Hi Susan,

I've had the a-fib for 2-1/2 years now and up til now have done
exactly what you mentioned.  I've resisted the Coumadin treatment and
instead have relied on supplements... magnesium, fish oil, vitamin e
and others.  I've had extensive bloodwork done and electrolytes and
cortisol levels are normal. The only thing off is slightly low thyroid
hormone.  

It's a complex situation.  I've been taking Plavix since 10/2007 to
prevent thrombosis in drug-eluting coronary artery stents.  But
because I had a previous ischemic stroke in 1998,  my cardiologist
(actually, two of them) insisted that the risk of another stroke from
the a-fib is 70 X the risk of stent thrombosis from stopping the
Plavix.  He finally said that I had to stop taking the Plavix and
start taking Coumadin, and said he could not be responsible if I
refused any longer to take it.  This is not some joe shmo, he's the
head of  Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology in one of the top Heart
Hospitals in the country and is an expert on atrial fibrillation and
metabolic diseases that affect the heart.  I finally caved and agreed
to the Coumadin; at this point I think it would be foolish not to.  It
will be a safer way to balance my diet with measurable critical blood
viscosity than my self-prescribed supplements.

This all sounds scary when I put it in writing, but I don't feel that
way at all.  I've had both excellent medical treatment and have a
tremendous impact on maintaining my own health through my controlled
carb/low glycemic diet and supplements.  These medical issues are
hereditary.  My father had two heart attacks in his 40's and died from
a stroke at 59.  My brother died last year at 54 from CAD after a
series of angioplasties.   I'm now 58.  But neither my father nor my
brother addressed their health proactively as I do, so I'm not
especially concerned about premature death from genetic CAD as
happened with them.

This is the main reason I intend to diligently  track the Vitamin K.
Yes, I know that it's more difficult to accurately track than other
nutrients but at least being in the ballpark will do.   I'm not
thrilled about being on Coumadin or having to record yet another
nutrient, and I would much prefer to do it naturally... but I'm very
determined that if I have to do it, then by gosh I'm going to be the
best damned Vitamin K tracker and have the most stable Coumadin levels
of anybody my cardiologist has treated!

I had to stop taking my vitamin E and fish oil because I cannot mix
them with Coumadin.  However, I've increased the amount of fish that I
eat from once or twice a week to four or five days a week. Hopefully
that will help somewhat with the a-fib along with the magnesium
supplements.

Thanks for the concern, and thanks for the links.

---
Peter

Those are core foods of many/most of us low carbers.  Yikes.

On Mon, 8 Mar 2010 17:03:09 -0500, "Joan F \(MI\)"
<jjfahl@removethisameritech.net> wrote:

I was on Coumadin previously for a year following a stroke in 1998,
and back then the standard recommendation was doing exactly what you
just mentioned... cutting out the Vitamin K laden foods, mostly green
vegetables, vegetable and olive oils and some berries and certain
fruit.  My weight shot up from 180 pounds to 270 pounds in that one
year, and I eventually developed metabolic syndrome. It took me eight
years and a low carb/low glycemic regimen to stabilize my weight,
blood chemistry and blood sugar at healthy levels after gaining all
that weight so rapidly on that ungodly diet!

Fortunately the thinking has changed now and the recommendation made
by the cardiologists is not to omit those foods when starting on
Coumadin, but rather to be consistent.  In other words, I can still
eat my green beans, celery, certain kinds of lettuce, cucumbers,
cauliflower etc. and use my olive oil for cooking... provided that I
am consistent with the intake from one week to the next. I won't have
a problem with that.  I only have to avoid the greens that are
extremely high in Vitamin K like Spinach, Kale and Collars and to a
lesser extent broccoli.

---
Peter