Can Warfarin interfere with diabetes as regards blood sugar levels?
No. Uncomplicated anticoagulation with Warfarin (thinning the blood by inhibiting its clotting mechanism in a controlled way) should not directly interfere with blood glucose levels, even in diabetics. The only exception would be the effect of Warfarin increasing the potency of some anti-diabetic tablets, lowering the blood sugar further. However, I’m not aware of any interaction with common treatments like Actrapid and Insulatard. There is a rare circumstance in which Warfarin could indirectly affect sugar levels. This could happen if it was responsible for acute inflammation of the pancreas (chronic pancreatitis). The pancreas is a gland that sits in the abdomen just behind the stomach and produces, amongst other things, insulin. Pancreatitis is a very rare complication of treatment with Warfarin – I’ve never seen a case. It’s not the sort of condition that you can have without feeling very ill and uncomfortable, so I sense it’s not what you had in mind when you asked the question. C
