7 ms·

A miracle drug sold over the counter

23 points by klevertree 4y ago

tomcam 4y ago
A tiny amount of caffeine (in 1 can of a soft drink like Coke) can wreck my sleep for 24 hours. And I love caffeine. Sigh.
- Waterluvian 4y ago
  I’ve struggled with sleep for so long that I’m basically one big, tired Petri dish. I’ve found the same in my experiments, which surprised me: 100mg of caffeine between 7-11am is enough to make sleep impossible until maybe 3-4am. Meanwhile my wife can have 200mg at 7pm and be out by 10. I knew caffeine did this but I thought such a small amount so early in the day would easily be gone by night. Next I want to somehow measure caffeine content over time and get a feel for how fast my body processes it. I also want to experiment with media (hot drinks, cold drinks, pills, etc.) I love caffeine.
  - tomcam 4y ago
    Man, do I feel you. Very similar here. Also, I often try different remedies that work a day or three and then stop immediately.
  - justsomehnguy 4y ago
    > I’m basically one big, tired Petri dish LOL, added that to my quotes folder. Does 'power naps' work for you? What happens if you drink a small coffee past 5pm?
- Asooka 4y ago
  Try taking l-theanine in conjunction. About half as much theanine as caffeine. See: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4480845/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4480845/
  - tomcam 4y ago
    I shall. Study looks compelling.
pbj1968 4y ago
Dementia wards are full of people that drank coffee.
- Fatnino 4y ago
  Implying non caffeine users all met a clumsy untimely end before reaching that age?
- sacnoradhq 4y ago
  Data? Caffeine is a mild anticholinergic, but I haven't seen hard data to support such a claim.
Waterluvian 4y ago
The LD50 of caffeine for my cat is approximately ten Monster Energy drinks?To an untrained mind, that simultaneously seems like a lot and not much at all. I guess given my cat is 1/10th my weight, that’s like me having 100, which feels like it should kill me. Holy crap. A Dunkin Donuts Large Ice Coffee is 396mg of caffeine. That’s insane. That’s 4.5 Red Bulls. I originally felt a wee bit dismissive of the article’s thesis. But wow, we are absolutely cranking up the caffeine content. I remember Jolt or Bawls or other drinks in high school being edgy because they had “twice the caffeine” (about 80mg for 355ml can). But now we’ve got 400mg in a single beverage. Is this a feedback loop? We keep increasing caffeine content because we need more for our beverages to have the desired effect for customers?
- Zak 4y ago
  > Is this a feedback loop? We keep increasing caffeine content because we need more for our beverages to have the desired effect for customers? Tolerance, or physical addiction is exactly that. A given dose is less effective after a certain amount of repeated use and a larger dose is required for the same effect. Not using the drug at all may cause withdrawal symptoms.
  - Waterluvian 4y ago
    And now we’re selling a litre of iced coffee in a single serving vessel, which has 396mg of caffeine (or 475mg if you get the extra charged version).
- tablespoon 4y ago
  > Is this a feedback loop? We keep increasing caffeine content because we need more for our beverages to have the desired effect for customers? Jolt was marketed to kids, and had twice the caffeine of other sodas. Coffee is an entirely different beverage, marketed at an entirely different group (at least it was when I was in school). What was the caffeine content of coffee in 1950, and how much did people drink? That's what you really need to compare the Dunkin Donuts Large Ice Coffee against.
  - 4y ago
silisili 4y ago
I liked the build up, but > The drug that I’m thinking of is currently predominantly used as a pesticide Is that true? I would think it's predominantly used as a drink additive...
- lylejantzi3rd 4y ago
  > Is that true? Plants use caffeine to kill bugs. CGP Grey video on the matter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTVE5iPMKLg&t=69s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTVE5iPMKLg&t=69s
  - lamontcg 4y ago
    CGP Grey isn't really a credible source, he's an entertainer. He may not be wrong in this case, but everything he says should get verified.
- unwind 4y ago
  It might be true if you (like the author, at least that's my interpretation) include the use by the original plants, which I guess occurs until the plant is (destructively, which I'm not sure how common it is) harvested.
eternityforest 4y ago
What about soy isoflavones? Would those count as a drug of that class? They seem to have a wide range of benefits with a limited number of possible negative effects.

