So, a while back, my wife and I missed a train and had to drive 2,300 miles in about 35 hours - I drove about 24 hours straight, she took over for about 5 hours, while I napped on and off, then I finished. It was on this trip that I discovered Five-Hour Energy. I have pretty severe ADHD. The normal dosage of Ritalin is about 10-20mg a day. 30mg a day is fairly high. I was on 110mg a day. I wasn't comfortable with that dosage, so have been looking for an alternative. Five-Hour Energy seemed to keep the ADHD symptoms under control better than most of the meds I have tried. I started taking 2-3 a day, and for a few weeks everything was going great - I felt almost as balanced as I did when I was on Ritalin. Annual checkup time came along, and my doctor told me if I kept taking 2-3 of these a day, my liver would shut down. I was hoping someone might explain to me why that would happen and, more importantly, offer up a suggestion for a different, healthier (ideally, natural) stimulant I could try. Thanks.
Caffeine Caffeine is the main ingredient in 5-Hour Energy, which does have an effect on mental alertness. The problem is that the caffeine is listed as part of a proprietary blend, so you don't know exactly how much you're getting in each shot. The exception is the Decaf shot, which contains 6 mg of caffeine -- still enough to cause a reaction if you are caffeine-sensitive. The label for the original shot says it has as much caffeine as a cup of coffee, and the Extra Strength shot has as much caffeine as 12 oz. of coffee -- this gives you a rough idea, but the caffeine content of coffee can vary from 100 to 300 mg per cup, leaving consumers in the dark as to the actual caffeine content of 5-Hour Energy shots. If you are sensitive to caffeine, it's best to avoid these products. B-Vitamins The B vitamins work together to help you convert the food you eat into energy you can use. You would be very tired without them, but most people meet their daily recommended intake through their diet. If you take multivitamins or a B-Complex vitamin, you are already well-stocked on B-vitamins. The 5-Hour Energy shots contain varying amounts of niacin, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12 in doses thousands of times higher than your body needs. There is no evidence that extra B-vitamins provide any additional benefit, including increasing alertness. Even worse, some B-vitamins can cause unpleasant side effects in high doses -- niacin causes flushing; too much can cause liver damage and stomach ulcers. Too much vitamin B6 can disrupt nerve and muscle function, and vitamin B-12 can cause diarrhea. Size The real danger of 5-Hour Energy shots is their small size. The instructions on the label indicate that half of a bottle may be enough for many people, but the fact that two swallows will empty the bottle makes it easy for people to drink the whole thing, which is too much, and bring on the negative side effects of the ingredients. In contrast, a cup of coffee provides the same caffeine as the original shot, but it takes longer to drink. Sipping coffee slowly throughout the morning gives you steady but small doses of caffeine. With 5-Hour Energy, you get all that caffeine at once, and it all hits you at once -- and because you haven't really consumed that much volume, you are more likely to go back and do it again. The 5-Hour Energy label says to limit consumption to two shots per day, and to separate the doses by several hours. If you enjoy using 5-Hour Energy shots, treat them like a supplement, not like a beverage. Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/488779-is-the-five-hour-energy-drink-bad-for-you/#ixzz1yXP3JWrw
So far as I've read, modafinil hasn't been shown as having adverse effects on the liver. My knowledge is far from complete on that though, and modafinil is far from "natural."
So, it's the niacin that was causing the liver damage? I should start looking for a B supplement (without too much niacin) and wash it down with a caffeinated beverage? I'm not a fan of coffee, and Pepsi makes me fat (when I quit Pepsi I lost over 30 pounds in a month) but I do like some black teas. The problem is that I have always been an insomniac (one of the worst impacts from the ADHD) and a cup of tea after dinnerish time will keep me up for hours. So maybe the answer is a strong B supplement with a black tea in the morning and another in the early afternoon - but with a Rooibos.
That's one I haven't tried yet. I'm currently on Vyvanse, and it doesn't do much. Adderall wasn't the answer, either.
