Caffeine: Addiction; Toxicity; Overdoses

[ramonmercado]

its harmless to the vast majority of people. even if they abuse it a bit, it wont cause serious problems. people who are permanently in a state of anxiety should of course avoid it as should those with heart problems. i return to the peanut analogy; are peanuts dangerous? would you be so careless as to say peanuts are harmless?

get my drift?

 

[Beakmoo]

its harmless to the vast majority of people. even if they abuse it a bit, it wont cause serious problems. people who are permanently in a state of anxiety should of course avoid it as should those with heart problems. i return to the peanut analogy; are peanuts dangerous? would you be so careless as to say peanuts are harmless?

get my drift?

I get your drift Ramon, but there's really no need to get het up about it. Have you had too much coffee today?

 

[ramonmercado]

oh, and sorry for getting your name wrong. i guess i was thinking of "peek a boo!".

 

[ramonmercado]

I get your drift Ramon, but there's really no need to get het up about it. Have you had too much coffee today?

hmmm. well... 2 mugs at brekkie, 1 mug at am break, 1 latte at 4 pm. maybe the latte has me bouncing.

i'll get dem healthnazis!!!! lemmeee at dem!

 

[lopaka]

I don't know about it being that harmless Lopaka. There are a lot of people out there with mild to severe anxiety and heart palpitations caused by caffeine. Some are more sensitive to it than others I suppose, and it's not as widely known as it should be that it's possible to ruin your life with the stuff if you are sensitive.

Well, yes, points taken. OTOH, and maybe we're talking about definitions, while it's not "harmless", it's also something that is regarded both legally and scientifically as being "generally safe", remembering that it is a drug that can influence one's moods, perceptions, etc.

 

[Yithian]

Mental disorder: balls.

If addiction is disorder then everyone's mind is disordered.

 

[RainyOcean]

I know someone who goes through physical withdrawl symptoms if he has too much caffeine.

I, personally, cannot drink too much caffeine without having serious problems. There have been a couple of times when I had a lot of caffeine in one day and my heart started beating fast and I felt like I couldn't breathe. Also, if I drink caffeine multiple days in a row I get depressed. I think it makes my anti-depressants stop working or something. I try to limit drinking caffeine to once, or sometimes twice, a week at the most.

 

[Anonymous]

Caffeine - oh boy, it's a poison to me in one hell of a big way!

I never used to think that it was a negative substance (to me, I hasten to add). But I started to drink what a psychologist called 'toxic levels' of coffee and that's one of the reasons that I was speaking to him in the first place!

I went through some pretty major upheavals over the last few months (that's why I haven't been on the MB so much), including anxiety & depression - it was caused by life-issues, not caffeine, incidently, but the caffiene was multiplying the problems & my inability to get myself to a point where I could get a grip.

Cutting out the caffiene was tough - 2 weeks of migraines, coffee cravings, tea cravings, cola cravings, choc - ohhh - late cravings, it was a hard ride. But now, I have the ability to think straight and not surrender myself to a daily fuzz buzz that coffee used to give me.

I drink decaffeinated now - I like the taste of coffee, and could never do without it, but the tiny amount of caffeine left after the process doesn't affect me (niether does the horrible chemicals they use to decaffeinate, it seems).

It sorted me out, staying away - it wasn't the cause and the abscence of it isn't the cure, but it really, really helped.

QS

 

[RainyOcean]

Congratulations on doing so well!

Just out of curiousity, what are "toxic levels" of caffeine?

 

[CygnusRex]

Congratulations on doing so well!

Just out of curiousity, what are "toxic levels" of caffeine?

Its a good question, I drink 4-5 cups a coffee a day at work (its a half pint mug... or "The blue bucket" as its known in the office) and then sometimes 1 or 2 at home, so anything up to 3½-4 pints a day of strong coffee. But weekends I don't drink much at all, so is this reaching toxic levels?

 

[OneWingedBird]

I probably drink way too much coffee. If it gives me any problems, they're probably less than the ones I already have anyway. If it starts giving you a headache, there's always codeine

 

[Yithian]

decaffeination

Coffee is decaffeinated using a variety of processes. All of which are relatively harmless to your health, but harmful to the beverage quality. Almost all the methods of decaffeinating coffee consist of soaking the beans in water to dissolve the caffeine, extracting the caffeine with either a solvent or activated carbon, and then re-soaking the beans in the decaffeinated water to reabsorb the flavor compounds that were lost in the initial extraction. The solvents typically used are methylene chloride or ethyl acetate, which both have a low boiling point. Since ethyl acetate is found naturally in fruits you will hear people call this process "natural." In any case the solvent never comes in contact with the bean itself, but only the water solution containing the caffeine that was previously extracted from the bean. Therefore the process is relatively benign. All methods of decaffeination are based on equilibrium principles and solvent/solute properties. As such, neither all of the caffeine is removed from the coffee, nor are all of the flavor compounds returned or left in the coffee. The chemical composition of decaffeinated coffee is altered, and therefore the flavor and aroma are changed.

