"When I was younger with my friends, we'd drink a lot of Cokes so we could stay up all night," said Tony Sahm, 14.

For many kids, caffeine is a common way to help stay awake. However, many doctors report that caffeine can cause headaches or nausea. It is less known that caffeine uses the same mechanisms as amphetamine, or speed, to stimulate the brain and can be addictive.

Because caffeine is a widely used drug that alters the body and mind, Y-Press conducted an in-house informal experiment to find out the effects of caffeine.

Tony, along with Magen Kritsch, 17, Brian Reissaus, 16, Stefanie Neumeyer, 17, Christine Beyer, 13, Greg Minkner, 13, Chad Dyar, 14, and Alicia Strong, 15, divided into two groups for a monthlong look into the side effects of caffeine. Throughout the month, participants recorded their personal experiences.

Both groups spent the first two weeks consuming more caffeine than they normally do and recording how they felt. Halfway through the month, Alicia, Christine, Greg and Chad began slowly decreasing their caffeine intake; the others completely stopped consuming caffeine.

Everyone experienced peaks and valleys of energy with increased caffeine, regardless of how much caffeine he or she normally consumed. For example, before the experiment, Magen didn't drink many caffeinated drinks and felt pronounced effects from her increased intake.

"In the morning, I didn't feel any energy surges or anything. But right after lunch when I had pop, I felt pretty energetic, and it was pretty bad because I have a sit-down class right after, and I couldn't stay in my seat for some reason," she said.

Alicia, who normally doesn't drink much caffeine, also noticed energy swings during school.

"After lunch I got really hyper because that was when I had like the chocolate and soda and stuff," she said.

Brian, on the other hand, routinely consumes a lot of caffeine, mainly in sodas. Still, he felt swings in his energy.

"For me, the biggest problems were just trying to stay awake in a certain period. And I noticed it because like for a whole week I was dozing off in one class and really hyper in another class in the same day," he said.

April Adams, a nutritionist at Johnson Memorial Hospital in Franklin, said the effects noticed by group members were typical.

"Caffeine is considered a drug in that it's a stimulant, and it's actually the most commonly used drug in the world. It stimulates the central nervous system, and it can cause increased heart rate, increased blood pressure. It can cause anxiety, insomnia, all those types of things," she said.

Differences between the groups became apparent when Stefanie, Tony, Brian and Magen stopped consuming caffeine cold turkey after the second week.

"I started getting headaches at like probably about 2 or 3 in the afternoon, and they lasted for like four weeks," Stefanie said.

Tony had a similar reaction.

"After the first day, it was just like, 'Oh yeah, I'm off this.' And either the second or third day, I started having headaches, and then it continued for about another day. So, it was about two days of headaches. It started out in the morning -- it was like, 'Oh, my head hurts' -- and then it kind of got weaker and didn't hurt as much," he said.

Brian said that without caffeine, his energy level was more consistent throughout the day. Magen said she was very tired and quiet the week after she stopped consuming caffeine, but then she felt normal after that.

"I wasn't very talkative around my friends. I was just a zombie. They asked me what was wrong with me, and I told them about the experiment," she said.

Adams expected those quitting cold turkey would have more trouble after stopping their caffeine intake, but she said the symptoms are short term and should disappear.

"Normally, if you just stop cold turkey, then you find more pronounced symptoms, like the headaches, as well as maybe some drowsiness because normally it keeps you alert. Or even sometimes you might find depression a little bit, since you're not quite as alert and peppy as you normally are," she said.

Adams predicted the group that gradually reduced caffeine intake would notice fewer symptoms, and that proved true.

Alicia, Greg, Christine and Chad gradually weaned themselves off caffeine over two weeks. Two of them felt no changes, while the other two noted only mild energy fluctuations.

Greg said, "I'd go to three Cokes, and two and then one, and then I stopped. And I probably was more tired because that's what woke me up, all the caffeine." But the fatigue wore off quickly, he said, as did his desire for caffeinated drinks.

"I'd look in my refrigerator, and I'd see one, and it didn't look as good. I stopped drinking pop and I started drinking more water and orange juice and stuff."

Christine also noticed less fatigue.

"When I don't drink caffeine, I'm not tired really. I don't really sleep as much, and I can stay up later and not be tired in the morning."

Both groups reflected on their individual caffeine consumption.

"I try to drink more water now. One of my friends, she always drank Coke, and then she had a kidney stone or something because she didn't drink enough water. And so now I try to get my eight glasses of water in because I'm afraid that'll happen to me," said Christine.

Chad, too, changed his outlook on caffeine use.

"I really didn't think anything about it before, but now definitely it shows that it can slow you down. And like people who drink Cokes before everything, it can really affect them."

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Caffeine content

Several teens reduced or completely stopped their caffeine consumption to see how they would be affected.

Caffeine content in milligrams

No-Doz (1 tablet)

200

Coffee (8 oz.)

135

Mountain Dew (12 oz.)

55

Coca-Cola (12 oz.)

50

Tea (leaf or bag, 8 oz.)

37

Hershey bar (1.5 oz.)

10

Source: Center for Science in the Public Interest

Research by Addy Stevenson, 11, and Riley Walker, 11/Y-Press staff