5-Hour Energy Drink --- to pray?

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William777

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This may sound like a silly question, but it’s actually kind of disconcerting.

I am studying a lot for some accounting exams I have to take, and I end up drinking 5-Hour Energy Drink to keep myself awake.

I dont really like drinking caffeine. I am 43, and I never touched the stuff from the time I was 18, but studying accounting at this level would knock out a horse. I spoke with some pharmacists and doctors, and many told me they drank caffeine while studying for their exams, and not to worry about it. Unless one has some cardiac problems or high blood pressure - the research I have been doing shows there can be medical benefits to drinking caffeine, so I’ve been trying it in moderation.

I don’t sense it is against the Catechism to drink beer or coffee, and I’m not sensing any addiction to it, but I still wonder sometimes. When I went through the accounting college courses - I did everything just on will power and prayer. The difficulty and magnitude of these tests however is a different matter.

But it isn’t to say I wouldn’t fall asleep saying my rosaries either. As a matter of fact, I do struggle to stay awake while praying sometimes, so then I start wondering - what if I drank some caffeine long enough to pray?

It doesn’t sound like a very wise idea for some reason. But I could just be being scrupulous?

I dont know.

What say you all?

Blessings,

wm
 
William777 said:
This may sound like a silly question, but it’s actually kind of disconcerting.

I am studying a lot for some accounting exams I have to take, and I end up drinking 5-Hour Energy Drink to keep myself awake.

I dont really like drinking caffeine. I am 43, and I never touched the stuff from the time I was 18, but studying accounting at this level would knock out a horse. I spoke with some pharmacists and doctors, and many told me they drank caffeine while studying for their exams, and not to worry about it. Unless one has some cardiac problems or high blood pressure - the research I have been doing shows there can be medical benefits to drinking caffeine, so I’ve been trying it in moderation.

I don’t sense it is against the Catechism to drink beer or coffee, and I’m not sensing any addiction to it, but I still wonder sometimes. When I went through the accounting college courses - I did everything just on will power and prayer. The difficulty and magnitude of these tests however is a different matter.

But it isn’t to say I wouldn’t fall asleep saying my rosaries either. As a matter of fact, I do struggle to stay awake while praying sometimes, so then I start wondering - what if I drank some caffeine long enough to pray?

It doesn’t sound like a very wise idea for some reason. But I could just be being scrupulous?

I dont know.

What say you all?

Blessings,

wm
Click to expand...
William,

It would not be wise to drink coffee or take caffeine products to stay up to pray. It would probably disrupt your sleep. Think of it this way, any prayer you make as you fall asleep will more than likely be enough or you may consider praying during the day in intervals. I suggest staying away from Caffeine at night although some people can sleep after drinking this stuff.🙂
 
Maybe you’d be happier moving your prayer time to a different time of day? Or it might help to break it up into small chunks of time, small enough that you won’t doze?
 
Taking caffeine to stay up longer will have a knock-on effect. Do it once in a while, it’s OK as long as you can catch up on the lost sleep. Keep doing it, you’ll end up chronically sleep-deprived, which carries all sorts of adverse health and cognitive effects.

So I’d say once in a while, to prioritise some prayer time, it would be OK. As a long term solution, it’s problematic and you may need to re-evaluate your prayer time.
 
I like to attend the 6:30 pm evening weekday mass at church after work.
I work on marble floors, in commission sales, all day long, and it is EXHAUSTING.

Often during the sermon/homily of the 6:30 pm mass, I literally nod off and fall asleep from exhaustion. Literally.

So I stop at the gas station (with a little store in it) and get a STARBUCKS
Mocha flavor or white chocolate flavor or “coffee” flavor “Energy Drink” (15 ounces).
((all of them contain some coffee)). It’s ice cold in a can and sweetened.
This drink contains 1,000 mg of potassium,
1000 mg of TAURINE, lots of Ginseng and other “energy” herbs, as well as 80 mg
of caffeine per serving.
LET ME TELL YOU, IT WORKS, and much better than a mere double shot
of espresso fully-caffeinated Coffee, too. Works great.