Swiss Water Process

In the Swiss Water Process the green beans are soaked in hot water to remove the caffeine and compounds responsible for much of the flavor of the coffee. The first batch of beans is then discarded, while the caffeine is stripped from the solution by means of activated carbon filters. This leaves a solution saturated with flavor compounds, which is then used to soak a new batch of green coffee. The principle is that the solution is saturated with all components soluble in water other than caffeine, and therefore only the caffeine in the bean is allowed to escape whereas the rest of the compounds are in equilibrium. Unfortunately, the flavor of batches is intermixed since the chemically saturated solution is used repeatedly.

CO2 Process

In the carbon dioxide process green beans are soaked in highly compressed CO2, which extracts the caffeine. The caffeine is then removed from the CO2 using activated carbon filters and is reused to extract more caffeine from the coffee.

Sparkling Water Process

The sparkling water process is similar to the CO2 method, but instead of removing the caffeine with activated carbon filters, it is washed from the CO2 with water in a secondary tank and is then recycled to extract more caffeine from the coffee. The solvent consists of approximately 99.7% compressed carbon dioxide and 0.3% water.

source

 

[Anonymous]

Congratulations on doing so well!

Just out of curiousity, what are "toxic levels" of caffeine?

TY, RO

Well, I was drinking around 10 cups of strong coffee a day - it was an addiction that was hard to control and stood to get worse. :?

I have no idea if I'm allergic to the stuff or just overly sensitive to it, but If anyone gets the feeling that life is way out of their control, try cutting out the caffeine for a couple of weeks and get through any cold turkey that might come your way. Look at life again free from the mirage that it can cause and I'll bet things look better and more manageable.

Caroline - thanks for the info & link, I never knew there were so many ways to de-nuke a brew!

 

[Beakmoo]

I have no idea if I'm allergic to the stuff or just overly sensitive to it, but If anyone gets the feeling that life is way out of their control, try cutting out the caffeine for a couple of weeks and get through any cold turkey that might come your way. Look at life again free from the mirage that it can cause and I'll bet things look better and more manageable.

I wouldn't have thought you were sensitive to it, 10 strong cups a day would affect anyone adversely. If you're sensitive to it, as Hubcap is, then two or three cups of tea are enough to make you anxious for days. Sometimes he forgets that what he drinks is decaff tea and drinks some away from home, ends up looking like this: :shock:

 

[Yithian]

Caffeine Levels in Foods and Drinks

Levels of caffeine typically found in drinks and foods are listed in the following table obtained from the IFIC website (IFIC August 2002).


Item
Milligrams of Caffeine
Average Range
Coffee (5-oz. cup)
Brewed, drip method 115 60-180
Brewed, percolator 80 40-170
Instant 65 30-120
Decaffeinated, brewed 3 2-5
Decaffeinated, instant 2 1-5
Teas (5-oz. cup)
Brewed, major U.S. brands 40 20-90
Brewed, imported brands 60 25-110
Instant 30 25-50
Iced (12-oz. glass) 70 67-76
Some soft drinks (6 oz.) 18 15-30
Cocoa beverage (5 oz.) 4 2-20
Chocolate milk beverage (8 oz.) 5 2-7
Milk chocolate (1 oz.) 6 1-15
Dark chocolate, semi-sweet (1 oz.) 20 5-35
Baker's chocolate (1 oz.) 26 26
Chocolate-flavored syrup (1 oz.) 4 4

Source: U.S. Food and Drug Administration and National
Soft Drink Association

 

[Yithian]

Toxic Dose:



The lethal oral dose for caffeine is 10g for adults, which equals 150-200mg per kg of body weight. For children, toxicity begins at 35mg per kg body weight. Coffee normally contains 50-200mg of caffeine per cup, while tea contains 40-100mg per cup. Sleep suppressants usually contain 200mg of caffeine per pill.



Mechanism of Toxicity



Caffeine works by inhibiting adenosine receptors, which regulate heartbeat (decrease heart rate). When overdosed, caffeine stimulates beta-1 ( increased heart rate and force) and beta-2 (relax small muscle of GI and urogenital tract) receptors. The stimulation occurs through release of two endogenous catecholamines, epinephrine and norepinephrine.

