# Taking a sleeping pill and a caffeine pill at the same time? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 18, 2002, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-sleeping-pill-and-a-caffeine-pill-at-the-same-time/143475 "2002-12-18T03:30:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2002, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-sleeping-pill-and-a-caffeine-pill-at-the-same-time/143475/1 "2002-12-18T03:30:06Z")
I was watching the Simpsons earlier, and in this episode, Homer takes an overdose of pep pills and “balances it out” with a bunch of sleeping pills. However, this causes me to wonder (and rest assured, people that I am way too smart to actually try this) what would happen if someone took a sleeping pill and a pep pill (of the same dosage, I guess), at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![t-keela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a3d4f5/32.png) [@t-keela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-keela)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2002, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-sleeping-pill-and-a-caffeine-pill-at-the-same-time/143475/2 "2002-12-18T03:32:03Z")
theoretically…nothing ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2002, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-sleeping-pill-and-a-caffeine-pill-at-the-same-time/143475/3 "2002-12-18T03:46:22Z")
It depends on the actual drugs involved, as well as the dosage. If the upper was really something as mild as caffeine and if the downer was something like Placidyl, both in moderate doses, I suspect you’d fall asleep. Methamphetamine users who also drink or smoke pot get fucked up, but they’re still speeding - definitely not a “nothing” response. Methamphetamine users who coincidentally use opiates are, well, dumb, but I don’t know where they wind up. I have no personal experience with this, but I do know that both meth and cocaine users sometimes (25-30 years ago) took Valium when coming off a run, presumably to hurry them through the “crash.” ---
**Author:** ![Mentor\_and\_Liar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2acd7d/32.png) [@Mentor\_and\_Liar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mentor_and_Liar)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2002, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-sleeping-pill-and-a-caffeine-pill-at-the-same-time/143475/4 "2002-12-18T03:57:52Z")
I think you’d call that an over-the-counter speedball. People used to use heroin–and then a little speed to stay awake for the ride. Some of us died, and some of us became comedy writers. Ringo: valium won’t accelerate the crash, it just made it a little more tolerable. ---
**Author:** ![SandyHook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dec6dc/32.png) [@SandyHook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SandyHook)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2002, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-sleeping-pill-and-a-caffeine-pill-at-the-same-time/143475/5 "2002-12-18T04:01:18Z")
If they are roughly equal in strength (and fairly strong) what you get is a bad case of the jitters. You can, IIRC, neither rest nor act coherently. It is more like having a nervous breakdown than a pleasurable “high.” ---
**Author:** ![t-keela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a3d4f5/32.png) [@t-keela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-keela)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2002, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-sleeping-pill-and-a-caffeine-pill-at-the-same-time/143475/6 "2002-12-18T04:06:43Z")
Of course it depends on what drugs you’re talking about…:rolleyes: If you’re talking about no-doz and sominex, then you’ll get nothing. If you’re talking p2p, beans and coke, that’s another thing. A lot of meth monkeys do speed for the rush…and then take a downer to kill the wire. (or so they say) ---
**Author:** ![t-keela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a3d4f5/32.png) [@t-keela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-keela)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2002, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-sleeping-pill-and-a-caffeine-pill-at-the-same-time/143475/7 "2002-12-18T05:31:05Z")
What time is it? ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2002, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-sleeping-pill-and-a-caffeine-pill-at-the-same-time/143475/8 "2002-12-18T06:20:04Z")
I can say, from personal experience after drinking a _lot_ of pop at the same time a couple of Benadryl were floating around in my system … a sense of frustration. You’re tired, but you can’t get to sleep. Not like a state of drunkenness, nor feeling jittery, but rather grogginess that can’t be acted upon. You close your eyes, but nothing happens; you’re still awake. I have AD/HD, so Schedule 1 medications with amphetamines affect me differently than someone whose brain is wired normally. I can fall asleep right after popping a Metadate or Ritalin with a couple of Benadryl, while a “normal” person might feel the jitters that \*\*SandyHook[/b[ describes. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2002, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-sleeping-pill-and-a-caffeine-pill-at-the-same-time/143475/9 "2002-12-18T06:22:06Z")
P2P and beans? Whoah, I must really be out of the loop. What drugs are those? ---
**Author:** ![NotBob13](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e19b73/32.png) [@NotBob13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NotBob13)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2002, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-sleeping-pill-and-a-caffeine-pill-at-the-same-time/143475/10 "2002-12-18T06:43:47Z")
I have a friend who claims he drank a dozen cups of coffee and an entire bottle of NyQuill, then went to take a polygraph test. He claims that his “jitters” made it impossible to get a baseline, so the polygraph was useless. I’m not sure this is true, but it sounds plausible to me. ---