Jaypeeto4
 
It is thought that coffee was popularized by monks who drank it to stay awake in order to pray.

Do whatever you feel you need to (so long as it doesn’t interfere with your other duties)
 
Wow… These are all very interesting replies! Seriously…

I guess the reason I have had my doubts about it is… well, sometimes when I pray in a state that only comes from self-will… I know (or perhaps I should say “know”) that the effects it produces (i.e. the private revelations) are my own will in conjunction with God… In other words, they are not merely attributable to a drug…
*
Please note here that we are only obligated as Catholics to place faith in public revelation, so I am not asking or expecting anyone to place faith my own private revelations and prayer experiences… I am simply trying to say that it would seem like a caffeine induced state might make discerning God’s will more difficult… *

That said, I also take a very mild daily, “baby” dose of an anti-depressent (Paxil), and - even devoid of a drug - our own body chemistries can also produce their own effects… So, for instance, a “non-caffeinated monk” who stayed up praying for five days straight, might experience a hallucination he could mistakenly attribute to an apparition. In such a case, the vision would be more of just fatigue than actual revelation.

And I don’t think I am being that far fetched on this subject. One argument to explain incorruptibility, for instance, is that a lot of incorruptibles ate certain types of herbs throughout their life. So - in the case of something so apparently miraculous as incorruptibility - there is still somewhat of a lingering question as to whether their diet predisposed them to incorruptibility. (BTW, I personally believe in the miracle of incorruptibility.)

But here we again run ourselves in a circle - we could have a person’s own biochemistry or a stimulant affecting the interpretive signals we get in prayer. How do we know it is really from God?

Private revelation is noted for maintaining mistakes; this is said to be natural due to the limits of the visionary’s own capabilities. But I just wonder if there is some kind of official teaching on the matter?

Thank you for all the feedback. Really. Maybe I am being scrupulous, but - hey… I’m studying to be an accountant… 😃 and a Saint… 👍

Blessings!

wm
 
Jaypeeto4 said:
I like to attend the 6:30 pm evening weekday mass at church after work.
I work on marble floors, in commission sales, all day long, and it is EXHAUSTING.

Often during the sermon/homily of the 6:30 pm mass, I literally nod off and fall asleep from exhaustion. Literally.

So I stop at the gas station (with a little store in it) and get a STARBUCKS
Mocha flavor or white chocolate flavor or “coffee” flavor “Energy Drink” (15 ounces).
((all of them contain some coffee)). It’s ice cold in a can and sweetened.
This drink contains 1,000 mg of potassium,
1000 mg of TAURINE, lots of Ginseng and other “energy” herbs, as well as 80 mg
of caffeine per serving.
LET ME TELL YOU, IT WORKS, and much better than a mere double shot
of espresso fully-caffeinated Coffee, too. Works great.

Jaypeeto4
Click to expand...
I may try that… I’ve always wanted to levitate…

j/k

😉
 
William777,
LOL, you are TOO funny !!!

You won’t levitate, but you WILL stay awake and more importantly, ALERT.
Peace,
Jaypeeto4
 
**That said, I also take a very mild daily, “baby” dose of an anti-depressent (Paxil), and - even devoid of a drug - our own body chemistries can also produce their own effects… **

William777,

I know our body chemistries are all different, individually,
but please be VERY careful with that particular drug you just named above.

I tried it once (I’m on meds too)
and after the FIRST pill, I immediately became EXTREMELY Suicidal.

I got my card (blister pack plastic card with 1 pill in each “blister”), popped out all
the pills, and flushed the things down the toilet.
I will never use THAT medication, ever again. No. Way.

