Green Leafy Stuff

[fdegranville]

Question?
I started Coumadin yesterday permanently due to really large LA, hypertension and AFib from mitral stenosis . I'm wondering about green vegetables. I have sorta been doing the Atkins diet and gave up bread and all pasta and sugar and it has been working great! However, I have been eating a lot of salad. I've read conflicting information about the effects of green leafy vegetables and Coumadin. When I get a chance I will read all the Coumadin links here. I'm sure everyone reacts differently? My first INR check will be on Wednesday.

Thank you,
fdeg

 

[Ross]

For salads, stick to iceberg lettuce. The darker the green, the more your INR will drop due to high Vit K content. Cucumber is fine without the dark green skin, with it, it is very high in Vit K.

Eat as you normally would, but be cautious of how much your taking in. It seems easier, at least for me, to keep my diet normal and work at adjusting the coumadin dosage that way. Consistency is the key.

 

[ccrawford]

Not so scary

Not so scary

Hi FDEG - Be sure to read all the past posts about Coumadin, and explore the various links they contain. The more you understand about Coumadin, the more comfortable you will be in using it and knowing what to do when dosage changes are indicated. It would be a good idea for you to become used to checking out the labels on foods for awhile, as more and more stuff seems to have vitamin K being added to it such as food suplements and vitamins.
There are a couple of good web sites that list drug interactions with Coumadin as well as herbal interactions with Coumadin. These are always good to have available for reference. Good luck. Chris

 

[bvdr]

Hi Francesca,
What else did you cardio say at your appointment? How large is your LA? I know these are problems that you have been dealing with for a long time. What made him initiate it now? Were you on coumadin before - for a PE or something? I hope you are starting to feel a little better. Also, how is your heart rate doing these days?...................Betty

 

[fdegranville]

Green leafy stuff

Green leafy stuff

Ross, thank you I will heed your advice, but I seriously fell off the Atkins wagon today; just had the best pizza I have ever had--vow to get back on the wagon tomorrow. I guess it would have been okay without the crust, but more difficult to eat.

Chris, thanks, I will read as much as I can on Coumadin.

Hi Betty, She put me on Coumadin because I went into A fib during the valvuloplasty. The doctor who did the procedure also recommended it. He said my LA is extremely large, but I don't have the measurement. I also have hypertension which is bad for the AI and a previous PE--so, along with the mitral stenosis, I have so many risk factors for stroke they really feel the benefits out weigh the risks/side effects. I will be doing so much flying in the next four months for work -- that I don't want to risk another PE I will be going to: Washington, Troy Michigan, Dallas, Las Vegas, Scottsdale, Miami, Tampa, Boston, Toronto, London, Hawaii, Paris, Munich, Rome, London (again), Singapore, Sydney and Guam between June and October.......

She still wants to try to manage it all medically, but we did talk about the surgery. She wants me to have mechanical valves,(I agree), but she still wants to wait if we can. I imagine it will be within the year. Heartrate is still the same and I'm having a monitor this week to see what is going on.

How are you doing?
fdeg

 

[Guest]

Don't forget that Dr. Atkins did not live to his lie expectancy.

Some argue that you can't count that because he died from a fall on the ice. But life expectancy is death from any cause. Was he judgment poor because his brain had been affected by ketosis? Was his coordination poor? Was he more likely to bleed into his brain because of his diet? We will never know, but he didn't make it to the age he was expected to live.

To me it seems like it should be a death sentence for his diet.

 

[fdegranville]

Atkins

Atkins

Hi Al,
I was a huge sceptic too. But if you go over to About.com Dr. Rich (who is an excellent cardiologist) is admitting that Dr. Atkins just might have something. Many doctors are looking closely at his theories and are not as against it as they were at first. Studies show that if followed exactly, there is no elevation of the serum cholesterol. All I know is cutting down on bread and carbs, that we know turn to sugar, and eventually fat can't hurt.

fdeg

 

[Guest]

But you wrote,"I have sorta been doing the Atkins diet"

AND

"Studies show that if followed exactly, there is no elevation of the serum cholesterol. All I know is cutting down on bread and carbs, that we know turn to sugar, and eventually fat can't hurt."

A study would also show that the man who followed the Atkins diet more rigidly than anyone else did not live to his life expectancy.

There is a huge leap of faith between cutting down on bread and carbs and the Atkins diet.

 

[KristyW]

Differing opinion

Differing opinion

Ross,

I have a slightly different opinion on the leafy/dark greens. I personally eat them whenever I want. I look at my warfarin/coumadin dose as a weekly thing, so my diet is also a weekly thing. I may not eat the same amount of Vit K each day, but over the course of a week it's pretty darn close. My Dr. has adjusted my warfarin to the amount of Vit K that I eat...I don't adjust my vitamin K intake to not interfere with my meds.

This just keeps me from going crazy. I eat a well balanced diet with plenty of Vitamin A/C rich vegatables (which also are high in Vit K) I realize this is only my opinion, but for me diet seems a very small part in how the INR works. Skipping meals would seem to be a bigger problem.

I have only been out of range once in 2 years and that was because of my vitamin supplements, not my diet.

So Francesca...for you the key word is consistency...if you're going to change your diet drastically, you need to be tested every one or two weeks until your dosage straightens out, then you should be ok.

 

[fdegranville]

Green Leafy Stuff

Hi Kristy,
I will try it your way. I have always eaten a lot of salad. I will try to be consistant.

many thanks,
fdeg

 

[Guest]

Kristy,

That is exactly what I tell my patients.

 

[Ross]

Kristy I guess I didn't explain that to clearly. I'm not saying to stay away from the Dark Green Leafy's, just to go in moderation. I like spinich, brussel sprouts, broccoli, and a few other things that would make for a nice drop in INR but I don't eat them everyday. I guess what I should say is unless you eat these things consistently, it may be better to use the Iceberg Lettuce and watch the Hi Vit K greens? I think you know what I mean.