Energy Drinks: A New Addiction?
When asked, most people think that commercially available energy drinks are safe. Unfortunately, this is not exactly true. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, there are some disturbing trends in addiction regarding energy drinks and caffeine powder. This new addiction is just now being studied for its potential hazards.
Why Energy Drinks are Dangerous
Although the consumption of caffeine in normal concentrations is not dangerous, energy drinks have hidden dangers. Caffeine related deaths are on the rise. Some of these deaths are due to dehydration while others are due to mixing energy drinks with other substances such as alcohol and other stimulants.
Energy drinks cause a variety of dangerous symptoms, which include:
- Twitching
- Dehydration
- Anxiety and nervousness
- Paranoia
- Incoherence
- Stomach ulcers
- Diarrhea
- Insomnia
- High blood pressure
- Rapid heart rate
These symptoms only get worse with higher consumption rates. There have been a number of deaths due to consumption of large amounts of energy drinks. Most of these people consumed large quantities or mixed them with alcohol. The dehydration as well as heart failure are the two main causes of death.
Long Term Effects of Energy Drinks
![A New Addiction](https://stimulants.com/wp-content/uploads/insomnia-1-250x166.jpg)
Sleeplessness is a common symptom of energy drink addiction.
Many of the long term effects of energy drinks are not known. The Food and Drug Administration is only beginning to study the long term effects of addiction to these energy drinks and caffeine powders. Some of the long term effects noted with high caffeine consumption are:
- Kidney issues
- Bladder issues
- Stomach ulcerations
- Permanent changes in heart rate and blood pressure
- Addiction
- Withdrawal
There are may be many more long term issues, that have not been found yet. Most energy drinks have not been around yet for any conclusive long term studies.
Signs of Energy Drink Addiction
It is important to know whether or not your energy drink consumption is simply consumption or if it is actually addiction. There are some signs that you are addicted to the energy drinks. These signs are:
- Consuming several bottles or energy drinks during the day
- Inability to function without your daily energy drink intake
- Tolerance to energy drinks
- Withdrawal starts when you stop drinking energy drinks
- You lose concentration when you do not have energy drinks
- You cannot get a night’s sleep whether you drink energy drinks or not
These are classic signs of energy drink addiction. They may be different if you are mixing energy drinks and alcohol. Alcohol along with energy drinks is more dangerous than either alone particularly if you are an alcoholic to begin with. The two substances together prove deadly.
Treatment for Energy Drink Addiction
Fortunately, there is treatment for energy drink or energy drink combined with alcohol or other drug addiction. Like all other addictions, inpatient or outpatient treatment might be needed in order to break the energy drink addiction. There are even some treatment centers that specialize in caffeine addiction. For help finding the correct treatment center call us at 800-605-6597 Who Answers?.