severe reaction to caffeine / stimulants?

bodhireagan

bodhireagan

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Hi everyone, so I am just bringing this question to here because I am curious if anyone else has had an experience like I have.

Okay so this is a list of things I noticed after drinking a Monster Rehab to get me through a 5 hour long drive in the dark. I never drink energy drinks or coffee and this was a one time thing to get me home without having to worry about being tired.
  • Minor visual and auditory hallucinations (within 45 minutes of initial consumption)
  • Feelings of invincibility and invulnerability. (within 45 minutes of initial consumption)
  • Some Loss of impulse control (aka driving like a pro racer, not something I do normally)
  • Switching from feeling sensory overload to mental numbness (sensory overload was during the hallucinations, then once they stopped it switched to just a numb feeling)
  • Trouble finding simple words to say (this was more the day after)
  • Temporary Cognitive impairment (similar to that numbness, I felt like I was not functioning like normal)
  • Extreme lethargy and exhaustion (I slept for 14 hours or something after I got home which is rare, and then I had zero energy / drive to do anything the day after)
  • Heavy feeling in the body (mostly in limbs, but also a general feeling)
  • Further Loss of sensation of pain (i already have a high pain tolerance but I somehow had my tolerance get to an extreme level)
  • Loss of motivation and desire /interest (lasted for about 36-48 hours after drinking the energy drink)
Now all of these issues were cleared up and I was back to feeling normal within 48 hours. So I know that they were caused by the drink and now I am wondering how this is possible with something as simple as caffeine. I know people who have done meth / coke / heroin who explain their "high" as having some of the exact same features as what happened to me. I have heard stories of people who consume way too much caffeine over months who end up losing their marbles but I have never heard of anything like this happening. So was I "high" because my body is overly sensitive to stimulants or did I have some kind of adverse reaction that I need to actually talk to a doctor about?

tl;dr one serving of caffeine or other stimulants make me crazy and a completely different person (personality, emotions, outlooks, etc).

note: I tried drinking one of those Starbucks drinks with ginseng and no caffeine a week after this event to make the same car ride, and I had issues with that too. Not as severe as before, but definitely noticed that my body gets all out of whack from small doses of stimulants. I was trying to test if it was just caffeine that was messing me up (which was my hypothesis at the time) and I was proven wrong
 
I am also sensitive to caffeine, though I did get hooked for a while and tolerance kicked in as my body got more used to it. The first time I tried using caffeine (never drank caffeinated sodas growing up), it was the night before my calc 2 final, and I wanted to stay awake to study. As you can imagine, with the effect it had I was completely unable to get anything done. I can relate to the following symptoms from your list.

bodhireagan said:
  • Minor visual and auditory hallucinations (within 45 minutes of initial consumption)
  • Feelings of invincibility and invulnerability. (within 45 minutes of initial consumption)
  • Some Loss of impulse control (aka driving like a pro racer, not something I do normally)
  • Temporary Cognitive impairment (similar to that numbness, I felt like I was not functioning like normal)
  • Extreme lethargy and exhaustion (I slept for 14 hours or something after I got home which is rare, and then I had zero energy / drive to do anything the day after)
  • Heavy feeling in the body (mostly in limbs, but also a general feeling)
  • Further Loss of sensation of pain (i already have a high pain tolerance but I somehow had my tolerance get to an extreme level)
  • Loss of motivation and desire /interest (lasted for about 36-48 hours after drinking the energy drink)
Click to expand...

If I have coffee occasionally now, I get similar strong effects. And yeah, it can definitely take me a day or two to get over it. This is why I will never try illegal stimulants! Apart from the fact that I don't want to permanently alter my brain chemistry, why do something illegal when I can get a cheap high off of a Starbucks latte?
 
I don't drink energy drinks myself, but my guess is that you reacted so strongly to it simply because your body isn't used to caffeine (and energy drinks containing a lot of it).

