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

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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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Anonymous 0 Comments

Lets say you have a car. You see the gas is low, so you fill it up. That is sleeping.

Lets say you have a car. You see the gas is low, so you block the dial. That is taking caffeine.

One allows you to continue, while one helps you ignore the problem

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