Caffeine Overdose

T-Bone

T-Bone

Banned
Ohio teen dies of caffeine overdose. Supposedly they found the equivalent of 250 cups of coffee in his system. Well, they said "70 micrograms", which turns out to be 7 grams. If my math is right!. So he took 7 grams in one shot.




Now they want to ban it. I don't know why you'd purchase caffeine powder anyway. Tablets are dirt cheap.




Seriously though, why would you take so much?. I don't get it. Think before you take stimulants. Measure powders...Or just take tablets!. Come on now. Just THINK!.​
 
I bought a 750 serving (200mg/serving) of bulk caffeine for under $10 once. Tasted like ****.

7 grams? That's absolutely insane.
 
People do stupid things. I've got some bulk caffeine that I usually encapsulate with other powders....but I've weighed it out and taken up to 600 mg in one shot. I'm pretty tolerant of stimulants and I wouldn't ever take more than that, even though I had no sides even at 600 mg. that I noticed.

I don't even get why someone would take so much.....but the fact of the matter is that there are any number of items that someone could OD on.
 
Sean1332 said:
I bought a 750 serving (200mg/serving) of bulk caffeine for under $10 once. Tasted like ****.

7 grams? That's absolutely insane.
Click to expand...


Yeah I'm guessing that's how much he took. Well because they found "70 micrograms" when they did the autopsy. Not sure how you would determine how much he actually consumed or if it's the same as what is found during autopsy.


Maybe someone smarter could figure it out.
mr.cooper69
 
I just looked at the "250 cups" line. If you figure 50 mg/cup of coffee that's 12.5 grams. If you figure 100 mg that is 25 grams. Either way, 7 grams, 12.5 grams, 25 grams....it was a ginormous dose and OD on asprin like that would kill you much faster. And I'm not taking asprin because I enjoy it either...much like the kids using caffeine aren't drinking coffee because they enjoy it.
 
According to Wikipedia, the LD50 in humans is 150-200 mg per kg of bodyweight in humans. So, for a 150 pound person, that is roughly 13 grams that would kill half the population.
 
Here is another exert I read, "70 micrograms of caffeine per milliliter of blood in his system, according to Loraine County coroner Stephen Evans.". The question remains though- Based on that information could you extrapolate the amount of caffeine he actually consumed?
 
Auslifter - too funny. Because it is true. And then we have stupid media people acting like they are geniuses and no one else can handle this stuff. They aren't smart enough to mention that the kid did something ridiculously insane.

T-Bone - they say 250 cups in the report. Widipedia likens the LD50 to about 80-100 cups of coffee, so that means he had 2.5X the LD50 in his system - and if we assume he's 150 pounds, then we're talking around that 25 gram mark or more.

Wikipedia also says that individuals with impaired metabolism of caffeine will have lower lethal doses....so liver disease, certain drugs, etc. that inhibit the enzymes in the liver that breakdown caffeine will allow more to reach the blood.

I am not too educated on this but I'm assuming that they are assuming normal metabolism when they quote the 250 cups, which means maybe he took much less but had impaired metabolism and more of it hit his blood stream. i.e. - maybe he took 10 grams but his liver allowed so much past that the equivalent of 25 grams normally metabolized hit his blood.

It would be interesting to know what Coop or some of the more chemically minded individuals on this board have to say...
 
There is no reason caffeine should be banned because someone didn't pay attention to what they were doing or they intentionally take too much which wasn't the case here. Think about it. How many people call the poison control for too much Tylenol. , ibuprofen. , and too much any prescription drug. It happens all the time. You don't see them banning cigarettes and they kill more people than heroin yearly and are more addictive. How many guys are in recovery for hardcore drugs but you still see them sucking down cigarettes. The fact of the matter is there are lots of dangerous things in this world but we can't ban everything because it can be dangerous. We have to teach others to be responsible and make smart choices. .
 
According to a quick Google/bing, 1tsp of caffeine powder equals 25 cups of coffee. Pretty easy to see why people OD on it. Can you imagine how many idiots would just grab a normal spoon and put a spoonful in a drink?
 
blacklac said:
According to a quick Google/bing, 1tsp of caffeine powder equals 25 cups of coffee. Pretty easy to see why people OD on it. Can you imagine how many idiots would just grab a normal spoon and put a spoonful in a drink?
Click to expand...

