Good Vibrations

Saturday, as I sat in the living room sipping on a soda, I wondered why my vision was so blurry, why I felt so nervous, almost as if I were vibrating. I was afraid that something horrible was happening to me. My eyes were literally swirling around in my head. It's just what I don't need, another health scare. I already have plenty of those. I have spots on my skin that I worry about daily even though my doctor assures me that it is a normal part of aging. Ugh, age spots. My prostate lets me know just how old it is by misbehaving on an hourly basis. I'm the guy in the television ad who's always looking for a bathroom. And then there are the bloody nose incidents. Once again, assured by a doctor that it is nothing to worry about, "Here, dab a little of this ointment in there every once in awhile.. and carry a lot of tissues."

So anyway, I sat there vibrating and tried to figure out just what was happening to me. I started recounting everything I had done on Saturday. Let's see, I got up, walked the dogs, fed the dogs, fed the cats, and fed Mark. Okay, I remembered making coffee for Mark and liking the aroma so much that I made a cup of coffee for myself. After breakfast I cleaned up the kitchen, took a shower and then I took two Excedrin because my fingers ached. It was when I started thinking about the Excedrin that I came to the realization that I had already taken two Excedrin before walking the dogs. Caffeine overdose, I was experiencing a caffeine overdose. I realized that I had clearly ingested way too much as I slugged down the rest of my Diet Coke.

Caffeine ingested.

• Coffee:       95mg
• Excedrin:   65mg X4 = 260mg
• Diet Coke: 45mg

Total---------------400mg

Mayo Clinic says,

Up to 400 milligrams (mg) of caffeine a day appears to be safe for most healthy adults. That's roughly the amount of caffeine in four cups of brewed coffee, 10 cans of cola or two "energy shot" drinks. Although caffeine use may be safe for adults, it's not a good idea for children.

 

Notice that they throw in the words "may be safe".