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 4.66 (Highly recommend) from 28 votes (4496 Visits) |
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Caffeine tablets.............No doz............Are our teens safe with them?........... |
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by cookclan  (February 2007) (rank 3rd) |
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I am really concerned of a thing that alot of teenagers seem to be using these days and it is readily available over the counter from a chemist......Service station......Or even in your local supermarket.......There is no evidence on these being of any danger to yourself or your children in the correct  dose BUT I still wanted to put it out here for people who are not aware of these.......
NO DOZ....
These tablets are available to anyone of any age.......At the end of last year I was aware of quiet a few teenagers who used these to stay awake and alert making them feel more able to study for their end of year exams.....They also let the kids study and still keep their social life going.......I know the teens I knew taking them were taking them in larger than recommended doses.........I have seen reactions of shaking and being overly energetic to wide open eyes which looked really tired almost like they wanted to sleep but couldn't.......Depending on your weight and height etc.. these tablets can have a different effect on each peson...........I have alos seen teenager take these and then drink on top of them........Lets face it the tablets they say are equal to one cup of coffee.........How many people would have 6 cups of coffee at once.......If you search enough over the net you can find stories on teenagers blogs about how many they have taken and what sort of buzz it gave them.......
There is other caffeine tablets on the market but this one is the one I have seen sold and used here........These tablets are promoted to people to help them extend their waking hours........These tablets are supposed to as the maker says..... Assist you in remaining alert and wide awake.........They also as with most tablets have written on the box do not exceed a certain amount of them a day......
The recommend dose per day of these tablets is 6 per day on normal No doz and 5 per day on No Doz plus.......I have found this actually written on the No Doz website which is for their own product so I have cut and pasted this below from here.........
Warnings: For occasional use only. Not intended for use as a substitute for sleep. If fatigue or drowsiness persists or continues to recur, consult a doctor. The recommended dose of this product contains about as much caffeine as a cup of coffee. Limit the use of caffeine containing medications, foods or beverages while taking this product because too much caffeine may cause nervousness, irritability, sleeplessness and occasionally rapid heart beat. Do not give to children under the age of 12 years of age. As with any drug, if you are pregnant, nursing a baby, have high blood pressure or a heart condition, seek the advice of a health professional before using this product. Keep out of the reach of children. Vitamin supplements should not replace a balanced diet.
So if that warning is on them why can our teens still buy them.....Why are they available in supermarkets and petrols stations.....I have said it before and I will say it again.......Being a teenager is an experimental stage so why put the temptation right there for them........My advice to you is to read the website provided and keep an eye on your kids with what they are taking to study or keep awake ......The teenagers I know who have taken these thinking that they are a safe way to stay wide awake even if they do not follow the directions......Whatever happened to having a good nights sleep and a balanced diet to help you study for those exams??
These are just my thoughts on another thing that the teens of today are taking.......What are yours???
Have a great day
Cheers
Angie |
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| ADVICE RATING |
4.66 (Highly recommend) from 28 votes |
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Re: Caffeine tablets.............No doz............Are our teens safe with them?...........
My little bro's mate takes No Doz washed down the a bottle of V! She's hyperactive, although she is very alert, somehow still sleeps the recommended amount of hours at night, and is very bright. Not sure I'd be able to sleep after that combination in the afternoons. Different people are affected in different ways. I have used them on occasion when I've had too much on and had an assignment in that I forgot about and hadn't even begun. Yes, this is just recently. Being a busy mum, doing it all on my own, I needed to pull an all-nighter and bought some. Took 2 of them through the night, as well as a cup of coffee, then had 3 cups of coffee before work to stay awake at work and had another No Doz tablet at work in my lunch break to keep me up for the afternoon. My body went back to normal. I haven't taken them since and had a normal bed time that night and I would do the same thing again if I have to do another all-nighter. It's not a good idea to do this every night and every day of course. Great article, always good advice coming from you. There are people who do abuse it, and I must say it was a shock how readily available they were and I could just buy them off the shelf. However, coffee is also readily available and can be bought everywhere.
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Re: Caffeine tablets.............No doz............Are our teens safe with them?...........
I am new to this sight and signed up to comment on this article, so please forgive me if I am a little forward. I think that the article that was well written was very well thought out, I am making the assumption that it is from a parent who is concerned for their child and others, and commented on be similar people (forgive me if I am wrong). I am a 19 year old male, currently doing medicine and still living at home, as such my mother and I have discussed the matter of caffeine at length, and I have done considerable research on the topic. I believe that it would be helpful to have a point of view from the side of your children. Let me make my self clear, there are parts of the article which are true and there are people who will abuse caffeine, but this is a small minority, and although caffeine can be dangerous it is only so in very large doses. In fact the lowest known overdose on caffeine was at a level of 3.2 grams, this is the equivalent of 32 No-Doze or 40 cans of an average energy drink such as red bull, in order for it to be lethal it must all be taken within 1 hour so that it is absorbed by the body at the same time, but the average overdose level is 5-10 grams, in other words if someone were to die from a caffeine overdose they rely must be trying to commit sureside. I refer to a comment made by Monyg83 on February 15th "all i can say is if you find your child has been taking these, find out why and do your utmost to try and get them off them!!!! before its too late!!!!!!!!!!!” monyg83 appears to believe that the use of caffeine will lead to other, more dangerous drugs. There is no research to support this nor is there any research to even sagest it as a possibility, there are several people, especially high ranking business men/women and doctors who have a very high caffeine intake and have never taken illegal drugs (I once had the privilege of working with a doctor who is considered the worlds best orthopedic surgeon at knees and hips. He drinks in excess of 16 cups of espresso per day and does not use illegal drugs).