23 points by klevertree 4y ago

A tiny amount of caffeine (in 1 can of a soft drink like Coke) can wreck my sleep for 24 hours. And I love caffeine. Sigh.

Waterluvian 4y ago
I’ve struggled with sleep for so long that I’m basically one big, tired Petri dish. I’ve found the same in my experiments, which surprised me: 100mg of caffeine between 7-11am is enough to make sleep impossible until maybe 3-4am. Meanwhile my wife can have 200mg at 7pm and be out by 10. I knew caffeine did this but I thought such a small amount so early in the day would easily be gone by night. Next I want to somehow measure caffeine content over time and get a feel for how fast my body processes it. I also want to experiment with media (hot drinks, cold drinks, pills, etc.) I love caffeine.
- tomcam 4y ago
  Man, do I feel you. Very similar here. Also, I often try different remedies that work a day or three and then stop immediately.
- justsomehnguy 4y ago
  > I’m basically one big, tired Petri dish LOL, added that to my quotes folder. Does 'power naps' work for you? What happens if you drink a small coffee past 5pm?
Asooka 4y ago
Try taking l-theanine in conjunction. About half as much theanine as caffeine. See: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4480845/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4480845/
- tomcam 4y ago
  I shall. Study looks compelling.

pbj1968 4y ago

Dementia wards are full of people that drank coffee.

Fatnino 4y ago
Implying non caffeine users all met a clumsy untimely end before reaching that age?
sacnoradhq 4y ago
Data? Caffeine is a mild anticholinergic, but I haven't seen hard data to support such a claim.

Waterluvian 4y ago

The LD50 of caffeine for my cat is approximately ten Monster Energy drinks?To an untrained mind, that simultaneously seems like a lot and not much at all. I guess given my cat is 1/10th my weight, that’s like me having 100, which feels like it should kill me. Holy crap. A Dunkin Donuts Large Ice Coffee is 396mg of caffeine. That’s insane. That’s 4.5 Red Bulls. I originally felt a wee bit dismissive of the article’s thesis. But wow, we are absolutely cranking up the caffeine content. I remember Jolt or Bawls or other drinks in high school being edgy because they had “twice the caffeine” (about 80mg for 355ml can). But now we’ve got 400mg in a single beverage. Is this a feedback loop? We keep increasing caffeine content because we need more for our beverages to have the desired effect for customers?

Zak 4y ago
> Is this a feedback loop? We keep increasing caffeine content because we need more for our beverages to have the desired effect for customers? Tolerance, or physical addiction is exactly that. A given dose is less effective after a certain amount of repeated use and a larger dose is required for the same effect. Not using the drug at all may cause withdrawal symptoms.
- Waterluvian 4y ago
  And now we’re selling a litre of iced coffee in a single serving vessel, which has 396mg of caffeine (or 475mg if you get the extra charged version).
tablespoon 4y ago
> Is this a feedback loop? We keep increasing caffeine content because we need more for our beverages to have the desired effect for customers? Jolt was marketed to kids, and had twice the caffeine of other sodas. Coffee is an entirely different beverage, marketed at an entirely different group (at least it was when I was in school). What was the caffeine content of coffee in 1950, and how much did people drink? That's what you really need to compare the Dunkin Donuts Large Ice Coffee against.
- 4y ago

silisili 4y ago

I liked the build up, but > The drug that I’m thinking of is currently predominantly used as a pesticide Is that true? I would think it's predominantly used as a drink additive...

lylejantzi3rd 4y ago
> Is that true? Plants use caffeine to kill bugs. CGP Grey video on the matter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTVE5iPMKLg&t=69s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTVE5iPMKLg&t=69s
- lamontcg 4y ago
  CGP Grey isn't really a credible source, he's an entertainer. He may not be wrong in this case, but everything he says should get verified.
unwind 4y ago
It might be true if you (like the author, at least that's my interpretation) include the use by the original plants, which I guess occurs until the plant is (destructively, which I'm not sure how common it is) harvested.

eternityforest 4y ago

What about soy isoflavones? Would those count as a drug of that class? They seem to have a wide range of benefits with a limited number of possible negative effects.