If I'm not mistaken you raise your dopamine level by absorbing caffeine. You'll feel good, energized, &c. When doing it over a prolonged time your body gets used to a higher than normal level of dopamine. This means that if you stop drinking coffee your dopamine level will drop below what your body considers normal and the withdrawal effects kick in.
 
Uhhh... you are either sensitive to caffeine (and thereby drugs as well), or you drank too much caffeine and went past your limit. People who don't drink caffeine regularly followed by drinking a lot of it can cause the same feeling of mania. The trick is to not let it affect your behavior.
 
A lot of it seems to be overabundance of various B vitamins in the energy drinks that are quite toxic to the liver. But as long as you don't do it all the time it is fine i think.

I am sensitive to caffeine as well. I can only handle one cup a day and it has to be pretty early int he morning. Caffeine stays in the system for about 6 hours from the time of consumption; but this is just coffee based caffeine though. i can't imagine what else those energy drinks have that can cause a lot of severe reactions. My main concern was always the impact of those unknown ingredients on the liver and kidneys. Metabolic waste causes a lot of issues in the intestinal lining of the stomach as well; throwing off the ph balance of the intestines. I always try to supplement with natural honey and lemon water to bring my body to a more alkaline state. Natural apple cider vinegars also do a good job.

If you are interested in natural ways to stay alert; ginseng and black teas are the way to go. It gives you just enough boost without the irritability and palpitations that come with extreme energy drinks.
 
I think this happens because you get tired for a reason and if you force past this instead of resting like you're supposed to, weird shit happens.

Think about it. Driving when you are tired isn't natural then throw a stimulant on top of that, plus the anxiety of having to force yourself awake? Not a good combo. Some people get away with it but maybe you're one who doesn't.
 
Went on a long motorcycle ride once. At abiut 1 AM I the morning I started seeing squirrels running across the highway. Had a few quad lattes at about 8PM previous to make the ride...
 
Never heard of hallucinations caused by caffeine. What else is in that drink? Herbs?

Note to self: buy case of Monster Rehab and put on cape to commence stopping crime in action.
 
you poor, poor sap.

I don't know what rawr would do without his Monsters....he'd be a... Monster.
i'll show myself out.

(a very drab, non-energetic monster.)
 
rawr said:
you poor, poor sap.

I don't know what rawr would do without his Monsters....he'd be a... Monster.
i'll show myself out.

(a very drab, non-energetic monster.)
Click to expand...
Perhaps for you then the world is one big hallucination. You just dont know it. :)
 
rawr said:
there need to be more beautiful women and cats in this hallucination, then...
Click to expand...

Sometimes the mind torments us.
 
I used to be exceptionally sensitive to caffeine as well. Half a cup of coffee would have my whole body buzzing and make me feel like I was constantly on the verge of a panic attack. I felt like I was really hopped up and it was very bizarre and uncomfortable feeling.

Now, if you were making a 5 hour drive in the dark I would guess that some of your symptoms were caused by staring straight ahead on a road for a long period of time where it's pretty much dark in your peripheral vision and all you are seeing is a fraction of what you'd normally see driving. I say this as someone who has driven cross country a couple times... In a few instances I was driving over 10 hours straight and in one case, 15 hours. Some drives were through blizzards, others rain, others pitch black and I know how it is to feel tired and your mind starts playing tricks on you.

Maybe you should just not drink caffeine. At all. And avoid driving in the dark if you can't handle it.
 
Energy drinks have other stuff in them besides just caffeine, so that other stuff could be affecting you as well.

Its really difficult to say why those symptoms occurred, but my guess is that you might have some sort of neurological condition or disposition that was triggered (read: you're hypersensitive to it). It could also have interacted with any meds you are on.

Also, how tired were you exactly? Were you like running on barely any sleep for days? People usually start to hallucinate when they haven't slept much for about three days. If you were already sleep deprived, it might have pushed you over the edge.