Caffeine is absorbed quickly in the body. The elimination half life depends on the health status and age of the individual. It ranges between 3 hours in healthy smokers, 10 hours in nonsmokers, and 24 hours in infants. After overdose, the elimination half life may increase to up to 15 hours in adults.



Clinical Presentation of Caffeine Toxicity



Chronic excessive intake of caffeine can lead to serious toxicity with relatively low blood caffeine levels when compared to a single high dose. The clinical presentations for acute and chronic toxicity show little variation. Chronic intake of high doses leads to so-called “caffeinism”, which is characterized by nervousness, irritability, anxiety, tremulousness, muscle twitching, insomnia, palpitations, and hyperreflexia. Acute caffeine poisoning first causes anorexia, tremor and restlessness. Secondary symptoms are nausea, vomiting, tachycardia and confusion. Delirium, seizures, hypokalemia, hyperglycemia, supraventricular and ventricular tachyarrythmias (fast and irregular heart beat) and diastolic hypotension due to beta 2 mediated vasodialation (leads to increased pulse pressure) are other possible symptoms.



When diagnosing, caffeine toxicity must be differentiated from Theophylline toxicity because of similar symptoms. Theophylline is a drug used for treating asthma, bronchospasm, congestive heart failure, and neonatal apnea. Serum levels of 80mg caffeine per liter are found to be lethal for adults. In coffee drinkers, 1-10mg per liter is a normal range for caffeine blood levels.



Treatment of Caffeine Toxicity:



In emergencies, measures should be taken to keep the airway open. If present, seizures and hypotension should be treated. Heart rate should be monitored using EKG for at least 6 hours. Beta blockers can be used to reduce the effects of caffeine toxicity.



Activated charcoal should be used for decontamination at home. In a hospital setting, gastric emptying may be performed if deemed necessary after activated charcoal administration. Repeated use of activated charcoal can be used to enhance the elimination of caffeine.

 

[Anonymous]

Does sensitivity depend on your family origin? I have an African friend who cannot touch the stuff because it makes him shake. He said that in his country they don't drink coffee, and therefore his system has no tolerance. I guess the same can be said about alcohol, some countries have a ancient history of drinking and others not so much. :_pished:

 

[Mr_Eamcat2]

Caffeine vs Mental Illness

From personal experience, I know that sensitivity to caffeine can create certain psychotic episodes, it being a psychotropic drug an' all.

I don't take caffeine anymore, I see myself as having an allergy, and it causes awful problems with me.

I worry as to how many people are wrongly diagnosed with mental illnesses, depression, and general psychosis, when all they need to do is cut out or reduce their intake of caffeine.

Here's an intersting article:

http://doctoryourself.com/caffeine_allergy.html

 

[hokum6]

What sort of problems does it cause for you, if you don't mind me asking?

 

[Mr_Eamcat2]

I don't mind at all!

Confusion, very poor short term memory, irrational thought, paranoia, psycho-babble, depression, anxiety, irritability, perpetual sadness & withdrawal.

I've been on SSRIs, but it was the input of a particularly switched on doc that suggested the caffeine issue.

I cut it out and have been right as rain ever since.

Remarkable and oh so life changing for me.

It's a serious issue that ought to be in the public mind IMO.

 

[mossy_sloth]

caffeine used to have some of the above effects on me...anxiety, mild paranoia, short attention span etc... I always assumed that was what coffee did..being a stimulant and all... then I think I must have desensitised myself to it by drinking vast amounts of strong black coffee...now I don't get it so much...unless I drink more than usual, or drink it at nighttime.

I think maybe, if you are prone to those sorts of symptoms, then caffeine, being a stimulant, brings them to the fore, particularly if you normally make an effort to keep control of these feelings... If one of the effects of caffeine is to decrease attention span (and I don't know that it is , I'm just speculating here), then it makes sense that you would find it more difficult to control anxiety etc.

 

[Anome]

I believe the symptoms described are side-effects of caffeine, on the other hand different people have different sensitivities. It may not be an allergy, but a hyper-sensitivity.

Also, there are some people who have completely different weird effects from caffeine. For one, it makes them fall asleep.

Caffeine used to keep me awake, but now I find it has much less of an effect, possibly due to over-use of Jolt Cola for a while in the 90s.

 

[Mr_Eamcat2]

Odd isn't it?

Some people don't seem to be affected at all, others go nuts.

I wonder if it's a variable thing during one's lifetime, age determined perhaps?

Whatever, it's a life lesson that I've learnt well, thankfully at a (reasonably) young age.

 

[RainyOcean]

If I drink caffeine after having not drunk it for a while I get really hyper and crazy and just generally annoying as hell (I assume). However, if I drink it every day for a while I often get depressed. This started happening around the time my medications were switched around, so I think that the caffeine lessens the effects of the medication somehow.

