Re: Problem maintaining INR on Coumadin

"Bob K." wrote:
>
> I have been taking coumadin for 2 years from having AFIB episodes. My INR
> keeps dropping and I keep increasing the dosage.It does not track. I take
> more Coumadin and INR goes down. There have been no other medication
> changes. My diet is very consistent. I have also been "dieting" (life style
> change really) and lost over 100 pounds over that time. So my weight is
> really the only thing that has been changing. Could this be related to the
> INR behavior?

Yes. Healthier livers make more clotting factors thereby lowering the
INR in the face of increasing Coumadin.

> My GP and my cardiologist have no idea what could be
> happening.

They would if they started supervising their obese anticoagulated
patients' use of the 2PD-OMER Approach:

http://www.HeartMDPhD.com/wtloss.asp

> I feel like we are happlessly chasing the numbers and not
> getting the results.
>
> I have been keeping data. Two years ago I was taking 18.5 mg a week and my
> INR was 2.3-2.4. Now I am up to 24.5 mg a week and my INR is 1.5. This is
> baffling and frustrating. As I keep changing the dosage my doctor wants me
> to be retested in 10 days. Getting tested once a month is bad enough. BTW,
> at a dose of 22.4 mg/week 6 months ago my INR was 3.4 so we started a down
> trend in dose. A graph of these two numbers, INR and dosage shows they do
> not follow each other at all.

This would suggest that another variable is the vitamin K content in the
foods you are eating.

Would be more than happy to "glow" and chat about this and other things
like cardiology, diabetes and nutrition that interest those following
this thread here during the next on-line chat (12/22/05) from 6 to 7 pm
EST:

http://tinyurl.com/cpayh

For those who are put off by the signature, my advance apologies for how
the LORD has reshaped me:

http://tinyurl.com/bgfqt

Many Christmas blessings,

Andrew
http://tinyurl.com/b6xwk


.

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