"Han" wrote in message
...
"Steve B" wrote in
:


"Han" wrote in message
...
" wrote in
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On Thu, 3 Nov 2011 10:16:32 -0400, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:

You're right, I hadn't really given a lot of thought to
aspirin. Have to try that, see if it helps.

I don't take it much (other than 325mg/day for the heart) but I like
aspirin for headaches and some pain. It's great for fever and such.

325 mg/day is NOT the recommended dose for the heart. The officially
recommended dose is 85 mg/day. I participated as a coauthor in a
Spanish study where the doctors in charge used European dosages. We
found that 100 mg twice a day was really best, especially in
combination with a single 500 mg dose every 2 weeks.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.lab.2005.12.005
Translate for US: half a tablet of 325 mg twice a day and 2 full 325
mg tablets every other weekend.

There are tests to see whether the aspirin you're taking is
effective, but that takes 1 1/2 oz of blood and several hours of a
technician's time.

I've also heard of lots of problems with Tylenol (R).

Acetominifin. Avoid it like the plague. Doesn't do anything for me
anyway.

Acetaminophen is a very good medication, but high doses over a long
time kill the liver.

Ibuprofin works much better as an NSAID but it too is dangerous in
large doses. I take it very sparingly but when my feet or knees act
up, I'll grab it.

Ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil) is another good medication, with the
proviso of all non-aspirin NSAIDs - they may enhance the risk of
heart attacks or strokes.

I "twanged" a tendon in my wrist last week (clamping pocket hole
clamp in an awkward position). The doctor at the Doc-in-the-box put
me on Tramadol. Took three and decided I preferred the pain. He
wouldn't put me on an NSAID because my BP spiked. The regular doc
put me on a low-dose NSAID. Works *great*. The swelling went down
within a couple of hours and the constant pain is gone (still can't
move the wrist - the brace makes it harder, too).

Tramadol in combination with acetaminophen (called Ultracet) is very
good for long term treatment of muscle pain etc. But it is a kissing
cousin of opioids ... I had no problem getting off of it when my
pains subsided, and it made me functional and painfree when I needed
it. I never had side effects from it.

Might part of my problem is my computer chair digs me in the
back. I've put on some padding, see if that helps. Thanks
for the common sense wisdom.

Get a better chair. Cheaping out on a chair that's used for any
time is foolish.

A good chair and frequently getting up is VERY important if posture
is the cause. So is exercising your back as well as the rest of your
body.

I am NOT a physician, and these are my personal opinions. Don't rely
on them, but DO talk to your doctor!!

--
Best regards
Han
email address is invalid

And a one size fits all across the board doesn't work. There are lots
of people who have either blood or clotting disorders/conditions that
have to be very careful. For them to take unknown things on the
advice of "It works for me", or "It worked for a lot of my friends" is
dangerous.

YOUR LAST SENTENCE IS OUTSTANDING, SIR! KUDOS! And talk to your
doctor BEFORE YOU TAKE THE FIRST PILL/WHATEVER.

What works for someone else can very easily kill you. And watch out
for those snakeoil vitamin salesmen, too. Multi-level marketing is
the second largest industry in my state, Utah, only second to tourism.
Vitamin and juice and supplement salesmen are as plenty as stars in
the western sky.

Steve, 9+ years on coumadin now, and knows a little bit about the
subject. (For blood clotting after artificial valve heart surgery.)

Warfarin (tradename of coumadin) has a long and colorful history, and in
my opinion is a very tough medication to adjust the dosage of. My former
boss is a big time hematologist and got on warfarin/coumadin because of
his heart, and I had to listen to his INR going off too many times. I
retired and don't have to listen any more.

Warfarin is named after the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, because
U Wisconsin scientists finally listened to the complaints of farmers
whose cattle were bleeding to death after eating moldy sweet clover. See
the history section of the wikipedia entry for the story.

Warfarin is a vitamin K antagonist. Vit K is necessary for a protein
modification that puts extra carboxyl groups on a number of proteins that
are clotting factors. Those extra COOH groups function to "anchor" those
proteins to cell membranes, where their close proximity enhamces
enzymatic activity many thousands of times. Preventing the process makes
it more difficult for blood to clot, and thereby prevents heart attacks.
Obviously if you go too far in this process you will bleed more or less
spontaneously, which is very bad too, especially in the brain.

The problems with dosing are complicated by the variable amounts of vit K
in foods, especially cabbages (broccoli) and dark leafy veggies. It's a
very delicate balancing act, and when you get older it gets worse.

--
Best regards
Han
email address is invalid

As I know. Mine should be between 3.0 and 3.5 for my heart valve. Last
month, it was 3.2, having spiked for the previous three months to almost 5,
no reason ever established. That would be much too high for a "normal"
human. I had a class on it in the hospital, and after leaving, so know a
LOT about foods and "stuff" on the lists. I must say that there is really
nothing on the lists that I have any particular problem with, and I can and
do eat small portions here and there. I took the coumadin curse because the
mechanical valve outlasts animal valves, and I didn't want to be having this
again in ten years, and it is ALREADY ten years. I (knock on wood) have not
had a serious injury in that time to test the effects in real time.

One of the major problems I have had in the last ten years, and the reason I
posted what I did above, was finding out in the tiny tiny print on the
disclaimer or information packet that a lot of things are not to be taken by
anyone on intentional blood thinners (warfarin, heparin, et al), or meds
that have a thinning effect, but people normally don't associate that common
med with blood thinning of reducing clotting. Example, common aspirin and
vitamin E fish oil. There are hundreds more. And a LOT (REPEAT! ...
LOT!) of these things being sold as supplements with very little testing,
may have incredible effects on thinning blood, but the companies are not
required to do the extensive testing, so many times are just running blind.
That is one of my pet peeves.

I must admit that I would like to find a good vitamin program that may
assist me with various ailments and conditions I have. The problem I have
is that the salesman are trained in selling, and cannot intelligently answer
questions regarding the medical or chemical aspects of their product. Since
it's all results oriented, they are not going to say any of this is bad for
you. And that is the problem that I have with 99% of the people selling
this stuff. Not enough research, and the attitude that if it was bad for
people, of course, they would not be selling it.

Were you involved in that Spanish study on blood pressure dosage timing
time of dosage? I need to write a blog on that on my site.

Well, I really need to write blogs on lots of things on my site, and get
busy and sell some more books, and dispense more information.

Steve

www.heartsurgerysurvival.com If you're new to this site, just go browse.
If you have been there, pardon the lack of new stuff. That should change
soon, and some new site appearance changes.