Laurin Patrick used to wake up every morning for class, brush her teeth, then drink a Coke. The senior business major would go to school and attend class, then return home for lunch. What would she drink with her lunch? A Coke. She would return to school and finish her classes for the day and return home to celebrate with a Coke. Patrick knew she had a problem.
“It was an addiction,” she said, furrowing her brows and frowning.
The addiction was even worse in high school. Patrick would stay up all night; she had insomnia. She would drink at least six Cokes a day. She experienced a cycle of tired sleeplessness, she said.
She still experienced the cycle in college. Unable to fall asleep, she would drink a Coke in the morning to keep herself awake; she felt she needed the caffeine to avoid being tired in class. She was still experiencing insomnia, and she knew it wasn’t making things better by drinking so much caffeine.
But Patrick liked the taste of Coke much more than any other drink containing caffeine. It really became a problem. If she wanted a Coke in the early morning, some time between 3 and 7 a.m., she would just go to the nearest gas station and buy one. She soon realized this problem needed to be fixed.
Nutrition education graduate assistant DeAnna Dahlem said Patrick’s problems with Coke are the common symptoms of withdrawal that any drug-addict experiences. The symptoms may include headaches, fatigue or muscle pain. Caffeine drinkers may experience these within 24 hours of their last dose.
Caffeine works like any drug. It manipulates dopamine, a neurotransmitter in the brain that causes pleasure; caffeine blocks the reuptake of dopamine, which causes the pleasure sensation to last longer. It is also an amphetamine; It speeds the heart rate and blood pressure. It causes calcium loss, weakening bones.
“It works like heroin or cocaine, but it has a much weaker effect,” Dahlem said.
Amy Edwards, a graduate student of counselor education, said most people use caffeine to stay alert, enhance their performance, enjoy the taste or socialize. It can easily be abused, and some of the signs are chronic inability to sleep, chronic insomnia, nervousness and irritability.
A person who ingests more than 600 mg a day may experience depression, a rapid heartbeat or ringing in the ears. However, a person who ingests more than 1000 mg per day will experience caffeinism, and addiction will follow.
“Moderation is the key with caffeine,” Edwards said.
Patrick decided to give up caffeine, namely Coke, in January, and she said it has been a battle. The first week was horrible because she experienced headaches and felt more tired than she usually did. She experienced severe cravings for Coke and felt a need for something with the soda in it.
Her roommate, sophomore human sciences major Monique Mills, stumbled upon Patrick during her fight with caffeine several times at home and on campus with a Coke in her hand. Mills would ask, “What are you doing?” Patrick would have no answer. She simply wanted a Coke.
Patrick said she was hyper all the time when she drank Coke, and she would constantly take naps. Now, after a month of being caffeine-free, Patrick doesn’t even have a desire for Coke.
“Ever since she stopped drinking caffeine,” Mills said, “she’s been more studious, and she’s also sleeping regularly.”