Signs of a Caffeine Overdose

Yesterday, I had a bit of a long day and though I never felt tired, at the end of the day, I questioned why the night still felt young.  Then it dawned on me. I stopped and got a coffee on my way to work here at the station yesterday at 5 am; someone I work with brought me another cofffe around 8:30 am; then I ran some errands and picked up a small coffee; and then before heading to the stable to take care of my horses I picked up, you guessed it, a cafe mocha to try and warm up to the idea of cleaning stalls in the cold.  How did I not overdose on caffeine?  A better question, however, how would I know if I had overdosed on caffeine?

About half of the thousands of caffeine overdoses reported every year involve people under the age of 19.  A dietitian at the Cleveland Clinic, Tara Harwood, says the signs of a caffeine overdose are easy to spot.  A person suffering from a caffeine overdose may also have trouble breathing and become increasingly thirsty (I woke up in the middle of the night and chugged a glass of water and then another one before I left my apartment).  The recommended daily allowance of caffeine for adults is 400 milligrams per day while kids just should really have 100 milligrams or less daily.

For comparison purposes, a typical Coca-Cola Classic has 35 milligrams of caffeine.  The caffeine content in coffee can vary due to the types of beans used and the methods of roasting and grinding.  It's usually between 100 and 200 milligrams.  So yesterday, I would say with each cup of coffee I had, the caffeine content only increased because I kept getting a better quality cup of coffee as the day went on.  I estimate I consumed between 500 and 700 milligrams of caffeine yesterday.  YOWSER!

While Harwood recommends we not exceed our daily allowance of caffeine, she most definitely would not have approved of the day I had yesterday.  How many milligrams of caffeine have you had today?