DOSE: T+ 0:00	200 mg	oral	Caffeine	(liquid)
T+ 4:00	400 mg	oral	Caffeine	(pill / tablet)
T+ 5:00	360 mg	oral	Caffeine	(liquid)
T+ 9:30	400 mg	oral	Caffeine	(pill / tablet)
T+ 10:30	400 mg	oral	Caffeine	(pill / tablet)

BODY WEIGHT:

200 lb

Well, I knew I was going to have to stay up late one night to help clean up after a big party, so before the event I went to the pharmacy and bought some generic brand No-Doz/Vivarin. I'm an experienced coffee drinker and have never had problems like this with caffeine before - my guess is that I've finally reached the threshold of safety. In the morning before going to set up, I had my average morning mug of coffee that I have been drinking pretty much every day for the past year or so, as well as a bowl of soup. Over the span of about 8 hours, I ended up consuming a coffee drink with 2 shots of espresso, a can of Diet Coke, a can of Rockstar energy drink, and 6 caffeine pills.

At first, things were going great. At about 2 PM, I drank the cappucino and felt mildly buzzed, and ate a few slices of pizza so that I'd have something in my stomach. Excited to try caffeine pills for the first time, I popped 2 when I felt like I had already come down from the coffee - approximately 6 PM. The 2 caffeine pills gave a very intense high which I would say was equivalent to a low dose of amphetamine. At this point, I was not starting to feel jittery or unpleasant, just generally energetic and intense. I was feeling charismatic and sociable, and even when I had to deal with the police for a while I spoke well, made them happy and didn't arouse any suspicion of being under influence. I did not notice or care about the chill outside, and I remember having to urinate a lot (maybe twice an hour).

About an hour after taking the pills, I started to nurse the Rockstar and ended up finishing the 2 serving can at around 9:30PM. The buzz didn't get any more intense, just became prolonged. At around 11:00 I finally felt as though I was starting to come down from it, and tried to relax a little. The sound and lights of the party were starting to become overwhelming, and I wanted to take a nap but there was no room.

At 11:30, I decided to take 2 more of the pills, and decided that they weren't working at around 12:30 and took 2 more. Big mistake - I started noticing negative effects almost immediately afterward. The previously comfortable area was starting to feel deathly cold, and I noticed that my hands were shaking and could not control them. By 1:00 I felt like a zombie - all I wanted to do was lay down and sleep, but I couldn't do anything but shuffle around. I was intensely frustrated by the fact that no one wanted to move from the chill area so that I could take a nap. I felt like my heart was beating twice as fast as normal, and I could feel my blood pumping all over my body.

At around 1:30 it started to sink in how much caffeine I had taken, and I was worried about having a stroke. I sat down against the wall and curled up into a ball, sweaty and twitching but at the same time very cold, and still worried about my health. By 2:00 I decided I couldn't take it anymore, left a note of apology for the rest of my crew and started to ride my bike home. I was so frustrated and upset that I just felt like laying down on the pavement and not doing anything - not really like a suicidal feeling, just wishing it would all stop and I would wake up from it like a bad dream.

I only got a few blocks before I vomited in some bushes. The vomit tasted horrible, sour and bitter, and was a chartreuse color probably from all the Rockstar I had been drinking. After that I didn't vomit anymore, but felt nauseous and had bad heartburn. I finally managed to make it home, and plopped down in my bed. Despite the fact that I felt like I had never been more tired in my life, I could not sleep. After a while, maybe at 3:00, I fell asleep, but woke up again shortly, and slept restlessly with very strange dreams. This happened a few times, but strangely by 7:00 I didn't feel as tired. It was like I even slept faster somehow after taking that much caffeine.

I took a bath and lazed around for the next few hours. By that time, most of the effects were gone except for the loss of appetite and gastrointestinal distress (which may have just been caused by not eating). After this experience, I am going to remove caffeine from my diet for a few weeks at least - just the smell of coffee makes me gag still. I'm amazed that something that I'm so familiar with and is considered so harmless by society could have such intense consequences - especially at such a relatively low dosage compared to what I usually drink. I've never had such a terrible comedown from any drug before, legal or illegal. It certainly shines a new light on my morning cup of joe.

Exp Year: 2006	ExpID: 49505
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Mar 14, 2008	Views: 22,999
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Caffeine (11) : General (1), Difficult Experiences (5), Large Group (10+) (19)