Guest guest Posted July 25, 2002 Report Share Posted July 25, 2002 In a message dated 7/25/2002 1:42:23 PM Pacific Daylight Time, madisonn99@... writes: << My last INR reading jumped by more than .5 point, enough now to reduce my Coumadin. That would confirm that fish oil does have an impact on the INR #'s. I am following this route with professional supervision. >> , Congratulations on achieving your goal of reducing Coumadin dosage! I, too, am now eating salmon two-four times a week, down from seven times a week in mid-May. However, it is surprising that when I discontinued salmon completely for about three weeks, my INR stayed around 2.4. Maybe my body doesn't assimilate or make vitamin K, or perhaps peanut oil and vitamin E in nuts took over the job of thinning the blood. In any case, my Coumadin dose has remained 2.5 m.g. for about the past five months, and my INR is quite stable. However, I eat a very routine diet with absolutely no adventures into unfamiliar food because I don't want to take a chance on rocking my sinus boat! I will see my primary care physician in about two weeks and will ask about the issue of bones and Coumadin. I am worried about the future because doctors don't always think of these possibilities. I took Cytomel for eight years before doctors suggested that it could cause future osteoporosis. I'll pass on any information I get from my doctor. in sinus in cool, cloudy (whew!) Seattle (Day 64) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 25, 2002 Report Share Posted July 25, 2002 In a message dated 7/25/2002 1:42:23 PM Pacific Daylight Time, madisonn99@... writes: << My last INR reading jumped by more than .5 point, enough now to reduce my Coumadin. That would confirm that fish oil does have an impact on the INR #'s. I am following this route with professional supervision. >> , Congratulations on achieving your goal of reducing Coumadin dosage! I, too, am now eating salmon two-four times a week, down from seven times a week in mid-May. However, it is surprising that when I discontinued salmon completely for about three weeks, my INR stayed around 2.4. Maybe my body doesn't assimilate or make vitamin K, or perhaps peanut oil and vitamin E in nuts took over the job of thinning the blood. In any case, my Coumadin dose has remained 2.5 m.g. for about the past five months, and my INR is quite stable. However, I eat a very routine diet with absolutely no adventures into unfamiliar food because I don't want to take a chance on rocking my sinus boat! I will see my primary care physician in about two weeks and will ask about the issue of bones and Coumadin. I am worried about the future because doctors don't always think of these possibilities. I took Cytomel for eight years before doctors suggested that it could cause future osteoporosis. I'll pass on any information I get from my doctor. in sinus in cool, cloudy (whew!) Seattle (Day 64) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 25, 2002 Report Share Posted July 25, 2002 Hi, Does Coumadin affect bone density?? I was not able to find an answer,however, I did come accross an article confirming that it is currently being researched. In the meantime, in addition to Calcium/Magnesium, I also added strength training. That supposedly is one of the best ways to strengthen bones. Fish oil: , I am currently including Salmon (the canned variety) 2 to 4 times in my weekly menus, and also supplement with fish oil on a daily basis (as discussed with a nutritionist). My last INR reading jumped by more than .5 point, enough now to reduce my Coumadin. That would confirm that fish oil does have an impact on the INR #'s. I am following this route with professional supervision. / Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 26, 2002 Report Share Posted July 26, 2002 In a message dated 7/26/2002 3:49:43 PM Pacific Daylight Time, madisonn99@... writes: << Congrats to you too, for so successfully continuing in NSR. What took the place of Salmon now that you reduced it to 2-4 times weekly? Would you be willing to share a " routine " day on your diet. Since it has been working so well for you, it has to be very heart friendly. >> , Thanks for the congrats. I am willing to share my diet routine, but I think I should issue a warning or disclaimer first because I'm sure your professional nutritionist would not approve. In fact my diet is so contrary to the advice of professionals, that I am actually embarrassed and hesitant to share, but I will just in case sharing might be helpful. Also, I'm not sure whether my absence of afib is due to what I am eating or to what I am not eating and drinking. I'm reasonably sure that the sinus is mostly due to my elimination of all forms of dairy products a year ago. (I celebrated my first dairy-free anniversary on July 18.) Have you eliminated dairy yet? Here I would like to digress for a moment to say that in my earlier post I forgot to mention as one of the persons in this group who helped me to give up dairy. Last July when I stopped milk and cheese cold turkey, I developed very distressing stomach problems and had more trouble than when I was guzzling milk every day. suggested at that time that maybe I should taper off instead of suddenly eliminating all dairy. That was very helpful advice because my symptoms improved when I went back to eating a bit of dairy and gradually quit dairy over a period of about three weeks. I offer this to thank but also as a suggestion to anyone else who is trying to quit dairy products. For me it was harder to give up dairy products than to give up coffee, but I also tapered off of coffee, using half decaf first and gradually increasing the amount of decaf. Anyway, to answer your question about my diet, I would say that my current way of eating evolved through trial and error. Starting last January, I tried eliminating one food every day to see the effect on my stomach and afib. If I had an absence of symptoms, I would try eating the food again, keeping all other food the same, to see if the symptoms returned. Unfortunately, almost all of the foods I was eating seemed to cause symptoms. Through process of elimination my diet was reduced to two meals a day, consisting of one or two slices of cracked wheat bread with peanut butter, two ounces of cooked chicken, and two tablespoons of molasses in hot water for breakfast (for electrolytes). (Yes, I know it's weird!) Between 2:30 and 4:00 p.m. as my schedule permits, I have one more meal consisting of a potato sandwich bun (made with corn meal) with more peanut butter (natural), about four ounces of salmon or chicken, and one cup of very weak tea. I never eat after 4:00 p.m. That's it. I can't recommend this diet to anyone because I know it's contrary to the