What is Coumadin?
Coumadin (warfarin) is (blood thinner)and also an anticoagulant. Warfarin decreases blood clot formation. Coumadin is used to treat or prevent veins or arteries from having blood clots, which can minimize the risk of stroke, heart attack, or other severe conditions.
Interactions
- Drug interactions will result in a change of your drugs or maximize the risk of serious side effects.
- Warfarin interacts with many medications, vitamins, non-prescription, and herbal products. This involves drugs that are placed on the skin or inside the rectum or vagina. All potential drug interactions do not include the following interactions mentioned. Interactions with warfarin typically allow the "blood-thinning" (anticoagulant) effect to increase or decrease. To avoid severe bleeding or clotting complications, the doctor or other health care professional should closely watch you. It is very important to inform your doctor or pharmacist of any changes in the medications, vitamins, or herbal products you are taking while you are taking warfarin.
- In order to calculate theophylline levels, this drug can interfere with a certain laboratory test, likely causing false test results. Ensure that laboratory staff/health care advisors and all of your physicians know that you are taking this medicine.
- Aspirin, salicylate-like aspirin medications, and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs such as ibuprofen, naproxen, celecoxib) can have a warfarin-like impact. If taken during treatment with warfarin, these drugs may increase the risk of problems with bleeding. Carefully review all labels of prescription/nonprescription products (including skin-related drugs such as pain-relieving creams) because they may contain NSAIDs or salicylates in the products. Speak to your doctor about treating pain/fever with another drug (such as acetaminophen). If recommended by your doctor for legitimate medical purposes, low-dose aspirin and similar medicines (such as clopidogrel, ticlopidine) should be continued.
Note:
Do not share with anyone this drug. To track the progress or check for side effects, laboratory and/or medical tests (such as INR, full blood count) must be conducted regularly.
Overdose
If someone has taken/consumed more than required or more than prescribed, immediately contact the doctor because it can have some very adverse side effects.
Missed Dose
Do not miss out on any doses for the best possible benefit. If you skip a dose, you can take it as soon as you recall and remember the same day. If you recall the next day, skip the skipped dose of this drug. At your normal dosage time, take your next dose. To catch up, do not double the dose because this could increase the risk of bleeding. Keep a list of missing doses to send to your pharmacist or doctor. When you skip 2 or more doses in a row, call your doctor or pharmacist.