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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Does Warfarin Affect The Results Of The Breathalyzer?

I am a female of 47 years old, my weight is 8st (112lb) and my height is 5' 3" (1.6 metres). I have been taking Warfarin for the last year due to having multiple large pulminary emboli last August 2010 on returning from a long haul flight. I also have a protein c deficiency. I was charged at the weekend for drink driving after having a very high reading on a breathalyzer test after having a few glasses of wine with a friend. Please can you tell me if taking Warfarin affects the breathalyzer results? And also if being under weight would affect a breathalyzer result having not eaten all day?
Wed, 27 Aug 2014
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Addiction Medicine Specialist 's  Response
warfarin no. everything else yes.
A set amount of something in a small container gives more concentration than if it is dissolved into a large container. 10 mg/1000ml = 0.01; 10mg / 10 ml = 1.
Alcohol is partly digested by digestive enzymes in the gut wall. If you don't have anything in the stomach all the alcohol runs right in and doesn't have any time to get digested...not having eaten = more alcohol absorbed and faster. And... women have less of these digestive enzymes than men and smaller.
So...not eaten, woman... more alcohol in. smaller... higher concentration of it in blood.
but mainly few glasses of wine then driving was not a good idea.
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Does Warfarin Affect The Results Of The Breathalyzer?

warfarin no. everything else yes. A set amount of something in a small container gives more concentration than if it is dissolved into a large container. 10 mg/1000ml = 0.01; 10mg / 10 ml = 1. Alcohol is partly digested by digestive enzymes in the gut wall. If you don t have anything in the stomach all the alcohol runs right in and doesn t have any time to get digested...not having eaten = more alcohol absorbed and faster. And... women have less of these digestive enzymes than men and smaller. So...not eaten, woman... more alcohol in. smaller... higher concentration of it in blood. but mainly few glasses of wine then driving was not a good idea.