Why does coffee make and sudafed and some other medicines have the opposite affect one me?

Answer 1

Thanks for the good queestion - it was interesting to research.

About 10% of patients with ADHD have paradoxical reaction s to caffeine- that is, coffee makes them sleepy rather than awake. Still , its recommended that they dont take too much for their sleep problems as caffeine before bed can backfire for them. (The caffeine sedation story keeps coming up in association with ADHD, I hope that doesnt worry you).

There is a paradoxical reaction to deep sedation as well, where some kids who get sedative medication for surgery instead become very activated and disinhibited: live wires. How do you suppose they treat these live wire kids? You guessed it: caffeine calms them down.

Now pseudoephedrine should not cause sedation, period. Are you sure youre not taking with a sedating antihistamine? This is the reason that cold meds are so often ANTIHISTAMINE/DECONGESTANT combos: they add the sedating antihistamine to counteract the activating decongestant (pseudoephedrine). Many people are more sensitive to the antihistamine sedation in these fixed combos, so they get sleepy.

Answer 2

Have yourself checked for ADD or hyperactivity. I've known hyperactive people that this happened to, coffe would knock them out, etc. Best thing to do is ask a doctor.