I (35M ~225lbs) have been a caffeine drinker my whole life, mostly soda, but also daily tea and occasional coffee. Caffeine has never bothered me before other than I need to cut it off a few hours before bed. I’m a much heavier soda drinker than anything, when I moved out on my own, a 24 pack of Coca-Cola would barely last me a week, on top of a big Coca-Cola at lunch and anywhere I went out to eat. (I’ve since cut way back, just before corona a 12 pack would last me two weeks, post corona [went to WFH] a 24 pack lasts me just under two weeks, but it’s still less total consumption). I could drink coffee drinks with no problems or noticeable effects. However, I never realized just how little caffeine was actually in these (yes, I said little).
I’m also a Scout leader and there are plenty of jokes about Scoutmasters and coffee. Scouting events definitely account for most of my yearly coffee consumption. In the past few years, I’ve become pretty sensitive to hot weather especially when trying to sleep. We had a campout planned for the spring. Figuring I wouldn’t sleep well, I decided to try out the higher caffeine Death Wish Instant Coffee I had heard about to make sure I would be alert during the day for the Scouts.
Here’s the FU as you might have gleaned from the title. I didn’t know exactly how much caffeine this stuff had beyond “a lot.” Nor did I have any awareness whatsoever how that related to my normal caffeine consumption. Here’s the real FU though. I wanted to try it before I went on the campout so I decided to make a cup at home. I have a large insulated travel mug. So I figured I should use two packets of the Death Wish Instant Coffee. My Keurig machine (which I basically use for instant hot water, I rarely use a disposable pod) has three cup size options: 6, 8, and 10oz. I didn’t realize that the highest it went was only 10oz, I thought it was more like 12 or 14. So I put two packets of Death Wish Instant Coffee (designed for 8oz each) into 10oz of hot water.
Now, so you’ll know how much caffeine is in everything. A 12oz can of Coca-Cola has about 34mg. So a 32oz gas station/large fast food cup would have around 90mg. A cup of coffee has between 100 and 200mg. A packet of Death Wish Instant…contains around 300mg of caffeine…and I used two. Y’all…it was the first time I ever had the caffeine shakes. My heart was racing and pounding while I was sitting still. Not enough for me to go to the ER, but a new experience for me. My hands were absolutely shaking for a while. It tapered off and I slept ok that night, but that was definitely a never again. I’ve drank a SINGLE packet of the stuff many times since, including on the campout I got them for, without issue.
TL;DR: I didn’t realize I hadn’t actually been drinking a lot of caffeine in my life, and then I tried a coffee with 600mg of caffeine at one time which gave me my first ever caffeine shakes.
Comments
daily limit is 400, but i go to 600 or more usually… but not all at once!!
some people seem to be way more sensitive, but 600 in one drink will get anyone jumpy!!
That’s some serious caffeine overload! I’ve had my moments, but 600mg at once? Next time, split it up, yeah?
I do about 300-400 in one sitting. I drink my coffee 32oz. at a time(no ice). I have severe ADHD though. It calms me down and helps me focus.
Reign and Bang are also 300mg a piece. I may have hit those numbers a time or two. My caffeine tolerance is way too high.
Even worse, as you age, you might find that you can’t handle 200mg or 100mg or 50mg. Or you might find that you can’t have coffee past noon.
Personally, the first time I ran into the caffeine problem was when I realized how much I had been drinking. I went on vacation and was having a fraction of what I normally have. Completely laid out with a migraine for days. Came to realize that maybe 400mg/day was a bad idea.
If that ever happens again.
Taurine that is in every energy drink is the Cure .
Just want to say I appreciate your properly nested parenthesis
Where can I buy that drink in Switzerland/Germany?
Asking for a friend, of course.
This reminds me of when I used to blend coffee ice cream, cold brew coffee concentrate and chocolate covered espresso beans into mini milkshakes at work as an afternoon pick-me-up for my coworkers.
Be careful. I could polish off a 24 pack of dew in about 4 days. My work had regular soda on tap. After about 4 months at that rate I started to have heart palpitations and my doctor had me take a couple days off. My heart was in a bad place and my Blood pressure was not good. Now I at most have 2 cans a day, or I swap to root beer as it’s caffeine free and a good filler. Great for dinner so I’m not kept awake. Anywho you should scale it back my friend.
🎶One of these things is not like the other…🎶
It took me till I was 40ish to realize that the butterflies in my stomach that I always attributed to anxiety were actually the effects of caffeine, all day every day. I love coffee and never thought much about drinking 32 ounces a day. I also routinely would head to happy hour to calm myself down after work and a few drinks usually killed those butterflies. Stopped drinking full strength coffee about a decade ago and now I’m MUCH less anxious and dont get triggered near as much as I once did.
LMAOOO rough. at least you aren’t my darling dumbass fiance, though. he thought getting that “bump up” snortable caffeine would be a good idea, and then he misread the label.
he thought each vial had 500mg. we went out for 4th of july, stayed out all night, drank a lot, and he had work the next morning. he was like, yeah, 500mg sounds reasonable. he consumed the entire vial from the very early morning (~1am) to right before he went to work (~8am).
those vials? yeah, it isn’t 500mg. IT’S 2000MG. TWO THOUSAND MILLIGRAMS.
y’all ever heard of caffeine psychosis? my poor sweet idiot is still shaking a mild case of that off, and it’s been over three days. we ended up in urgent care two days ago, and y’all should have seen the nurse’s face when he handed her the vial to see the dosage. she was like “i can’t wait to see your blood pressure.” 170/102. his being a really tall, muscular guy is the only thing that saved this from being a whole cardiac event. people think of caffeine as this harmless, benign thing, but it is not to be fooled with in high doses!!!
I use “Eat this Much” app to track my diet. Calories, sugar, protein, carbs.
I don’t go over 40g sugar. No more than 115-120 carbs, try to hit consistently 130-150+ protein and never more than 1900 calories.
And I use Fasttic app to track my fasting periods, I frequently do 18/6, 19/5, or 20/4 hour fasts.
Never ceases to amaze me how much caffeine some people drink normally lol. I’m good for one K-cup a day, and a Dr Pepper. And that’s enough that if I’m not feeling well (disabled) and don’t crawl out of bed, I will have an agonizing, debilitating headache within 5 hours of missing the usual coffee. I keep a double strength 5 Hour Energy clone at my bedside for that exact purpose: taking a few swigs if I’m not going to get up that day, not to wake up or any other benefit, but purely to avoid the misery of caffeine withdrawal.
Get caffeine free diet coke. Or diet soda that isn’t black or colored. Like diet sprite or squirt.
You may also want to keep an eye on your sugar intake. That’s a lot of soda.
Yeah I was drinking this at home and had chest pain from it. Was not good. Switched back to my regular brand and it went away.
Did you need TP for your bunghole? /s
>I didn’t know exactly how much caffeine this stuff had beyond “a lot.”
I mean, the warning is literally in the name: “Death Wish”
Did you get cold sweats too?
600+ mg is enough to hear colors, see sound, and talk to electricity
Yep that sounds right. I got gifted a bag of death wish coffee grounds during COVID. One morning I brewed my normal morning’s cup with death wish instead, and had enough flu-like symptoms that I was sent home and could not return until I tested for COVID 🙁