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Pharmacy/drug interaction with heart

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Expert: Sudesh Samuel - 10/19/2009


Question
I was born with a murmur and sinus arrhythmia. I have sleep apnea and frequently wake up with really bad headaches so when that happens(which is almost every day) I just take 2 extra strength Excedrin and in 15 minutes it is gone and I don't take any more. My sinus arrhythmia episodes are almost every day and is very uncomfortable. Does the Excedrin have anything to do with it? I will be seeing a cardiologist next month.

Answer
Hi Beckie, excedrin contains acetaminophen (found also in tylenol), aspirin and caffeine. Among these components, caffeine is the one that is commonly associated with a faster heart beat or rhythm and may exacerbate underlying heart disorders like murmur or sinus arrhythmia. Further to the dose of excedrin and your body's response to the caffeine component in potentially affecting your symptoms, your dietary intake of caffeine may also be contributory whether in the form of daily coffee, tea or caffeinated beverages. These aspects should be discussed with your cardiologist. Hope this helps.

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Sudesh Samuel

Expertise

I take questions on medication, pharmaceuticals and supplements. This includes areas of medication safety, queries related to drug profiles like pharmacology, side effects, interactions, precautions and contraindications, storage conditions, administration, supplement uses along with their interactions, precautions and side effects.

Experience

I am a licenced and practicing pharmacist specialising in the provision of healthcare communications material and drug information. I have run a drug information service at a national, tertiary, teaching hospital where my duties included managing several pharmacists in the development of continual education, providing drug information throughout the hospital and analyzing new and existing drugs for inclusion into the hospital formulary. I have been involved in several healthcare committees including patient safety, adverse drug reaction monitoring, antibiotic guidelines as well as a pharmacy and therapeutics committee. I was an on-call pharmacist with the national drug and poisons information centre. My research focus has been on medication review and I have presented findings on a renal medication review service and also published a review article on halting the allergic march in the World Allergy Organization Journal.

Organizations
Institute for Medication Management - http://www.medicationreview.net

Publications
World Allergy Organization Journal, Vision Reborn, Medical Grapevine, National University Hospital Pharmacy and Therapeutics Newsletter, National University Hospital Adverse Drug Reaction Newsletter, National Healthcare Group Adverse Drug Reaction Newsletter, suite101

Education/Credentials
Master of Health Service Management, Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy with Honours

Awards and Honors
Valedictorian

Past/Present Clients
Various healthcare practices

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