Returning from Comic-Con, a story of better living through chemistry

When I walked through the door at home last night I was pretty strung-out. I caught a pretty harsh cold at Comic-Con, and self-medicated for the eleven-hour drive from San Diego to Orem.

I left San Diego at 8:20am and got home at 8:45pm, one time-zone later. I made pretty good time, stopping in Barstow, CA for gas and food, Primm, NV for a nap at poolside at Whiskey Pete’s, and St. George for gas and food.

But that’s not the strung-out bit.

Have you ever tried those little two-ounce energy drinks? They’re loaded with caffeine and other stuff, and claim to offer five hours of no-crash-afterwards energy. Well, for my eleven hours of “pretend you’re not sick” I took four of those things, 2000 mg of tylenol, and four pseudoephedrine.

I was alert, I wasn’t jittery, and though I could tell I was sick I actually felt like I was on the mend.

Then I walked through the door and it was like somebody cut the strings. Twelve hours of pent-up jitters arrived all at once as my body said “it’s time to lie down.” So I added MORE chemistry, threw back some Nyquil, and slept like a fresh corpse.

Today I’m convalescing, which is very boring. I’ve had a couple of small, soda-can doses of caffeine in order to prevent a decaffeination headache, and I’ve slept a lot. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll be better, because in less than a week Sandra and I are driving to WorldCon in Denver, and I’ve got a lot of work to do between now and then.

11 thoughts on “Returning from Comic-Con, a story of better living through chemistry”

  1. Oh My Heck!

    Well, I am glad you are OK, but that was very dangerous.

    Take care, and if your throat is hurting you, try 1/8 teaspoon of cayenne pepper in a 16.9 oz bottle of water. Shake thoroughly and drink a gulp every hour or so. It burns like heck, but it helps heal your throat.

    (((hugs)))

    1. Re: Oh My Heck!

      I know how dangerous impaired drivers are, and I take it quite seriously. I can tell when I need to stop driving and take a nap, or a walk, or something.

      My midday nap in Primm was the result of one of my self-checks. I just needed to shut my eyes for a few minutes, and then I was fine.

      1. Re: Oh My Heck!

        I am glad. My hubby does the same thing. Those energy drinks scare me though. I tried one once and it made my heart race. I can’t do them.

        Again, I am just glad you made it home safely.

    2. Re: Oh My Heck!

      Actually, the cayenne doesn’t heal the throat. It depletes the neurotransmitter your nerves use to scream “pain” at your brain, and the depletion results in some endorphin release.

      The end result is that you feel much better after some serious (but non-damaging) hurting.

      1. Re: Oh My Heck!

        Yea for science. (Sorry, I don’t know how to put it in such words. I just know it works) *^_^*

  2. Long-time fan, first-time poster.

    Those things sure work well– from personal experience, I highly recommend not using them over long term.
    Leastwise, if you’re not an addictive person who enjoys feeling ‘up’. (insert attempt at innocent look)
    Good luck on beating that cold.

  3. Howard,

    How long will you be in Denver? I’m a big fan, but sadly can’t make WorldCon. I’d be happy to share my knowledge of local sites (and more importantly restaurants). Let me know what you like and I’ll try and send you out for good food. 🙂

    If you like chocolate, and can get away for a bit during the Con, you should absolutely check out Wen Chocolates downtown. Chef Poole is a classically trained chef who decided to turn his talents to sweets. His truffles are beyond awesome.

    –G

  4. It was awesome seeing you in San Diego.

    I’m glad to hear the 5-hour energy things worked well. My fiancee has been hearing good things about them from recent brides who’ve need them to get through the happiest and most stressful days of their lives. We gave them a try (at half dosage) when we were moving a couple weekends ago and it seemed to work pretty well for the two hours or so we needed it to.

    Happy healing!

  5. I use those vitamin energy drinks occasionally. I actually found, while driving up to Anthrocon, that they worked better if I sipped at them over time, than chugging them all at once.

  6. Once upon a time I went out on a Thursday night for pre-con fun. I drank approximately thirteen 250ml cans of Red Bull and two 500ml bottles of non-caffinated Energy drink. I did not sleep. The next day, I drank enough to keep me vibrating. I did not sleep. On Saturday, I slowly lowered the dosage, drinking maybe only six cans of Red Bull. At around 3:20 am on Sunday, I fell over, feeling the same way I used to feel when I had alcohol poisoning. I felt genuinely hungover for Sunday. Lesson learned? Hell no…. that required heart palpitations around ten months later.

    Dangerous, tasty, tasty stuff is caffiene.

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