Do you take No Doz or other caffeine pills for road trip driving?
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Anonymous
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Is this really a thing! I hadn’t heard the brand No Doz since the 80s.
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Anonymous
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No. I take drowsy driving very seriously, but I don’t think that’s a good strategy. A coffee and something to chew, sure. But if you’re drowsy enough to reach for a caffeine pill, you need to stop and rest.
I had a friend as a young adult who died this way, which makes it really easy for me to not worry about the short term inconvenience of stopping to rest. Take a short nap, take a walk outside, have a light meal. |
Anonymous
| No; they give me horrible anxiety and shakes. |
Anonymous
| Yes but I use a pill cutter and take 1/4 pill at a time. That much doesn’t have a huge effect. You eventually learn how much you need. It depends a lot on the food you eat. How much and what kind of food. Vivarin would be the top brand. No Doz is good too. I have used off brands from Amazon but quit because I don’t trust them as much and they overstate their caffeine content by sometimes double. |
Anonymous
| No. I just ... drive. |
Anonymous
+1 I’ll stop at Wawa for coffee |
Anonymous
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Cold drinks with ice are better for staying awake, as is driving with the AC blasting or windows down and getting a breeze.
Warmth makes you drowsy. But in all seriousness, sleepy driving is statistically MUCH more dangerous than driving "drunk" or at a BAC of .08, MUCH worse, and equivalent to driving at a BAC of around .18 to .3 so don't do it. |
Anonymous
| No. And I do not even attempt super long days or nights of driving. |
Anonymous
| Not any more. Twice, I've been in a car when it ran off the road because the driver fell asleep. I'm lucky to be here and realize no destination is worth the risk. If a coke or coffee won't get it done, it's time to pull over somewhere safe. |
Anonymous
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No, if you need to it means you should stop driving.
The consequences are too high to risk . |
Anonymous
| No! Caffeine doesn't agree with me. I get an elevated heart rate and more anxiety, which doesn't make for safer driving. |
Anonymous
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No - back when I was in college, I had drives of over six hours between home and school. I always did it with only one stop for gas and drowsiness was a problem. I've never liked the feeling of caffeine, so my solution was playing loud Billy Joel music (or anything easily singable) and forcing myself to sing along. If I was actively singing, I wasn't asleep. Sometimes, I had to open the windows too.
As an adult with a family now, I probably just wouldn't risk it. |
Anonymous
+1 Driving while drowsy is extremely dangerous and almost as bad as driving drunk. Things like putting windows down and drinking caffeine do not help as much as people claim. |
Anonymous
| No you need to stop and take a nap. |
Anonymous
| No -Jesus- they are terrible for you! |