This is not a diabetes question, but this group is so knowledgable. My aunt had a prolonged attack of tachycardia brought on by her thyroid medicine. Suddenly the doctors have her on Coumadin and tell her to avoid Vitamin K rich foods. Why on earth would they put her on a blood thinner and simultaneously tell her not to eat foods containing a natural blood thinner (OK I understand drug company greed). My aunt has always been a heavy vegetable eater. Are there doctors out there who will advocate very low does of Coumadin and increasing the vegetables?

Good Morning Ladylaw,

A couple of years ago i had a blood clot in my leg that migrated to my lung. So i was on Coumadin for a year after that.

I, also, was told to avoid foods with Vitamin K. Those foods are NOT a natural blood thinner. They do the opposite. You can eat some of them but, if you eat them, you must eat the same amounts regularly, as they test your blood constantly and the coumadin level must remain fairly consistent.

I found some information i'll paste here. I hope your aunt gets better soon. It's SCARY to have something like this happen to you!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What is the most important information I should know about Coumadin?


• Never take a double dose of this medication.
• Do not take aspirin or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil, Nuprin, others), ketoprofen (Orudis, Orudis KT, Oruvail), naproxen (Naprosyn, Aleve, Anaprox), and others while taking Coumadin, except under the direction of your doctor. These medicines increase the risk of bleeding.


• Avoid sudden changes in your diet. Vitamin K decreases the effects of Coumadin. Large amounts of vitamin K are found in foods such as liver, broccoli, brussels sprouts, and green leafy vegetables (e.g., spinach, Swiss chard, coriander, collards, cabbage). Do not change the amount of these foods in your diet without first talking to your doctor.


• It will be necessary to regularly monitor your therapy with a blood test called a "PT" or an "INR." These tests help to determine the amount of Coumadin that you need to take.


• Contact your doctor if you experience any unusual bruises or heavily bleeding wounds, diarrhea, infection, or fever during treatment with Coumadin.

hi kidee and ladylaw:
what id left to eat? i've read that these foos impact the thyroid. don't remeber in which way, do they over or under stimulate it?
i'm trying to eat a cup of sourcrauft every day to get my vitamin C and fiber and eat spinach and kale pretty often. i've read that all cabbage family is not good for the thyroid, so should i stop all green veggies even if my thyroid is helathy. what amount of vitamin K you get from a cup of cooked green veggies? i don't need problems with blood clotting and thyroid as well in addition to the diabetes.

thank you,
dina

I took Coumadin for 5 years but am not currently.

You can eat green leafy veggies as long as you are consistant about the amount that you eat. The level of vitamin K in your body will show up in the protime that the doctor's office should be doing on a regular basis to keep your dosage correct. The problems come when you eat a large amount of green leafies and then don't for a while. If the dosage is increased to cover the increased vitamin K, then when that drops because you aren't eating the green leafies, you will be over medicated and may begin bleeding from strange places like your stomach. Conversely, if your doctor lowers your dosage and you start eating a lot of green leafies then you are in danger of having a clot from being under medicated.

Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor. This is based on my own experience with Coumadin.

I am on coudamun or warfin the generic,I have arythmia,and a pacer,due to a very low rate.I was a runner before I had m.s,now I am a mt biker.The clinic changes my dose to fit what I eat.If I choose to eat lots of vegies I will be given a higher dose of meds

Climber, are you able to do low carb? I want to get my aunt and uncle on low carb (he's diabetic) and she likes veggies. Unfortunately, they are both heavy bread, biscuit eaters. When I read the web site for coumadin and the listing of veggies Vit K count, it's just opposite to Atkins and other low carb plans.