Does Pepsi contain more caffeine than coffee?
By ctrymuziklvr
@ctrymuziklvr (11057)
United States
February 15, 2008 9:23am CST
I'm a huge coffee drinker and can drink cups of coffee before I go to bed without it keeping me awake. I seldom drink soda of any kind but a few nights ago I treated myself to a pizza and got Pepsi to go with it since when I do drink soda that's the only one I will drink. This particular night I decided that I was going to stay up past my usual 10:00 bedtime so I played spades until 11 and was drinking Pepsi while I was playing. At 11:00 I took my usual dose of Seroquel which usually knocks me right out. Not this time! I waited until 12:00 waiting for it to kick in but nothing was happening. I finally decided to get in bed thinking if I was comfortable that sleep would come. Nope...not even then! I tossed and turned all night basically sleeping off and on but never falling asleep for more than an hour.
Do you think it was the Pepsi that kept me from sleeping? Does Pepsi have more caffeine than coffee does?
3 people like this
15 responses
@Marcola (2774)
• United States
18 Mar 08
As far as sodas go, I don't think Pepsi has THAT much caffeine. I mean, compared to Mountain Dew and Dr. Pepper, it's tame. I've never been a big coffee drinker, but I've been on the med you mentioned before, and every night was a good night of sleep. I could easily sleep 10-12 hours. Your story seems a bit unusual, yet interesting. Personally, I've always tried to drink my caffeinated beverages earlier in the day. Like, before 5 for something like Pepsi and before 4 for something like Mountain Dew or Dr. Pepper.
@gabrielle47 (1219)
• Philippines
9 Mar 08
Actually in general, coffee contains more caffeine (2-175 mg) than most softdrinks (
@GardenGerty (157563)
• United States
17 Feb 08
It may have been the sugar in the Pepsi, or the additional mental stimulation of playing cards. Sorry you had a rough night of it. I guess you will not do that again.
@sarahruthbeth22 (43143)
• United States
17 Feb 08
It may not be the caffeine.It could be that you sysytem is used to coffee and not Pepsi.Suggestion, Pepsi comes in caffeine free. The next time you have pizza, stop by your local store and get some caffeine free Pepsi and try it. It is a little sweeter to my palate than regular Pepsi but it goes well with pizza.
@izathewzia (5134)
• Philippines
16 Feb 08
I dunno about it. I am not a soda drinker as well. I am more into coffee than any drink. And I go for decaffeinated ones.
@chrislotz (8137)
• Canada
2 Mar 08
No I don't think that pepsi has more caffeine than coffee, so I think it may have been the sugar in it that kept you awake. I could be wrong but that is my opinion. Or maybe you were going to have that kind of night anyways and it was just a coinsidence that it was the night you drank the pepsi. Or maybe it was the food that kept you from sleeping. I know I can't eat anything for at least 3 hours before I go to bed or I have nightmares. I drink coffee right up to the time I go to bed and it never keeps me from sleeping either. I also drink diet coke and it hasn't stopped me from sleeping either. But food, that can be a problem for me.
@maxsee212 (799)
• United States
15 Feb 08
in order to find the question to your discussion, you should see the caffein content on the can of pepsi or whatever container you're driking your pepsi wheter it be a bottle or anything when you see how much per serving you are getting, compare it with the per serving you are getting from a coffee.
@FreakQD (867)
• India
15 Feb 08
I dont think that the pepsi you drank kept you wake for long time. Actually, pepsi contains just 48 mg of caffeine compared to 16-ounce serving of regular brewed coffee which contains about 260 mg of caffeine. However a express contains less caffeine when compared to pepsi and it contains 40 mg of caffeine.
@worldwise1 (14885)
• United States
15 Feb 08
As a fellow coffe drinker and a Pepsi drinker, I can honestly state that Pepsi does pack a powerful punch in the caffeine department, ctry. I have recently curtailed my Pepsi consumption because of my diet, but I know that if I have a glass at night it helps me to stay awake. It just might be more powerful than coffee.
@cortney09 (1345)
• United States
16 Feb 08
I don't know if Pepsi has more caffeine or not. It sounds to me like it might have been the Pepsi, especially since that is the only thing that you did different than normal. Does Seroquel make you drowsy the next day? Every sleeping pill I have ever taken makes me drowsy the next day.
@lolalolacherrycola (899)
• United States
16 Feb 08
Coffee has about 133 mg of caffeine per 8 oz serving. Pepsi has 38 mg per 12 oz. Coffee has way more caffeine then Pepsi does.
@crobinfly (1)
• United States
16 Feb 08
It was probably the sugar in the pepsi that affected you and not the caffiene. Soda's in general have a high rate of carbs (like sugar and syrups) and that is probably what gave you the energy rush. Not to mention the carbonation... maybe your system was still dealing with the (ahem... cancer inducing...) carbonation because it wasn't used to it.
Personally, I like coke with a couple wedges of lemon... it doesn't give you as much of an energy rush because the lemon lowers your blood pressure so the sugar and caffiene doesn't affect you as much... plus... it just tastes better.=)
@sunshinelady (7609)
• United States
15 Feb 08
I don't know if it has the same amount of caffeine it as coffee. I do know my husband drinks coffee all day long and right before he goes to bed and it doesn't effect his being able to go to sleep. His brother when he wakes up in the morning and swings out of bed to get up has a can of pop sitting on the table next to the bed and chugs it before he even gets all the way out of bed. I know he said that it really gets him going. You said you seldom drink pop of any kind so it would seem to me that the Pepsi was the reason for you were not being able to get to sleep.
