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Why caffeine shouldn't be your go-to meds

Written by Brooke Cureton, The Shorthorn columnist

Monday, 25 January 2010 07:17 PM

I sat there in a light blue gown, stripped of everything, as we proceeded down hallway after hallway until the walls became yellow and the doors required pass codes.

Then I heard it. “You have now been admitted to the psychiatric ward.”

I battled caffeine addictions my sophomore year of college. To add to the coffee intake, I was on a few diet drugs and vitamin supplements galore. I thought my overall situation with classes and friends would improve.

I was an unhappy young woman self-medicating in an effort to find contentment.

I had a manic episode one afternoon and my roommates took me to the emergency room to run blood tests. My mind and body were overloaded.

When the doctor asked what was wrong, all I could do was cry. I signed a form to do blood work, and I was told to sit in a wheelchair because we were heading to a different side of the hospital.

Fifteen minutes later I was answering the questions of a psychiatric ward nurse. But I couldn’t freak out, I couldn’t react — they would think I was crazy. They already did.

My grandfather, a psychologist who had thankfully kept his license current, rescued me that night. He signed my life into his care. I spent the following weekend with family and felt well again.

The question remained: why did I end up there? How many others consider caffeine a harmless stimulant?

In 1998, a North Carolina student took a dare and overdosed on about 90 caffeine pills, equivalent to 250 cups of coffee. The University of Wisconsin Web site said he was found unconscious outside a school building. He was taken to the hospital but it was too late.

A 2004 study by MedlinePlus found that 80-90 percent of American adults consume caffeine in some form daily. According the Food and Drug Administration Web site, they do not require manufacturers to list the amount of caffeine present in a product.

The FDA reasons that they are only required to inform the public of a product’s nutrients. Caffeine is considered a natural chemical. The lack of regulation on the part of the FDA forces consumers to research for themselves.

Even with research people may be unaware of the amounts they consume. The amount of caffeine in Starbucks coffee is not necessarily the same as McDonald’s coffee or coffee brewed at home.

Will you end up in a psychiatric ward? Probably not, but students need to consider their caffeine intake.

It can add up fast, and although death is rare, mild and severe health problems can occur. Effects are not limited to increased heart rate, irregular heartbeats or changes in personality. Caffeine molecules block adenosine receptors and prevent adenosine from performing its sleep-inducing actions.

You may be able to sleep after ingesting caffeine, but studies by T. Porkka-Heiskanen with Harvard Medical School’s psychiatry department show that quality of sleep is greatly diminished.

Avoiding caffeine completely may not be an option for some, but know your limits.

Or sign away your sanity.