r/comics • u/DaveKellett SHELDON • 4d ago

OC Remember that drink I invented yesterday? (oc)

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COME for the acrid taste, but STAY for the lack of caffeine!

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u/novus_nl 4d ago

It's weird to me caffeine doesn't do anything to me. As dutch guy working in IT, coffee is there 24/7 so I drink more then I would like to admit.

Sometimes when I drink really a lot (7+ cups) I get a bit jittery, but I never feel more energized or more awake. After coffee I can also just go to sleep, doesn't change at all for me.

(*I do try to drink less coffee, because I can't believe its good to drink that much though.)

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u/AzKondor 4d ago

you may have ADHD

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u/Senior_Ability_4001 4d ago

Yeah, I was gonna say from a fellow ADHD. Or sleep apnea

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u/kfpswf 4d ago

Please elaborate. The one day I overdid caffeine, I too just felt jittery and had a hard time falling asleep that night. It was a few years later that I was diagnosed with ADHD. Is there any causal link between ADHD, caffeine, and jittery-ness.

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u/Diligent-Bowler-1898 4d ago

From what I understand people with ADHD are chronically understimulated, so a stimulant like coffee can calm you instead of making you hyperactive - I'm simplifying of course.

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u/novus_nl 4d ago

When you say it like that it does sound strange. But I have to agree in my case at least. I don't know much about adhd except for the common tropes. but I guess there is a whole range to it. I am not someone who is super-active and jumping up and down all day long. But there is probably more to it.

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u/TheW83 4d ago

Feeling jittery is normal when you have a lot of caffeine. ADHD tend to metabolize it slower or can be paradoxical and make you fall asleep rather than keep you awake (not in everyone with ADHD though).

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u/timbotheny26 4d ago

It's 50/50 with me. I have ADHD and sometimes I'll want to go to sleep after, or my hands are shaking and my eyes feel like they're going to pop out of my head.

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u/TheW83 4d ago

I feel like there's some sort of line between enough to be peaceful in your mind and too much as to where your body is physically reacting.

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u/PopularMarket7980 4d ago

> can be paradoxical and make you fall asleep rather than keep you awake (not in everyone with ADHD though).

Wait, really?

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u/TheW83 4d ago

So the best way I can explain is that people with ADHD have everything racing in their mind all the time, so often their mind is too busy to easily fall asleep. But caffeine kind of gives focus back and when they can finally think about a single thing they can fall asleep much more easily.

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u/PopularMarket7980 1d ago

Think I need some testing then, I used to drink coffee to fall asleep...

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u/Eternal_Bagel 4d ago

Attention deficit disordered folks often metabolize stimulants in a somewhat different ways than normal people do.  It’s why early medications would help us calm and focus in for a while despite being amphetamines 

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u/Naranox 4d ago

They don‘t metabolize them differently, I‘m fairly sure.

People with ADHD just have a different brain chemistry leading to chronic understimulation. Stimulants affect the brain chemistry in a certain way (Increased dopainr availability, activating/inhibiting certain pathways, etc.) that lessens the symptoms

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u/LeBronGOOD 4d ago

So if I drink Red Bull and I can fall asleep easily it’s possible I have ADHD?

It helps while driving for a long time.

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u/novus_nl 4d ago

I wouldn't be surprised if I have a form of (functioning) ADHD, but I never diagnosed (don't want a label)

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u/TryingToAppeal 4d ago

Sir/mam, respectfully... you have built up a tolerance for a drug which is what caffeine is classified as. It is a psychoactive stimulant and unless you are drinking some very very weak coffee, that is not a healthy quantity to be consuming. I believe 3-5 cups is the general recommended amount you should be limiting yourself to as overconsumption is bad for your heart amongst other things.
Like most other drugs, taken every day and especially over-consumed, you will find that your tolerance to it will build and you would need to consume more to feel its effects better.
The only people I know of that caffeine doesn't work as well for are people with ADHD and even then it still somewhat effects them. This I have personal experience with.

