does caffeiene count as a substance?

[bluegreysky]

Because I have a serious problem with it...
we aren't talkin' 3 cups of coffee a day
or a mountain dew with lunch
we're talkin' a full throttle, 2 cups of coffee and then another full throttle...
(well, at the peak of college's hardest points)
On a good day, I only consume one energy drink and one cup of coffee...

 

[goldenviolet]

it can be. you should ask doctor what your health risks are. xo dee

 

[spinningtutu]

Yes, I believe so. I was horribly addicted to caffeine for many years but have been clean since August 2006....
...I had to give up all caffeine for health related reasons.

When I finally "purged" my body revolted, went through withdrawal, sickness, all of that. I slept so much, thought I'd never function again... but now I actually have more energy.

 

[igotbegot]

Regardless of it's inclusion on a list of substances, if you know you have a problem with it, what else do you need to know?

 

[BlessEwe]

I have heard you can get very bad headaches from coffee when you stop drinking it., this does mean that your body wants it to feel normal and in turn means the body is in great need or addicted.

 

[YourBrotherInChrist]

The DSM-IV lists the following caffeine related diagnoses:

305.90 Caffeine Intoxication
292.89 Caffeine-Induced Anxiety Disorder
292.89 Caffeine-Induced Sleep Disorder
292.9 Caffeine-Related Disorder Not Otherwise Specified

as well as a proposal for Caffeine Withdrawal. The DSM-IV states:

Some individuals who drink large amounts of coffee display some aspects of dependence on caffeine and exhibit tolerance and perhaps withdrawal. However, the data are insufficient at this time to determine whether these symptoms are associated with clinically significant impairment that meets the criteria for Substance Dependence or Substance Abuse.​

 

[demfings]

Most difently its even more addicting than any phycadelics, extacy,marijuana and some other hallucinagens, and in the amount your taking it about as dangerous as them. I have a freind who has heart problems and low blood pressure and occasionaly passes out now from taking caffine and shes stoped but she stilll has lasting effects, she was drinking 4 or 5 energy drinks a day along with 4 or 5 mountain dews so you can see she was taking far more than you are. Also it can kill you if you take it in high amounts over time, becuase it may make you have a heart attack but this is extremely rare. I don't think you should stop completely but try to cut down to one or two cups of coffee a day which is acctually good for you to have between 100-200 mgs a day but more than 300mgs starts to cuase problems which is about what your taking on your good day.On you normal days your taking about 600 mgs so thats not a good thing to be doing, but its probily not going to kill you unless you start taking about 3 times what you are daily for about a year or two. Although you can OD on caffine at around 2500 mgs of caffine takin all within 6 hours. The withdrawl from it includes head, muscle and stomache aches, lightheadedness and extreme tiredness but it ussally only last a day or 2.

I hope this helps, i tried to learn alot about caffine when my freind started haveing her heart problems, shes cut down quite a bit now to one energy drink and 2 mountain dews a day, but she still has problems, however she is quite a bit better.

 

[Vehementi Dominus]

Caffine isn't good stuff.

Try and replace it with fruit juice, or fruit. Worked for me. It's difficult for the first week or so, but then your body adjusts itself.

One apple in the morning gives you more energy than... uh... can't remember how much coffee, but it's a lot. Either way, when y'ok without it, 'spose it's ok to have more of it, but regulate it.

Oh, and Demfings, Cannabis isn't chemically addictive, you can't get addicted to it any more than you can get addicted to fruit juice.

 

[AshenMan]

If it's affecting your life and your behavior, then it's a substance and you're abusing it. I think that goes for almost anything.

 

[TheMainException]

Caffeine is the most widely used and abused substance in the USA today. What's more is that almost no one will accept it as a true drug as it is. Caffeine is akin to cocaine on a lower scale...(notice the switch in coca cola from cocaine to caffeine?)

I did a lot of research on caffeine and wrote a nice long paper on it for one of my classes. This drug is very damaging to your body. The caffeine tells your body to use stored energy and energy that it does not actually have. So, adrenaline is put into your bloodstream. Your body only has a certain amount of adrenaline at a time and using it up causes your body to have to create more and more. What adrenaline does to your body over long periods of time is NOT good. It can overwork your heart and other organs, causing them to simply "break down" and stop working. They basically just collapse from being worked so hard. The adrenaline is hard on your body and you simply cannot sustain such a hard thing on your body. both the caffeine and adrenaline will cause your organs to suffer. In the long run, it can also cause insomnia and mental disorders. Small amounts of COFFEE is good because of the tanins and such in the coffee (caffeinated only, decaffeinated has been shown to lack these good chemicals). But it's not simply the caffeine...most likely, the process of taking the caffeine out of coffee also removes the tanins...so energy drinks don't have these things. This is why they say that one or two cups of coffee is good for you but they never say anything about energy drinks being good for you (although there are a lot of good vitamins and minerals and extracts in energy drinks these days, natural things like fruits and vegetables can never be beaten by energy drinks).

As was said, an apple can truly wake you up much better than caffeine and it's good for you. But what's better is a Banana...so eat an apple or banana every day with or for breakfast beside your cup of coffee and feel the great effects.

I really think you need to start cutting out the caffeine...one energy drink at a time. Do it slowly, take two weeks to remove each caffeinated beverage until you're down to one or two cups of coffee...and then, no matter what, DO NOT buy or consume another energy drink or caffeinated beverage. Keep yourself down to one or two cups of coffee and do not deviate from that. You're basically destroying yourself.

I say all this because I have felt the effects already. I spent my middle school, high school and first year of college drinking so much caffeine that I literally crash if I try to stay awake for more than a day. It's horrible...people are always like "why don't you just stay up late and finish that paper" and I have to say that I just can't, it's physically impossible, my brain shuts down. So...save yourself and don't mess up your body.

 

[TheMainException]

Sorry for the book, but it was all important.