# Is it possible that caffiene doesn't affect me? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 28, 2005, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-that-caffiene-doesnt-affect-me/292297 "2005-02-28T14:48:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-that-caffiene-doesnt-affect-me/292297/1 "2005-02-28T14:48:45Z")
Caffiene doesn’t seem to keep me awake. No matter what I consume with caffiene in it - coffee, tea, colas, etc - just won’t perk me up. I’ve tried to stay awake many times by drinking coffee and it didn’t work. I always end up falling into a long and undisturbed sleep shortly afterwards. The most notable time was once when I had to stay awake overnight when I was in college, to finish a project. I consumed a 2L bottle of Jolt Cola within half and hour - and promptly fell asleep about 15 mins later. Can it occur that caffiene doesn’t affect some people, or am I a freak? ---
**Author:** ![Sevo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sevo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sevo)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-that-caffiene-doesnt-affect-me/292297/2 "2005-02-28T15:44:43Z")
> [@Amazon Floozy Goddess](#): > > Can it occur that caffiene doesn’t affect some people, or am I a freak? Caffeine _[tolerance](http://www.caffeinedependence.org/caffeine_dependence.html)_ can certainly occur, which may well be the camp that you fall into (and I most definitely place myself in). Also, you have to take into account how sleep deprived you were when you started…Caffeine is a stimulant, but it can’t work miracles. But to answer your question directly: like any drug, caffeine’s effect on your body is dependent on factors unique to you. There is plenty of [evidence](http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/156/2/223) that individual genetic factors make some people more susceptible to the effects (good and bad, physical and psychological) of caffeine. ([Cite2](http://www.mckinley.uiuc.edu/health-info/drug-alc/caffeine.html), [cite2](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11224078&dopt=Abstract)). So, yes, you may have a particularly high threshold for the effects of caffeine. Interesting tidbits: Caffeine content in: Tea: 20-60 mg (1 cup) Soda: 30-50 mg (1 can) Coffee: 60-180 mg (1 cup) No-Doze: 100/200 mg (1 reg/ex str tablet) Caffeine minimum toxic dose: 10-20 mg/Kg (5 or 6 cups of strong coffee; symptoms start with nausea, diarrhea, cramps, muscle twitching, tremor, restlessness, and agitation. Many of us have been there–looking at one’s hand shaking and thinking…“okay, I guess I didn’t need that last Latte.” This progresses with increasing doses to agitation and then seizures.) Caffeine minimum lethal dose for humans: 150-200 mg/Kg (around 80-100 cups of strong coffee or 250ish Sodas) for a full size-adult…can you imagine how often you’d be going to the _bathroom?)_ Although, there is at least one case report of death with a much lower (50 mg/Kg) intake in the medical literature. ---
**Author:** ![According\_to\_Pliny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@According\_to\_Pliny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/According_to_Pliny)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-that-caffiene-doesnt-affect-me/292297/3 "2005-02-28T15:49:17Z")
Coffee never affected my sleep either. As an engineer I would stay up all evening working on the mainframe because that’s when I could get unlimited time. I’d drink any coffee still in the pot, usually that had been condensing for a couple of hours. And never had trouble sleeping. I considered it a side effect of my naturally low blood pressure. I always read at the low point of the normal range and my doctors will remark on it. I guess the caffein just brings me up to normal, not hyper. ---
**Author:** ![RandomLetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8edcca/32.png) [@RandomLetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandomLetters)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-that-caffiene-doesnt-affect-me/292297/4 "2005-02-28T16:55:23Z")
> [@Sevo](#): > > Caffeine minimum lethal dose for humans: 150-200 mg/Kg (around 80-100 cups of strong coffee or 250ish Sodas) for a full size-adult…can you imagine how often you’d be going to the _bathroom?)_ Although, there is at least one case report of death with a much lower (50 mg/Kg) intake in the medical literature. Interestingly enough, microgram for microgram, caffeine is more toxic to the human body than plutonium. ---
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-that-caffiene-doesnt-affect-me/292297/5 "2005-02-28T18:23:21Z")
> [@RandomLetters](#): > > Interestingly enough, microgram for microgram, caffeine is more toxic to the human body than plutonium. So I can go get a double plutonium latte? I always wanted a drink that glowed. 😃 I’ve just recently heard that there’s talk about banning Red Bull in Canada b/c of the caffiene content. Now _that_ stuff I’ve never tried, so I wonder how my body would react. Also, I was prescribed Dexedrine last year to treat my ADD (it helps, btw), although my shrink said that many people couldn’t drink coffee while on the medication because they found it made them too jittery. Well, I can still drink coffee. And still fall asleep 5 minutes later. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![archmichael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@archmichael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/archmichael)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-that-caffiene-doesnt-affect-me/292297/6 "2005-02-28T19:15:37Z")
