After downing an energy drink, what happens in the body is kind of scary

[bhikkhu]

8. I used to take a 5hour energy drink before every hard bike ride

training or racing, back when I was pursuing that regularly. It worked great for awhile, I could be tired from work or just a little foggy, but a little ways in there was a focus and an energy reserve that kicked in and stayed as long as I needed it, just an extra edge.

But then it stopped working after a couple years - I'd be into a ride and things would just stop working like the taps shut off, or like what athletes call "the bonk". like a physical distress or dysfunction, fairly miserable. One race I'd trained for well, rested and tapered perfectly, but an hour into it (after my regular 5 hour energy) I had nothing. As I struggled along, far weaker than I knew I really was, I recalled feeling similar in a time trial three weeks before, and at points on training runs that month...eventually I figured out it was a reaction to the drink itself and nothing else, it just didn't work anymore. I stopped using it and never had that same problem or feeling again.

Perhaps its unique to every metabolism, but I can say without much doubt that I got somehow conditioned or sensitized to the energy drink and it worked the opposite of how it was supposed to. I know the ingredients are supposed to be fairly benign (always looked into that sort of thing), but the side effects were bad enough I'd never use or recommend energy drinks again.