Thursday, May 28, 2009

Well THAT's Not Right

Yes... Not Right... capital N, capital R.

OK... in a couple of weeks I'm going on a trip.  Yes, it's paintball-related, go fig.  No, D is not coming with me (as he has a prior commitment), and I'm going with some of the guys from the team.  We'll be in 2 vehicles... in one will be 2 of the co-captains and their wives.  In the other will be me and 4 of the other guys from the team.  Interesting enough.  Throw in that it's a 17 hour drive (with no stops... so add some to that, since they'll have to make pit stops for us ladies ;) )... and that we're leaving at 1:00 p.m. in order to arrive at the event in the morning to spend the full day on-site.  Also add that the vehicle in which I'll be travelling is a mini-van (not the most comfortable for sleeping if you happen to get stuck in one of the centre-row seats).  And... just for laughs... add in that when I don't get enough sleep I'm a bag of toys (entertaining, but really not good for much)... and with little enough sleep (generally anything less than about 5 hours) my entire system organizes and stages a rebellion that starts with me being extremely cranky and goes downhill rapidly from there.

Sounds like fun, no? *laugh*

Ok... so in an effort to combat all of these entertaining prospects, I figure I'll do some investigation into energy drinks to find something that doesn't turn my stomach, doesn't turn my mouth inside out, doesn't trigger hives, and might keep me somewhat functional.

Attempt #1:  Red Bull.  Good Lord!  Blech.  Excuse me while I take a scrubbing brush to my tongue.  Yeah... not going to work.  Fails miserably on point #2, leading to a fail on point #1.  2 sips and that test was done.

Attempt #2:  Full Throttle Unleaded (sugar free) Citrus Flavoured.  Ok... I went "unleaded" because... well... I'm down 30 lbs, I know darn well my eating habits for the 5 days I'm gone will be hellish, why add to that with a crapload of sugar?  Hmm... yes... well, not a concern, as it turns out.  Popped it open, caught a whiff and said "uh-oh".  Took a tiny sip, and promptly handed the can to D.  Why?  Grapefruit triggers point #3... and this gem would definitely fail on that point.

Ok... moving right along...

Attempt #3:  Monster Khaos (the orange one).  Ok, very tasty orange flavour... passed on points 1, 2, and 3... but sadly led to significant stomach & abdominal pain.  So... no go there, either.

Hrm... this isn't looking good.  So when I was doing groceries a couple of days ago, I picked up a few more to try... all of them "Beaver Buzz" brand... one citrus (which again, will have to be tried when D's around just in case there's a grapefruit component), one black currant (yumm... I LURVE Black Currants... it better live up to it ;) )... and one "Premium Buzz Green Tea Energy".

Well... today I was feeling less than perky, so I figured I'd give one a shot. 

Attempt #4:  Reached for the Green Tea one... has Green Tea (good)... has Ginseng (good)... has the usual energy drink crap (less good, but that's expected).  *phist*  Ok... non-carbonated, that's good.  Tastes like various green tea iced teas I've had... also good.  Passed #'s 1, 2, 3... no pain... but sadly it seems to be failing miserably on point #4.  Which seems a little counter productive, and leads to the title of this entry.

Now... when I did the test with the Monster brand... I was tired when I finished it... I was downright sleepy shortly after (and I do mean shortly)... but it was also a long day of driving (ok, so I was the passenger, but still), and a lot of 'fresh air' and sun, so I didn't relate the two... now I'm beginning to think that I should have.

Back in 1st year, I used to hit the Engineering tuck shop before heading to my Algebra tutorial.  It was routine.  Routinely I'd grab a big cookie and a bottle of Jolt (all the sugar and twice the caffeine of regular colas).  Routinely I'd fall asleep in the tutorial.  Now, back then I had low blood-sugar and my doc told me that's why caffeine put me to sleep.

I no longer have low blood sugar... and regular tea/cola has no effect on me... but it seems that the combination of stimulants in Energy Drinks might well still be tripping the wrong switch in my brain *sigh*

3 more tries to see if that's actually what's going on here (2 more Buzz drinks, and a "5 hour energy")... just under 2 weeks to see if one of them will work for me.

So... anyone out there have similar issues?  Caffeine put you to sleep?  Gravol make you jittery? (yeah... I'm a freak on that score, too *laugh*) Got any other suggestions???

'k... think I'll go crash now... Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.....

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well. How many energy drinks had you tried when you typed that out? hahaha...

You are going to luuuv the word verification. 'restrie'. I think it means you are just going to have to try to rest and that's it.

That crap is no good for you and you are going to be VERY far away from home. You just don't do well with that stuff.

Gravol doesn't work for me unless I'm fully in a position for sleep. Otherwise, I get the hangover feeling. I never connected caffeine to sleepyness, and R. and I were just discussing the possibility that my blood sugar is crashing during the day. Hmmm. You bring up good points.

What I laughed my ass off at was at 'Beaver Buzz'. WTH???? hahaha.

I still wish I were coming with you ;)

xoxo

celtic_kitten said...

Heh... it's a Canadian Brand (from Kelowna)... I thought it'd be appropriate since we're representing the Canuks ;)

Yeah... I know they're not good for you (well, me)... but Tired Me is even worse... for everyone *laugh*

I did give one more try (on a different day), just to see if it was that particular one, or a fluke or something. Yeah, not so much. Same deal... no up, just a crash within 90 minutes and sluggish all the next day *sigh*

Ah well... at least I know what to do when I've got insomnia *laugh*

Michelle Hopp said...

Heh. Kevin would probably recommend "Amp" for all the wrong reasons. :)