**Author:** ![t-keela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a3d4f5/32.png) [@t-keela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-keela)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2002, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-sleeping-pill-and-a-caffeine-pill-at-the-same-time/143475/11 "2002-12-18T06:55:02Z")
p2p=methamphetamines [http://www.prescottaz.com/meth/danger.htm](http://www.prescottaz.com/meth/danger.htm) beans=phenobarbital [http://www.tcada.state.tx.us/research/slang/depressants.html](http://www.tcada.state.tx.us/research/slang/depressants.html) of course I’m an old man, so these may be obsolete terms for you whippersnappers…😉 BTW I do not condone, support or recommend drug use to anyone reading this post. Mods. delete this message if it is a problem w/ SDMB in any way! ---
**Author:** ![Trancey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Trancey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trancey)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2002, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-sleeping-pill-and-a-caffeine-pill-at-the-same-time/143475/12 "2002-12-18T09:27:13Z")
This reminds me of back in my drug taking days of my friend did alot of “crystal meth” and then took alot of ketamine which is an anastetic and she just layed against a wall and starred off into the abyss. Her body was asleep but her mind wouldnt stop racing. Kind of the same thing, kind of not… ---
**Author:** ![edwino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@edwino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwino)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2002, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-sleeping-pill-and-a-caffeine-pill-at-the-same-time/143475/13 "2002-12-18T10:26:01Z")
You basically do similar every time you take NyQuil or Actifed or any other cold/sinus medicine. The decongestant, pseudoephedrine, is a stimulant and makes your heart race. The antihistamine (unless it is Claritin) causes drowsiness. So what you are left with is being tired yet with a racing heart. Etc. ---
**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2002, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-sleeping-pill-and-a-caffeine-pill-at-the-same-time/143475/14 "2002-12-18T10:49:25Z")
I took (prescribed) sleeping pills for a while. It was a few years ago, and I can’t now recall what type they were. It seemed to me that the pills gave an effect similar to a large dose of alcohol. They made me sleepy, relaxed and uncoordinated, etc. I never took stimulants in combination with the sleeping pills, of course (the whole point of taking the pills being to fall asleep). I have, however, combined alcohol and caffeine (from cola or coffee), and alcohol and pseudoephedrine (from cold medicines). The result is simply being _awake_, relaxed, uncoordinated, etc. The two drugs don’t cancel out. ---
**Author:** ![MaryEFoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@MaryEFoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaryEFoo)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2002, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-sleeping-pill-and-a-caffeine-pill-at-the-same-time/143475/15 "2002-12-18T19:30:29Z")
I heard from someone who worked on a Bellevue ward, that some patients would complain about not sleeping and get issued sleeping pills. Then they would go down to the ward coffeepot and drink about six cups of coffee. WAG: some people will do almost anything to get away from being their existing self. ---
**Author:** ![MaryEFoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@MaryEFoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaryEFoo)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2002, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-sleeping-pill-and-a-caffeine-pill-at-the-same-time/143475/16 "2002-12-18T19:31:31Z")
WAG 2: or maybe they were bored. ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2002, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-sleeping-pill-and-a-caffeine-pill-at-the-same-time/143475/17 "2002-12-18T19:44:17Z")
This Q reminds me of Steven Wright’s joke about putting a humidifier and a dehumdifier in the same room and waiting to see which would win… 🙂 Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![t-keela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a3d4f5/32.png) [@t-keela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-keela)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2002, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-sleeping-pill-and-a-caffeine-pill-at-the-same-time/143475/18 "2002-12-24T07:34:33Z")
So, nobody knows what time it is, huh? I’m not surprised, since some think drinking a coke and taking a benadryl, or a pot of coffee and cold medicine is “the same” as doing a couple of grams of meth and taking a few downers at the same time. Kinda like turning the heater on in the car and rolling down the window, huh?..LMAO… :rolleyes: or maybe the OP was answered sufficiently and I just missed it ---
**Author:** ![superfreakicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@superfreakicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/superfreakicus)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2002, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-sleeping-pill-and-a-caffeine-pill-at-the-same-time/143475/19 "2002-12-24T10:41:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by t-keela \* > \*\* > Kinda like turning the heater on in the car and rolling down the window, huh?..LMAO… :rolleyes: > > \*\* I do that all the time — I put it on feet heat. I also like to open the window and crank the ac. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2002, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-sleeping-pill-and-a-caffeine-pill-at-the-same-time/143475/20 "2002-12-24T16:46:28Z")
The time is mentioned at the bottom of every thread. 😕 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-sleeping-pill-and-a-caffeine-pill-at-the-same-time/143475.md?page=2)