Caffeine

[ralphmelton]

I normally drink very little caffeine. I noticed in my freshman year of college that I was developing a tolerance, so I cut way back so that it would give me a kick when I needed it. In recent years, though, I've gotten very sensitive; I remember that somewhere in my LJ I have an entry about staying up until 4am or so with a single can of soda at GURPS. In addition, I have a job for which sleeping late is not a big issue. And I find that being naturally well-rested yields better productivity and clarity of thought than artificial substitutes; sleep deprivation plus caffeine tends to leave me wired and feeling as if my body was a garment from which the coat hangers had not been removed. In addition, Pittsburgh has really tasty tap water, and my tendency to penury makes that a beverage of choice, particularly in restaurants.

But I was really dragging on Sunday, and I decided to try compensating with caffeine. But I knew that I'd have to be careful to avoid coat-hangered wiredness and difficulty sleeping. So I took care to sip the Dr Pepper slowly, and only enough until I got the lift I needed.

It worked; I managed to fall asleep pretty readily, although not with the ease I'd expect from how exhausted I felt.

My dosage for the day to produce this effect: about a third of a 21-ounce bottle of Dr Pepper, spread over the course of about four hours of work. Apparently I really don't have a tolerance anymore.

Comments

[mrpeck.livejournal.com]

That is an impressive lack of tolerance. A full can of Coke does almost nothing for me.

[drakemonger.livejournal.com]

Damn. The Wednesday that I couldn't sleep 'til 4am, I had five cans of coke before the end of the day. Which got me re-addicted, and I'm paying for it now, but I would have been useless without it....

[laurabee.livejournal.com]

I'm usually a one cup of coffee a day person, but can get by without a headache on a can of Coke. I forgot to have my coffee or coke on Sunday, so I figured, "hey, I'm already going to have a headache, why not go for the gold and break my addiction?" I had a fierce headache all day yesterday, but today I'm doing better.

Yeah, I sleep better when I'm not on caffeine, even if I drink far from bedtime. So, I think you've got the right approach.