Coumadin and Soy Milk

[kathya]

Has anyone had experience with the effect of soy milk on PT/INR when taking coumadin?
My husband has been on coumadin since 1996. There have been a few times when it had been out of range, but has always gone back pretty quick.
He was told that his cholesterol is 297 at the end of May this year. He changed his diet to include whole grains by eating cereal with soy milk (he is lactaid intolerant.) Looking back his PT/INR has been out of range since then. At first it was way too low at 1.7. He is having his levels checked every 2 weeks - sometimes once a week when it is way out of range. His coumadin dose has gone from 6MG to 9 1/2 MG since the beginning of May. Finally 4 weeks ago it was back in range. Last Thursday he was tested again (after two weeks) his PT/INR was 5.7. They reduced his coumadin to 9 MG with another test scheduled for this Thurs.
He was started on Crestor for his cholesterol 3 weeks ago. Since then he has dropped off from eating cereal 4 -5 times a week to once or twice a week.
I've been reading on the Internet and found several references to soy products and PT/INR problems. I called his cardiologist's nurse today and asked her about it. She called back and said the Dr. said to call a pharmacist because the Dr. didn't know if soy interacted with coumadin.
We called one pharmacist and he didn't know but said he would check and call back.
Has anyone on coumadin had problems with soy products? I'm thinking that he should stop drinking soy milk and see what happens - but is this dangerous with his PT/INR at 5.7 and still on 9MG of coumadin? Please let me know if any of you have any information on this.
Thanks for your help.

[morrisun]

It looks like Soy Milk has the potential to decrease INR. If that was the only real change to his diet, it seems reasonable to suspect it.

I was on Coumadin for about 2 years, but I never drank Soy Milk. How often are they testing his INR? Since his INR was so high, and the Soy has the potential of decreasing the effect of Coumadin, I don't think I would abruptly stop drinking it without talking to his Dr. about it first.

Good luck and I hope you get it straightened out soon! I know what a headache it can be.

[waterfairy]

I'm on Coumadin (8mg every day but Tues and Sat, then I take 6mg) for a blood clot in my leg. I personally, have a big problem with soy based products and my INR levels. I try and stay away from anything containing soybean oil because that's very high in Vitamin K, which can effect the PT/INR levels drastically. Anything soy, including soy milk, soy sauce, edamame (the raw form of the soy pod), soybean oil, doesn't agree with me so I try and stay away from it. When I was first diagnosed with the blood clot, I was eating a lot of the Smart Ones frozen meals because they were easy to make, and a week of eating those my blood got way too thick. Come to find out it's loaded with soybean oils, so that's what did it.

Since your husband is lactose intolerant, maybe he could possibly try rice milk or even almond milk? There's also something called oat milk, but I've personally never seen this, I read about it in a health food magazine.

Wishing you the best, and hope you and your husband figure out what is going on.

[kathya]

My husband went for blood work this morning. His PT/INR was 3.9 - down from 5.7 last week. He had cereal with soy milk 4 times since last blood work was done. They lowered his coumadin dose to 8 1/2 MG with another blood test scheduled for next Thursday.
I am trying to get him to commit to a definite number of times he will have soy milk each week - and stick to it - so we can get this problem under control. He wants to quit soy milk altogether, but I told him he has to wean himself off a little each week so his PT/INR doesn't go too high again.
I've found several more articles on the internet about soymilk having vitamin k (7.3 mcg per 8 oz - the same as some green vegetables), but his Dr. and 2 pharmacists claim to know nothing about soy products. I feel like I'm on the right track, but I'm getting no acknowledgement from his Dr. or the nurse who handles the blood work results, which makes my husband unsure of what advice to follow. (Not that anyone has given him advice but me! The Dr. just adjusts the coumadin dose every week.) I feel like dropping the whole subject, but if my husband ends up in the emergency room with a hemorrhage or a blood clot I will put all the guilt on myself for letting it happen.

[lorriem]

Kathya
We were told that soy was one thing to avoid or use regularly.But that is so hard it seems like everything has some soy in it. Hubby refuses to give up mayo and that has a lot of soy in it. I think coumadin has to be the hardest drug to be on.
On the web look up coumadin and food and it should give you a list of foods to be carefull eating.