Warfarin and alcohol mixing

Question

I have understood that at 82 one shot of vodka/day is OK
I am on 6 mg warfarin. OK or not?

Answer 1

Generally, alcohol increases the bioavailability of warfarin in the body. As a result, the effect of the same warfarin dose taken with alcohol will be greater than that without alcohol. How much greater depends primarily on the amount of alcohol and probably also on individual variations in physiology and the dose of warfarin.

If the amount of alcohol consumed is small, e.g. 1 shot of liquor, the effect on bioavailability of warfarin is likely to modest, especially if this is a regular consumption (and thus the body is used to metabolizing alcohol). However, due to variations in individual physiology, unusually strong effects of mixing warfarin with modest alcohol doses are possible albeit probably uncommon. So, it would still be wise discuss this with your doctor and at a minimum ask for a protrombin time test (standard test for blood clotting) to make sure it is in the desired range.