Talk About Your Medicines Month

October is The American Recall Center's "Talk About Your Medicines Month" so I thought I would tell you a little something about when I used to be on Warfarin that almost got me in serious health trouble. I got the flu in 2011. Ugh, as if recovering from a stroke wasn't enough, I had to deal with fever, chills and nausea from something that made me feel 10x worse as I was recovering. You know if you've got the flu, you don't feel like eating. Your favorite thing in the world could be sitting in front of you laced in gold and you wouldn't touch it. This was the case with me. I felt so weak and sick that I didn't even want to eat and I didn't think I was doing harm to myself. I wasn't eating anything with Vitamin K...but I also wasn't eating at all (aside from a cup of tea or sip of broth). I still took my Warfarin as usual but what I didn't realize was that I was actually hurting my body.
I mustered up the strength to get my blood checked as I did twice a week while I was on my thinners and the nurse came in after pricking me with wide eyes. She said my blood had become pretty much like water and asked me what I was doing. I told her about my illness and she didn't even let me finish.

"Go out and eat everything you can." she said.
"Even greens?" I asked inquisitively.

She nodded which made me the happiest and the saddest girl in the world. On the plus, I got a free pass for the first time in several months. I was able to eat anything I wanted. On the other hand, I was sick. I didn't realize that not eating was so dangerous when you were taking Warfarin. People don't talk about what happens when you're sick and you get sick with something else. How does this affect our dosage and our bodies? Thank goodness I went to the doctor when I did otherwise I could have done serious damage to my kidney and liver not to mention my heart. If you even have something as small as a cold, talk to your doctors. Tell them you don't have an appetite. Your dosage may be tweaked during that time to help you heal. Even if you think it's an insignificant change, it's better to be safe than sorry!

For information on The American Recall Center including an article on Xarelto, a medicine to prevent stroke and clots, click HERE