commonly held standards of good nutrition. I did not plan to eat this way. It just happened as I eliminated foods that seemed to be causing trouble. I am anxiously awaiting my yearly physical in two weeks and the chance to see blood test results and to discuss this with my primary care physician because I do worry about the absence of fruits and vegetables. The food I do eat is healthy but very limited in scope. I feel locked into this pattern now because of the improvement in my afib and the consequent fear of changing anything. I recently bought some sweet potatoes and carrots but haven't had the courage to eat them. When my cardiologist told me not to change anything, I didn't have the nerve to tell him about my unbalanced diet. My only hope lies in the fact that my older brother, who is now in permanent afib, went through a period of a couple of years when he, too, had to eliminate many healthy foods from his diet due to stomach trouble. He didn't know at the time that he was in permanent afib but just thought he had stomach problems. He was left with virtually no foods that were problem-free. Eventually, however, he was able to add back foods that had previously bothered him. Now, although he's in afib all the time, he can eat anything he wants, including foods that once bothered him, and his stomach is fine. I should also say, lest you think I am completely crazy, that I do take a plethora of vitamins and supplements daily: Centrum multivitamin, vitamin E 400 I.U., vitamin C 1000 m.g., Chromium Picolinate 200 mcg, magnesium 200 m.g.,and calcium citrate about 1000 m.g. I take the calcium in the form of calcium citrate alone and also in a capsule with combined calcium and magnesium 100 m.g. Also, I use potassium chloride in the form of salt substitute on the chicken, but absolutely no added salt at all. The bread products were chosen because they have no milk solids and few preservatives or additives, especially sulfate, which my experiments revealed bothers me greatly. The peanut butter is entirely natural and salt-free. The molasses is also unsulphured and natural. The chicken is free range. Again, I certainly would not encourage anyone else to imitate my current eating routine. I have no proof that it is in any way responsible for my prolonged sinus state. It's just something that happened because the alternative was to stop eating completely to avoid stomach trouble. That didn't seem practical. :-) However, I was feeling desperate to stop the stomach symptoms which were disrupting my life and sleep. Since it took eight months to see improvement in stomach and afib after I quit dairy, I am thinking and hoping that my present limited way of eating is necessitated by one of the " stages " in quitting dairy products. Perhaps my increased sensitivity to so many foods was a reaction to the removal of dairy products. In other words, I hope I don't have to eat this way forever and don't encourage others to follow my example. I shared because you asked but not because I think that my diet routine is a panacea for afib or any other problem. In fact, I'm sure your diet is much healthier than is mine, ! in sinus in Seattle (Day 65) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 26, 2002 Report Share Posted July 26, 2002 Hi , Congrats to you too, for so successfully continuing in NSR. What took the place of Salmon now that you reduced it to 2-4 times weekly? Would you be willing to share a " routine " day on your diet. Since it has been working so well for you, it has to be very heart friendly. / > Congratulations on achieving your goal of reducing Coumadin dosage! I, too, > am now eating salmon two-four times a week, down from seven times a week in > mid-May. However, it is surprising that when I discontinued salmon > completely for about three weeks, my INR stayed around 2.4. Maybe my body > doesn't assimilate or make vitamin K, or perhaps peanut oil and vitamin E in > nuts took over the job of thinning the blood. In any case, my Coumadin dose > has remained 2.5 m.g. for about the past five months, and my INR is quite > stable. However, I eat a very routine diet with absolutely no adventures > into unfamiliar food because I don't want to take a chance on rocking my > sinus boat! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 26, 2002 Report Share Posted July 26, 2002 Hi , Congrats to you too, for so successfully continuing in NSR. What took the place of Salmon now that you reduced it to 2-4 times weekly? Would you be willing to share a " routine " day on your diet. Since it has been working so well for you, it has to be very heart friendly. / > Congratulations on achieving your goal of reducing Coumadin dosage! I, too, > am now eating salmon two-four times a week, down from seven times a week in > mid-May. However, it is surprising that when I discontinued salmon > completely for about three weeks, my INR stayed around 2.4. Maybe my body > doesn't assimilate or make vitamin K, or perhaps peanut oil and vitamin E in > nuts took over the job of thinning the blood. In any case, my Coumadin dose > has remained 2.5 m.g. for about the past five months, and my INR is quite > stable. However, I eat a very routine diet with absolutely no adventures > into unfamiliar food because I don't want to take a chance on rocking my > sinus boat! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 26, 2002 Report Share Posted July 26, 2002 Hi , I understand your concern, but thanks for sharing. I would say any diet that meets success has to have many rights. And don't worry, I will not discuss your diet with a nutritionist. To give you some idea what I have been asked to eliminate: all dairy products, all wheat products and most grain products (sprouted products and brown rice are ok), no white potatoes (sweet potatoes are ok) and the list goes on. I was also asked about my medical history as well as that of my family and relatives, that's why these recommendations are so personal. But in addition to all this, I listen to both my heart and body and will make personal changes to keep everything operating as " smoothly " as possible. Continue with whatever feels right for you and best of success / .. I shared because you asked but not > because I think that my diet routine is a panacea for afib or any other > problem. In fact, I'm sure your diet is much healthier than is mine, ! > > in sinus in Seattle (Day 65) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 27, 2002 Report Share Posted July 27, 2002 > , > When you say molasses I assume you mean blackstrap molasses? > Victor There are different kinds of molasses? Inquiring minds want to know :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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