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Comment by pclark | Hacker News Reader

oh, and dont drink fucking red bull

I suffer from attention deficit disorder, but before I was diagnosed I was self-medicating myself with stimulants – coffee and energy drinks. I started a two-Red-Bull-per-day habit. I found that I was better able to focus in the morning, and could more easily handle the morning's issues, making me far more productive at work.

So, apparently I have Crohn's Disease. I found that out because the Red Bull irritated my digestive system so much that I had my first flare up and ended up in the hospital – twice. That was three years ago, and I'm only just now starting to recover from it. I'm getting my energy back, I can drink and eat more food, etc. Except I have to take immunosuppressant medication to keep the Crohn's controlled, which means I get sick (cold, flu, etc.) extremely easily, and I stay sick a lot longer. Also, I've had a ton of radiation exposure due to all the CAT scans, etc. I've gone through.

So, next time someone tells you Red Bull (or whatever) is bad for you, don't just shrug it off like I did. Our bodies are fragile machines in a delicate balance. Upset that balance enough and the machine goes haywire, and it's pretty hard to find spare parts.

About Crohn's disease: a friend had it, and her doctor never mentioned the following treatment, which is newish and apparently quite effective:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helminthic_therapy

Thanks for the link. A person close to me has recently started exhibiting symptoms of MS (and no, in probably the one and only case on this site, that doesn't stand for Microsoft). I will be sure to speak to the neurologist about this treatment and associated research.

Funny story: A startup I used to work for occupies the former offices of a snowboard company. We continued to receive monthly promotional cases of Red Bull for as long as I worked there.

I was a jittery mess for the two months I had a 3+/day habit.

This can't have too much emphasis. Red Bull and its ilk will pretty much destroy your nervous system -- even one a day is probably too much.

Please explain how (with links to sane sources if possible).

'sane' sources as in not some random blog or 'answers' site, they're hard to come by, so I'm guessing that it is not all that clear cut.

I did find this:

http://www.springerlink.com/index/1185172kt700868t.pdf

Which has as a lead "Energy drink consumption has been anecdotally linked to the development of adverse cardiovascular effects in consumers, although clinical trials to support this link are lacking.", but there are some interesting observations in it.

And this one:

http://www.modern-psychiatry.com/taurine.htm

and this one:

http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/diet...

Of the not-so-sane sources this one seemed a bit more balanced than most:

http://brianx.com/nightlife/energy-drinks.html

What the hell is 'taurine' ? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taurine

Enjoy the read.

Not a sane source but a personal anecdote:

I stayed up all night before my sub-thesis due date finishing it off thanks to Red Eye (red bull analogue). I had so much of it that I was literally shaking late into the night.

In general my caffiene intake is zero - my theory is if you drink it every day it has less of an effect than when you really need it. I rely on willpower most of the time if working late.

A reverse tolerance, as is commonly associated with marijuana? My experience has been different. I used to be addicted to caffeine. I wasn't measuring my intake, but at times it was probably near a gram a day. Since breaking my addiction, I have caffeine on occasion. A single cup of black tea now has a pretty strong effect on me, where previously it was barely noticeable.

Former biofeedback therapist here. The effect of caffeine on muscle tension is measurable: it is impossible for nearly everyone to achieve as deep a muscular relaxation (measured by EMG) after just 100mg caffeine.

I haven't looked at evidence in years, but the gastrointestinal and heart rate effects of even higher levels can be remarkable. I remember medical journal articles (Am J Psychiatry, i believe) referring to it as "caffeinism" - since the mental-alertness benefits habituate, but not the autonomic stimulation.

Like with any mind-alteration: exercise caution. Listen to what your own body tells you.

It's still illegal to sell Red Bull in France isn't it?

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