Warfarin is the most widely used anticoagulant, but because everyone differs in their physiological make-up, dosage requirements differ from person to person. Alcohol can interfere with the effectiveness of anticoagulant medications, can be harmful to your liver, and can irritate your stomach (gastritis), causing bleeding. Smoking increases the risk of blood clots and cardiovascular disease, and cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death in people with lupus. What should I remember while taking anticoagulants?ĭo not smoke or drink alcohol while taking anticoagulants. Women who take warfarin must switch to heparin or low molecular weight heparin before they become pregnant, since heparin or low molecular weight heparin (Lovenox, Fragmin) do not cross the placenta into the fetus. It can cause birth defects and fetal bleeding. Warfarin (Coumadin) is not safe during pregnancy. Can I take these medications while I am pregnant? The amount of medication needed differs with each person and each situation, and individuals on these medications should be closely monitored by their doctors to ensure that they are being given the correct dose. Warfarin comes in tablet form, and heparin must be given as an injection. By blocking the process early on, both warfarin and heparin ultimately help to reduce blood clots from forming in your body. Heparin also works by preventing certain cofactors, namely thrombin and fibrin, from working correctly. These proteins are called “cofactors.” Vitamin K controls the creation of these cofactors in your liver, and warfarin reduces clotting in your blood by preventing vitamin K from working correctly. Warfarin and heparin work in slightly different ways, but both block the production of certain proteins in your liver that work together to help your blood to clot. Blood clots can cut off circulation to your arms, legs, lungs (pulmonary embolism), brain (stroke), and heart (heart attack). It is rare for a blood clot to migrate to another part of the body and block one of your blood vessels, but if it does (a condition doctors call a thromboembolism), it is always serious. Sometimes these antiphospholipid antibodies (called anticardiolipin, lupus anticoagulant, or anti-beta2glycoprotein I) can lead to blood clots-thromboses-such as deep venous thrombosis, stroke, or heart attack.Ī blood clot by itself is called a thrombus a blood clot that breaks off and travels elsewhere in your circulatory (blood) system is called an embolus. About one-third of people with lupus have antibodies to molecules in the body called phospholipids. Warfarin (Coumadin) and heparin are anticoagulants (“blood thinners”), medications that decrease the ability of the blood to clot. Fondaparinux (Arixtra) What are anticoagulants and why are they used in lupus treatment?
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