Dr. Howard Smith Oncall

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/DMYd0kbMb1M/Two-thirds of us in the United States drink coffee every day and three-quarters of us drink it at least once a week.  Coffee and the caffeine it contains can be a problem for a number of medications prescribed by your medical team or bought by you on your own.Most common are cold and flu drugs.  Coffee’s caffeine turbocharges the effects of the decongestant pseudoephedrine, branded as Sudafed, or systemically-absorbed decongestant nasal sprays such as Afrin.  That will give you the jitters, headaches, restlessness, insomnia, an elevated heart rate, temperature bump, and a even a higher blood sugar.The caffeine in coffee, chemically similar to the amphetamines in ADHD - hyperactivity suppressing medications, raises your heart rate and keep you from getting to sleep.Then too, drinking coffee within an hour of taking the thyroid drug levothyroxine, branded as Synthroid,  or the anti-osteoporosis medications biphosphonate drugs Fosamax, Actonel, or Boniva reduces