I highly recommend slowly dropping your daily consumption for your health, there will be withdrawal side effects if done too fast.

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u/novus_nl 4d ago

Could be, I don't know. it never affected me that much really. I do agree on the overconsumption though. And i might have some adhd signs so maybe a combination. thanks for the advice though

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u/Bananplyte 4d ago

Hello! Swedish guy working in IT with coffee available 24/7.

The reason caffeine might not have an effect on you could be that your brain has gotten wise to your addiction and adapted by changing how its Adenosine system works.

One of the ways your brain keeps track of how long you've been awake is through a substance called adenosine. The longer you're awake, the more adenosine builds up and the sleepier you tend to get. This is picked up by little things called receptors that basically tell your brain that you're getting a bit tired and maybe it's time to chill out.

The reason caffeine is fun is that it essentially just blocks these receptors so that the adenosine can't do its thing. You don't get a bunch of extra energy, you just feel less sleepy than you otherwise would.

Your brain does catch on pretty quickly though. If you're constantly clogging these receptors with caffeine, your brain starts getting wise to your scheme. This can involve changes in the adenosine system, including changes in how many receptors are available or how sensitive they are.

Now, if you suddenly stop drinking coffee, all that adenosine is back to doing its thing without caffeine getting in the way. This is why quitting often makes you feel like absolute garbage for a while. It usually gets better within a few days to about a week.

So if caffeine doesn't really do much for you, you might just have built up a pretty serious tolerance. Or you might just be built different.

You probably are just very addicted, like me, your most humble fellow IT caffeine-fiend.

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u/icedteaandtacos 4d ago

No some people are genuinely just built different.

I can drink 3+ cups of coffee a day everyday and never feels the caffeine and then the next week never have one cup and I feel the exact same. No withdrawals or anything.

Some people just really aren’t affected by caffeine. I know about half the time drink decaf because what’s the point of having meaningless caffeine.

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u/timbotheny26 4d ago edited 4d ago

No some people are genuinely just built different.

Some people just really aren’t affected by caffeine.

E.g. folks with ADHD.

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u/icedteaandtacos 4d ago

Nope, I also don’t have ADHD.

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u/timbotheny26 4d ago

I didn't say you did, I was giving it as an example of people being "built different".

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u/icedteaandtacos 4d ago

Ah I see.

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u/timbotheny26 4d ago

My bad - I'll adjust it to be more clear.

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u/icedteaandtacos 4d ago

Nah you’re good.

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u/timbotheny26 4d ago

Oh...welp, too late.

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u/Bananplyte 3d ago

> Or you might just be built different.

I did write this

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u/novus_nl 4d ago

It could be, i'm not a doctor, although I have to say coffee never did something for me. The only reason I start drinking coffee (and took a liking to it) is because my grandmother thought I should drink coffee as that is the social norm here. (with a lot of sugar and milk, which I dropped later on).

It never helped me stay awake for example with studying or after a rough night to 'boost the morning'

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u/HugoTRB 4d ago

I do believe a reason why coffee is so popular here in Sweden and similar places is that you can create a fake day night cycle with it, which is useful when the regular one is so varied.

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u/_TheBigBomb 4d ago

I've done cocaine for decades and doing a bump doesnt affect me at all. I guess im just immune to cocaine

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u/novus_nl 4d ago

That's an expensive hobby for not having an effect. At least coffee is tasty

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u/Ultimate_Cabbage5 4d ago

man got addicted, used to coffeine and said "Im build diffrent"

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u/Dont-dle 4d ago

Not necessarily true - I'm the same, and it's never done anything for me except wipe me out if I have too much. Even when I first started drinking as a teen, same with my dad. Believe it or not it's surprisingly common, and as many have said, consistent with ADHD diagnoses (not that I have one of those).

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u/The_Pastmaster 4d ago

My uncle worked in IT and used a pint glass as a coffee mug.