“The Pleasures and Pains of Coffee” | Hacker News Reader

“The Pleasures and Pains of Coffee”

blissbat.net

63 pointstryitnow21 comments

Amusing article :) -- but in all seriousness I have been subject to many of the effects of caffeine overdose. Some days I might drink over 800 mg (the rough equivalent of 8 cups of coffee), via energy drinks, soda, and/or espresso. My stomach suffered a lot from the acidity, including acid reflux and damage to my stomach lining (mostly from soda - also, inconclusively, I suspect my appendicitis may have been related to this abuse). I would undergo "panic attacks" - i.e. adrenaline rushes, especially after exercising or during the summer and sometimes sweat like crazy in public. My sleep hours became backwards since I was self-employed - I would wake up at night and sleep through the day most of the time. I even tried quitting once for about a month, but could not handle the constant fatigue. All in the name of keep my mental gears turning to be a "better" programmer :)

Not sure if you're serious, but that sounds pretty extreme.

In my experience after a week or two off caffeine my energy levels actually improve & are more sustainable (although everyone's metabolism is different; reason why we all need to experiment for ourselves).

Did you try changing/hacking your diet and sleep cycles in the same process? I've found sugar problematic if I'm not on caffeine.

Yeah I am serious - I tried a number of things but at least my state is not so extreme anymore. I have quit soda and energy drinks, and only drink 3 shots of espresso (maximum) per day, which is under 300 mg typically (within the "acceptable" range for caffeine intake). I try to minimize my sugar as well and do not put any in my espresso, just milk.

I had absolutely the same experience. Quitting caffeine entirely made me so much happier and healthier. I sleep better, I can concentrate more easily and I don't get irritable like I used to. I felt faster witted and more productive when drinking coffee but empirically actually got less done.

Same thing for me. Caffeine only seems to boost capability in real terms when used sparingly (once a week or two). Otherwise, one becomes dependent on it and is simply medicating withdrawals which makes them feel like they're more focused when in reality they are simply no longer withdrawing. It's the classic drug addiction cycle but, given the comparative (with harder drugs) lack of serious side effects, it's generally considered to be safe. For people like me, however, the side effects outweigh the benefits 9 times out of 10 since it just makes me anxious and encourages fight or flight responses where they're not necessary.

Couldn't you switch to caffeine tablets re: acidity?

For context, the author of this piece died in 1850 at age 51, after years of health troubles... sometimes attributed to his unhealthy work habits and caffeine (ab)use.

For more context, I believe the average lifespan of the era was nearer 40.

Average lifespan is a pretty useless number because of all the infant deaths, though.

Yes. I went looking for life expectancy at 20 in 1830s France but could not find it via casual Googling.

EDIT: Ah, should have gone straight to Wolfram Alpha: The answer is that if you lived to be 20 odds were you'd live to 60. Unless, alas, you were Balzac.

http://m.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=life+expectancy+at+20+in+...

Alpha is the amateur demographer's dream. Just look at those tasty charts and graphs. Of course I didn't read closely enough to figure out where this data was coming from. ;)

Yes, but mainly because of the baby mortality which has decreased very much since then. This has an huge effect on livespan statistics.

Yes, before science made the digestive process and it's effects on the human spirit entirely clear to us, people actually thought their personal experience and sensitivity to particular substances were relevant! Imagine that!

/sarcasm

Nietzsche's Ecce Homo has similarly interesting musings on the subject of diet and exercise.

Coffee is a shortcut for me that I have to take. I can do without but it takes me like 2 hours to feel awake when I do. However I can drink a coffee and be rid of the grogginess in 10-15 minutes. I think that were I to truly quit I would need to take some time off and suffer through it.

I am seriously considering switching to modafinil as a daily stimulant, caffeine either doesn't work for me in lower dosages, or makes me twitchy when it works.

Another fun thing from coffee is caffeine psychosis, or generalized stimulant psychosis similar to those sometimes experience by users of (meth)amphetamines.

For some reason, I read it as if it were the writings of Ignatius Reilly.

They must've had some strong coffee in those days.

It's time for the percolator http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMEDZnM_TZE

Now that's a black cup of coffee :)

http://vimeo.com/20253107

This article is pre-espresso, pre-percalator, and pre-vac pot even.

I would get a lot of stomach aches, grogginess and coffee burn out from drinking regular drip. Though he is describing some sort of weird tea-like method for drinking coffee, I imagine it's as bad.

Drinking a few espressos does not give me any issues, unless there is an issue with the extraction and I can feel like I've been poisoned. You have to trust your barista.

Lovely readability you've got there. Never the less, a good read.

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