Drinking Beer on Coumadin

It has been months since you posted your inquiry.  I hope all is well with you.  I hope you had a talk with your doctor about your intentions to temporarily stop coumadin in order to binge "safely", and then resume coumadin once the binge is over.  THIS IS NOT A GOOD IDEA.  No such thing as binging "safely".  Coumadin takes time to build up to a therapeutic level in your system.  If you stop and then restart to binge drink you will be messing with that therapeutic level.  When a patient is told to stop coumadin temporarily because of say, an upcomming surgery, physicians monitor their blood work even more closely once coumadin is resumed because doses have to be adjusted frequently to get the patient back up to a therapeutic level.  WHILE the patient is off of coumadin their risk of developing whatever problem they were placed on the coumadin for in the first place is greater.  However, the necessity for stopping the coumadin outweighs the risks. Binge drinking does NOT outway your risks.  You may have to decide... Binge drink or possibly die from complications of blood clots or even bleeding out because the binge drinking can also throw you in the other direction of your blood being overly thin (meaining inr HIGH).  Please reconsider.  If you TRULY understand theses risks but you are unable to stop the binge drinking, even if it's only once a month, please consider that you may have an alcohol problem and seek help and guidance immediately.  Also, if you are already binging and taking a short break from your coumadin and you still "seem fine", do not let that lull you into a false sense of security.  What you are doing is playing Russian Roulette.  It really sounds like you may have to choose between your life and binge drinking.  I pray all goes well for you.

This is the professional opinion of a Registered Nurse.