Thursday, August 6, 2009

Coumadin Do's & Dont's

Hello again it's me !...I thought of something very important with regards to "Coumadin" it is Very, Very Important to be careful of the foods you consume. Vitamin K absorbs a lot of the properties of Coumadin. therefore that would change the amount the Dr. will recommend you to take......sooooo be real careful of what you consume.

You may want to check out Google and search for Vitamin K and Coumadin I am sure you will find a wealth of information. Some examples I have are Margarine is M, Mayonnaise is on the H side. etc....Collard Greens in on teh high side for Vit. K. Any greens are challenging.

Hope this helps!

Remember, until we meet again my friends,
Inhale ~~~123
Exhale ~~~~1234

Breathe Easy,
Sandy

Medications/ Hospitalizations

Greetings to All here at Welcome To My Little Corner Of The World " It's been a long haul but I got thru it...Positive Mental Attitude and Fortitude.

It started on June 8th. when I saw my Lung Dr. for a check up and she put me in the hospital due to Atrial Fibulations, swollen legs and severe congestion well I was admitted to the hosp. put on an IV drip/Antibiotics, also was getting shots of Lovenox in my stomach to lower my Coumadin level which was at 7 ! pretty dang high that was scary cause the concern was blood clots...always something OK another hurdle we climbed and got to the top once again !

I was discharged on June 12th with instructions to see my Pulmo. Dr. on the 17th. of June and of course I kept that appt. she started me on 15mg of prednisone for a week. ( I don't like that drug does strange things to my thought process).

I got a call from the Pulmo. Dr. to hold off on Coumadin levels toooo high again!
I saw my Primary Dr. on the 25th. she told me to taper off the prednisone do 10mg for one wk, then 5 mg for the next wk. then stop !...ok no problems there...lol

So now the Cardiologist has to be notified of the Atrial Fibulations cause they are pretty severe and he will also monitor the Coumadin levels once I start it again...geez...are ya following me so far ? So here I go another hospitalization this time to the Heart Hospital admitted on July 10th for three days so Dr. can monitor a new drug called "Tikosyn" making sure of no complications in hopes that this drug will slow and or completely stop the A/Fibs..so far so good.

I was going to the Coumadin clinic twice a wk. for levels...now my levels are at 2.1 which is very good I do not have to go back till next Thurs. and if the levels are down my next appt will be in a month !...

Now to keep things interesting I see the primary care Dr. cause I have some sort of eye infection...which is what she called "Cellulitis" and gave me a rx for an antibiotic and advised me to see my eye dr. and of course I did, he assured me that the infection will not interfere with my eyesight...good news !

August 12th. I have an appt with the Pulmo. Dr. then Cardiologist on the 13 th. and the coumadin levels done at the same time, then I am done with Drs. and hospitals for a while.

I know I mentioned in a prev. post about medications and you have to be your own advocate well let me tell you I had to battle with the nurses each day to get the correct meds, I even brought in my list of meds to give them when i was admitted and I was smart enough to keep a copy at the bedside to show the nurse what I should have then she called the Dr. and he agreed I know what I am talking about !

Don't give in folks speak up..I figure because I will be 63 next month they treated my like an elderly person.. barking up the wrong tree!

Hope I didn't rattle on to much also hope this helped.

Until we meet again my friends,
Remember,
Inhale ~~~123
Exhale ~~~~1234

Breathe Easy,
Sandy