

“The Pleasures and Pains of Coffee” - tryitnow
http://blissbat.net/balzac.html

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gavanwoolery
Amusing article :) -- but in all seriousness I have been subject to many of
the effects of caffeine overdose. Some days I might drink over 800 mg (the
rough equivalent of 8 cups of coffee), via energy drinks, soda, and/or
espresso. My stomach suffered a lot from the acidity, including acid reflux
and damage to my stomach lining (mostly from soda - also, inconclusively, I
suspect my appendicitis may have been related to this abuse). I would undergo
"panic attacks" - i.e. adrenaline rushes, especially after exercising or
during the summer and sometimes sweat like crazy in public. My sleep hours
became backwards since I was self-employed - I would wake up at night and
sleep through the day most of the time. I even tried quitting once for about a
month, but could not handle the constant fatigue. All in the name of keep my
mental gears turning to be a "better" programmer :)

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jwilliams
Not sure if you're serious, but that sounds pretty extreme.

In my experience after a week or two off caffeine my energy levels actually
improve & are more sustainable (although everyone's metabolism is different;
reason why we all need to experiment for ourselves).

Did you try changing/hacking your diet and sleep cycles in the same process?
I've found sugar problematic if I'm not on caffeine.

~~~
gavanwoolery
Yeah I am serious - I tried a number of things but at least my state is not so
extreme anymore. I have quit soda and energy drinks, and only drink 3 shots of
espresso (maximum) per day, which is under 300 mg typically (within the
"acceptable" range for caffeine intake). I try to minimize my sugar as well
and do not put any in my espresso, just milk.

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gojomo
For context, the author of this piece died in 1850 at age 51, after years of
health troubles... sometimes attributed to his unhealthy work habits and
caffeine (ab)use.

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VBprogrammer
For more context, I believe the average lifespan of the era was nearer 40.

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Tichy
Average lifespan is a pretty useless number because of all the infant deaths,
though.

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mechanical_fish
Yes. I went looking for life expectancy at 20 in 1830s France but could not
find it via casual Googling.

EDIT: Ah, should have gone straight to Wolfram Alpha: The answer is that if
you lived to be 20 odds were you'd live to 60. Unless, alas, you were Balzac.

[http://m.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=life+expectancy+at+20+in+...](http://m.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=life+expectancy+at+20+in+France+1830&x=0&y=0)

Alpha is the amateur demographer's dream. Just look at those tasty charts and
graphs. Of course I didn't read closely enough to figure out where this data
was coming from. ;)

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BasDirks
Yes, before science made the digestive process and it's effects on the human
spirit entirely clear to us, people actually thought their personal experience
and sensitivity to particular substances were relevant! Imagine that!

/sarcasm

Nietzsche's _Ecce Homo_ has similarly interesting musings on the subject of
diet and exercise.

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S_A_P
Coffee is a shortcut for me that I have to take. I can do without but it takes
me like 2 hours to feel awake when I do. However I can drink a coffee and be
rid of the grogginess in 10-15 minutes. I think that were I to truly quit I
would need to take some time off and suffer through it.

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fullmoon
I am seriously considering switching to modafinil as a daily stimulant,
caffeine either doesn't work for me in lower dosages, or makes me twitchy when
it works.

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mannicken
Another fun thing from coffee is caffeine psychosis, or generalized stimulant
psychosis similar to those sometimes experience by users of
(meth)amphetamines.

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bm1362
For some reason, I read it as if it were the writings of Ignatius Reilly.

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dcvetinovic
Now that's a black cup of coffee :)

<http://vimeo.com/20253107>

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jacques_chester
They must've had some strong coffee in those days.

~~~
tqgupta
It's time for the percolator <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMEDZnM_TZE>

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napierzaza
This article is pre-espresso, pre-percalator, and pre-vac pot even.

I would get a lot of stomach aches, grogginess and coffee burn out from
drinking regular drip. Though he is describing some sort of weird tea-like
method for drinking coffee, I imagine it's as bad.

Drinking a few espressos does not give me any issues, unless there is an issue
with the extraction and I can feel like I've been poisoned. You have to trust
your barista.

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Mscorlib
Lovely readability you've got there. Never the less, a good read.