> [@Amazon Floozy Goddess](#): > > Also, I was prescribed Dexedrine last year to treat my ADD (it helps, btw), although my shrink said that many people couldn’t drink coffee while on the medication because they found it made them too jittery. Well, I can still drink coffee. And still fall asleep 5 minutes later. 🙂 I was just about the ask if you have ADD, because I hear this a lot in reference to it. A person with ADD is hyperactive. Doctors prescribe a stimulant to treat it, which counter-intuitively calms a hyperactive person down. Coffee being a stimulant, has the same effect. Sometimes even putting the person to sleep. ---
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-that-caffiene-doesnt-affect-me/292297/7 "2005-02-28T19:41:09Z")
> [@archmichael](#): > > I was just about the ask if you have ADD, because I hear this a lot in reference to it. > > A person with ADD is hyperactive. Doctors prescribe a stimulant to treat it, which counter-intuitively calms a hyperactive person down. Coffee being a stimulant, has the same effect. Sometimes even putting the person to sleep. Ahh, now that’s interesting. My ADD seems to be manifested mostly mentally, though - before I was diagnosed I used to be terrible for daydreaming at inappropriate times, and I often had unwelcome vivid thoughts pop up in my head (i.e. childhood memories of being bullied) to the point that it was almost torturous. I also had trouble getting to sleep at night because my brain would just not.shut.off. I’d have rapid-fire successions of thoughts that would keep me awake. The meds have helped all of that quite a bit, though. Now physically, I have a slow metabolism. I’m not thin, I’m not fast, and I was never fidgety, so I can’t say I was ever hyperacive in that way. So I suppose the coffee may somehow be perking me up mentally, but not so much physically? It’s all very strange. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-that-caffiene-doesnt-affect-me/292297/8 "2005-02-28T20:36:09Z")
> [@archmichael](#): > > I was just about the ask if you have ADD, because I hear this a lot in reference to it. > > A person with ADD is hyperactive. Doctors prescribe a stimulant to treat it, which counter-intuitively calms a hyperactive person down. Coffee being a stimulant, has the same effect. Sometimes even putting the person to sleep. ADD person and coffee addict. I’m on Ritalin and a daily 500-1,000 mg of caffeine, self-prescribed in the latter case. 🙂 I’ve also used Adderall; both Ritalin and Adderall are stimulants (straight up amphetamine in the case of Adderall). Both make me feel up, as does coffee. I think there’s a misunderstanding about the impact of stimulants (at least in typical cases) on people with ADD. I most certainly am not “relaxed” in any way by stimulants; while my coffee tolerance and my sleep debt (generally) are high enough to enable me to sleep anywhere, any time, with any number of chemicals coursing through me, stimulants still make it much easier to stay awake. I couldn’t say why the OP doesn’t share my reaction, but it’s not accurate to suggest that stimulants somehow paradoxically tranquilize us. They awaken inhibitory parts of the brain that are normally underactive in ADD folks, which allows us to function with more normal focus (as the inhibitory area can inhibit our tendency toward distraction) but the focus it promotes is not relaxation (though if dosages are correct, it shouldn’t be an edgy, jittery focus either.) If accidentally take a pill twice, I get jittery much like anyone else would. ---
**Author:** ![Sevo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sevo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sevo)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-that-caffiene-doesnt-affect-me/292297/9 "2005-03-01T01:41:55Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > I think there’s a misunderstanding about the impact of stimulants (at least in typical cases) on people with ADD. I most certainly am not “relaxed” in any way by stimulants; while my coffee tolerance and my sleep debt (generally) are high enough to enable me to sleep anywhere, any time, with any number of chemicals coursing through me, stimulants still make it much easier to stay awake. I couldn’t say why the OP doesn’t share my reaction, but it’s not accurate to suggest that stimulants somehow paradoxically tranquilize us. They awaken inhibitory parts of the brain that are normally underactive in ADD folks… Yes–most people think ADD medication somehow calms people down. As you describe, all the meds are stimulants and (again, as you said) activate inhibitory centers which paradoxically provides better focus. Note that non-ADD persons have been known to take Ritalin and it’s kin to help study for exams and whatnot as it helps them focus as well. (Not that it’s a doctor-recommended study aid!). I find I personally have a fine line between when I’m enjoying a cup of coffee and settling into my day, and when I’ve had too much and feel nauseated and shakey. _Shrug_ ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-that-caffiene-doesnt-affect-me/292297/10 "2005-03-01T01:53:25Z")
> [@RandomLetters](#): > > Interestingly enough, microgram for microgram, caffeine is more toxic to the human body than plutonium. Got a cite for that one, **RandomLetters**? My sources have the LD50 for plutonium at a very low 0.015 mg of Plutonium per kg body mass. So your assertion doesn’t seem to add up. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-that-caffiene-doesnt-affect-me/292297/11 "2005-03-01T02:03:29Z")
