“Death is an inescapable hangover”

As I write this, I am suffering from a caffeine hangover. Wait, am I going to write about that now? Isn’t this blog related to lawyers and law-related issues?

If you are thinking this, you surely have no idea about law firms. Every law firm I have seen so far had a coffee machine in the precincts, normally a very expensive one. Coffee is almost inevitably the lifeline the hapless lawyers fall back on to keep themselves awake during ever stretchable office hours: be it in the morning, lunch hour or late night slogging sessions. I admit, I probably would not have been able to survive in a law firm without coffee for more than a week during my internships (generally the most boring and unexciting work is given to interns) – either they will drive me away for sleeping when I was supposed to go through papers, or I shall go mad and run out of the firm shouting and foaming from my mouth. Coffee has been a life saver, something that every average lawyer in law firms look forward to. And as it is the serious questions of keeping yourself awake while you are doing due diligence, people tend to guzzle espresso, the deconcocted liquid bliss. The first time I was mildly uncomfortable from having too much coffee was in a law firm. That time I had a mild headache after back to back expressos and I didn’t think too much about that. In fact, I never thought drinking coffee can be harmful to the smallest degree till I searched for ‘caffeine abuse’ on google last night!

Simply put, yesterday I had too much coffee and experienced a very strange and uncomfortable high. Well, what’s the big deal? The thing is, I never expected to be high from caffeine. I am a coffee lover (or used to be, I don’t think I am going to touch it soon). I also like to think of myself as a hardcore coffee drinker. Although I don’t drink it regularly when I am in college, but I surely visit those coffee shops like Barista or CCD once in a while. Nevertheless, my favourite was till now the doppio (double espresso shot) at Aqua Java. Sometimes I will ask them to put some vanilla ice cream in my espresso which turns it into Viennese coffee which is not on the menu otherwise. Yesterday, I had my first cup of coffee (a strong milky brew available at Just Baked, the Biskfarm outlets in Kolkata) with my breakfast on my way to IMS, where I was supposed to conduct a workshop on Speed Reading. I came back to the same place for a quick lunch and had some cold coffee this time. Finally, around 6 in the evening I thought of rewarding myself with some top class espresso at my favourite Aqua Java outlet at Mani Square.

First I ordered Doppio with ice cream, and as that extremely tasty thing was over in just a matter of a minute, I felt the necessity drink the authentic bitter espresso before I left. It is on the way back from there, almost after half an hour after the last doppio, I felt my steps to be slightly unsure. Till then, though, it was not anything troublesome, but still it caught me totally off-guard – who expects to be so high from coffee that your steps become uneven? I almost couldn’t believe myself as I was trying to cross a busy road when at a point of time I suddenly felt like I swayed too much for a second and felt as if I am about to fall down. Now, that never happens even when I am drunk on alcohol. I think the reason is simple: when I consume alcohol, I am prepared for the high. This one was like a bolt from the blue.

Even once I got back to my room in the hostel, things kept getting worse. I was finding it difficult to keep my eyes open as if I am drugged. Neither could I sleep, it was like I was forced to go through a very uncomfortable nightmare. I didn’t even find the strength to change or take the wallet out of my pocket before I slept. I felt my heartbeat becoming a little too faster as I mentally tried to calm myself down. I spent almost an hour in a stupor till someone came and knocked on my door waking me up a bit. I was so uncomfortable at that point of time that I could not even sleep any more. Instead, I switched my computer on and started reading up on caffeine.

It turns out that caffeine is not as harmless as we mostly tend to think. Consumed regularly, it has effects similar to other drugs which are often overlooked. It has withdrawal symptoms if one stops taking it suddenly. It is not rare at all that people were needed to be admitted to ICU after caffeine abuse. An overdose of caffeine can lead to high blood pressure, breathing difficulties, and even neurological trauma.

So, did you think coffee could be taken lightly? I won’t do that after this experience (my head is still throbbing, after a good 30 hours since the last coffee consumption) especially because I am scared of hang-overs, and caffeine doesn’t get out of the system as fast as alcohol does, making the hang-over much more prolonged. I don’t know when I am going to feel like drinking coffee again, but surely I will be more economical about coffee guzzling when I am in a law firm next time.

Here is something that you can explore, under medical supervisions of course, that is less harmful and much more effective than coffee: Modafilin. Look this up on internet before you try it though, and make an informed decision!