Coumadin

Coumadin has one important advantage over the newer medications of an almost immediate reversal of its anti-clotting effect when patients must stop taking it to prevent excessive bleeding, say, before surgery or following an injury.

An instruction for a patient taking the blood-thinning medication Coumadin read “Your Coumadin level was too high today. Do not take any more Coumadin until your doctor reviews the results.”

The dose of the anticoagulant Coumadin has to be adjusted for consumption of certain vegetables rich in vitamin K like spinach, kale and broccoli, which can diminish the drug’s effectiveness.

At that time, we were taught to instruct our patients on Coumadin to be consistent in their intake of vitamin K-containing foods.

I was changed from Coumadin to Xarelto after a few months and have been on it ever since, along with a daily low-dose aspirin.