I've been tired while driving too, and so what I would do is drink black tea. It has caffeine, but much less. And it doesn't have taurine and an insane amount of B vitamins that will mess up your B vitamin ratios. Sometime when you're able to stay home all day, you should try having like 8 cups of coffee or black tea in a short time period and seeing if you get the same effect. If not, its probably not the caffeine per se but all the other junk in conjunction with it that messed you up.
 
bodhireagan said:
Okay so this is a list of things I noticed after drinking a Monster Rehab to get me through a 5 hour long drive in the dark. I never drink energy drinks or coffee and this was a one time thing to get me home without having to worry about being tired.
  • Minor visual and auditory hallucinations (within 45 minutes of initial consumption)
  • Feelings of invincibility and invulnerability. (within 45 minutes of initial consumption)
  • Some Loss of impulse control (aka driving like a pro racer, not something I do normally)
  • Switching from feeling sensory overload to mental numbness (sensory overload was during the hallucinations, then once they stopped it switched to just a numb feeling)
  • Trouble finding simple words to say (this was more the day after)
  • Temporary Cognitive impairment (similar to that numbness, I felt like I was not functioning like normal)
  • Extreme lethargy and exhaustion (I slept for 14 hours or something after I got home which is rare, and then I had zero energy / drive to do anything the day after)
  • Heavy feeling in the body (mostly in limbs, but also a general feeling)
  • Further Loss of sensation of pain (i already have a high pain tolerance but I somehow had my tolerance get to an extreme level)
  • Loss of motivation and desire /interest (lasted for about 36-48 hours after drinking the energy drink)
Now all of these issues were cleared up and I was back to feeling normal within 48 hours. So I know that they were caused by the drink and now I am wondering how this is possible with something as simple as caffeine. I know people who have done meth / coke / heroin who explain their "high" as having some of the exact same features as what happened to me.
Click to expand...

holy shit! you got all of that from one monster rehab??

what else did you have in your system? how was your sleep pattern up to that point? are you hyper-sensitive to light and did you get any natural sunlight during that day before you started driving? do you or people in your close family have a history of mental illness?

what kind of visual and auditory hallucinations did you experience? what were you saying and doing while experiencing cognitive impairment?

personally i have a very high tolerance level for caffeine and stimulants. it's not uncommon that i drink colas, several cups of coffee and energy drinks in one day and i don't feel much from it. i just really enjoy the taste. i can, however, relate to sensitivity to substances that most other people aren't sensitive to.
 
vandyke said:
holy shit! you got all of that from one monster rehab??

what else did you have in your system? how was your sleep pattern up to that point? are you hyper-sensitive to light and did you get any natural sunlight during that day before you started driving? do you or people in your close family have a history of mental illness?

what kind of visual and auditory hallucinations did you experience? what were you saying and doing while experiencing cognitive impairment?

personally i have a very high tolerance level for caffeine and stimulants. it's not uncommon that i drink colas, several cups of coffee and energy drinks in one day and i don't feel much from it. i just really enjoy the taste. i can, however, relate to sensitivity to substances that most other people aren't sensitive to.
Click to expand...

I didn't have anything else in my system! I had been getting about 6-8 hours of sleep every night, with a pretty regular sleep cycle. I don't believe I am hyper-sensitive to light (not sure exactly what that would entail) and I did get some natural sunlight. I also take Vitamin D daily because of deficiency issues I have had my entire life but that had finally gotten to healthy levels in the past couple of months.

the hallucinations were minor (like they didn't effect my driving ability): the white lines were "swerving and swimming", one of the other cars around me was hovering above the ground, cars were moving sideways when they really were not, I was hearing sirens passing me that were not existent, I was hearing music that wasn't playing. I do not know if "cognitive impairment" was the correct term, I just did not feel fully functioning in a mental capacity.


I was on SSRIs and antidepressants and mood stabilizers etc etc. for 8 years from age 11-19 (involuntarily and against my will; also improperly medicated for things I didn't even have) and after coming off them I have become super sensitive to stimulants and downers of the OTC and everyday life items variety.
 
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