What is Coumadin?
If you’re a far healthier person than I am, then you probably have not heard of what Coumadin is. Coumadin is an oral anticoagulant that is the most popular brand name of the Warfarin drug. What Warfarin does for our bodies is to prevent the formation of blood clots and to keep existing clots from increasing in size. Coumadin is especially helpful for preventing serious medical conditions like heart attacks, strokes, and embolism; and it is used to keep people suffering from irregular heartbeat and who have had heart surgery to stay well.
Warfarin is commonly described as a blood thinner, although that phrase is a bit misleading, since Warfarin doesn’t thin the blood in any way. Rather, it prevents blood clots from forming by inhibiting the production of proteins in our blood that naturally makes it clot. Warfarin inhibits the liver from producing too much vitamin K, the nutrient responsible for blood coagulation in our bodies.
When is Coumadin used?
Since Coumadin is a prescription drug, it means that you and I cannot buy it over the counter without the consent of a doctor, because each patient prescribed the drug will have different a Coumadin dosage. It is used for preventing abnormal blood clots as with the case of thrombosis, a blood clot inside a vein that blocks normal blood flow. When a blood clot starts travelling throughout your vessels, it is known as an embolus, and an embolus can lead to embolism, the major cause of stroke and necrosis. Coumadin is also administered to patients suffering from embolism to loosen the embolus and promote normal blood flow again.
Are there any Coumadin side effects?
There have been several noted side effects associated with taking Coumadin, which is one reason why it is considered a prescription only stage 4 drug, and it is in fact for our benefits that the drug is so carefully safeguarded.
Hemorrhages
Because Coumadin is an anticoagulant, the risk of hemorrhaging is high for people like me who are required to take it regularly, a process known as Coumadin therapy. This is why I am carefully monitored by my doctor, and I should also be alert for any abnormal bleeding, swelling, pain and skin darkening in my body. The risk for hemorrhaging is higher for those who take other medications along with Coumadin, since these can react to the drug and cause it to spontaneously lead to bleeding. Any kind of supplement or medication you are currently taking should be reported to your doctor if you are prescribed to take Coumadin, for even a small skin cut can cause massive bleeding since the blood won’t clot normally. This is also why Coumadin is not prescribed for people with a history of blood disorders or bleeding problems, such as leukemia, diabetes, hemophilia, hepatitis, malaria and sepsis.
Bleeding as a side effect of Coumadin can occur nearly anywhere in the body but is more prone to targeting sensitive internal organs such as the stomach, the brain, the kidneys and the lungs. Hemorrhaging of the internal organs can be fatal or non-fatal, for it varies from person to person. But any symptom of irregular bleeding, unexplained swelling, sudden or increasing pain, shock or paralysis should be reported immediately, for these might be signs of a hemorrhage.
Skin Necrosis
Another alarming side effect of taking Coumadin is Warfarin-induced skin necrosis. This occurs more among women than men, and the risk is higher if the woman or person in question happens to be overweight and middle-aged or older. The necrosis or tissue death usually takes place where the skin is thinner and more sensitive, such as the breasts, upper legs, buttocks, and the penis for males. Warfarin-induced skin necrosis usually happens after the third day or so of taking Coumadin, and the first symptoms are pain, redness, and swelling in the area, which eventually leads to solid bumps and lesions that grow in size, become hard and turn purple in color. Severe cases of necrosis can require skin grafting and surgery, and the worst necrosis cases can even call for amputation if it affected the arms or legs.
Osteoporosis
Aside from helping the blood to clot normally, vitamin K is also important for keeping our bones supplied with the minerals it needs. And since Coumadin inhibits the production of too much vitamin K to prevent blood clots, it can also lead to decreased bone mineral density. This can lead to the disease called osteoporosis, where your bones slowly start to degenerate and get thinner. The most common way of finding out that you have osteoporosis is when you fracture a bone and doctors notice the disease as they fix it, and this probably makes it the most dangerous of the Coumadin side effects, since you usually can’t observe any symptoms of osteoporosis beforehand. This is why people like me who take Warfarin drugs should also be carefully monitored and get regular check ups for bone health and density.
Diarrhea
Coumadin can react negatively with certain foods, which can cause the digestive system to get irritated and start eliminating waste products at a faster pace. Diarrhea is only one of the side effects of Coumadin that you can get when it doesn’t go well with what you eat, for sometimes the diarrhea can lead to tears in your rectum and blood can appear in your stool, or you can start bleeding from your anus, which can be hard to stop since Coumadin really will inhibit your blood from clotting.
A so-called Coumadin diet is sometimes prescribed for those taking the drug. This diet requires you to consume less of ginger, garlic, fish oils, and leafy green vegetables such as spinach, collard greens, chard, Brussels sprouts, kale, parsley and basil. Drinking of green tea, cranberry juice and alcoholic beverages should also be kept to a minimum. The Coumadin diet can be modified by doctors to suit the needs of their patients, but mostly it works by making sure you don’t get too much vitamin K in your body, which can lessen Warfarin’s anticoagulant properties and may make you feel that you need to take more of the drug, when in reality you need to be more careful with what you are eating. I myself wasn’t placed on a special diet, although I do still need to be careful of what I eat and drink, and knowing which foods I shouldn’t consume too much of is definitely helpful.
High Coumadin levels can lead to plenty of other Coumadin side effects. These reactions are common:
• Headaches
• Fatigue
• dizziness and/or fainting
• hair loss
• nosebleeds
• gingivitis or gum bleeding
• bruises
• dark-colored urine
• muscle aches
• joint pains
• paler or yellow skin
• difficulty in swallowing
• difficulty in breathing or shortness of breath
• chest pain
• hypotension
• fever
• purple toes syndrome
• pain in the extremities
• taste perversion
• cramps, and more.
The numerous side effects of Coumadin is based from countless observations and records of the people who have taken the drug and most of whom have reacted in one way or another, depending on the various Coumadin levels their doctors prescribed for them.
Allergies are also another common side effect of Coumadin such as:
• dermatitis
• rashes
• itchiness
• hives
The above may not be as serious as the other reactions, but any sort of unusual side effect that comes from taking Coumadin should be carefully monitored and reported to your doctor.
Coumadin: The Bottom Line
Until today, Coumadin is a drug that is far from being considered perfect and safe, but its anticoagulant benefits are a big help for as well as for others, and the drug is largely responsible for keeping those suffering from blood and heart problems to stay well and even survive despite their debilitating condition. Depending on the individual case at hand, the risks of taking Coumadin can sometimes be negligible compared to its properties, and to keep those who take it as free from any danger as possible, any sort of Coumadin interactions and Coumadin side effects are meticulously noted by the doctor and should also be monitored by the patient himself.
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