19. The Effects of Red Bull

Red Bull and other cheaper brands of the same thing have lots of caffeine and taurine in them. Taurine is banned in some countries because it has never been proven to be safe.

But even if it were officially safe in all countries, I know for certain it is not safe for someone like me to consume it. I am prone to anxiety, panic attacks and irritability.

However, most normal people will become irritable or have headaches and immense lethargy when ‘coming down’ from this drink.

What Red Bull does is keep you awake. Whenever I was unable to sleep during the night, and I needed to be awake in the day, I would drink it. Within 30 minutes, I would forget about my bad night’s sleep and I’d be ok for several hours. As soon as I found myself flagging, I’d have another Red Bull, and I’d ‘wake up’ again.

But when the effects wore off, I would find myself feeling unable to cope with the simplest of things.

This drink is allowed to be sold in bars, meaning that vast quantities are consumed. Just one is bad for you. So much caffeine should be seriously avoided in the evening.

I once knew a man who had not slept for two nights before his wedding day. So he drank Red Bull all day, and the wedding went well.

That night he crashed out as soon as his head hit the pillow, and had a migraine for the next two days. Suffice to say, his bride was not too pleased.

A lot of clubbers drink it to dance the night away til dawn. One friend of mine who used to take speed (amphetamines) to stay awake, says his Monday mornings were a whole lot worse coming down off Red Bull thatn Speed. No I am NOT condoning speed!

But if that’s illegal, and the effects of Red Bull are worse…? Well, you work it out.

If you absolutely meed caffeine to keep you awake in an emergency, then at least a normal coffee has measurable amounts of caffeine it.

Actually, the thought of throwing up has always put me off drinking in excess, but it doesn’t put a lot of people off. Many millions go out with the sole intention of getting steaming drunk, so those people are probably not going to be too receptive of my Red Bull advice!

Don’t get me started on alcohol. And Diet drinks? – with Aspartame in them? That’s another post!