Can you get addicted to caffeine?

Answer 1

While not all health organizations consider caffeine addiction a clinical disorder, here’s the answer you’re probably looking for: Yes, you can form a dependence on caffeine. Quitting cold turkey can cause withdrawal symptoms like fatigue, depressed mood, and difficulty concentrating.

Addiction is a powerful word, though, and thus, some experts are hesitant to put a dependence on caffeine—which doesn’t tend to drastically affect users’ lives—in the same category as other drug addictions.

The American Psychiatric Association doesn’t yet consider caffeine dependence a substance use disorder—in 2013, they listed caffeine use disorder as a “condition for further study” in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5). The World Health Organization, meanwhile, officially lists caffeine dependence syndrome as a mental disorder in the tenth revision of their International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10). The ICD-10 is primarily used internationally; the DSM-5 is primarily used in the United States.

You’re here, though—you’ve probably seen how hooked people get and how listless they are without it—so disagreements between health organizations aside, yes, you can grow dependent on caffeine, and quitting is quite unpleasant.

Answer 2

Sure. You can overdose on anything in excess even water. An acute overdose is approximatley 250 milligrams and death can occur at 150 to 200 mg per kilogram body weight. This is equivalent to 80-100 cups of coffee in a short time period. This is hard to achieve by drinking coffee but there have been cases of death from taking too many caffeine pills.

Yes you can.

"An acute overdose of caffeine, usually in excess of 250 milligrams, can result in a state of central nervous system over-stimulation called caffeine intoxication."

read more at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caffeine

that's bull.. i weigh about 160lbs and i ate 4200mg of caffeine(stacker2). i literally ate (14) 300mg pills. i profusely vomited for about 10 hours and i thought i was gonna die, but fortunately death never occurred

To the person directly above: if you do your math correctly you will find you only ingested approximately a quarter of the amount of caffeine to overdose. My math is below.

(160 lbs) x (1 kg/ 2.2 lbs) x (200 mg) = 14545.5 mg

If you were vomiting profusely at only that amount, imagine taking four-fold the amount.

Answer 3

Not really. If you have a constant amount every day, then you will need to continue taking that amount to feel 'normal'. If you suddenly stop, you will experience withdrawal symptoms for a few days depending on how much you were taking. Nobody gets addicted to caffeine like you do nicotine, where you're hungry for it. Quitting caffeine is very easy, it just involves putting up with a headache for two or three days. I've gone through it loads of times.

Answer 4

Studies had shown that people who take in a minimum of 100 mg of caffeine per day can get addicted to caffeine and show signs of withdrawal such as headaches, nausea, vomiting, depressed mood and others. Withdrawal usually occurs within 12 to 24 hours after stopping caffeine intake.

Answer 5

Absolutely yes, the LD50 = 192 mg/kg (rat). LD50 is the dose that kills 50% of those receiving it.

Assuming that the LD50 (human) is similar to the LD50 (rat) a 100kg human would have a 50% chance of dying if they ingested 19200 mg of caffeine (19.2 g of caffeine). This is far more than one could get from drinking coffee, tea, energy drinks, etc. but you could get a dose this large by taking an overdose of caffeine pills!

Answer 6

Caffeine myth or caffeine fact? It's not always easy to know. Chances are you have some real misperceptions about caffeine. For starters, do you know the most common sources of caffeine? Well, maybe two of the sources aren't too hard to name -- coffee and tea leaves. But did you know kola nuts and cocoa beans are also included among the most common caffeine sources? And do you know how much caffeine content can vary from food to food? Turns out it's quite a lot actually, depending on the type and serving size of a food or beverage and how it's prepared. Caffeine content can range from as much as 160 milligrams in some energy drinks to as little as 4 milligrams in a 1-ounce serving of chocolate-flavored syrup. Even decaffeinated coffee isn't completely free of caffeine. Caffeine is also present in some over-the-counter pain relievers, cold medications, and diet pills. These products can contain as little as 16 milligrams or as much as 200 milligrams of caffeine. In fact, caffeine itself is a mild painkiller and increases the effectiveness of other pain relievers. Want to know more? Read on. WebMD has examined some of the most common myths about caffeine and gathered the facts to shed some light on those myths. This one has some truth to it, depending on what you mean by "addictive." Caffeine is a stimulant to the central nervous system, and regular use of caffeine does cause mild physical dependence. But caffeine doesn't threaten your physical, social, or economic health the way addictive drugs do. (Although after seeing your monthly spending at the coffee shop, you might disagree!) If you stop taking caffeine abruptly, you may have symptoms for a day or more, especially if you consume two or more cups of coffee a day. Symptoms of withdrawal from caffeine include: headache fatigue anxiety irritability depressed mood difficulty concentrating No doubt, caffeine withdrawal can make for a few bad days. However, caffeine does not cause the severity of withdrawal or harmful drug-seeking behaviors as street drugs or alcohol. For this reason, experts do not consider caffeine dependence an addiction.