How long does it take for foods to affect your INR?

[iwantsimple]

I have figured out that it takes 2-3 days for my body to respond to an increase in Coumadin, but I'm wondering how long it takes for foods to affect your INR.

For example, if I were to sit down and eat a huge spinach and Kale salad, how long would it take for my INR to drop?

:)Michelle

[Jade]

In my case I really believe 2 heads of broccoli knock mine out of range by the next day, also a long walk has the effect the next day. With broccoli I understand it s because vitamin K neutralises the effect of the warfarin. I have been on warfarin for 8 years and it still catches me out.

[lucky1]

it takes 3 days for a dose change in warfarin (coumadin) because it has a 72 hour half life. In relation to meals a question is how many do you have a day? A usual answer is 3 with a couple of snacks between them possibly. There for the metabolism for each meal is on average only a few hours. If it was longer you wouldnt need as many meals.

For a consistent INR you should have a stable diet because medication is balanced with your dietry intake

[Manofmendip]

Hi Iwantsimple

When I was on Warfarin, I'm now on fragmin shots, my INR could be hit down from say 4.0 to 3.3 or lower by eating Vitamin K rich foods at an evening meal, one day, and testing my INR the following evening. Brussells Sprouts or liver were the worst culprit. Alcohol, more than say 3 pints of beer one evening, could have the opposite effect and my INR would go from 4.0 to sometimes in excess of 5.0, in 24 hours; this also happened if I was unable to eat some leafy green vegetables one day, perhaps due to dining out where they were not available.

Consistency in Vitamin K intake and alcohol intake is one of the keys to stable INR, I found.

Best wishes.

Dave

[iwantsimple]

I think I'm starting to understand this. I was thinking consistency was measured on average rather than day-to-day. So, generally, I will have three or four evening meals that include green veggies throughout the week. What matters, though, is that I have about the same amount of green veggies every day, not on average in a week. (I'm a slow learner! LOL!)

So, a couple of days ago, I was craving fish tacos and decided to go to a few different places in town and try them to see who had the best ones. So, I had fish tacos (with cabbage, tomato, and cilantro) three days in a row. Then, I made zucchini and mushroom soup for dinner on the fourth night. Yesterday, my hips were killing me, and today, I'm feeling very rum-dummy. I am sure my INR is down. I get tested today, so we'll see.

I wonder if I could take an extra .5 mg on any given day that I happen to eat more veggies than normal?? Would that be a way to balance this out?

Can you tell I'm fighting the mundane meal plan?