Can I state the blatantly obvious?
Caffeine is a drug. It's the most socially acceptable drug EVER, but it's still a drug. Great. Now I can't stop saying drug.
Like any drug, caffeine gets you high. It produces a feeling of energetic revitalization, a buzz, a high-- and generally brings you crashing down horrendously later.
It's addictive. It's in almost every beverage you can buy at the store. Even those so-called "smart" drinks you can get that are all-organic have alternatives to caffeine in them, because people still want the buzz but just want to feel better about it.
Caffeine is SOUGHT AFTER, Agents. Never doubt it.
When you're high on caffeine, you're on a trip. You're tripping. You're rollin' with the homies. You can turn the world on with your smile, 'cuz caffeine takes a nothing day and suddenly makes it all seem worthwhile.
Oh yeah. Drug city. Hey man, here's a can of soda-- want a hit? First one's free.
In Grade 9, in "Family Life," which is the class in which they teach you all of those taboo subjects like sex, drug abuse and your future chequing account, we had a course on drug abuse.
Getting addicted to a substance is a war of attrition. First time you use it, you're GOLDEN. So you use it again, to recapture that feeling. The more you use it, the more of it you NEED to use to get that feeling-- and the harder you come down every time.
Our teacher illustrated it as a peak and a valley; the first time, the peak is really high and the valley is barely a dip. Then the peak gets lower and the valley gets deeper. Until, finally, you're using just to get to the baseline of "normal" and the peak is totally gone. It's almost like you've developed an immunity to the drug, but you still need it just to function.
Hey, Jason? I'm talking to YOU here. You're Not A Well Man.
But then, in very general terms none of us are. I'm not advocating total abstinence here, because I am in NO way, shape or form a Caffeine Saint. But I do have an insight into this whole deal.
When I decided I needed to lose some weight (and generally improve my lifestyle) I cut down on the caffeine. For me, my fix came in the form of Pepsi and/or Slurpees, in case you're curious.
Then I did the Atkins diet-- and it was ZERO on the caffeine meter, and also nil on the sugar meter, too. I had two weeks of total, clean, water-only NULL caffeine lifestyle.
Yes, I did feel better; yes, my energy levels were more consistent and no, I didn't have a "crash" in the afternoon like so many nine-to-fivers. None of this, however, is my point.
I experienced a "break" in my routine, and through diet acheived a kind of "reboot" to my system.
The next time I had caffeine after my whole Atkins purge thing, it KICKED MY ASS. UP one side and DOWN the other. What a rollercoaster! Whoo HOO! Look at me way up high I'm FLY-ING!
Visitors to my brain, conducted via a cup of coffee at a blogmeet, can tell you that I was Out the hell There. And hey, it was great-- a group of fun people means a heckuva fun time!
However, there's a dark side, of course. As with any trip, you can have a bad one. Instead of being all "up" and happy, you can go horribly, horribly wrong-- and that same energy that used to feed your creativity then suddenly feeds other things.
Fear. Paranoia. Jittery, jumping at every noise freakishness. The kind where ONE THING can set me off to the point where I can't sleep because I'm so WIRED, so freaked out, that my mind keeps going over and over the fear again until I finally run out of juice.
And for once I could actually NOTICE it. Probably because I did take a break from the Caffeine Scene. I know that, on the surface at least, we're all "aware" of the dangers of caffeine; but I don't think we really pay attention. I mean, hey, it's an "everybody-does-it" thing, so we don't really think of what is actually, physically, CHEMICALLY happening to us, do we?
This is my cautionary tale of self-observation. One bad trip on caffeine and it made me aware that all those fun things that I take for granted when suckin' Starbucks with friends are really doing a number on me.
All I'm saying? Step back and look at just HOW much caffeine you have and how often. The numbers might surprise you.
Sweet Demon Caffeine is copyright Bruce Walters and Gareth Wood, 'cuz it was a song title they wrote while high on caffeine late one night at the Circle K. As Theodore Logan and Bill S Preston Esq. once said, "Strange Things Are Afoot At The Circle K."
Posted by Agent M at December 12, 2003 10:43 AMGET this PUBLISHED!!! from "The Mall Girls".
Posted by: Your mom on December 12, 2003 10:59 AMCoffee is evil. So many people drink it just to feel awake in the morning, then during the day just to be doing something with their mouths. Soon they can't function AT ALL without the stuff.
Over and above the addictiveness, caffeine is a diuretic: it leaches water out of your system. Even if you're the sort who isn't overly worried about addictions, caffeine will do slow and long-term damage to you. Jason.
Posted by: Mike on December 12, 2003 11:16 AMAgentM, I think you just inspired me.
