Your morning cup of coffee can interact with medications you may be taking and alter how fast those are absorbed into your bloodstream. Medications not to mix with coffee include those that treat asthma, colds, diabetes, and thyroid disorders.
Drinking coffee at the same time you take your medication may affect how well it works for you. One study reviewed several medications and how coffee affects them. They reported that coffee changed how the body absorbs, distributes, and metabolizes several medications.
Thyroid Medicine
If you have hypothyroidism, your thyroid gland (a butterfly-shaped gland at the front of your neck) is not producing enough thyroid hormone. It can cause weight gain, dry skin, joint pain, hair loss, and irregular periods.
Many people are prescribed levothyroxine or other thyroid medications to balance their hormones. Drinking coffee at the same time as taking your thyroid medication can reduce how much your body absorbs the medication, which can make it less effective for you. It's not a small effect: Case reports show that coffee can reduce the absorption of thyroid medications by more than half.
Cold or Allergy Medication
Millions of people use medications for colds or allergies, which often contain central nervous system stimulants like pseudoephedrine. Coffee is also a stimulant, so mixing it with these medications may increase symptoms like restlessness and the inability to sleep.
You should not take some allergy medications, like fexofenadine, with coffee. It can overstimulate your central nervous system and increase the symptoms of restlessness. It's always a good idea to ask a healthcare provider for advice before you combine coffee and cold or allergy medications.
Diabetes Medication
If you mix your coffee with sugar or milk, it could lead to a spike in blood sugar and impact how well your diabetes medication works. Caffeine may worsen symptoms for people with diabetes.
Drinking anything with caffeine, like coffee, could raise your insulin and blood sugar levels. Drinking too much caffeine may make it hard to manage blood sugar and raise the risk of diabetes complications. More research is needed to understand coffee's affect on diabetes management.
Diabetes and prediabetes are very common in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over 38 million people in the U.S. have diabetes, and more than 97 million have prediabetes. Most people do not know they have prediabetes.
Alzheimer's Medicine
Alzheimer's disease is the seventh leading cause of death in the U.S. and mostly affects people older than 65 years. It's a disorder of the brain that results in a loss of cognitive function, which makes it hard to think, remember, or go about your daily tasks. Millions of people in the U.S. have Alzheimer's disease and take medication for it.
Caffeine can affect Alzheimer's medications, like donepezil, rivastigmine, and galantamine. The caffeine in coffee tightens up the blood-brain barrier and can decrease how much of the drug makes it to your brain. Alzheimer's medications protect the chemical messenger acetylcholine. Drinking high amounts of coffee has been shown to impair this protective effect.
Asthma Medication
Asthma affects your lungs and makes your airways inflamed and irritated. This results in difficulty breathing, coughing and wheezing, and a tight feeling in your chest. Millions of people in the U.S., both adults and children, have asthma and take medications for it.
Many people with asthma take bronchodilators, like aminophylline or theophylline. Bronchodilators relax your airways, which makes it easier to breathe. They come with side effects like headache, restlessness, stomach pain, and irritability. Drinking coffee or other drinks high in caffeine can increase your risk of these side effects. Coffee can also reduce how much of the medication is absorbed and useful to your body.
Osteoporosis Medication
Osteoporosis makes your bones thin and fragile, which increases your risk of bone fracture. Millions of people have osteoporosis, which is most common in women who have gone through menopause.
Drugs like risedronate or ibandronate prevent and treat osteoporosis. You should not take them at the same time as coffee because it makes the drug less effective. It's recommended that you take these medications before eating or drinking anything and only wash them down with plain water. This will allow your body to maximize the full amount. When you drink coffee with these medications, their effectiveness can be reduced by more than half.
Antidepressants
Antidepressants can help with depression, or a mood disorder that affects how you feel and function. Coffee can affect how your body uses antidepressant medications. Your body can metabolize drugs, like fluvoxamine, amitriptyline, escitalopram, and imipramine, differently if you drink coffee at the same time, especially in large amounts. Coffee can reduce the amount of the medicine your body absorbs.
Fluvoxamine has been found to enhance the usual side effects of caffeine. This can cause symptoms like insomnia and heart palpitations. It's best to take your medication and hold off on the coffee for a while.
Antipsychotic Medicine
Antipsychotic drugs are helpful for people who have schizophrenia, mania, major depressive disorder, and other mental health concerns. Nearly four million people in the U.S. use these medications each year. Antipsychotic drugs inhibit certain chemical messengers or block receptors in your brain.
Medications that treat psychosis include phenothiazine, clozapine, haloperidol, and olanzapine. Coffee can make your body absorb less of these medications if you drink coffee right away. Your body metabolizes and breaks down these medications differently in the presence of coffee. Take it with water instead of coffee to get the full effect.
Blood Pressure Medicine
Tens of millions of people in the U.S. have hypertension (high blood pressure). Hypertension increases your risk for heart disease and stroke. It's a common but silent disease since it rarely shows symptoms.
Many people take blood pressure medications, like verapamil or propranolol, which slow down your heart rate. This means your heart does not have to work as hard to pump blood to all of your body's cells.
Drinking coffee at the same time can cause less of the medication to be absorbed. You may not get the full benefit. Talk with a healthcare provider about how to time your pills and your morning coffee.
Melatonin
Melatonin is a natural hormone your body makes to help you feel sleepy at night. The sun going down triggers this hormone, which signals it's time to rest. Melatonin is also sold over-the-counter (OTC) in supplement form as a sleep aid.
Coffee works as a stimulant, which makes you feel more awake. The caffeine in coffee does the exact opposite of what melatonin does. It can make you more alert and can make it hard to fall asleep. Drinking coffee can inhibit melatonin production in your body and make the hormone less effective. Melatonin and coffee could cancel each other out.
When To Seek Care
Try delaying your first cup of coffee if you take any of these medications, especially if it's recommended that you take them first thing in the morning. Talk to a healthcare provider about how to balance out your pills and your coffee if you take more than one. They can also help if you have unpleasant side effects like restlessness, jitteriness, or insomnia.
A Quick Review
Coffee is a stimulant because of its high caffeine content. Between the stimulant effects and its effects on your gut, coffee can alter how your body breaks down and absorbs medications. You may just need to change the timing of your coffee break. It's always a good idea to reach out to a healthcare provider if you experience any symptoms
.
Credit: Health.com
Comments
Post a Comment