I’d like to see a cite on that myself. I’ve been drinking plutoniumated beverages for decades with little or no ill effects. I’d hate to think that I would have to give up plutonium and switch to something safer like 4:00 P.M. 7-11 bottom-of-the-pot coffee. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-that-caffiene-doesnt-affect-me/292297/12 "2005-03-01T02:39:40Z")
> [@Washoe](#): > > I’d like to see a cite on that myself. I’ve been drinking plutoniumated beverages for decades with little or no ill effects. I’d hate to think that I would have to give up plutonium and switch to something safer like 4:00 P.M. 7-11 bottom-of-the-pot coffee. **Announcer (O.S.):** In this secret taste test we’ve replaced **Washoe** ’s usual plutonium blend with _ **Folger’s Crystals** _. Let’s see if he notices! **Washoe:** Blech! What is this crap? This isn’t my usual Pu-239 Mocha Latte! **Clerk:** Okay, sir, don’t go nuclear or anything. We were just… **Washoe:** Get me my damn plutonium, or I’ll use my mutant powers to blast you from here to Neptune! **Clerk:** Here you go, Mr. Hulk. Sorry about that mix-up. Have a piece of biscotti on the house. Is there anything else I can get you? **Announcer (O.S.):** {deflated} Well, I guess _ **Folger’s Crystals** _ does taste different than plutonium. But, for our next segment, we are going to replace the plutonium fuel rods in this commerical reactor with _ **Folger’s Crystals** _! Let’s see if the operator notices. **Operator:** Hey, who shut down the coolant system? And why is the generator output spiking? **Automated Alert System:** {klaxxon blaring} Emergency alert! Emergency alert! Reactor overload! Meltdown imminent! You now have ten minutes to reach minimum safe distance! **Announcer (O.S.):** Ah, crap! This really isn’t my day, I guess. Well, _ **Folger’s Crystals** _…they’re good for cleaning out your plumbing, anyway. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Sevo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sevo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sevo)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-that-caffiene-doesnt-affect-me/292297/13 "2005-03-01T02:47:49Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > Got a cite for that one, **RandomLetters**? My sources have the LD50 for plutonium at a very low 0.015 mg of Plutonium per kg body mass. So your assertion doesn’t seem to add up. I wonder if **RandomLetters** misread the Caffeine lethal doses as _mcg_/Kg (micrograms) instead of milligrams? ---
**Author:** ![umop\_ap\_sdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/dbc845/32.png) [@umop\_ap\_sdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/umop_ap_sdn)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-that-caffiene-doesnt-affect-me/292297/14 "2005-03-01T06:51:27Z")
> [@Amazon Floozy Goddess](#): > > I’ve just recently heard that there’s talk about banning Red Bull in Canada b/c of the caffiene content. Now _that_ stuff I’ve never tried, so I wonder how my body would react. Oh, it’s great. I finally got around to trying one not too long ago and it was not only the best tasting stimulant drink but also one of the most effective. Rarely have I been that alert before or since. But then again, it probably takes that much to have an effect on someone who is so dependent on their morning coffee. :o > [@](#): > > So I can go get a double plutonium latte? I always wanted a drink that glowed. 😃 Safe radioactivity? Yeah, that’d be really neat if it could be done. Oh well, maybe someone will invent a potable chemiluminescence or phosphorescence. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![KJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b2d939/32.png) [@KJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KJ)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-that-caffiene-doesnt-affect-me/292297/15 "2005-03-01T07:18:12Z")
> [@Sevo](#): > > Interesting tidbits: > > Caffeine content in: > Tea: 20-60 mg (1 cup) > Soda: 30-50 mg (1 can) > Coffee: 60-180 mg (1 cup) > No-Doze: 100/200 mg (1 reg/ex str tablet) There’s a much more verbose list on [erowid.org](http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/caffeine/caffeine_info1.shtml). Interesting observation from that page: They say “The U.S. Food & Drug Administration allows a maximum of 72 mg. of caffeine per 12 oz. serving (6mg / oz)” But evidently that _only_ applies to 12 oz. cans, because Red Bull contains 80 mg per 8 oz. can, or the equivalent of 115 mg per 12 ounces. I’m pretty sure that’s part of the reason they come in 8 ounce cans; it would appear that there’s some loophole in the FDA regulations. Can anyone else confirm this?