Caffeine Absorbtion
I’m no doctor, and I’m not going to pretend any college degrees I may have are in the organic science spectrum, but I’m always interested in how caffeine and energy drinks affect the body. Especially, as a programmer, in staving off sleep, increasing and maintaining alertness, and getting things done faster.
Jason over at Vroom Foods (who make some very powerful mints and chocolates) said, “[...] caffeine is absorbed faster on an empty stomach,” and “[caffeine] is absorbed in your blood stream faster through sublingual infusion (ie through your cheek wall lining and under your tongue).” This makes sense, given that a lot of fast-acting medicines (nitro glycerine comes to mind) are administered under the tongue. So, I figured, what’s the most direct and powerful way to deliver caffeine into your body?
Well, I think I have my answer. Consider this an endoresement for the site everything2. You can usefully waste a lot of time there. I found this on everything2, which pretty much answered my questions. In short, they got ahold of some caffeine powder (can you really just order that like a dvd?), mixed it in with a saline solution, and used a nasal spray bottle to administer the concoction. The experience? “It felt like a cool breeze going in and had a kick like a mule. Unfortunately, there is a problem with using pure caffeine. It hits the system immediately. All of it. Instant up — instant down. We decided to swear off of it at this point, after I took the stuff one afternoon and developed temporary narcolepsy.”
Excellent. Then, I found this node, detailing the experiences of a guy who crushed a caffeine pill in an attempt to take less than the full 200mg. In short, “while I was reaching for the water, it crumbled to dust in my mouth. I swallowed it anyway, and realized my mistake in seconds. The rush of caffeine as the fine powder hit my stomach was incredible. I can count on my fingers the number of times in my life I’ve felt my consciousness alter from one second to another, and that was one of them.”
Well, question answered. Don’t try this at home, it’s dangerous and you might die.
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RECENTLY ADDED CAFFEINE
- RageQuitRelief100mg
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Wat About Caffeine disapation? How long does it take for caffiene to disapate from your body to determine exactly how long you have to ingest the caffiene to DIE. or the limit of time so you can slow down so u dont die. On average the human body can filter out 3oz of alcohol an hour. so wats caffiene?
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Just to let you know…….the LD50 for Caffeine is 10,000mg/KG, i dont think a line or 2 of caffeine is going to kill you.
As for “Don’t try this at home, it’s dangerous and you might die.”
Yeah i suppose you would if you crushed up around, oh, say…….100 No-Doze and snorted them all!! In One GO.
No, the LD_50 for caffeine is about 150mg/kg. That equates to about 10 grams for the average person, via oral administration.
A line probably won’t kill you, but remember, this is just for death by caffeine. If you have heart problems, blood pressure problems, mental problems, or something else, you might die a lot sooner.
I think you mean “Absorption” which is a little funny because it invokes the b->p rule…
I’m so there.
I really don’t see how crushing a caffeine pill and eating half could kill you. I do this every day and have for years! I buy the 200 mg pills because they are cheaper than 100 mg ones. I split them in half always. Then I eat half, letting it disolve before swallowing because I have trouble swallowing pills. It works fine for me in place of coffee two or three times a day!
so..this is kinda bull on the 150mg killing you
see…i’m 18
since i’ve been about 15 i’ve gone through a 12 pack of mt dew a day…not to mention a capachino every morning…
if caffeine in that amount were deadly….i wouldn’t be here
i would say u are more likely to choke on the damn thing then u are to overdose
i went to a site that sold caffeine. they warned against more than a gram at a time. it is possible to get caffeine poisoning tho
i’ve taken JET ALERTS for 5-6 years,i crushed one,took half of it . i never really noticed much diference,but i also take 130 mgs methadone daily too.
To devv:
Mountain dew has 55mg/12oz of liquid. An espresso has anywhere from 100-200mg per shot.
Total you are talking about 660mg for the 12-pack, and (assuming a single-shot espresso) and additional 200mg. Thats a total of 860mg (or 0.86g) of caffeine over probably 12 hours or more. LD50 of caffeine is 10g INSTANTANEOUS ABSORPTION (Meaning taken all at once). You aren’t taking anywhere near that amount and definitely not at once.
To facforrester:
You are probably immune to the effects of it. Try to discontinue for a month (or at least a few weeks) then do the same thing. You’ll notice a difference.
i am trying to do my crswk on the effect of caffeine on the nervous system, none of you have helped me!
Having suffered from sleep problems for a while now, I’ve been experimenting a little with different caffeine administration routes, and the best by far is sublingualy.
Just break off 50mgs of a caffeine tablet and chew it up with a piece of gum or two. It diffuses through the mucous membranes in your cheeks and under your tongue, and hits your bloodstream almost instantly. Lasts for about an hour.
Also, something I read in National Geographic that you caffeine freaks might want to make note of… nicotine doubles the rate that caffeine is metabolized into the body. A small downside to this, I guess, is that a person on caffeine only absorbs half the nicotine he would under normal circumstances.
Just some food for thought. Wonder if the gum route works for ambien?
@caffeinated lady:Do you dissolve the pill in liquid or just in your mouth?
One thing about the everything2.com guy’s post was, “The problem is that while I was reaching for the water, it crumbled to dust in my mouth.I swallowed it anyway, and realized my mistake in seconds.”
So he actually had just the powder in his mouth and swallowed it without water, as he was reaching for it. If he had mixed it in the water I wonder if it would’ve been different.
The best way I’ve found to administer caffeine is by sucking on the beans. You can hold hem in your cheeks.