Caffeine side-effects?

[ianess]

Silly me....in an attempt to delay tiredness after a long day I had a small can of `red` something or other [not Red Bull] at about 3pm yesterday. After attending the worst football match I have seen in decades at Hampden Park I didn`t get a wink of sleep all night. Self-inflicted maybe but should ONE small can of a caffeinated drink have that sort of effect?

[OBonio]

Red Square? It's also the amount of sugar in these things but I'd have thought the caffeine and sugar would have been out of your system if you had it at 3pm. What else did you have in the evening? Late eating can cause bad sleep too.

[nicola_red]

Caffeine has a half-life of seven hours so half of it would still have been in your system at 10pm, and those drinks are absolutely loaded with it...but it depends on your caffeine tolerance anyway. I drink caffeine-free tea throughout the day and once or twice a week I treat myself to a Starbucks coffee in the morning, which has a palpable 'perking' effect until about lunchtime. A can of red bull or the like is enough to make me twitch and jitter all day! Whereas my bf, who drinks caffienated tea and coffee all day, can drink coffee before bedtime and still get a decent nite's sleep.

[Enola]

Definatly down to your personal tolerance of caffeine - also if you had had little else to eat or drink all day it would have absorbed quicker. To avoid the same effect, try drinking after lining your stomach with toast or yoghurt and making sure you have had regular sips of water throughout the day. Excercise but do not eat 2 hours before bed to burn of any left over in your system :) Hope this helps (a caffine addict!)