Question for people who take Coumadin(blood thinners)?

I am 21yrs old and was diagnosed with 3 different blood disorders at the age of 20. I had a Pulmonary Embolism (blood clot in my lung) and I now take high dosage of Coumadin (12mg) every day and will have to take it for the rest of my life to prevent blood clots and strokes. I feel very tired and weak, I bruise very easily and my skin gets very dry. I also get nose bleeds often, just by simply blowing my nose and this has been a bad allergy season. I can't really take other medicines or perscriptions that might negatively interact with my Coumadin. I'm also not allowed to drink alcohol ontop of my high dosage or eat anything containing Vitamin K (green vegetables in general).

I'm definately not living the life that a 21yr old should be living.

Is anyone out there ages 15-40 who have to take Coumadin and how is your life today?

I don't take Coumadin, and I don't know anyone on such a high dose (!), but I had a couple of ideas anyway. About the nosebleeds, you might try treating the allergies so that you don't have to blow your nose. I use cromolyn nasal spray myself -- it works very well and it doesn't interact with Coumadin (according to drugs.com).

As for having to restrict other medications and vitamin K, do you think that these restrictions could be loosened if you just check your INR very frequently? If you have a doctor who is willing to work with you, he/she could even adjust your dose of Coumadin based on an expected interaction (for example, reducing the Coumadin dose if you need to take antibiotics).

One final thought is that you can hope for the day that there is a better alternative to Coumadin!

I hope this helps.