Caffeine Effects

Charles Kinbote

So I'm considering drinking a soda right now, a Dr. Pepper, with 41 mg of caffeine. I'm planning on going to sleep in an hour and a half-ish. Will that much caffeine have any bearing, at all, on sleep in that amount of time? I realize now I do not know shit about the effects of caffeine relative to the amount, my knowledge about peters out at "gives energy". If anyone knows a website, or, quite simply, the answer, please lemme know.

Thanatos

If you don't drink caffeine, or haven't had it in years, or something, it could keep you up that long.

If you're like me, and you drink it pretty regularly, that much caffeine really isn't going to do shit to you.

JHunz

Like any other stimulant, it's a combination of how susceptible you are to it naturally and the tolerance you've built up. I can drink a Mountain Dew and go straight to sleep, but if my wife has a glass of tea at dinner she has trouble sleeping four or five hours later.

Charles Kinbote

A friend of mine regularly drinks 6-8 servings of the energy drink AMP every day, and as a result I myself have a Rockstar or Red Bull once every three or four days, and a soda pretty much every day, so I'm no stranger to caffeine. I also smoke cigarettes pretty regularly, if that has any effect (figured since it was also a stimulant I should throw it in).

cfgauss

For some reason, caffeine often makes me sleepy. I think I must have brain cancer or something... But one soda shouldn't do very much unless you're sensitive to caffeine, or are an elderly woman.

Charles Kinbote

Now it's about t-minus 40 minutes to sleepytime...I forgot to mention, I've been having insomnia problems lately due to a number of causes.

However, that was when I tried to sleep without caffeine in my system. Logically, with caffeine in my system, I'll be asleep instantly!

Brilliant!

Rhino

Shankill Butcher wrote: »

If anyone knows a website

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caffeine

exis

As far as building up a tolerance to caffeine, is it usually quite different for different people? I drink between 1-4 cups of coffee a day (strong coffee, I take my instant with almost twice as much actual coffee most other people I know), but I still notice that if I drink a cup after around 6pm, I'll have difficulty sleeping six hours later. I don't know if this is all psychological, or whether the caffeine is still quite potent for me after a couple of years of drinking it daily in varying amounts. I was kind've expecting it's effects to be notably diminished by now, but I haven't seen any difference.

misbehavin

exis wrote: »

As far as building up a tolerance to caffeine, is it usually quite different for different people? I drink between 1-4 cups of coffee a day (strong coffee, I take my instant with almost twice as much actual coffee most other people I know), but I still notice that if I drink a cup after around 6pm, I'll have difficulty sleeping six hours later. I don't know if this is all psychological, or whether the caffeine is still quite potent for me after a couple of years of drinking it daily in varying amounts. I was kind've expecting it's effects to be notably diminished by now, but I haven't seen any difference.

From experience with myself, friends and family, yes, everyone builds up different tolerances to caffeine. I have no scientific explanation, and I'm sorry for that, but anecdotally that seems to be the case. For instance, both me and my brother have been drinking coffee fairly regularly since 16 (he's one year younger than me), and I can go to sleep only a few hours after a cup, whereas if he has any after noon he'll be up all night.

Serphimera

According to this website http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caffeine the half-life of caffeine is at least 3 hours. Now I believe that means that it takes at least 3 hours for the effects of caffeine to start wearing off.

cfgauss: I had a friend with this same problem. It turns out that she was actually hypersensitive to caffiene. So while regular coffee made her sleepy, decaf perked her right up. Wierd, I know.

Sinister Cheshire

caffeine can certainly keep you awake if you aren't used to it. Like people said above, it all depends on how often you drink the stuff. I personally can have a few soda's before I go to sleep and I'm out like a light.

most people don't realize it, but caffeine is a drug, just like nicotine. It's something you form an addiction to. The ending of both words being the same isnt just a coincidence. I had a huge problem with this back in college. I started drinking root beer for a week straight without realizing the lack of caffeine. I got the absolutely worst headache I have ever had in my life, and it lasted for about 3 days until my biochemistry professor reminded me about the lack of caffeine and told me to go get a pepsi.

seriously, within about 5-10 minutes my headache was completely gone.

but yeah, depending on you, it will keep you awake. Guzzle the stuff for a few weeks and you probably will find yourself sleeping even if you drink it before bed.

that whole little bit went longer then it should have.

muninn

cfgauss wrote: »

For some reason, caffeine often makes me sleepy. I think I must have brain cancer or something... But one soda shouldn't do very much unless you're sensitive to caffeine, or are an elderly woman.

We must have the same brain cancer then....

Charles Kinbote

Well the results are in; a soda about a half an hour before I went to sleep didn't affect the time I dropped off in any way. Science marches on.

misbehavin

I used to be a HEAVY coffee drinker, then quit, had a mild headache for 3 days, then was fine.

I guess even addiction to caffeine depends on the person.

Caulk Bite 6

When I really need to stay awake at work, for the odd times when I could get enough sleep during the day, I usually keep a bottle of 5 Hour Energy handy. I've found that it does indeed work, unless you're trying to work off of more than 20+ hours of sleep deprivation (at which point you're obviously going to get less and less of an effect)