I drank four cups of triple-shot espresso yesterday morning as an experiment, since I'm not a regular coffee drinker and wanted to see what caffeine does. However, I noticed zero improvement in awareness and awakeness; even a good hour after drinking the concoction, I still felt just as sleepy as I was before I drank the coffee. My friends told me to expect a severe "caffeine crash" later on during the day, but that didn't happen either. Are the effects of caffeine more subtle than I was led to believe, or am I simply not affected by it? I don't drink a lot of coffee, so I don't think I have become desensitized to the chemical, ruling out that possibility.

(Yes, I checked, it's clearly not decaf, and my friends said that the same drink kept them very awake.)

Do you regularly drink other beverages that contain caffeine, such as coke or tea?

Caffeine makes me slightly sleepy, but then I do get a crash ... D:

Some people are sensitive to caffeine ... it doesn't seem unreasonable that some people might have a resistance to it.

While I'm sure there are actual physiological effects, I think the majority part of it is just the placebo effect. Same thing when you're a little kid and jumping around and stuff and people say you're on a sugar rush because you just had a candy bar or something, more likely than not its because they're a little kid and thats what little kids do.

Are you like me and take your coffee black, muddy, and enough to fill a Johnny Cup? Caffeine does not seem to have the same effect after a few years of drinking it like so.


Also, your weight may play as a factor.

"Sugar highs" are a myth: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_misconceptions#Nutrition.2C_food.2C_and_drink

There definitely is a placebo aspect to caffeine and regular users will build up a tolerance to it. But it is still a genuine stimulant - No-Doz and other wakefulness pills are basically just high doses of caffeine. Same with 'energy drinks', actually.

I find that if I consume high amounts of caffeine on an empty stomach, the effects are a lot more severe, whereas on a full stomach I hardly feel anything. Could be my mind playing tricks on me.

Caffeine's effects usually are pretty subtle for me, though, unless I take a high dosage like the one you took. When I take that much, I get shaky, anxious, irritable, energized, etc. The irritability and energy might be subtle, but the shakiness and anxiousness? For at least an hour or two it's an inescapable uncomfortable feeling - not subtle at all. Some people just react differently to caffeine, I guess.

Also, while I find caffeine works for a bit of a perk up, it's not a replacement for rest. On the days where I'm feeling incredibly tired(from lack of sleep), no matter how much caffeine I consume, I still feel slow, tired, etc.

PS: You sure it wasn't decaf?

I'm the same way. Caffeine doesn't do a damn for me.

Interestingly enough as well, energy drinks don't do a thing for me either, except cure headaches.

Caffeine is a drug. It's been put into so many things many of us just have a tolerance for it. However highly concentrated doses of caffeine on an empty stomach SHOULD give you some effects... other than a stomach ache.

It is entirely possible that one is immune to the effects of caffeine. It's also extremely well studied.

It usually takes around 30 minutes to work, but I find it odd you didn't have any effect from it. Four triple shot espressos is down right dangerous for anyone without a caffeine tolerance. 100 mg should be more than enough to perk up most people- although heavy coffee drinkers may require up to 200 mg.

the effects of caffeine certainly aren't placebo, and if you fail to get an effect from it, you probably already have a caffeine tolerance that mitigates the effect. If you drink a lot of soda that contains caffeine (coke, pepsi, mt. dew, etc.) then you're bound to be tolerant. An important note is that caffeine tolerance is built up exceptionally quickly, meaning that a single cup of coffee won't be enough, eventually.

That said, a major burst of caffeine all at once isn't really a good way to use caffeine. Small doses hourly or twice an hour are far more effective (0.3 mg/kg per hour). And it definitely isn't a substitution for proper sleep, but it can accelerate mental abilities and keep you awake.

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Different things with caffeine carry different types of caffeine. That's why the half life of caffeine in green tea is shorter than that in black coffee.

I find I can drink green tea or coffee with minimal side effects, but black tea makes me shake and makes my heart hurt.

If I even drink a little bit of caffeine, It takes me HOURS more to get to sleep.

[citation needed]

I was only sorta wrong. You still get different types of energy from different caffeinated drinks, depending on what else is in them.

I need tea/coffee to stay awake in classes and such. I typically drink a ton of tea (with a ton of sugar!) which makes me very happy and energetic on active days. There are certain 6-9 classes that I sometimes start falling asleep in anyway, in which case I'd grab a cup o' joe at the μlab and drink it before class. Did it twice so far, and with very good results!

I rarely drink stuff with caffeine anymore. When i do i drink soda, but with alcohol. Sometimes coffee but not every day like i used to, because it mainly makes me really really anxious and scatters my thoughts to shit. It'll wake me up, but it wont make me alert or 'awake' per say.

You were completely wrong. Caffeine doesn't occur in different types: stimulants do. Furthermore the "type of energy" is the same, two of the chemicals mentioned are cAMP phosphodiesterase inhibitors, which prevents the breakdown of cAMP and subsequent loss of energy. Although differences remain in the amounts of stimulation, the effects are more or less the same experience, with a variable intensity.

It's not surprising though. In a society that punishes people for being wrong, it's easy to see why you're defensive about it. It's okay to say, "I was wrong." Don't butter it up and grasp onto some silly straws about how you were party right, as if it makes up for your being wrong. It doesn't, and I'm not keeping any score.

70 cents for 1.25L.

4dollars for two 2.25L bottles. BARGAIN. Tastes way better than coke too. I'm so addicted. I never find myself drinking to stay awake though, I drink because of the delicious taste. Most people who have been drinking caffiene for a long time have build up resistance to the drug, you need to ingest larger and larger amounts to get an effect.

I think it is mostly placebo.

"With repetitive use, the stimulatory effects of caffeine are substantially reduced over time, a phenomenon known as a tolerance. Tolerance develops quickly to some (but not all) effects of caffeine, especially among heavy coffee and energy drink consumers.[48] Some coffee drinkers develop tolerance to its sleep-disrupting effects, but others apparently do not.[28] Withdrawal symptoms—including headache, irritability, inability to concentrate, drowsiness, insomnia, and pain in the stomach, upper body, and joints—may appear within 12 to 24 hours after discontinuation of caffeine intake, peak at roughly 48 hours, and usually last from one to five days.[49]"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caffeine

4.5L / $4 < 1.25L / $0.7

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