Warfarin and turmeric

[Clyde12]

Can I take turmeric capsules as well as warfarin? Recently diagnosed with AF and been on warfarin for a month and have stopped turmeric which I was taking for a skin condition.

[BobD Volunteer]

Best to ask your local pharmacist as they know about contra indications.

[CDreamer]

Not a good idea.......curcumin is the active ingredient of Tumeric and a natural anticoagulant so whilst use of the spice won’t cause a problem as you would need to take something like 8g a day to have an affect, taking the capsules could. Pharmacists may advise but a herbalist is a better option as they tend to have a much more extensive training on herbs and spices and know interactions with drugs.

[MarkS]

Funnily enough I was looking at combining warfarin and curcumin recently. Curcumin acts as an antiplatelet agent. It's not an anticoagulant. If it was, it would affect INR and could be monitored and allowed for. Combining anticoagulants and antiplatelets can increase bleeding risk. However It's effect as an antiplatelet seems relatively mild compared with other antiplatelets such as aspirin.

So I decided to err on the side of caution and not combine curcumin with warfarin. Turmeric is a weaker form of curcumin, and from what I read turmeric would seem to be OK in smaller quantities with warfarin.

Curcumin/turmeric need more and larger trials to work out the benefits/risks

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