What's the downside to energy drinks?

[VaSteve]

I have been drinking the Monster stuff on and off since May. I normally have a cast iron bladder. I can go for HOURS even if I had some in the tank. With a can of Monster, I have to pee so bad it hurts.

I actually like the taste, it costs the same as Red Bull, but it's like 3x the size. I'm sure its watered down from Red Bull.

[Flatbutt1]

I use Red Bull as a recovery aid during prolonged bicycling rides. If I do 20 - 30 miles it really helps me recover. I don't drink it as a regular beverage just as a workout aid.

[campbellcj]

Basically just caffeine and sugar...nothing new, but I guess this stuff has become the Coke of the 21st Century. I like my morning coffee but crash hard on the ultrasweet drinks...

[ronin]

Originally posted by vash
your pee yellow?

fluorescent, even

haven't had any adverse side effects from any of the energy drinks yet. I only use them on rare occasions and they always perform as they should. now on the other hand, that double-tall Irish mocha I had a few weeks ago had me strung out all afternoon! I was binging off the walls worse than a second grader on twelve bowls of Super Sugar Slammers, ten Hershey bars and a six-pack of Jolt. (hey, remember Jolt?) teach me to never do that again!

[Vipergrün]

Try Red Bull & Vodka......now THERE is a way to mess with your body! I'm drunk, I'm wired, no, I'm drunk, wait, what was that, oh yeah, I'm wired........CRASH!

[Joeaksa]

Good friend of mine drinks double Stoli and Red Bull. Drinks them like water...

I could drink a RB 10 minutes before I hit the sack and be asleep in a minute. Does not effect me in the least but I know others who it keeps up all night...

JoeA

[MichiganMat]

Half a cappucino in the morning and source code comes screaming out of every part of my body. I can pump out 8 hours worth of code in under 4 hours, no problemo. Uber-focused. Magic office-zombie elixir. "Where am I? Who am I? Who cares, its time for code..."

Ofcourse, you already know what happens next. By 1pm Im so ruined and retarded that the rest of the day is pretty much useless. I get pissed off and grumpy, Im too wired to take a nap, and my stomach will hurt.

I figure that God has allocated me only a set amount of energy for each day. I can choose to burn through it by lunch time, but it won't be coming back until the next morning.

[red-beard]

Originally posted by MichiganMat
Ofcourse, you already know what happens next. By 1pm Im so ruined and retarded that the rest of the day is pretty much useless. I get pissed off and grumpy, Im too wired to take a nap, and my stomach will hurt.

Sounds like the perfect condition to come here!!!!

Maybe that explains a lot of the behavior by various members around here.

[CamB]

Originally posted by legion
If I have a coffee in the morning at 7:00 or 8:00, I won't fall asleep that night until 1:00 or 2:00.
The more caffeine I drink, the less effect it has in waking me up in the morning, but it still keeps me up at night just as well.
I've also noticed that while it will give me a short-term boost in energy, my metabolism slows down when I drink a lot of caffeine over an extended period.
When I'm on caffeine, I snack all the time.

Wow, I'm 180 degrees on that list - doesn't affect my sleep (as long as I keep the caffeine intake constant from day-to-day), fires up my metabolism and I'm pretty sure it suppresses my appetite too...

[scottmandue]

Originally posted by bb80sc
Try Red Bull & Vodka......now THERE is a way to mess with your body! I'm drunk, I'm wired, no, I'm drunk, wait, what was that, oh yeah, I'm wired........CRASH!

Had that happen at the local brew pub, the place was quite and uncrowded so I pull up to the bar for a cold one. Strike up a conversation with a guy at the bar... find out he is THE brewer for the establishment. Oddly he and his lady friend are drinking RB and Vodka and they start buying them for me... I'm like WTF free booze... didn't like the buzz at all.

[masraum]

Aspartame is nasty stuff. You'd be better off drinking the sugar.