Don't Touch My Dew!...

It's a well-known fact, I don't drink coffee. I'm rather surprised I have not been ridden out of Seattle on a rail by the mega-coffee pusher, STARBUCKS...I just DO NOT like coffee, so sue me, big boys! I know it's completely "unamerican" to live in the city known around the world for it's coffee producers...whatever.

It's rather funny when I admit to the "locals" that I'm not a coffee fan. They look at me in total disbelief as if I've grown two heads...they shake their heads and I am sure consider ME "touched" in the head. Living where I do and NOT drinking coffee is almost like being a hardcore drug addict and living in a pharmacy...how could I NOT be tempted to at least TRY the goods???

Well, I'm not. And the reason for this is because I have my own, secret caffeine weapon, which is far more superb than regular old coffee. It's Mountain Dew...the soft drink of champions! (And I'm not getting paid by the Pepsi Company to say this either!)

When the MS fatigue hit me big time before even being diagnosed, I stumbled upon Mt. Dew. At first, I thought the drink just "tasted good" and I realized I actually craved it over time. Unfortunately, what I "craved" was not the taste, however...it was the bolus of caffeine found in every can...about 55mg per 12 ounces to be exact!

Now, by comparison to the regular drip coffee at Starbucks (which contains caffeine somewhere in the realm of 200mg per 8 ounces), it is true I would need to drink about 4/12 ounce servings of Mountain Dew to equal 1/8 ounce serving of coffee...this sounds pretty good to me because I "dew" like the taste of Mt. Dew. But then there's the sugar content...

Mountain Dew contains roughly 46 grams of sugar per 12 ounce can...that's a pretty lofty dose of carbohydrates. And, if I were to drink 4/12 ounce cans equaling one 8 ounce serving of Starbucks caffeine content (and believe me, I HAVE done this!), that sugar content quadruples - 184 grams of sugar...this MIGHT explain the weight issue...LOL

I've been thinking a lot lately about my caffeine consumption (let's just call a spade a spade...my OVERWHELMING DAILY INTAKE OF MOUNTAIN DEW!) and making some connections between my current fatigue level and this consumption. I'm worried one feeds off the other. My previous neurologist (NOT Dr. She Who Will Not Be Named...she would NEVER give me this advice!) told me to just go ahead and "down the dew" (not her words, mine) if I thought it helped with my fatigue...she also told me this because I refused to take Amantidine or Provigil, two drugs given to combat MS fatigue! I imagine she weighed the results and it simply wasn't worth fighting over with me...

In my current thinking, I am considering doing my own, home-grown, unblinded, completely biased study regarding this issue...but I'm not just stopping there. I am also weighing out the possibility of including this "study" here on BrainCheese, with moi as it's sole participant! (The drug companies will LOVE this!) I am currently researching the cause and effects of MS fatigue/diet/caffeine consumption/blood pressure and, once I have gathered my data, I may begin my personal study...of course, all documented here for your reading entertainment (or lack there of).

But I don't think I could ever DO and WRITE ABOUT anything without some kind of sarcastic humor, so...I'm thinking of doing this 28 day experiment/study based on the same principles as the movie, "Super-size Me". My personal study will be presented as a "mockumentary" and I think it will be called, "Down-size Me". I'm still working out the details (and what I could possibly LIVE with as guidelines!), but I'll definitely keep all y'all posted.

In the meantime, I'm off to have a few sips of the "Dew" and decide if I can possibly give up my drug of choice for 28 days in the name of pseudoscience!...