DOSE:

oral

Caffeine

(pill / tablet)

BODY WEIGHT:

185 lb

[Erowid Note: The doses described in this report are potentially life threatening. The amount taken is beyond a heavy dose and could pose serious health risks or result in unwanted, extreme effects. Doses such as this have been known to cause hospitalizations and/or deaths. Sometimes extremely high doses reported are errors rather than actual doses used.]
Society may make caffeine seem harmless, due to its legality and widespread use, but it can be devastating in high doses. I’ve had plenty of experience with high doses of caffeine in the past, but never a dose this high (3 grams).

It started last night when I was feeling tired relatively tired at around 8 o’clock. I decided that I would take some caffeine pills to wake myself up, but I decided since I was taking them to stay awake I might as well take a recreational dose. I took 15 200 milligram caffeine pills and then went downstairs to play video games.

After about an hour, at 9 o’clock, I started shaking more than I usually would after taking caffeine. My stomach felt like it was in a knot and I began to get nauseous. As soon as I stood up I knew I was going to vomit, so I ran to the bathroom and proceeded to puke my brains out. I gagged for a good 15 minutes before I was able to pull myself together and leave the bathroom. I immediately went to the medicine cabinet and took 2 antacid tablets to ease my stomach pains. This helped my stomach dramatically, but at this point my stomach was the least of my worries.

My body was trembling all over, and my heart rate was through the roof. I felt like bugs were crawling through my veins, and moving around only made my heart beat even faster. For the next 5 hours, from about 9:30 to 3:30, I layed down on my couch and tried to sleep, but of course the caffeine wouldn’t let my body rest. So for 5 hours I was lying on my couch in agony just waiting for the caffeine to leave my system. During this time period my body was in so much discomfort I can’t even begin to describe how bad it was. Around 12 o’clock I started to have a few mild hallucinations, such as seeing shadows in the room become real things, and a general distortion of my vision occurred. This only lasted about 30 minutes, but it made me even more uncomfortable. Around 1 o'clock I thought my heart was going to give out. It was pumping so hard I thought I was going to have a heart attack, but thankfully I was able to stay alive. Around 3:30 I was finally able to fall asleep for 2 hours before waking up.

As soon as I woke up I knew I was going to have a terrible day. All day I’ve been rather sedentary, only getting up for food and water and sleeping a little in between. My brain feels fried and my body is absolutely exhausted. Next time I would ctry smaller doses. I can usually take 1 gram which gives me good stimulation with minor side effects, but 3 grams wiped me out. Caffeine may be completely legal and seem harmless, but in high doses it has dangerously strong effects. Even now, over 24 hours since I took the caffeine, I’m still having trouble sleeping.

Exp Year: 2008	ExpID: 72519
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Jul 8, 2019	Views: 868
[ View PDF (to print) ] [ View LaTeX (for geeks) ] [ Swap Dark/Light ]
Caffeine (11) : Overdose (29), Hangover / Days After (46), Health Problems (27), Alone (16)