this post was submitted on 23 Oct 2023
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Sarah Katz, 21, had a heart condition and was not aware of the drink’s caffeine content, which exceeded that of cans of Red Bull and Monster energy drinks combined, according to a legal filing

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[–] A_Random_Idiot 51 points 1 year ago (9 children)

I drank a monster energy once (well, to be precise, about half of one.),back when energy drinks were still relatively new and there wasnt as much common knowledge about them as there is today.

Just that half of a can was enough to make me feel like I was going to die.

My resting heart rate was over 150bpm, was shaking with tremors, and cold sweating. I genuinely thought I was gonna die.

And I have never so much as touched another one, and will never touch another one, for the rest of my life.

They are incredibly dangerous and shouldnt be something any kid or idiot can walk into a store and buy with couple bucks.

and I have absolutely no idea how there are people that exist out there that can drink 6-10 of them a day without spontaneously combusting from tremor induced cellular friction.

[–] [email protected] 38 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

They are not incredibly dangerous, not be a long shot.

They can be dangerous to a very small subset of people with preexisting conditions and that's about it.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

The trouble is quite a lot of people have the pre-existing condition of being brainless. So they mainline 5 cans in a row, if you do that with Coke nothing happens, if you do that with Monster even a healthy person is going to have heart problems.

Also some prat had a great idea of mixing it with Yeager. Thus mixing two of the most disgusting liquids in the world together. But more importantly mixing a stimulant and a suppressant, which again can have serious health risks even for otherwise healthy individuals.

We don't sell glue to children even though most of them probably won't sniff it. So why do we tolerate energy drinks for them? The lasting kids need is to be even more hyper.

[–] afraid_of_zombies 1 points 1 year ago

Mine is cannabis and booze. Never mix something that makes me want to throw up with something that settles the stomach. If I drink too much I want it out of my body ASAP.

[–] A_Random_Idiot 5 points 1 year ago (3 children)

"They are not incredibly dangerous, except for when they are incredibly dangerous"

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (10 children)

By that logic, peanuts are also "incredibly dangerous".

Note: I'm not promoting or condoning the consumption of energy drinks, they are generally unhealthy. But calling them "incredibly dangerous" because they can evoke such a reaction in a small subset of the population is bullshit.

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[–] sploosh 10 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Is it not credible that a small slice of people might be extra sensitive to something that the rest of the population can handle without issue?

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

You dont read so good

[–] [email protected] 35 points 1 year ago (1 children)

There often more caffeine in a standard coffee than half a litre of monster energy drink.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I'm guessing that every person is different when it comes to energy drink tolerance, or there might be some underlying conditions. Back when I used to drink energy drinks, I wouldn't really feel anything except for maybe feeling a bit more "energetic" but I'm not sure how much of that is placebo. Granted, I wouldn't drink 6-10 cans a day because I don't think they taste that good, and would only drink a can occasionally.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yeah, it seems for every person like the above with, I assume, a sensitivity to caffeine, there's my friend from high school that pounded 3 BFC Monsters (32 oz each) and went to the next class like nothing happened.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)

It’s not really the caffeine that’s the problem in most energy drinks. It actually has less caffeine than a typical cup of coffee. It’s the addition of things like guarana, taurine, niacin, and ginseng that make them problematic for many. The high amounts of sugar in most can have pretty negative effects too.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Fair enough, caffeine aside, my point is the same. Some people look at an energy drink and begin vibrating and other need to drink it like water to feel an effect at all.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Shit its got niacin in? That sounds scary! I'm going to cut anything that contains niacin out of my diet!

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[–] ASeriesOfPoorChoices 15 points 1 year ago (2 children)

250ml: caffeine

Energy drinks: 80mg

Coffee: 100mg (80-120)

Cola: 25mg

Black tea: 12-20mg

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Wait coffee has more caffeine then energy drinks?

[–] Dekudibusei 10 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I haven't verified the numbers (yet), but the fact remains that no one would drink 3000 ml of coffee a day. And that's what we see happen with energy drinks all the time (source: I'm one of the toxicologists manning emergency line in our national poison control center).

[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 year ago (1 children)

the fact remains that no one would drink 3000 ml of coffee a day

This sounds like a lot, but it's only two pots. I used to do that all the time. I'm kinda surprised that "no one would". I know it wasn't healthy and I stopped because it was affecting my health.

