Recent mention of the stuff in another thread reminded me that I had a question about what effects not having an energy drink have on someone who is accustomed to consuming them on a frequent and regular basis. According to one AI source withdrawal from the caffeine can result in physical effects and their regular use can lead to psychological cravings that can be disturbing.

What say those with actual heavy use experience? Can you/could you do without them and not have any ill effects? (If it’s not clear, I have zero experience with the drinks.)

They're mainly caffeine and sugar, in large quantities. (Or just caffeine, in the case of zero sugar energy drinks.) Like anything else with caffeine and/or sugar, they can be addictive. But it's not anything unique to energy drinks.

Caffeine is physically addictive, with mild physical withdrawal effects (headaches, crankiness, lethargy, etc.) if you quit cold turkey.

Sugar is psychologically addictive. Your body rewards eating sugar by releasing a burst of dopamine, and some people overconsume sugar in order to keep that happy chemical flowing. But it's not physically addictive in the traditional sense with withdrawal symptoms.

But again, this isn't unique to energy drinks. Someone could experience the same effects from drinking soda/tea/coffee, or eating candy/chocolate/desserts.

The only thing with energy drinks is that its caffeine and sugar is present in larger quantities than something like a normal soda. To the point where if you drink multiple energy drinks in quick succession, you're consuming way more than the recommended amount of caffeine, and overconsuming huge amounts of caffeine at one time can cause issues with things like raising your heart rate and blood pressure or not allowing you to sleep despite needing to.

Same as a Pepsi or coffee. And in my experience they don’t do anything for energy, they are just trans sodas.

quote:

Originally posted by OttoSig:
And in my experience they don’t do anything for energy, they are just trans sodas.

Pretty much this. More potent, more concentrated soda.

Some energy drinks will flaunt their "patented herbal energy formula" and have supplements added like taurine, ginseng, or B vitamins, but that's typically just marketing fluff.

It's basically just the sugar and caffeine that's making you feel (temporarily) energized/awake.

I have one a day but it does not bother me to miss. It is just a habit - having one in the morning when I get to work. I drink the sugar free ones (which have plenty of artificial ingredients that are not good).

There are habits, and there are addictions. To me, an addiction is having your life revolve around getting the next "fix." Having said that, I know and have known people who have a serious habit, a half dozen a day - plus cigarettes - in one case. I don't like them myself; my caffeine "fix" is largely relegated to my morning coffee.

There are also soft drinks not marketed as energy drinks, but are a distinction without a difference. Mountain Dew is probably the most famous one. Mello Yello is supposed to be highly caffeinated. A locally produced one, related to Mountain Dew, is Dr. Enuf.

Once about a decade ago, I stopped by a large car dealer to check out a rig I was interested in seeing. About 11AM, the lot was open for business but no one seemed around. After walking around a few similar vehicles, I was about ready to leave but was pounced upon by a seedy looking salesman with an 'energy drink' in his hand.

After a few minutes he excused himself 'for a moment' to go get another 'energy drunk'. He actually developed a case of the jitters on his return with a new half-can. I don't know what his trip was but I had to disengage as his behavior was too distracted to waste more time. Could have been anything I guess but he even made a couple 'energy drink jokes'

I have rarely ever drank an energy drink and only drink one cup of coffee each morning. If I am traveling for work pulling a 13 hour day driving and starting to feel sleepy, I will get a Red Bull to drink and do jumping jacks. I am sure someone thinks it is pretty strange seeing some guy in uniform doing jumping jacks outside an unmarked car but I don’t care.

I had an employee once that literally drank so many all day long. He drank the large Monster Energy. When we would have a meeting and he couldn’t have one at the time he became very irritable. One day it got so bad he threatened a fellow employee and I had to remove him and write him up. I told him he had a problem with the energy drinks and it was causing problems when he was “crashing” from not having one. He agreed and stopped drinking them and all was good. So I do think they can be addictive in a way. Many things can become addictive.

I've never found them to be so and went from 2-3 a day to 0 with no ill effects.

My wife and I each drank a Monster Energy every day for 10 years. 6 months ago we quit and now we drink one a week. No issues cutting back. I do miss the daily kick.

I’ve drank the zero or very low calorie versions for years, as needed, for an afternoon pick me up. They aren’t any more harmful than coffee AFAIAC. I quit coffee in the morning, recently, because together with an afternoon energy drink (before my lifting session at the gym), too much caffeine in the blood stream. Was having a bad effect on me with sleep. Caffeine tolerance varies with each person. I have a friend that can drink coffee at night and go to sleep 15 minutes after and sleep like a baby. Makes me jealous as I could never do that. Addictive? I don’t think so. Humans can make anything addictive. Many people I know are addicted to fast food.

Energy drinks are no more addictive than any other caffeinated beverage. In fact, drinks like Red Bull 8 oz. cans have about the same amount of caffeine as a regular old cup of coffee. The obvious draw is a cold drink with the same pick-me-up as a hot cup o’joe. There are plenty of options with way more caffeine- the most I’ve seen on actual shelves is a whopping 300mgs. compared to 80 from an 8oz Red Bull. For the uninitiated, 200+ is a huge caffeine dump but the body acclimates fairly quickly to habitual consumption.

Back when Big Lots used to get actual overstock instead of higher priced retail stuff, I chased cheap .25-.50 cents a can energy drinks by the case. These days, even if I didn’t like strong coffee more, $2+ for a highly caffeinated soda holds no interest for me.

I can't stand them myself. I remember Jolt Cola years ago and that stuff was nasty. I have tried a few others recently but don't care for them. I would rather get my caffeine the old fashion way with my coffee.

quote:

Originally posted by Prefontaine:
I’ve drank the zero or very low calorie versions for years, as needed, for an afternoon pick me up. They aren’t any more harmful than coffee AFAIAC. I quit coffee in the morning, recently, because together with an afternoon energy drink (before my lifting session at the gym), too much caffeine in the blood stream. Was having a bad effect on me with sleep. Caffeine tolerance varies with each person. I have a friend that can drink coffee at night and go to sleep 15 minutes after and sleep like a baby. Makes me jealous as I could never do that. Addictive? I don’t think so. Humans can make anything addictive. Many people I know are addicted to fast food.

I can drink an energy drink and go right to sleep. Caffeine does nothing for me unfortunately.

Of course they are addictive. The caffeine, sugar, and herbal supplements are put in there to elicit a dopamine surge. The body finds this pleasurable and seeks more. How addictive they are varies from person to person. Just like there are people who can smoke or chew tobacco only occasionally, there are those who if they have one they fall right back off the wagon. Same with alcohol, drugs, sex, gambling, and many other things. The body seeks out what it likes, sometimes against our better judgement.

Gatorade 0 calorie, no caffeine.
No addiction.

As addictive as coffee or ice tea.

Any other reports about withdrawal effects, one way or another?

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:
Gatorade 0 calorie, no caffeine.
No addiction.

About 50% of Gatorade products contain added sugars. Of the remaining, "no sugar" drinks, 50 % of those contain sucralose AND acesulfame potassium. Nasty chemicals. The other 50% (gatorade fit and fatorlyte zero) use stevia.

Sugar is addicting.

Just playing devil's advocate. IMO, it's like the craze in the late 90's through 2010's of caffeine and sugar-free sodas. The chemicals they added to those drinks were worse than the sugars and caffeine.

We had a member who was pounding 5+ 5 Minute Energy drinks to get going, and he got a little hairy and had to quit.

I forget who it was, but some of the rage posts were really pretty entertaining.