Students on the FAU campus say energy drinks, soft drinks and coffee keep them going when they want to quit.
"To last through the classes, laughs. But also I work out so it helps," said a student.
"I would say overall I try to keep my caffeine intake to about 200 milligrams a minimum," said another.
Some rely on a pick-me-up to start the day. "It's mostly for waking up in the morning and really being able to pay attention to the classes."
But doctors warn everyone to be cautious in how much and what you use as an energy boost. Dr. David Soria from Wellington Regional Medical Center said, "Some of these energy drinks have four times the caffeine that a cup of coffee has."
A medical examiner ruled a South Carolina teenager died after drinking a combination of soda, coffee and an energy drink within two hours.He found the victim had no health issues. But a recent Journal of the American Heart Association study found that drinking energy drinks will increase blood pressure.
"If you have high blood pressure, if you're predisposed to palpitations or even just headaches and jitteriness, or irritability and caffeine can absolutely be the cause of that and you may not know it because your daily routine is to drink a cup and another later in the morning and so forth," said Dr. Soria.
Maykala Stolfi, a college student said, "I try not do that much caffeine but you know sometimes you drink a lot and you get jittery, which I don't think is healthy. But I guess something I don't think about it."
"We do see people who drink too much caffeine and energy drinks. And generally they just require supportive care with fluids and time," said Dr. Lauren Elliott who works in the emergency room at Good Samaritan Medical Center.
Dr. Elliott added that people should limit their caffeine intake, especially since caffeine can dehydrate your body. She said it's important to drink plenty of water.