Maybe it's just my area. A Dunkin Large is 700ml, and I know people who pound 2 in the morning and have one over lunch on a normal day. Then actually (their/our words) drink coffee on the tough hangover days.

[–] jandar_fett 1 points 1 year ago

They've actually done pretty recent studies and concluded you would have to get above 10 cups of coffee for it to stop being healthy.

Note that I said healthy and NOT that it would then be unhealthy. I'm bot sure how much coffee you would have to drink for that to happen, but seeing as how caffeine was misattributed to being hard on the heart and cardiovascular system, I imagine it would take a lot or like this poor young woman, you'd have to have a heart problem already.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Speak for yourself… I brew a minimum of 3 pots daily, for me…

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

Energy drinks have more in them than caffeine

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

Depends on the energy drink. The little V8 energy drinks have 80mg, and the green dragon extreme has 180mg in the same 8oz can. But yeah coffee has more than people think.

[–] ASeriesOfPoorChoices 5 points 1 year ago

Yep. For proper brewed coffee, anyway.

[–] Frozengyro 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Those numbers are off.

Energy drink: 80-300mg

Coffee: 80-120mg this was accurate

Cola/other soda: 25-55mg

Black tea: 40-60mg

[–] Sklrtle 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

What energy drink has 300mg caffeine in 250ml?

Highest I can think of is Viso at ~160mg per 250ml

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

Half a monster is 43mg caffeine. About as much as a Pepsi, or less than 3oz of Dunkin Donuts coffee (a small is 180mg at 10oz). I'm not at all saying you're lying about your experience, but what you are describing is an extreme caffeine sensitivity (or a reaction to something else).

[–] afraid_of_zombies 7 points 1 year ago

I don't drink energy drinks anymore but to answer your question you build up tolerance.

[–] blue_zephyr 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I used to chug multiple of those on the way home from school and didn't feel a thing. I think we lose much resilience with age.

[–] A_Random_Idiot 3 points 1 year ago

I am not, and was not, sensitive to caffeine in any way.

Hell, that can be proven just by the embarrassingly large amount of Mountain Dew I drank a day during that era of my life, which had absolutely zero effect on me.

[–] LaunchesKayaks 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

My boss drinks like 8 energy drinks a day. Idk how he isn't dead.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago

Maybe he is, but he just hasn't come down from the high yet.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

Same, caffeine content aside it's like 100 grams in sugar every day from energy drinks. Gross

[–] DillyDaily 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I have absolutely no idea how there are people that exist out there that can drink 6-10 of them a day without spontaneously combusting from tremor induced cellular friction.

A few years ago my doctor put me on beta blockers to try and manage my migraines. My blood pressure was always within healthy limits, usually around 110/70, on the beta blockers it dropped a little bit, but nothing drastic. My heart rate on the other hand?

Resting, it was 41-45 bmp, sitting and fidgeting it was 54-58bpm, and walking around it was 65-73. I'd have to really push hard at the gym to get it to 100 and it would drop back down so suddenly when I stopped I'd often get blue lips when doing cool down stretches.

My fingers and toes were always blue, I had chilblains in the middle of the summer.

When I asked my doctor if I should try Alpha Blockers because they don't effect your heart he said "just drink a can of redbull 3-4 times a day"

So that's what I did.

It wasn't until I changed doctors and she asked me about my tea and coffee habits that it fully dawned on me just how much caffeine I was having.

I completely forgot tea has caffeine, I'd have 5-8 cups a day, plus 3 no-doze pills, 2 red bulls and a ristretto on most work days. On weekends I'd have 3-4 teas, 2-3 red bulls, 2 coffees and a caffeine based pre-workout.

My resting heart rate during all this was about 58bpm....and I slept like a log.

Anyway, my new doctor was horrified and I'm on alpha blockers now. Still no migraines, I've had to cut out everything caffeinated except 3 cups of tea a day, my resting heart rate is 67bpm....but now I have orthostatic hypotension which kinda sucks. Not as bad as taking trucker crack just so my he would remember to beat. I also struggle with intermittent bouts of insomnia now, which is weird.

[–] jandar_fett 2 points 1 year ago

I, too am horrified that an actual doctor with a doctorate in medicine would suggest that a patient pound multiple energy drinks instead of I dunno, using medicine that you even suggested.