 

[eyedonttrustyou]

Actually, I should probably add that while I don't get withdrawal symptoms if I drink too much (around 15 cups filter coffee) I either get into into an "I'm going to rip off the head of the next person who annoys me and pee down their neck" mood , or get to a near panic attack state....

I just don't get withdrawal symptoms...

Sorry, my first post came out a bit sharper than it was meant to...just a bit fed up of every bit of human behaviour being medicalised...and I'm on my seventh coffee BTW.

I only wish I could drink that much coffe.........I used to love coffee....but one day out of no were I just got all sensative to caffeine...

 

[RainyOcean]

Can't you drink decaff?

 

[Anome]

Decaff coffee: It tastes brown!

 

[sunsplash1]

Decaf Coffee: What's the point? Drink Tea for goodness sake!

 

[Yithian]

Tea contains caffeine, not in the quantity found in coffee, but it still contains it. It also contains theobromine.

TABLE 1. CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF BLACK TEA
Constituents Units
Theaflavins (%) 0.78
Thearubigins (%) 8.02
High polymerized substances (%) 11.19
Caffeine % 3.51
Total polyphenols % 20.0
Amino acids % 1.0
Protein % 20.6
Lipid % 2.5
Carbohydrates % 32.1
Moisture % 6.0
Calcium (mg/100 g) 470
Phosphorus (mg/100 g) 320
Iron (mg/100 g) 17.4
Sodium (mg/100 g) 3.0
Potassium (mg/100 g) 2000
Vitamin A (U /100 g) 900
Vitamin A (IU/100 g) 500
Vitamin B1 (mg/100 g) 0.10
Vitamin B2 (mg/100 g) 0.80
Niacin (mg/100 g) 10
Gallic acid (%) 0.15
Epigallo catechin (%) 0.57
(+) Catechin (%) 0.18
Epicatechin (%) 1.51
Epigallocatechin gallate (%) 2.86
Epicatechin gallate (%) 0.30

TABLE 2: FLAVOUR COMPOSITION OF BLACK TEA
Compound
a-pinene
Linalool oxide 1
Linalool oxide 2
Citronellal
Benzaldehyde
Linalool
Phenyl acetaldehyde
Geranyl acetate
Methyl salicylate
Nerol
Geraniol
a-ionone
Benzyl alcohol
Phenyl ethanol
b-ionone
cis-nerolidol
Methyl jasmonate

*slurp* ahhh!

 

[Yithian]

STOP PRESS!!

Just discovered this

Coffee is a complex mixture of potential "neutriceuticals." Coffee's chemical composition is determined by a complex interaction of agricultural factors, roasting, blending, and brewing. The main constituents of coffee have been known for over half a century.

In order of abundance, typical values for the water soluble constituents are: phenolic polymers (pulp) 8%, polysaccharides 6%, chlorogenic acids 4%, minerals 3%, water 2%, caffeine 1%, organic acids 0.5%, sugars 0.3%, lipids 0.2%, and aroma 0.1%.

The psychoactive effects of caffeine have been well documented, and most "folk knowledge" attributes the effects of coffee to be synonymous with those of caffeine, even though the other, more abundant components of coffee have not been extensively studied.

Green coffee beans contain up to 10% of chlorogenic acids, i.e., various isomers of hydroxy-cinnamoyl esters of quinic acid (a common plant constituent). Common to most plants and fruits, green coffee beans can contain as much as 10% of dry weight of chlorogenic acids. These are mixtures of mono- and di-esters of 3-substituted 4-hydroxycinnamic acid and quinic acid, a sugar-like molecule.

In the roasting process, approximately half of the chlorogenic acids lose a molecule of water, thereby forming an internal ester bond that results in a mixture of non-acidic quinolactones (quinides).

Brewing roasted coffee causes isomerisation of the quinides. This results in hundreds of different compounds, each with potentially unique pharmacological actions. Although few of these compounds are present in more than 0.3% of dry weight of coffee, each may contribute significantly to the effects of coffee as these compounds have chemical properties that allow ready entry into the brain. Furthermore, synergistic effects of different quinides acting on the same biological target may contribute to healthful coffee effects. The pharmacological effects of chlorogenic acids or quinides are mostly unknown. Of interest is a previous Australian report that 240 mg of ground coffee, approximately 1/5th of that contained in a 160 mL cup of coffee, displaced 50% of the binding of the opiate receptor antagonist [3H]naloxone. This suggests that this constituent of coffee may interact with the opiate system of the brain, which has been implicated in regulation of mood and well-being and in alcoholism and drug addiction.

source:ICS Research