My point is what would you rather your children be taking, illegal drugs which kill brain cells, destroy the chance of them having a good job, and course other more severe health problems such as kidney failure (which is lethal); or then taking caffeine which as cookclan stats in her article makes people “able to study for their end of year exams.”, will not kill brain cells, as a result of them getting good marks they will get a good job, and will only course adverse health problems only in very large quantities for an extended period of time.
The question is why do teens take caffeine in large doses, the answer is so that they can get good marks and make parents proud of them.
At the end of the day the sad reality is that all teenagers will at some point experiment with drugs, whether it be tobacco, alcohol, caffeine, or any number of illegal drugs, the simple fact whether good or bad is that caffeine is without a doubt one of the safest ways to do this.
I would not recommend that a parent try to stop a teen’s caffeine consumption as monyg83 suggests because this will lead to them using other drugs. Rather talk to your teen about it as an adult and ensure that they are well informed, but remember you will not be able to educate our young adult until you are first well informed.
At the end of the day what would you rather them be talking: alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, caffeine or cocaine.
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Re: Caffeine tablets.............No doz............Are our teens safe with them?...........
Hi, i'm from australia, and am currently studying yr 12, last year of high school. I must that i totally agree with dave88.
There is pretty much only one reason that teens take caffeine tablets such as No-Doz, in order to stay awake and extend their day.
I, for one, travel over two hours a day to get to school, i do community work, and i also have younger siblings to look after. Imagine trying to get the best possible marks on top of that, its pretty damn hard.
nowadays, having a 'good night's sleep and a balanced diet' is almost impossible to achieve. a balanced diet can be achieved, but having a good nights rest is incredibly hard, and i assure you, most of us students would want nothing more.
But ask any student, and ask how many hours of sleep they get during exam time, and how much work they're able to get done, and the truth would be around 5-7hrs, as opposed to the recommended 9.25hrs, and they probably havent been able to learn that much due to their tiredness. caffeine tablets allow them to study harder, better, and as long as the dosage is within recomended boundaries, this can be pretty beneficial.
So before you jump to such negative conclusions about caffeine tablets, look at it from your child's point of view, and as dave88 said, discuss it with them as rational adults.
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well that brings back memories...
I used to take those no doz plus tablets a few years ago, back when i was putting in alot of hours at my old job, followed by a very busy social life, and ive gotta say, THESE THINGS ARE DANGEROUS!
what disturbs me about them, (and thankfully, im very proud to say that i didnt fall into this trap,) when kids become dependand on legal energy enhancers like these, and their bodies build up tolerances to them, what do they do next? are they going to move on to bigger and better (and illegal) things?
all i can say is if you find your child has been taking these, find out why and do your utmost to try and get them off them!!!! before its too late!!!!!!!!!!!
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Annoyed. Very annoyed.
This thread seems to be made of people who are set on one thing and aren't open to persuasion. However, as it was stated earlier, caffene has, to my knowledge, no lasting side effects. Sure, it may pose certain dangers depending on a variety of other factors. Lifestyle: for example how much water you drink, how much exersise you get in the week, etc. It could also worsen the risk of certain health issues coupled with bad genes.
Key words there people: BAD GENES. How many people drink coffee? Quite a few, in the world today? Out of those, how many people were *killed* by their coffee, excluding cases of, i dont know, drowning or something. How many people were killed by the caffene in their coffee? Not many, if any at all.
To be entirely honest, im more worried about the effects that the parents are having on their children about these things. Im just starting year 11, with a casual job on the side at my local supermarket. When im closing the store, it takes quite a bit out of me, even though we only close at 10:15 pm. I drink energy drink to keep myself awake, and I have for quite a while now. The only side effect I've had is I had to get a filling recently. If my parents full on stop me from doing something it only encourages me to go behind their backs to try it, due to human nature. I'm sure when you parents were our age, you wanted to try these things and you didnt like what your parents were telling you, etc.
In response to the comments about school, it varies person to person. There is a guy in my class who knows more about maths than the teacher, its more how his brain is wired up than anything else. I do my share of homework (usually!) but some things i cant seem to get and i need to work harder than everyone else. Essays are a nightmare for me, so i need to spend quite a while on them. What does this have to do with the topic you say? Interesting question. If you find things easier, you tend not to work as hard on them, agreed? So if you find it difficult, you tend to need to work longer. There are so many hours in the day, and some people get tired easier than others. Some need caffene to get them through the day, let alone how much they should sleep. Its all about self control people. If you go so far as to overdose on the stuff, then thats your problem. Used responsibly, however the stuff is a lifesaver...
Thats just my opinion though!
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Related keywords: buzz, caffeine, exams, nervousness, no-doz, shaking, sleeplessness, teenagers
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Alana
