Don't Eat to Live, Part II

As I began two posts ago, I am on a very interesting diet, interesting in that it shows how incredible our bodies are and how they were created to function.  Because I am taking a blood-thinning drug orally, as well as injecting myself twice daily with another blood-thinning drug until the oral becomes therapeutic (medicaleze for 'starts to work'), I have to limit my intake of vitamin K, vitamin E, and a host of herbal substances, including ginger and garlic.

I love salads, and was trying to lose weight by increasing my intake of dark green leafy vegetables. So now, dark green leafy vegetables--and almost everything in between--are not exactly verboten, but have to be eaten consistently.  Take avocados, for example: lower on the list (see below) but still on it; whenever we have them in the house, I eat one, sometimes two a day.  Then days go by and we haven't bought any, so I don't eat any.  NOT a good plan when you're trying to raise your INR to 2-3, when the pre-Coumadin level is 0-1.  It's called a "clotting cascade," and it's amazing. But it can be a veritable balancing act, depending on what you ingest.  Take a look at this cool animation, which shows it beautifully.

So now, in order to avoid fluctuations in the clotting vitamin K (they should have spelled 'clotting' with a 'K.' Or vitamin 'K' should have been 'C' - and designate another letter for Ascorbic Acid.  But I digress...), I have to keep my intake of that vitamin steady as she goes, which means if I eat an avocado one day, I have to eat an avocado every day. Same with salad: 1 a day.  In the past, doctors used to limit one's vitamin K intake, but the new methodology is to continue what you've been doing normally, and adjust your Coumadin dosage accordingly.  I go for my 3rd INR test tomorrow.



By the way, I am officially withdrawing myself from NaBloPoMo for January.  I don't feel up to blogging every day, if I feel like it at all.  I'm keeping the widget on my sidebar, though, as a reminder.

Comments

Anonymous said…
wow, that's exactly what I had to go through. It was very hard for 8 months, because I had to avoid vitamin K completely and get a blood test every few days. I also had to avoid any bruises, because of possible internal bleeding, with such a high INR, mine had to be between 2.5 and 3.5 for some reason, and off course sometimes it was well above 4.5 because it was very hard to maintain it stable. What a pain. I wish you good luck, and will send you pictures of the new and improved me :-) be well !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Batya said…
Are you feeling better? home now?
refuah shleimah

Popular posts from this blog

The Great Debate: Is it Itsy Bitsy, or Inky Dinky, of Spider Fame?

The End. Is there a Beginning...?

Some Recent Israeli Accomplishments in her 67 Years: Independence Day 2015