, here's a question for everybody (especially AL Lodwick) I usally take 5 mg every day (35)mg a week last week I went up to 6.1 so I skipped one dose and went back to my 5 mg a day for the rest of the week...tested the next week and I was 7.6 on Monday (29th May) well will miracles never cease...my "Dr." called and he wants me to skip one dose then take half my dose (2.5mg) the rest of the week and retest on Fri (June 2nd)...I think that it's far to much of a change and I told him so. What I did was skip one dose and took two 1/2 doses (2.50 mg) but I'm not sure what to do the rest of the week....I was thinking that I'll take 3.5mg for the next two days (Thurs. and Fri.) because if I test on Fri. I don't get my results back till Sat. AM What does everbody think ?....I really need help on this one.

St.Judes mechanical Aortic valve
Quad CABG
Thanks, Jimmy..................BTW I also have a few beer every day and my cardioligist said it should not effect my INR as long as I was consistant.
 
Jimmy,
I think holding one dose was the right thing to do. I would also take a half dose the day after holding. You should then decrease your weekly dose by 20% and then retest in one week. Based on where you are then you can then adjust or keep on the reduced dose.
Since you take 35mg/week, you should reduce by 7mg. You should take 4mg/day or some variation thereof depending on the pills you have.

Do you have any thoughts on what has changed to cause your INR to rise?
 
geebee

geebee

No idea Gina, I drink anywhere from 4 to 5 beer every day and my INR can go from 1.8 to 8.1. I try to be consistant with my vit. K intake but it's hard sometimes and for as much as I might vary my "greens" I can't see that making that much of a differance. I wonder if stress could play a big part in this roller coaster ride ?
Jimmy
 
I guess there is a possibility that the high end results are test problems and not "real" results. Are those fairly frequent or exception?
You might want to try and keep a diary of what you do and eat over a few weeks (do NOT alter what you normally do or eat) to try and identify trends.
 
I've been on Coumadin for over 14 years. I love red wine, Cosmopolitans, and Morgans w/ Coke. I've never seen my INR flucuate due to alcohol. I'll have a total of probably 4 or 5 drinks a week. I won't mention my recent trip with the girlfriends to Florida and our love of Cosmos.:eek: My INR upon my return was slightly high, but my INR always starts to go high w/ travel. I'm not going to stop traveling because my INR goes up.
 
Macrobiotics pose a problem with warfarin. The bacteria produce vitamin K. This will cause a need for an increased warfarin dose and potentially high INRs if you do not consume the same amount of bacteria consistently.

Two of the main things you need to learn about warfarin are that advertising does not apply to you and much of the information in "health food" books works against warfarin.
 
I guess if everybody just followed the doctor´s advice of 1-2 drinks
per drinking occasion, the INR would be fine, there would not be any
risk of a GI bleeding.

I think that some people asking about alcohol and coumadine are trying
to find some proof that it would be o.k to drink more or to find some in
the medical field that would o.k it.......but in the end I think it is up to
yourself to decide whether it is worth the risks. As Al said, you never know
when you might have an GI bleeding, only thing is that the risk increases
with age and with excessive(now againwhat is excessive??) drinking.

Here in Sweden, the doctor´s say, "drink in moderation". It´s like saying
"eat in moderation", what might be a big meal for someone, might be an
appertizer for another person! But the professional point of wiew is of
course you should limit it too 1-2 drinks - discussion ends there.

Then for myself, I sometimes drink more, but not binge. I also try to avoid
any hard liquor as I think it tends irritate your stomach more?

I can see an elevated INR after drinking a bit more then the 1-2 glasses
for some days in a row, like on a holiday, but nothing above 4.0 normally
(worst case scenario!).

Cheers!!?

Martin
 
I think the old saying "Everything in moderation" is the mantra for anybody not just for valvers. Unfortunately, in life there is temptations that somtimes lead to excessive. Everybody is different, what one person metabolism rate is isn't the same for others. I think you can generalize all day long but it still wouldn't apply to everybody. I know myself and what my body can handle. I know when to stop 95% of the time. I'm not a gambler but I'm an odds maker. If I'm good 95% of the time, then I like my chances. Again, I refuse to live my life in fear. Comadin will not rule my life. It keeps me alive (so to speak) and I respect that.;)
 
Mike,
I think that you have the best attitude. You are aware of warfarin and consider what might happen but you do not allow it to the the overridingforce in your life. Every moment we are all weighing the risks vs benefits of what we are going to do next in everything we do. Warfarin is just one more factor.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top