I think, when I have a free hour or so, I need to type up a similar article on another (former) socially acceptable drug, NICOTINE. (Thankfully becoming less and less acceptable on a near-daily basis.)
With the experience that MrsCK and I have had over the past 20 months, I think I have a few things to say about that particular evil drug.
Now, regarding THIS post...on the whole, you've pretty much just summed up addiction to almost ANY drug, legal or not.
"Getting addicted to a substance is a war of attrition. First time you use it, you're GOLDEN. So you use it again, to recapture that feeling. The more you use it, the more of it you NEED to use to get that feeling-- and the harder you come down every time."
Summed up perfectly.
Now, I don't think caffeine is "evil". Nor is coffee for that matter. Unlike SOME addictive substances, I believe the key to caffeine is moderation. (Whereas moderation with crack just doesn't quite work. Or nicotine for that matter.) ;)
I say this as I have a cup of coffee in the morning during the week, for a little 'perk-me-up' when I arrive at the office. (Especially when it's still dark out.) That is pretty much the extent of the caffeine I take in nowadays, save for the occasional cola.
So...moderation is the key. Note that this also applies to another overused substance...SUGAR. (Talkin' to YOU Mike R. *grin* )
ACK!
PS - Jazon...they are right. You drink WAY too much of the stuff. Kick the habit man! ;)
Posted by: Agent CK on December 12, 2003 01:46 PMActually Kyle and I have been off the sugar for quite some time now, except for special occasions. :) I noticed that your hands don't shake nearly so much anymore, is that from the not smoking?
Posted by: Mike on December 12, 2003 02:22 PMNaw, it's just 'cause I don't ST anymore, so I don't have the constant near-uncontrollable urge to choke the shit out of twink players.
;)
Seriously, yes... it's because I don't smoke. :) My hands still jitter from time-to-time, but on the whole, they are MUCH more steady these days.
Now if I could just stop snorting that damned cocaine... ;)
ACK!
Posted by: Agent CK on December 12, 2003 02:44 PMUsed to drink copious amounts of caffeine and sugar. Then my doctor gave me the naughty-finger-wagging...I was making myself into a diabetic. There's something to make you sweat. Possible lifetime of being fat and blind. Good bye Coca-Cola!
I was also well on my way to hypertension. When I'm pregnant I get hypertensive. It seems that I'm a healthy gal with a generally good diet, which is the only reason that I'm not hypertensive. I'm one of those people with essential hypertension. Another sweaty night contemplating having a heart attack, stroke or a seizure. Yes, a seizure, a very real possibility when I'm pregnant.
You get the same holy-cow-kick-ass reaction when you stop smoking and then have a cigarette. You forget that once, it used to really DO something to you.
It is a good thing I'm still a kinky-pervert. A gal's gotta have SOME fun. :>
Posted by: BrandiMommyGal on December 13, 2003 09:44 AMhttp://health.howstuffworks.com/chocolate.htm
Posted by: ginascuper on January 6, 2004 06:05 AMwhoever wrote this report is out of there minds. just because you are so senitive to caffine that you start tripping out like you're on LSD, does not mean everyone else is like that. when I drink coke, I feel sober, because I am sober. caffine is not mind altering as say cocaine. Do you want to talk about 'the most socially acceptable drug EVER,' lets talk about alcohol. everybody and there mom drinks.
theres a good reason why there are so many AA meetings in there world. and there are alot CA meetings too, its called ' Cocaine Anonymous'. you don't see very many ' Caffine Anonymous' meetings. caffine does not make my life unmanagable. people do die in car wrecks for driving and drinking coffee. a man doesn't come home and beat his wife as a result of having to much caffine in his system. COCA COLA FOR EVER
Posted by: brad on May 30, 2004 03:17 AM'people do NOT die in car wrecks for driving and drinking coffee'
*edit. i had a typo in my post
Posted by: Brad on May 30, 2004 03:20 AMThanks for editing; because geez, I wish people would speak ENGLISH if they're going to post.
There's one funny thing about your post, though-- although you say you're "sober" when you drink Coke, you felt strongly enough about your love of Coca Cola to post here.
Doesn't that tell you something?
I'm not a Caffeine Nazi; but after two weeks without it I had a very different perspective on it because I HADN'T had it. I found it enlightening. So I ask you this, Brad: COULD you go without your beloved Coke for two weeks?
Seriously. You love it so much you'll post an entry defending it, but can you actually stop drinking it? I'd be interested to know about that; you don't have to beat your wife, get in car accidents or trip like you're on LSD to have caffeine still be an addictive drug.
Food for thought. Before you go saying I'm "out of my mind"-- kind of a violent, knee-jerk reaction for someone who's not an addict, don'cha think?
M
Posted by: Agent M on May 30, 2004 09:42 AM