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

Your brain is like the ice cream machine at McDonalds. It needs down time for maintenance. Without the maintenance, it stops working. But because it’s like the ice cream machine at McDonalds, some times it stops working even when it does get the maintenance.