Vitamin K and warfarin

[tbunny1]

:mad: I was diagnosed with APS 4/06, and put on anticoagulation therapy. It took about 3 months to finally get me to a theraputic level (guess I have really sticky blood) All through the weekly testing, the doc kept asking if I was eating too much food with Vitamin K.

I have looked somewhat on the net, and even checked with an APS message board, and there really doesn't seem to be a comprehensive list anywhere of food items with Vit K, and the amount a serving contains. I know about leafy green vegatables and the cabbage family, but just found out last week that mayonaise is verboten. What is in mayo that has vitamin K?

Very confused as to how much of this vitamin I can consume in a day or week and not effect my anticoagulation. Any ideas would be soooo appreciated. Thanks!

[Sleaps2much]

Hi Tbunny,

http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/Data/SR17/wtrank/sr17w430.pdf
Here is a comprehensive list of Vit K foods. The key to eating vit K foods is to keep it consistent so your doctor can prescribe the warfarin accordingly. Having said that, I stay away from the highest concentration of K foods, such as kale and spinach and I'll allow myself small amounts of broccoli and cabbage. If you love these foods then you're going to have to eat them on a steady basis so the warfarin can be increased to make your INR stable and therapuetic. Having said that, if you have the lupus anticoagulant you will get inaccurate results from the INR for example, your INR will read high one day but this will be a false high so your doc may decrease your warfarin and then you will find your INR is way too low. We call this the coumadin rollarcoaster. There is a way of testing warfarin called factor X (10) but normally we have to go into the hospital to have that test done so it's a pain. When I was on coumadin and on the rollarcoaster I found the usual dose that was correct for me (which was 10 mgs) and I stayed on that dose even if my INR went up to 6, my docs didn't like it much! lol... we eventually had to switch me to heparin shots instead. Hopefully you can find that dose that's correct for you soon. In the mean time, buckle up! lol

Sleaps

[Raglet]

I get really cross when I hear doctors saying 'are you eating too much vit k' because the only thing that matters is that you keep your intake of greens constant. So if you love salads and veges and eat lots, fine, just keep eating lots, and your inr can be adjusted around that. Ditto if you hate them and don't eat much, or anywhere inbetween. Just don't eat lots one week and none the next week, that is asking for problems.

Don't forget, some people on warfarin/coumadin are vegetarians, so they eat LOTS of veges and do just fine.

Read this link about vit k and warfarin/coumadin

http://www.warfarinfo.com/foods.htm

Stability is the key ! I don't bother counting how much vit k there is in what i eat, I love veges so I just make sure I always eat heaps of them

hope this helps

raglet

[tbunny1]

:) Thank you, thank you, thank you sleaps and raglet!! What would I do without you guys? The links are awsome! You two know more about this stuff than I think any of my docs do. I am a veggie nut, so this has given me a way to work around those dietary restrictions. :thumbs: Tracy