Hi Martin! Considering how highly I hold your experience and advice, I was a bit upset by your reply to MY personal opinion of Coumadin and why I chose, personally, not to use it. I DID make a list of a few foods that would need to be eaten with some caution due to their higher Vitamin K content. I included that list because when I was discussing MY choices for an anticoagulant with my cardiologist, he gave me this list and it was a surprise to me! I posted that list for people, who like me, were faced with choosing an anticoagulant for the first time. I didn't, in any way, allude the choice of Coumadin spelled DOOM! For you to write that "Your suggestion that patients needing anticoagulation medications ARE DOOMED TO EXTREME COMPLICATIONS IF THEY CHOOSE COUMADIN IS OVERWROUGHT." That statement goes a LONG way over the line of what I actually DID say. I know you have been on Coumadin for a long time now, as have a number of my friends. A couple whom said it DID take them awhile to get comfortable with the changes in diet and the monthly trip to the clinic for level checks. But they, AND you, made those adjustments and are very happy with the results. The high availability of an antidote was, for my friends, a real selling point as some of the new anticoagulants were still working on antidotes, and yes, there WERE some hitches along the road to FDA approval for those antidotes. I have no doubt you are now aware that FDA approved antidotes are readily available for all the "new" anticoagulants on the market. I wish you had included my final opinion which said: "I believe ALL the anticoagulant choices are good and safe and it comes down to personal preference. And you can always change if your choice is not working well for you."
Linda