Do they work?
I’ve used energy bars when biking and they work great for maybe an hour before you bottom out. Do these energy drinks have the same issues? If I’m tired in the middle of the day at work will taking one let me jump to my feet and run a marathon?
I haven’t used it, but a close friend of mine has. He told me they should rename it *5 Hour Diarrhea * because everytime he’s tried it it gave him the runs. He said the energy wasn’t really a "jolt’ like one get’s from a load of caffeine, but was more of a carb boost feeling.
They generally contain caffeine - either labeled as caffeine, or labelled as their herbal source, such as guarana, yerbe mate and/or green tea - as well as some B vitamins.
Caffeine works like…well, caffeine. That is, if you’re not a caffeine-aholic, then yes, they’ll give you a temporary boost of energy. I haven’t found 5 hours to really be accurate - I get more like 3 or 4 hours from 100mg of caffeine, which seems about standard for these drinks (although many of them are not clearly labelled, so it’s hard to tell how much caffeine is in any one in particular.)
If you’re a hard core coffee drinker or other caffeine taker, then you probably won’t notice much of an effect. Caffeine in excess of 800mg a day just doesn’t do anything anymore.
B vitamins are supposed to increase energy less suddenly but more long term. I can’t say that I’ve seen a lot of good evidence of that, but they are generally harmless. They’re water soluble, so you’ll urinate out anything your body doesn’t need. Excess intake of B vitamins can lead to anal itching though. Harmless, but annoying. (I haven’t experienced that side effect myself, but it was mentioned in one of our nursing classes; I remember it by visualizing a hyper teenager with an energy drink in one hand and his other hand down his sagging jeans scratching his ass.:D)
The other thing to consider is the cost. Those little energy shots run about $4 apiece around here. I can buy a whole bottle of caffeine pills for about $8 when they’re on sale, and they’ll last me a month or more.
It’s water, artificial sweetener, caffeine, and a few vitamins.
My father swears by them. And he has narcolepsy.
Then again, he just likes them for having the caffeine in a small form. They say they contain the caffeine in two cups of coffee, and act like that’s a small amount. Coffee is one of the highest sources of caffeine the average person drinks–higher than soda and even many energy drinks.
He does say it’s a little less of a jolt, though.
I’m narcoleptic, and I did find them useful, at least for a short while. I actually went to the doctor about possibly being narcoleptic when one of my friends pointed out that it wasn’t normal to sleep 9 hours at night, get up, have a Full Throttle, a 5-hour energy, 4 shots of espresso, then take a nap through more than two classes before lunch. Some of the other formulations similar to 5-hour energy worked better, but some of the better ones gave me an irregular heartbeat or shaking hands.
Sounds like me back when I was waiting for my parathyroidectomy - I was churning through 2 4 packs of red bull trying to stay awake at work. One pack before lunch, half an hours nap at lunch and 1 pack after lunch. I had no idea that hypercalcemia made you sleep all the time. If I didnt boot myself in the ass with constant caffeine I nodded off constantly - one weekend I was awake a total of about 4 hours.
I’m on a CPAP thanks to inheriting a narrow throat from my mom and dad, but before then because of my sleep apnea I could nod off at my desk any time of day.
Right now I have a newborn at home that prevents me from more than 3 consecutive hours of sleep. Don’t have a machine to handle that yet. Maybe I need a full time nanny instead, but I don’t think my insurance would cover that.
5 Hour Energy works great for me. No jitters like other energy drinks. It just provides a slight, seemingly natural, boost for several hours. I use it all the time when I’m in Vegas or out late in NY. Much better than some other legal and illegal options.
Yeah, 5HE works fine for me. But, just like** WhyNot** says, it’s not worth the money. I used to buy them for long trips on the road for a caffeine jolt if I started getting drowsy. I don’t like to drink soda or coffee since I’d have to stop to evacuate the extra liquid.
Now, I just have a bottle of caffeine pills handy. Much cheaper and just as effective IMHO.
Aye, they’re my choice for picker uppers. I don’t drink coffee or sodas, and most energy drinks taste like crap and/or are too much liquid. The 5 hours are just a couple of ounces, don’t taste bad (taste good in fact) and offer a feeling of “ah now I’m awake and ready to go” rather than “holy shit I’m vibrating”.
They work good for me. No great bursts of energy but they do help with tireness. I am a fairly heavy coffee drinker so that may help taper the effects of them but I don’t get the shakey jittery feelings from them like caffine pills (NoDoze) or the upset acidy stomach like from too much coffee.
One other great advantage of them. I make long trips sometimes that is 14 hours straight driving(central Texas to central Colorado). Using a couple 5 hour energy drinks keeps me just as awake as drinking coffee but cuts down on the pit stops. I stop every 4-5 hours for a stretch and restroom break instead of stopping, getting a cup of coffee and then an hour later having to stop again to get rid of the coffee.
I get generics of 5 Hour that run around 75 cents a bottle. Not too expensive for a one-bottle-a-day bad habit.
I normally opt for coffee or Coke so I don’t doze before starting a long drive but I’ve done the 5 hour energy thing when I didn’t want to stop to pee after an hour, or the weather was too hot for coffee, or I didn’t want to feel bloated from drinking a bottle of pop.