Energy Drink Emergency

You can find them in the gas station or on the shelves at the local grocery store, but many people aren't aware of the danger energy drinks pose.

"They put all kinds of things in the energy drinks like vitamins and homoeopathic but what people are really going for is the caffeine," Sanford ER Doctor Chris Carlisle said.

According to the Federal Drug Administration, in the United States 80 percent of adults consume some sort of caffeine every day.

"Two to three a day 16 oz Rockstar Energy drinks," Matthew Buczkowski said. "I drink it after I drink my 20 oz of coffee every morning."

Twenty-seven-year-old Buczkowski swears by energy drinks and has been drinking them since he was 18-years-old. He says he drinks them because he wants to stay alert at his job.

"I have to be on top of everything because I work around sharp objects and I don't want to be tired when I'm messing with 20 foot saw blades," Buczkowski said.

The FDA is investigating reports of energy drinks or high doses of caffeine, leading to illness, injury or even death. However, the seats in the Sanford Emergency Room are empty and Carlisle, says he doesn't see many caffeine overdoes, but he does see the symptoms.

"I see a lot of people that are hyperactive and blood pressure and pulse are high and I find myself a lot of the times wondering why," Carlisle said.

Carlisle says he doesn't exactly know just how many people come into his emergency room due to caffeine overdose because patients don't often tell him.

"Most people are not necessarily honest with what all they have consumed before they come to the ER for various reasons," Carlisle said.

Carlisle says he sees more and more people coming into the emergency room not just on a caffeine overload but on a caffeine overload mixed with some sort of substance.

"The answer is if I see people with symptoms that are related to high caffeinated drinks, it's usually in the face of other kinds of substance abuse either drugs or alcohol," Carlisle said.

Carlisle says the alcohol mixed with high doses of caffeine in energy drinks causes a harsher effect on the human body causing more danger. And like drugs or alcohol, too much caffeine can lead to addiction.

"If you haven't had it you can tell, you get rundown and you get a headache and in that case you are sick and it is an addiction," Carlisle said. "But it doesn't last very long and you're over it in a day or two."

Carlisle says he too knows first hand the effects of too much caffeine.

"I used to drink too much coffee because I have to stay up all night sometimes and eventually as I got older I couldn't tolerate it any longer because it makes my heart skip beats. Even though in the end that's not particularly dangerous it still bothered me enough so I made the decision to quit," Carlisle said.

Carlisle says if you do need caffeine to function throughout the day, you may need to re-evaluate your lifestyle like getting more rest at night.