Caffeine makes me tired (1 Viewer)

[teapot2001]

I know it's supposed to keep you up, but I could fall asleep easily an hour after drinking Coke or coffee.

Anyone else?

~T

 

[Rob-Gr]

you have A.D.D.

 

[JamieD]

Little bit of a simplistic answer don't you think? Personally, I find the same thing. I don't have A.D.D. But, I do think the effect of caffeine is highly overrated, and largely in one's mind, unless you drink a bucket or two. I have had a couple of doctors also echo me on this, but as they said, they'd had done studies on it. I'm sure someone has somewhere though.

It's always seemed to me it was the heat and aroma of coffee that had the waking affect on people. But hopefully there's someone out there that has more info on caffeine levels and it's affectiveness.

 

[teapot2001]

A.D.D. as in attention deficit disorder? I don't have that.

~T

 

[BrianB]

Little bit of a simplistic answer don't you think?

Rob-Gr made his comment because caffeine frequently has the reverse effect on children with ADD that it does to "regular" people - it acts as a downer instead of an upper.

 

[Bjorn Olav Nyberg]

I can't offer any explanations, but it is the same with me and my younger brother as well. We don't really drink coffee, but those energy drinks they sell generally make me more drowsy.
I don't really know what ADD is either, but from the sound of it I wouldn't say any of us have that either.

 

[Clinton McClure]

If I drink one cup of coffee or one soda, the caffiene has no effect on me. However, if I drink somewhere in the neighborhood of 5 or 6 Mountain Dews, I'm up for a while. I believe caffiene is like any other drug. As you are exposed to more of it and at higher volumes, your body becomes resistant to it. Sorta like how it takes you more beer to get drunk than it did 20 years ago, or the reason smokers go from a couple cigs a day to 2 packs a day.

 

[Greg Kolinski]

twelve years of AA coffee,Nothing fazes me,I can drink coffee all day and sleep with no problems,I guess I just got a tolerence. ,Sorta like the mass consuption of alcohol and drugs I used to consume and not get near as loaded as everyone else:frowning:

 

[Philip_G]

caffine has never really had an effect on me, I don't drink coffee though, just massive amounts of soda :frowning:
I've heard the same thing about ADD, isn't ritalin some sort of upper?

 

[Max Leung]

It could be the massive amounts of sugar in caffeinated drinks that are making you drowsing. The blood-sugar-rush and then the big insulin spike!
If you really want to find out, try taking a caffeine pill or coffee without any sugary stuff added to it.
If you drink your coffee black and no sugar, then nevermind.

 

[Dave Poehlman]

I think I've built a tolerance to caffiene. Coffee can keep me awake, but it doesn't really perk me up.

Once I tried to quit drinking coffee altogether. I went a few weeks without it. But, I love coffee.. and I had a cup one morning.. man, what a jolt. I had apparently lost my tolerance and I was all jumpy and jittery. I've had the coffee monkey on my back ever since.

 

[Jim_F]

I share Max's theory.
Also, the amount of caffeine in a single serving of most soft drinks is pretty small in comparison to a strong cuppa joe.
Greg,
I think there's a principle behind strong coffee. It ensures that I remain within 12 steps of a restroom.

 

[Charles J P]

Yes, as far as what effect caffine has on you, it does depend on what your drinking. For me, a soda is little more than a cool sugary drink and will have little pick-me-up effects due the fact that I drink massive amounts of fairly strong coffee. A can of Mt. Dew (having the most caffeine of any widely available soda i.e. minus Jolt and the like) has 55 mg of caffeine. I drink coffee from a 16 ounce thermal mug, which depending on if I made it myself or if its convenience store coffe and if its a strong or weak roast, can have anywhere from 250-650 mg of caffeine (for 16 ounces). Extrapolated back down to a 12oz can, thats still as much 10 times as much caffeine as a pop and 3 or 4 times more at the very least.

 

[Rob-Gr]

ok, the ADD thing was kind of a joke, but caffeine has been known to calm people with ADD. Just as Ritalin and Adderall calm people with ADD, they work like speed with normal people. Your body does build up a tolerance to caffeine just like anything else. I find that I dont get wired from drinking a liter or 2 of coke a day, but it does help keep me going, although part of it is psychological. A few cups of coffee, and I am wired for the day though. It just makes me jittery and loud. On another note, dont quit caffeine cold turkey. I tried to quit drinking pop and tea for a week a few times. A few times I made it 3 or 4 days, and once I made it the whole week. I was one cranky son of a bitch that week. I had headaches and felt drousy all the time.
Also, I tried caffeine free coke once, and it tastes almost exactly like regular coke. The only difference is I could drink just one caffeine free glass and be happy, but when I drank the regular coke, I HAD to have more. I will drink pop all day, and just drain the whole glass in a few seconds. The caffeine seems to be the addictive part and it is weird that I had no real desire to drink the caffeine free.Weird.

 

[Ted Lee]

i also agree with max. more than likely you're feeling the drain after that inital buzz.
also, i am a perfect example of the caffeine tolerance issue.
i used to drink *half* a mocha and get all shaky. now i can have a triple-shot mocha all by myself and not feel too pinged.
believe me...i know. i buy at least 3-5 mocha's a week.
but i'm trying to cut down...having 5 mochas a week is not good for me physically or financially.

 

[Max Leung]

Just a heads up: In Canada, Mountain Dew has ZERO caffeine. Supposedly (but I can't confirm), Canadian regulations say you can't add caffeine to soft drinks unless it is caramel-colored (ie. looks like a Coke).
Inspect the label of a Canadian Mountain Dew, and you'll see no caffeine anywhere in the ingredients! Weird huh?
Oh yeah, I forgot about the caffeine-tolerance thing.
For everything you ever wanted to know about caffeine (and alcohol), get this book:
Buzz: The Science and Lore of Alcohol and Caffeine
EDIT: Arrgh, I can't believe Amazon is charging $32 US for that book! I picked up the UK Penguin Books edition in softcover for $20 CDN a year ago at Chapters.