[reagan_fanatic]

A blood clot was found in my mother's leg two years ago. She was prescribed coumadin/warfarin as a blood thinner, and sadly, is still on it to this day. I understand the medication is akin to rat poison, literally.

I've been on Coumadin (Warfarin) since they found a blood clot in my abdomen. It is the same stuff they use to kill rats, by thinning their blood so much they hemorrhage to death. In small doses it's safe.

Prayers up for the Veep.

[Quilla]

Thank you, your post was reassuring. At age 86, Warfarin is the only prescribed medication she takes. I believe the only noticable side effect is meanness. I could have sworn she'd been taking it for decades. :(

[Hop A Long Cassidy]

The Japanese food, Natto, provides a similar benefit. You DON'T want to take Natto and your medicine together as you'll be increasing the strength. You can find out more about Natto at wikipedia and other health sites:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natto

Basically it has the same or similar active ingredients. They say drinking Scotch and chewing tobacco are "acquired tastes." Natto is closer to the chewing tobacco side of things. It looks rotten and tastes rotten but it's doable. You can buy them pre-packaged at Japanese (sometimes Chinese) stores. And, you can make your own, if you're up to it. I have no idea how you control the quantity of natto-kinase (one of the two active ingredients). Natto has been recommended in several health newsletters.

I hope Cheney recovers from this. We need adults at the White House.

[Binghamton_native]

On coumadin for 15 years since receiving an artificial heart valve.