Also, a relative of mine’s husband was put on “Celexa”
by his “family” doctor, NOT by a psychiatrist who keeps up with psychotropic medications and how they should be used and what they are for.
He HAD the beginnings of high blood pressure, went to the family doc and told him
he could feel this coming on really badly (he was an ex-Marine, a family man
and PERFECTLY SANE, just getting older (mid 40s) and that’s usually when the blood pressure problems START in us guys. So he went to have the doc check him out.
The FAMILY doc (NOT a shrink !! ) decided he had “Depression” (he DID NOT) and stuck him
on Celexa. After a few weeks, he felt **so physically sick **
from taking it ( he did NOT need an "antiDepressant !! )
that he went back to the family doctor
and asked him TO “WEAN HIM OFF” that psychiatric med
because it was NOT what he needed.
The doctor told him he did “NOT NEED” to be " WEANED " off it,
to just " QUIT " the med " COLD TURKEY ".
He did.
And three days later, not even knowing who he was or where he was,
and RIGHT in front of his wife (my cousin) and their three little kids,
he grabbed a shotgun and shot himself in the chest.
My cousin tried to revive him, and he DID wake up and said,
" What the heck is going on??? I have to go to WORK !! What the heck
am I doing on the darned floor??? "

This man, again, was perfectly SANE. He was NOT a suicidal person.
Not ever.
He didn’t even KNOW that he had shot himself when he came to.
Though she called 911,
he died in her arms, right in front of their kids.

PLEASE, be careful with psychiatric meds.
The one you mentioned has a LOT of consumer complaints about it.
I know that as SOON as I took it, and it began to digest in my system
and be absorbed in to my bloodstream,
I became EXTREMELY suicidal.
So WATCH OUT, seriously, for any side effects to THAT
or to ANY OTHER psychiatric medication that you take.
God love you,
Jaypeeto4
 
Not everyone becomes suicidal with anti-depressants. I’m on celexa and I have had no issues whatsoever. It’s been wonderful for me.

I have an autoimmune disease that makes me very sleepy during the day. I asked my doctor what he thought about the 5 hour energy drinks and he told me he’d rather I get myself on a routine, quit the caffeine, get plenty of sleep and eat a balanced diet with plenty of water. The 5 hour energy drinks can be dangerous to your heart rate and can cause a huge crash as well. That’s just my doctor’s opinion. Your mileage may vary. 🙂
 
Do you have a spiritual director? If you are receiving private revelations, you definitely need one. Not all private revelations come from God, and we need a holy spiritual director to help us discern the difference.

Personally, I think referring to a “caffeine induced state” is a bit extreme.
 
hannajomar said:
Do you have a spiritual director? If you are receiving private revelations, you definitely need one. Not all private revelations come from God, and we need a holy spiritual director to help us discern the difference.

Personally, I think referring to a “caffeine induced state” is a bit extreme.
Click to expand...
Yes, I have a Spiritual Director, plus a Pastoral Counselor. I tell both of them my revelations. The pastoral counselor (medically trained, PhD) had no problems with 5HE. I haven’t had a chance to speak with my Spiritual Director about it.

The question about the good or bad quality of the revelations is what I’m concerned about. My Spiritual Director says I have a ministry, but now we are trying to figure out what to do with it. BTW, I think we all have private revelations, and it’s really up to us to identify and be thankful for them. But I could be assuming a bit here. One time at a formation meeting I brought up the topic of Jesus dreams - assuming everyone was having them, but I met with about ten blank stares. I was having them regularly at that point, and I didn’t realize the difference. I still think anyone can have them though.

Having to discern the effects of a drug upon one’s body vs the work of God seems a valid question. But it shouldn’t rule it out either. I was thinking yesterday - imagine how many people are in the hospital under medication, and yet God works miracles in them. Maybe whatever medicine or drugs the doctors put into patients masks God’s work, i.e. we might attribute a divine healing to human science and the medical arts, but - if divine intervention it is there - then it is there…

I guess we could counteract it though. Even the relics of incorruptible Saints are (often, but not always) tended to with special care - not just out of respect for the dead, but also because they are holy objects we wish to preserve. At times in history, soldiers have desecrated and physically destroyed incorrupt Saintly relics, so incorruptibility still has its limits.