Well, this means he had to put 10 tsp in something. 25 cups of coffee, and even 50 cups, won't kill most people. Who is going to take 2 tsp of pure caffeine powder? Beyond this, you would probably have to parachute it because the stuff tastes horrid and makes whatever you put it in taste very bitter.
 
How much better can a caffeine buzz get passed 200/300mg?

Idiot.

RIP.
 
TGB1987 said:
There is no reason caffeine should be banned because someone didn't pay attention to what they were doing or they intentionally take too much which wasn't the case here. Think about it. How many people call the poison control for too much Tylenol. , ibuprofen. , and too much any prescription drug. It happens all the time. You don't see them banning cigarettes and they kill more people than heroin yearly and are more addictive. How many guys are in recovery for hardcore drugs but you still see them sucking down cigarettes. The fact of the matter is there are lots of dangerous things in this world but we can't ban everything because it can be dangerous. We have to teach others to be responsible and make smart choices. .
Click to expand...

This is exactly the issue. Cigarettes and alcohol kill more people than any other drug, yet both are not only widely available and legal, but are essentially government-sanctioned, thanks to the tax revenue each generates. But one or two instances of ignorance at play with any other substance, such as caffeine or DMAA, and suddenly there's a call to arms to ban these substances? You can't punish the masses for the stupidity of the individual.
 
HIT4ME said:
Well, this means he had to put 10 tsp in something. 25 cups of coffee, and even 50 cups, won't kill most people. Who is going to take 2 tsp of pure caffeine powder? Beyond this, you would probably have to parachute it because the stuff tastes horrid and makes whatever you put it in taste very bitter.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm assuming it could have been his first dose and he just grabbed a regular dinnerware spoon. :S. Who knows though...
 
blacklac said:
Yeah, I'm assuming it could have been his first dose and he just grabbed a regular dinnerware spoon. :S. Who knows though...
Click to expand...

I get that feeling too. It is sad, but at the same time, most people I know are a little more careful with things - especially when they are new to it and don't know what they are doing.

In the second video, it states that the 70 mcg was equivalent to just 23 cups of coffee, which suggests he was much more reasonable in his error - maybe he just took about 1 tsp and mixed it in....but then there are other issues at play, because 23 cups of coffee isn't even near the lethal dose for a normal person according what I've seen.

I feel bad for the parents - but they are clearly having a hard time dealing with this and looking for something to blame other than their son. I don't mean to be cold, but I don't know how else to say it. And I don't mean to put the "blame" on a victim if there was an underlying cause that we are unaware of....it is tragic.
 
HIT4ME said:
I get that feeling too. It is sad, but at the same time, most people I know are a little more careful with things - especially when they are new to it and don't know what they are doing.

In the second video, it states that the 70 mcg was equivalent to just 23 cups of coffee, which suggests he was much more reasonable in his error - maybe he just took about 1 tsp and mixed it in....but then there are other issues at play, because 23 cups of coffee isn't even near the lethal dose for a normal person according what I've seen.

I feel bad for the parents - but they are clearly having a hard time dealing with this and looking for something to blame other than their son. I don't mean to be cold, but I don't know how else to say it. And I don't mean to put the "blame" on a victim if there was an underlying cause that we are unaware of....it is tragic.
Click to expand...


Who the hell can drink 23 cups of coffee though?. Another thing, I also read that he had the equivalent of 250 cups of coffee, not 23.
 
T-Bone said:
Who the hell can drink 23 cups of coffee though?. Another thing, I also read that he had the equivalent of 250 cups of coffee, not 23.
Click to expand...

I know a lot of 100 pound women who probably drink 10 cups/day...23 is over the limit though. I guess the point is that we aren't talking about a product that has an LD50 right at its useful dose.

You said 250 so I based my original calculations on that...but in the second video they estimated 23 cups....I don't know that anyone will ever know. That is the point of these two media reports, they are treating things as facts when they are not. A drug is not safe or unsafe, it has an applied use and danger. Someone with impaired metabolism will die from a lower dose of caffeine than the normal population, because more of it hits their blood stream....so while I may take 25 grams and 100 mcg will hit my blood stream, someone else may take 10 grams and get the same blood levels because they have impaired function. We don't have all the facts, and neither do the people reporting the story.
 
I love caffeine!!!! $3.50 for a 90 day supply!!! Oh what! Can you tell I'm on it right now! I'm shouting and talking really fast!!!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top