LOL, never heard of them

I first heard about them through a Welsh boy friend of mine. I too originally thought is was some kind of drug, so don't worry VG, you weren't the only one to be befuddled.

I allways have the real coffee handy, no need for pills here

Actually, I saw an advert in a magazine, never felt the need for them though, I don't even drink that much tea or coffee anyway now.
I really don't think the intake of large amounts of caffiene is a particularly healthy idea, although it has to be said that it would be nice to be able to get out of bed of a morning and be awake properly nearly straight way. But I think at the moment that's probably down to a poor diet more than anything.

The only time I have used them was in May 1997 when I had just completed a 65 mile hike over 2 days & then had to drive home.

Trouble was that when I finally did get home I couldn't sleep even though I was utterly shattered.

Unfortunately the first time I heard of pro-plus was when a friend of mine went to America to train with another group and ended up overdosing on them.

I don't mean that if y'all take them you will end up killing yourself too! But she wasn't careful with how many she took,or what else she was eating/drinking/taking at the same time. I'm also not sure if the dosage per tablet is different in the US either.

I have taken them in the past when I've had something on at work the next day.

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by Lioness
I first heard about them through a Welsh boy friend of mine. I too originally thought is was some kind of drug, so don't worry VG, you weren't the only one to be befuddled.

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Caffine is a drug and as Desire said above you can overdose on it (much like me on beer).

So be cafeful with it folks.

Its not a good idea to mix pro plus with loads of lager
it makes for a monster hangover so dont try taht at home kids trust me

Can't remember where I heard about them but have been aware of them for a long time (11 or 12 years).

I have never been in a situation where I thought the idea of taking them was a good one ... if you are *that* tired then your body is trying to tell you something (usually, get some sleep you idiot).

Having said that, I try to avoid more than 3 caffeine based drinks a day so taking tablets which simulate the effect of several cups of coffee was never going to be high on my to-do list.

well, I suppose its an english thing or something, so i heard about them at....a pre-meet of a nos night ( cant remember which one)
I told Lioness that i was tired and she said " Oh, go and tell Ciri! He has something against it!" and winked at me.
Ok, at that second I kinda felt like VG, although she hadnt said anything of tablets sofar.
So, "slightly-confused" I went to Ciri, as she had said, and told him that i was tired.
I am deeply sorry Cirieno, but at that moment i was kinda sure you were something like a drugdealer.
Cause Ciri turned to me and said " Oh, I have some pills. After one you wont be tired anymore this evening!" Riiiight!
But then he and Lio told me it were only caffein tabs.I didnt take em anyways, as i didnt know how my body would react on them. ( I usually dont even drink coffee..)
Later i found the whole thing really funny. So, sorry Lio and Ciri for thinking you could be addicted to anything else than the net *bows deep and in shame*

proplus are great.

The only reason I'd heard of them before last years party was because my dad always used to have them in his glovebox.

I tend to go the Red Bull route. However, given motorway service station prices I think it might be time to change to Pro Plus!

Well, they've definitely been around for a long time. I remember taking them when I was doing my exams which was round about 25 years ago. Hell of a long time ago but I still have nightmares about them!

(Edited by zepherine 10/03/2002 22:24)

I remember them from people taking them in my college days, but have never taken any myself. Like Incandenza, I just don't see the advantage (after a brief burst of "putting everything to one side in favour of my job" stress a few years ago, I decided *nothing* was more important than my health!). Besides, I consume enough coffee to keep me going But mainly cos I like the taste, not its effects.

The downsides don't seem to be direct, but people tend to do stupid things when they're "under the influence." At my first year in uni, one of the law students pulled a gun during a lecture at the end of Freshers' Week , and fired at the lecturer. It was only a blank, but he left a note on his chair saying he was fed up of being told what to do all the time. Turned out he'd been on ProPlus all the way through his A-level exams, and had never really had a chance to recover before starting college.

I really can't remeber when I first heard of them .. and only ever taken them once after spending all night up with two of my kids who were very Ill and still had to spend the whole day looking after them... To be honest I'm not sure wether it was the pills or just hvaing to be mum that kept me awake

I took a fair few PP back in 92-94 when I was working at Butlins. I spent so much time partying, I needed the PP to get me through the 'work' bit.

I tried these when I was working in a nightclub two nights per week along side my day job. (8 hour day friday, home, eat, shower, out, 8 hour night friday - what fun...) Actually did nothing for me. :shrug:

A lot of people have seen what a good cup of coffee does to me. Pro Plus? Not a good idea

Preamble... caffeine is a drug, I'm not a doctor, etc.

Caffeine, like any drug, alters your body's behaviour, so you need to be aware of the potential for complications, especially if you're taking high doses; I've OD'd on caffeine, once; it was scary.

If possible avoid very high doses of caffeine - half a dozen pro-plus washed down with a couple of cans of red bull is not the way forward. It's generally better to take a moderate dose of caffeine (2 or 3 pro-plus) with grapefruit juice, 1x200mg aspirin, ginko biloba and nicotine (low dose, 3mg, patches or gum); if you're doing this to stay up all night writing / revising / hacking / gaming / chatting / whatever rather than boogying the night away at a dodgy islington night club then take some valarian to reduce jitters.

You may wish to consider ephedrine aswell, I'd wouldn't suggest it but it should probably be mentioned; if you chose to use ephedrine then please ensure that you read up about it first - googling will turn up thousands of sites and give a good idea of the issues surrounding it.

The above is personal opinion, I'm not a doctor and have no med/phys/pharm training, beware of potential interactions with medicines, particularly mono-amine oxidase inhibitors and terfenadine (triludan), and only take aspirin and nicotine if you're confident you are not negatively predisposed to them. Do not use ephedrine without having thoroughly reseached the issues surrounding it.

Coffee + grapefruit juice + ginko + valarian should be good enough for 90% of the people 90% of the time.

C