Has anyone else used a 5-hour energy drink and combined it with monster iced coffee and felt like the ground or the floor was moving?

[sittingwithfeetup]

One time, I drove all night and I used some store-bought drinks to stay awake. In this case, I used a five-hour energy drink and then used a monster iced coffee. This kept me awake but also made me higher than a kite. When I got out of my car, I felt like the ground was moving under me.

When I went into the restaurant, I felt like the floor, or the whole building was moving as if it was on water.

The said something to the waitress about it and she asked me if I was okay.

At this time, I was about an hour or so from home. When I got home, I felt like the floor was still moving. This feeling did not wear off for quite a while that day. I do not usually use these drinks except for on rare occasions and see them as a safety measure if I have to keep awake while driving.

Does anyone else ever have this happen?

[bamboo89]

Never heard of 5 hour energy shots, but then I'm in the UK, not sure they exist here. Having read a Forbes article about these drinks, there are two possible problems with them - first, the high dose of caffeine relative to the small amount of fluid in the drink, and second, phenylalanine, which can cause serious neurological/health problems in some people. It also seems that some deaths have been attributed to these drinks in America.

Caffeine is a drug; following up with a large coffee also containing probably high levels of caffeine means a double load of the drug, with a corresponding high loss of electrolytes such as potassium from the body. I'm not in the least surprised you had some kind of reaction to these things, particularly the combination of shot and coffee, in fact, I'd have been surprised if you didn't have some kind of physical reaction. I would suggest you never do it again, and never take a 5 hour energy drink again either, just in case you are sensitive to phenylalanine. There is always a price for drugs, whether they be caffeine or medication; medical drugs are used in recommended doses, but clearly, you far exceeded your body's capacity to cope with that amount of caffeine at the very least. Far from being a 'safety measure' you will likely be more at more risk using the shot and caffeine than attempting to do the drive without. If you must take such a risk again, better just stick to a more reasonable amount of coffee, or make more sensible arrangements to cope with a long drive.

[sittingwithfeetup in reply to bamboo89]

In times past, I have used a combination of coffee and chocolate to stay awake and this has no adverse effects on me.

[bamboo89 in reply to sittingwithfeetup]

A much more innocuous combination - its probably replacing the chocolate with the energy drink that caused the problem. Anyway, chocolate's much nicer!