Coumadin Still Prescribed Despite the Black Box Warnings!
Is There A Natural Alternative To Coumadin?
For some reason, doctors would have you believe that Warfarin (Coumadin) is a better and safer treatment than Vitamin E therapy for the prevention of strokes.
[Special Note: It is very important that people taking ‘blood-thinning’ drugs such as Coumadin, talk with a knowledgeable doctor before switching to Vitamin E therapy.]
Unfortunately, despite the research, there aren’t many medical doctors well versed on the topic of Vitamin E therapy vs. Coumadin. And this is very sad because if a patient is requesting a more natural form of therapy and the doctor is “skeptical” of using Vitamin E, the doctor could simply monitor the status of the patient’s blood via Pro time (Hematology) tests to determine if the more natural therapy might be appropriate.
It can’t be stressed enough! It is imperative that the natural form of Vitamin E be used and never the synthetic!
When used in higher dosages (1600 – 4000 IU), Vitamin E potentiates the effects of Coumadin (Warfarin), making Vitamin E a completely safe substitute for the drug.
I have personally found this to be true.
I had a patient whose medical doctor wanted to put him on Coumadin. The patient chose to use a Vitamin E therapy instead, and his doctor was shocked when the hematology tests came back. The test results looked as though the patient was already taking the drug! When the doctor learned that the Vitamin E had produced the exact same result that he would have expected from Coumadin, he was dumbfounded! How could an inexpensive little vitamin do the job of a pharmaceutical drug?
This story isn’t simply a fluke. There are many other stories just like this one!
Despite stories such as this, warnings that Vitamin E may cause death are reiterated over and over again on the internet. Most (if not all) are quoting from the same one study!
However, nowhere do these warnings mention that this study used synthetic Vitamin E as opposed to natural Vitamin E.
I can’t stress enough that the difference is more than significant.
Since natural Vitamin E (d-alpha-tocopherol) is more than a quarter the availability of synthetic Vitamin E (dl-alpha-tocopherol), you have to take nearly twice as much of the synthetic to get the same effect. So then the dosage is very different.
There is countless research that disproves this one study. So why aren’t we privy to the details of these research studies? Are we really to believe that we should be scared of Vitamin E, and that Coumadin safe?
Let’s look at the “safety” record of Coumadin.
Recently Coumadin was identified as a drug requiring a Black Box Drug Warning by the FDA.
What does that mean exactly?
A Black box warning means that medical studies strongly indicate that a drug carries a significant risk of serious and/or life-threatening adverse effects.
The FDA had Bristol-Myers Squibb strengthen its U.S. label for Warfarin (Coumadin) to include a, “black-box warning about the risk for major or fatal bleeding.”
The Institute for Safe Medication Practices and the Division of Public Health Sciences, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, conducted a longitudinal Adverse Events Reporting System Review of the FDA’s most dangerous drugs in 2007.
The study concluded that Coumadin is one of the most dangerous drugs on the market today as it is associated with the most serious outcomes. More than 100,000 deaths or disabilities resulted from the use of this drug.
Please go to Coumadin at in the Askapatient database to read actual horror stories of people who have taken Coumadin. I guarantee you will be shocked!
Yet, oddly enough, it’s Vitamin E that continues to get all the attention? And I say odd, because there hasn’t been a single death due to high doses of Vitamin E!
So, why the warnings of mortality when it’s not vitamin E causing the deaths, but Coumadin?
For more information, I encourage you to you read Vitamin E: The True Cost of Cynicism.

October 30, 2014 @ 6:49 pm
Both my parents have Atrial Fib. Neither one could take coumadin. The side effects were terrible. I did alot of reading and came up with Nattokinease. They both have been taking it for about 5 yrs. their ages 90 and 86. Now I see alot of articles about natto. Its all natural fermented bean curd that people have been eating for thousands of years. My parents take the capsule.
October 31, 2014 @ 10:10 am
Hi Elaine! I agree…nattokinase is an amazing enzyme! Another enzyme to take a look at is serrapeptase.
November 29, 2015 @ 7:08 am
I have read your article and it is very interesting. I am from Italy and here is difficult to find an ortomolecolar doctor. I am following Pauling supplement integration successfully I am 56 active sport but unfurtunatlelly I had 2 event of arterial fibrillation and I am looking for something natural to thinner blood instead of Coumadin. I intake dally 1200 UI of vitamin e + fish oil 3 g, but my INR remains low Whi? The dosare is not enoght ? Could you suggest me something to do and the right dosage of vitamin e and how divide the doses during the day. Thank you
January 3, 2016 @ 1:40 pm
Hi Dr. Michelle Kmiec I have a LVAD They have me on cumadin/Warfin. 5mg aday. I want to get off of them, I want to ask my Dr,s about it but first i want to know what you fill about it. if i could start out with small dose of Nattokinase then up the dose to where i can stop the warafin altogether. Thank you for being here on line for us.
August 1, 2016 @ 8:14 pm
Thanks, Marilynn. Any idea how to connect with patients for info that the FDA hasn’t seen yet?
January 9, 2017 @ 6:29 pm
I am curently on 10mg of warfrin 5 days a week and 5mg 2 days a week. I am losing my insurance and cant afford it anymore. I herd of vitamin e and want to know how much a day i need to take. I weigh 125 lbs and im 49 yrs old …ive been tested and do not have any blood disorder. I also am not on any other meds. I have 28 days of med left.please help. Sincerly kimberly gitt.