Oh, NO! No more green tea for me?! This can't be real.

I’m very sorry to hear about this, I don’t know that I would handle it so well to know I could not drink green tea, so I can only imagine how difficult this is. I hope that there is some hope, that maybe you can drink one cup without worry.

I think you have every right to whine. I would be really, really upset about the diagnosis/treatment and then about the restriction on tea on top of it. I’m very sorry.

I’m sure that you’ll be getting much more information from your healthcare team, but it is large quantities of vitamin K that can affect the anticoagulant effect. Your INR and PT will be monitored and your doses may change based on those results. Don’t completely shut down with the idea of never having green tea ever again in your life! :) Hope that you are well and best of luck with your treatment.

From my understanding of Coumadin, and as an RN, I think Shaynebear and QueenOfTarts may be right. Ask your healthcare team if you can drink a certain amount of green tea per week as long as you keep it consistent.

You guys are right. As long as you are consistent, you could have your tea!!! Also, think of it this way. If you lay off the tea you have always drank and you take the anticoagulant, your blood might get toooo thin. ;0)

That’s no exactly true and I am going to site my own experiences. I have an artificial Aortic Valve and have had it for over 12 years now. I am on coumadin as the valve has a high tendency to develop clots. However, as long as I don’t change my diet, and as long as I stay constant in what I eat, the coumadin clinic I go to will adjust the levels of coumadin accordingly.

During the firs two months, I had to go every week for a blood test. Now I go every month and my protine levels have stabilized. So I still drink green tea and I still eat green vegtables, both moderately high in vitamin K. My family doctor, my cardiologist, my pulmonary physician, and my pharmacologist have all given their professional consent. As long as my diet stays the same, as long as my protine levels stay constant, there is nothing harmful or dangerous about drinking moderate, not copious, amounts of green tea, and eating green vegetables now and then.

I’m so sorry to hear this! At least you can still drink other kinds of tea! Keep healthy!

This is from Dr. Weil’s website.

“It is true that dried green tea leaves have a very high concentration of vitamin K, but a cup of brewed green tea provides only a small amount, 0.03 mcg per 3.5 fluid ounces (roughly half a cup). In fact, research published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association in 1995 showed that tea is not a significant dietary source of vitamin K and, as you know, green tea provides lots of other health benefits. The only beverages you should avoid while on blood-thinners are alcoholic drinks of all types since alcohol can affect your response to these drugs.

It is important, however, be aware of foods that are particularly high in vitamin K if you are taking prescription anticoagulants. Vitamin K is abundant in leafy greens – a three and a half ounce serving of Swiss chard or kale provides between 800 and 830 mcg; parsley, 500-540 mcg; Brussels sprouts and spinach 400-440 mcg. Other fruits and vegetables including tomatoes, lima beans, apricots, potatoes, grapes, cauliflower, peaches, plums and squash contain only minimal amounts of vitamin K. Bottom line: it’s more important to stay consistent with your intake of fruits, veggies and beverages containing vitamin K than to worry about avoiding any particular ones."

Andrew Weil, M.D.

Wow, you all have been great with your encouragement and especially with finding resources to back me up.

I’ve been fighting another fight altogether for the past two days with my primary physician and neurologist—they want me to quit drinking anything with caffeine altogether, to avoid migraines. I say that is a nice suggestion, now please write me a prescription for my migraine med so I can move on. No, they said, quitting caffeine should lower my migraines so much that I can handle what is left with OTC medications. NO, I said, I am not allowed to take Advil with Coumadin, DUH, and my migraines have a lot to do with barometric pressure and not much to do with caffeine.

Well, I just got off of the phone with my neurologist’s nurse, and they are finally going to give me my prescription! They got sick of me arguing about it, I guess. Squeaky wheel and all. ;-) I was not going to let them take ALL my tea away from me!

Good for you! Personally I don’t find that tea triggers my migraines but more that a cup or two of coffee will.

Eep! This thread is encouraging, and I’m glad you came to your Steepster family to share your sadness. Hopefully if you keep your intake consistent, you’ll be able to continue drinking green tea! So glad to hear that you don’t need surgery.