Back to more everyday concerns and the issue at hand - the issue of medicines/drugs and it’s effects on a person was also brought up in the movie “The Exorcism of Emily Rose”. In the movie, the defense attorney for the Priest uses the effects of medicine as interfering with the exorcism, which didn’t work.

Personally, setting Hollywood aside, I think there’s a lot to be said for persevering in a fast (i.e. I’m defining fast as not using 5HE here) while praying to unite one’s sufferings to those of Christ on the cross. But on this point there also comes a time when we have to pray much in silence.

Blessings,

wm
 
Jaypeeto4 said:
I tried it once (I’m on meds too)
and after the FIRST pill, I immediately became EXTREMELY Suicidal.
Click to expand...
Thank you for your concern, but not to worry for me here.

I am 43 and having been taking Paxil since I was about 26. It’s a happy pill for me.

That said, I also place a rule upon my doctors - I take the least amount necessary. For instance, most people take like 20-25mg just starting off, and then ramp it up to a higher dose. But I only take 10mg, and I keep it there. It knocks the edge off, and that’s really all I need.

And, yes, I am aware of the other things you mentioned as per suicidal thoughts, but I am in no way suicidal. I dont believe in it, and, even if I do have thoughts of suicide, I usually turn just to Psalm 22 - “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” - which are some of the words of HOPE (if you read the whole of Psalm 22) Christ prayed before giving up the ghost. Then I just say “Thy Will Be Done”, i.e. what Fr Keating has called “The Help Prayer” - and then I observe silence. That usually cures things.

I also have a Spiritual Director, and also a Pastoral Counselor, keeping me together. 😉

Blessings to you!

wm
 
Thanks William777 and Saber Mom.

I realize not everyone becomes suicidal on psychiatric meds.

I never became suicidal on one before, either.
When I took 1 mere dose of Paxil, it IMMEDIATELY had
that (strongly-suicidal) effect on me. knowing that, o no, no WAY would
I ever do THAT, I took the pills and flushed them down the toilet.
VERY VERY many people have written that they have had this SAME reaction to
P*xil. I am not alone.

Since 1999, I have taken, daily, a regimen of
LUVOX, RISPERDAL (later changed to Invega, but cannot afford that right now),
KLONOPIN and MODAFINIL (because in 2003 I became unable to sleep more than 2 hours a night and soon developed total, and I do mean total, exhaustion. The MODAFINIL brought me back to normal.
I tried to switch from Risperdal (due to weight gain issues) to GEODON, but my reaction to IT was horrific. Immediate and drastic muscle spasms and flailings, etc. I told my doctor that in my opinion G**don was very dangerous and should be taken off the market.
I refused to take another pill after those violent bodily reactions. Went back on Risperdal right away (( and switching from Risperdal TO Geodon caused me to be unable to sleep for nearly a whole week, not one wink )).

As for Celexa, he didn’t commit suicide WHILE he was taking the Celexa.
It wasn’t a psychiatrist who specializes in what THESE drugs are for who
gave him Celexa, it was the family General Practicioner. Stupid thing for him to do.
The Celexa was making my cousin-by-marriage feel physically ILL, not suicidal.
No, my cousin-by-marriage
committed suicide
because though he wanted to “WEAN” from the Celexa, his G.P.
told him to quit it COLD TURKEY.
You NEVER tell a person to quit a psychotropic drug “cold Turkey.”
It sends your brain into overdrive and overkill when you do something like that.
This is exactly what happened to him. He obeyed the General Practicioner and disposed of the Celexa and just a couple of days later was incoherent, got his shotgun and
shot himself, and died.
If he had been “weaned” I am positive that he would not have lost it
and killed himself. He was, in no way, a suicidal or depressed person AT ALL.
Peace & Love,
Jaypeeto4

after the doctor
 
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