Coffee and GURPS

[rlbeaver]

If I don't have my daily 2 cup coffee dose by a certain point in they day (usually within 2-3 hours of waking), I'm told I can be a tad bit grumpy which apparently is just a nice way of saying argumentative, sarcastic, and a tad bit mean.

On the other hand, studies have shown that a moderate amount of coffee per day may help deter some illnesses like parkinson's, etc. Of course, that depends on which week you're reading about it...other weeks it will kill you dead.

However, since we're not getting out of this life alive, we may as well enjoy a good cup of coffee...speaking of which...

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by downer

That's pretty much a matter of opinion, I guess. Caffeine addicition should be a quirk, since withdrawal has no appreciable effects.

You don't count three or four days of killer headaches as "appreciable"? In GURPS terms I think I'd call the ones I've had "Severe." Of course I've never drunk coffee, but many sodas feed the same addiction.

Bill Stoddard

[downer]

I've never seen or heard about any such effect from caffeine in either sodas or coffee. I wouldn't consider myself addicted, but I do drink a lot of caffeinated beverages, and whenever I don't for a few days, nothing happens. I've never met anyone who feels anything but a bit of tiredness and uneven temper when they stop drinking coffee and similar beverages, and I would bet that they, as someone said, use the coffee as a mitigator for being bad morning persons.

I frankly have trouble believing that any such effects occur and are not entirely psychosomatic.

[hackbarth]

Four weeks without my 3 or 4 coffee, no chocolate, Yerba mate, caffeinated sodas gave me only mild to average headaches and bad temper (not GURPS bad temper, just pessimistic and sarcastic mood).

Afterwards I was able to reduce the amount of caffeine, and maintained my somewhat healthy habit. I wouldn't give myself more than a point for the disad.

[Sword-dancer]

Much more important

Tea and Gurps?

[malloyd]

Originally Posted by downer

I frankly have trouble believing that any such effects occur and are not entirely psychosomatic.

The mild to moderate headaches are definitely physical withdrawal symptoms. This is why many over the counter pain relievers include caffeine as an ingredient listed in the fine print; it makes your pill noticeably better than the generic asprin by quickly curing one of the most common causes of headaches.

[Rasputin]

Originally Posted by whswhs

You don't count three or four days of killer headaches as "appreciable"? In GURPS terms I think I'd call the ones I've had "Severe."

Well, I've only had one day, probably because I took some Excedrin, but they definitely were Severe. And like hell they were psychosomatic -- the first time it happened, it took me until the next morning to put two and two together, as I hadn't had a Diet Coke for about three days before. But regardless, caffeine is cited specifically in the Minor Addictions section. It seems the effects of withdrawal vary from person to person.

Since caffeine is Cheap and Legal and has no remarkable effects, we're talking unquestionably about a quirk-level disadvantage, unless you raise the price or make a coffee-free state.

[Luke Bunyip]

Originally Posted by downer

I frankly have trouble believing that any such effects occur and are not entirely psychosomatic.

Introspection is not a valid form of evidence I will admit, but the following is my personal experience. About twenty years ago, when I was a student, I ended up sick with the flu. After about five days of the usual symptoms (sweats, fever, aching joints, lethargy) which then began to abate, I started to get the most amazing headaches. It was as if a pair of knitting needles were trying to jam themselves out of my eye sockets.

I dragged myself off to the doctor, and told her that I had the weirdest flu. After telling her my symptoms, she just asked me if I had changed anything in my diet.

"Diet? I'm living on boiled rice and steamed vegetables!" I said. At the time I had a great Malaysian flatmate, and he insisted I eat. Because I felt ill, I thought it was better if I didn't drink coffee.

"Your suffering from caffine withdrawal", the doctor said, with a big grin on her face. I was interpreting the withdrawal symptoms as signs of the flu, which had long since vanished. Once I left the surgery, I went to the cafe downstairs, and had a coffee. The headache had vanished by the time I got home.

I suppose, what I am trying to say is that it was unlikely that it was psychosomatic, as I thought they were flu symptoms, and was unaware that there was such as thing as caffeine withdrawal.

And with that, I will have my first coffee of the morn :)

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by downer

I frankly have trouble believing that any such effects occur and are not entirely psychosomatic.

Headaches as a caffeine withdrawal symptom are well documented. One of Caffeine's effects is that it's a vasal deconstrictor, that's why it's in Exedrine.

[Bruno]

Interestingly, coffee was the first functional treatment for asthma - it's the caffeine that's the active ingredient. Caffeine isn't used any more because they have better caffeine-derivatives available now that are more targeted and with less toxic side effects in useful doses, but a 3-4 cup-a-day habit still mitigates asthma somewhat, and for about five years was enough to make my inhaler almost unneeded. Then I inhaled too much methyl-ethyl-keytone at work and my asthma kicked it up a few notches. But the coffee still makes a quite noticeable difference in my asthma.

I don't get much in the way of withdrawal headaches, mostly because when I go off my coffee I DO get worse asthma attacks and have to take more of my intervention inhaler... which has some of the same effects on blood vessels as caffeine, which then reduces the headaches severity pretty significantly.

It's a weird little circle of chemical interaction that has my doctor basically giving up on getting me off the coffee entirely :)