Eli5 why can’t we continuously take caffeine and never sleep?

Question

I work overnight shifts (11pm-7am) and take caffeine pills to stay awake. When I get home, even if I take more caffeine I’m sometimes still too tired and fall asleep. Why does it eventually stop working? Is there some sort of chemical limit? Why can’t caffeine replace sleep for longer periods of time (like days on end)?

In: 595

Answer 1

Cause you’d die. You’d eventually collapse and fall asleep or worse. You really need sleep and caffeine only makes it feel like you don’t, but eventually you’d really really need to take a nap or a good night’s rest. It’s one of those things in the body that are non negotiable.