Day 28: The 5-hour energy mini-blog

Readers, I have been really tired recently and I just can't seem to shake it. About a month ago I started doing yoga about 3-4 times per week, and although I get eight hours of sleep a night, I still wake up tired. So today, I am trying 5-hour energy.

Honestly, I'm a little scared and I don't really know how this is going to go for me. I can't drink caffeine after about 4 p.m. or else I'll stay awake all night. Also, drinking more than one cup of coffee in the morning leaves me passed out in a cold sweat by 2:00. I once had two doughnuts and a medium iced coffee from Dunkin' Donuts and crashed so hard I had to curl up like a junkie in the gutter. Not cute.

However, my beloved 5-hour energy swears that I won't crash later and that it only has the caffeine of one cup of coffee, and a mere 4 grams of sugar. Theoretically, these traits will be "better for me." Oh, and it's "all natural".

I'll report to you ever hour about what I'm feeling and let you know how it goes!

9:00 AM-- The bottle says berry flavor, but the first sip tastes starkly like Tang if you just ate the powder. Finishes clean though.

I looked at their website and it said I could sip it throughout the time I needed it instead of taking the whole thing at once, so I'll pace myself that way. I'm all about making sacrifices for the project, but I can't risk death.

10:00 AM-- So far, I'm feeling really good! I am alert and working well, no jitters, no cold sweats, no threat of the 'gutter junkie' so far, although I did notice that the "no crashing" clause is explained further as no sugar crash. I also read that I should only take half the bottle for moderate energy, the whole bottle for maximum energy. Definitely sticking to half.

Still sipping little bitter bits for the time being. I'm less nervous now.

11:00 AM-- Woo! I am all jacked-up on B-vitamins. I over-shot the halfway point of the bottle (because I couldn't stand the taste of the drink anymore and just knocked it back) and am definitely feeling the energy coursing through my veins right now. This little thing has made me a super-productive multi-tasking fool.

I was about to tell you all that I didn't have any jitters, but I just took my fingers off the keyboard and noticed that they are, in fact, shaking slightly.

I anticipate an epic crash in a couple hours.

12:00 PM-- No more jitters, and now I'm hanging in like a champ. I've still got all the energy I need to stay productive, although noon is typically the best time of day for me anyway. I'm never very tired between noon and two, so let's see if this 5-hour boost takes me through the 2:00 slump.

1:00 PM-- Not crashing, but definitely losing steam. Double down! Going for the last of the drink.

2:00 PM-- It's been 5 hours and I'm doing pretty well, feeling pretty normal actually. So glad about that! No need for fear afterall! If there's any significant changes/crashes/inability to sleep/etc later today, I'll inform you.

As for now, I give 5-hour Energy a pretty good review. Tastes terrible, got jitters earlier in the day, but I definitely didn't crash. I likely wouldn't take it again because it feels so unnatural to me, but I'm glad I can judge it appropriately.