Atrial fibrilation and WLS

I found out recently that I have atrial fibrilation.  I have to take coumadin to thin my blood to prevent a blood clot from forming in the atria of the heart.  If my coumadin level is too low I can have a stroke and if it is too high, I face the possibility of bleeding out.  Initial monitoring on the coumadin is difficult because of the WLS.  Also, they have to balance the desired amount of vitamin K in the diet (idealy 120mcg per day) vs the amount of coumadin.  It will get better but right now I'm paying a lot in specialist's co-pays.

I made this post when my original post did not appear.  It's kind of redundant. Bob

Hey Bob, I hope you and your Drs can find that balance quickly and things smooth out for you.  You are in my thoughts Marc

Bob, Sorry to hear about you’re a-fib, but glad they are on top of it. The Coumadin can be a real worry early on, but it does get easier. I’ve been on Coumadin for about 5 ½ years.  I was on it when I had my WLS and subsequent surgeries.  It was a pain to regulate at first, but the trick is to eat about the same stuff every week. (in regards to deep green things that have lots of Vit-K) I’m on 15mgs a day. Getting started it was everything from 5mg to 20mgs till they found my “balance.” It’s been little problem at all.  I have had a really bad scrap incident that required blood clotting spray (which I keep on hand) but for the most part, pretty easy. The list of things that interact with it is HUGE! Not just NSAIDs and Aspirin, but Tylenol as well, and all antibiotics, anti-virals, etc… As long as the doc knows what is going in, they can adjust pretty easily. I stay at an INR of 2.3 to 2.7 pretty regularly. At that therapeutic level, there aren’t the side effects of bleeding when flossing teeth or shaving and such. Here’s a bunch of links I had on my bookmarks that may or may not be helpful…

A list of Vitamin K amounts in common foods can be found at Dr.Gourmet- http://www.drgourmet.com/md/warfarincomprehensive.pdf

Also- Brief list online about: Beverages Condiments Dairy Desserts Eggs Fats, Oils, and Dressings Fruit Legumes Meat Seafood Snacks Starches Vegetables

 

There's an easy way to find out about the nutrition content of any food. Just use the USDA National Nutrient Database.

 

By entering an ingredient and following the steps this website will report the complete nutritional values of any ingredient and many prepared foods. The Vitamin K content is the last listing at the bottom of the Vitamins section. If it is not there, the food or ingredient that you searched on doesn't contain enough Vitamin K to be reported. And Recipes for Coumadin® (warfarin) Users at-http://www.drgourmet.com/warfarin/warfarinrecipes.shtml

 

Hope your A-Fib is kept under control. Best Wishes- Dx

Hey Bob. I had chronic persistant A Fib. I went to a great Electrophyisiologist @ Englewood Hospital. He performed a Cardioversion and rebooted me on the 1st try. I don't know how far you are from Englewood, but it may be worth a shot. I'm off coumadin & other meds for 1.5 years now.  PM me if you want additional information. Stay well. Jay 

Hello, my name is Dave, and I'm a former a-fibber. Notice I said former. I had it after my gastric bypass.  After a cardioversion that was .. eventful .. I held a regular rythm and was taken off of coumadin. Again in 2007 I had it after having bacterial meningitis.  But, I went back into a normal rythm without cardioversion that time. You can get past this - don't sweat it.  Just do what the doctors tell you. Good luck!

Thanks for the support and info guys.  Yep, I do get anxious easily.  Normally, I wouldn't sweat  about the co-pays, but I just found out last week that my wife will be losing her job sometime between Sept 30 and Dec 31.She'll get a nice severence plus full medical for a year (no premiums).  I'm retired and on my on Fed Civil Service with govt medical.  We'll get through it but I'm bi-polar and am normally a worry wort anyway.

SJ,

The secret with the coumadin is to watch you Vitamin K intake as closely as you monitor your  protein intake.  By having a consistent daily intake of Vitamin K, your INR will be easier to manage.  After you brush your teeth, take a look at your gums, if they start to bleed, let your MD know and get your INR checked.

Good Luck

Jim 

I went to the coumadin clinic today and my INR is up to 2.0.  I mentioned that this is my favorite time of the year because the fresh NJ blueberries are coming to market.  I normally buy them by the 10 lb box (equal to 10 pints) and eat about a pint a day.  Since I told them that, they adjusted my dosage accordingly and told me to just be consistent in eating approximately a pint a day.  I'm to let them know when I stop doing so. What joy I'm feeling!  By the way, if there's anyone out there who occasionally longs for blueberries out of season, the DaVinciGourmet blueberry SF&FF syrup is excellent.  Sometimes I keep a bottle around for the winter months.  Anyway, I don't have to go back to the clinic for a week so things are getting a bit better already.  Bob