Doctors prescribe warfarin to prevent the formation of blood clots. This medication can also prevent blood clots from getting larger in people with certain heart beat irregularities, prosthetic heart valves and a history of heart attacks. Warfarin may thin your blood excessively, however, causing you to bleed easily. Severe bleeding may become a life-threatening situation that requires a blood transfusion and places you at risk for pulmonary edema.
Pulmonary Edema
Pulmonary edema occurs when the pressure inside the blood vessels of your lungs increases dramatically, causing fluid to leak into your lungs. While this condition typically affects people who exercise at high altitudes or who have heart disease, pneumonia or asthma, it can also occur as a result of blood transfusions. Symptoms of pulmonary edema include coughing up bloody froth or blood, trouble breathing, fatigue, extreme shortness of breath the makes speaking difficult, pale skin, bluish nail beds, anxiety and sounds of grunting, wheezing or gurgling while breathing. If you experience any combination of these symptoms, seek medical treatment immediately.
Blood Transfusion and Pulmonary Edema
Blood transfusions may cause pulmonary edema if the transfusion causes an injury to your lungs because of a reaction to the transfusion. It can also occur if the transfusion overloads your body with fluid, reports Drugs.com. If you experience pulmonary edema as a result of a blood transfusion, expect to have symptoms within the first one to two hours of your transfusion. Symptoms may not occur for up to six hours after the completion of your transfusion, however.
Preventing Bleeding
Decrease your risk of pulmonary edema caused by a blood transfusion by decreasing your risk of bleeding while on warfarin. Start by talking with all your health care providers about medications, herbs or supplements you take or plan to take while taking warfarin. This helps prevent drug interactions that increase the blood thinning effect of warfarin. If you plan on having any dental or medical procedures, no matter how minor, talk to your doctor about the dosing changes you need to prevent excessive bleeding. Limit your participation in any activity that increases you risk for injury, such as contact sports, extreme sports, ice-skating and horseback riding. Talk to your doctor about wearing a medical alert bracelet that indicates your use of warfarin and about blood tests to monitor the effectiveness of warfarin in your system.
Dietary Factors
Further decrease your risk of bleeding by controlling your diet. Try to keep your intake of vitamin K consistent as it helps your blood clot. When you consume less vitamin K than usual, your bleeding risk may increase. Common sources of vitamin K include soybeans, canola oil and green leafy vegetables. Other dietary substances that interact with how warfarin functions in the body include garlic, black licorice, cranberries and alcohol. While eating a serving of these substances on occasion doesn’t usually have a drastic impact on the effectiveness of warfarin, avoid consuming them on a regular basis, says MayoClinic.com.
