Marsie

[marsie61]

Hi I'm new to this group was just wondering if anyone is on warfarin and also taking vitamin k2 I have been on warfarin for 15 year now and I have just recently looked into long term effects which I must admit kinda scarey I was thinking about taking vitamin k2 but not sure if you can

[Lure2]

Hi,

Do you have had APS also for 15 years ?

I am on Warfarin but I wonder why you want to take k2?

Kerstin in Stockholm

[Ray46 in reply to Lure2]

Taking vitamin K supplements is postulated to be a way of avoiding/reducing one of the long term side effects of warfarin - arterial calcification.

This effect is controversial because of the entrenched belief in the medical establishment that warfarin is side-effect free (other than bleeding), but the biochemical mechanism is clear (inhibition of matrix gla) and there is plenty of lab evidence in animal models. Evidence has also been found recently in humans - atvb.ahajournals.org/conten...

What weight you ascribe to this probably depends on where you sit on the "warfarin is side-effect free" debate, but it's worth pointing out that any mortality rate from this will be completely hidden as it will manifest as clots which will be put down to "not enough warfarin". I would point out though that it would be a plausible mechanism behind the observation in Kay Thackray's book that APS patients seem to be at higher risk of clots if taken off warfarin than if they are never put on it...

I don't think there is any evidence that vit k supplements will definitely be beneficial for this, there is just a suggestion it might help.

[Lure2]

I have been on Warfarin for almost 5 years and selftest since 3. I have learnt to eat a lot of K-vit rich vegetables as we need them and feel good on them even with this illness.

I can lower my PK (INR) if too high with them. Can you tell us why you want them so badly?

Kerstin

[Lure2]

Thanks for that info!

Kerstin

[Good4u]

When I was on warfarin I took 180mcg of K2 to help offset the risk of calcification of my arteries. Vit k2 makes sure the calcium goes into your bones & is especially vital if you are taking calcium supplements.