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)?
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Caffeine, and other stimulants, cannot actually give your body more energy. They can block feelings of tiredness or unlock energy reserves your body already has, but once these reserves run out they are out, and not everything that replenishes with sleep can be restored with a tablet, after a while even with ample stimulant you will start to go insane without sleep, and after an extended period of insanity you will expire. I believe the record for staying awake without death or disease is held by a radio DJ who was quite out of his mind towards the end of his attempt. I studied psychology at university and sold mattresses for a living; everything science reveals to us about sleep still does not give us the entire picture of why, precisely, we need to sleep, but we very much do, the only thing we need more frequently than sleep is water; you will perish more quickly if deprived of sleep than of food.
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