Comparing how I feel: Caffeine vs. FeelZing
Kane R., parent and silicon valley executive, prefers being a FeelZing user because it’s more effective for mental sharpness, and makes him feel better overall than being a caffeine user. With FeelZing, he can be more present spending quality time with his kids, while also remaining as productive as he needs to be while at work and working out.
Q1: What would you say is the hardest part of your experience as a caffeine user?
A: For me, it’s how I feel.
Don’t get me wrong, when I haven’t had caffeine in a while — the initial feeling of that first dose is mind blowing. My brain feels like it’s been plugged into a jet engine. That initial, first-dose feeling of caffeine is awesome.
It’s how I feel afterward that gives me the hardest time. I don’t like how I act toward others, especially my children, and my body can’t take the stress brought on by the drug.
Some background -- I became a caffeine user right when my first child was born while working as a marketing lead at a Sequoia-backed Silicon Valley startup. My goal was to raise my son at night (armed with the 5 S’s) and work as hard as I could during the day. Prior to having a child, I didn’t need extra mental energy and focus. I just had it. That changed when I became a Dad.
The bad part of how I feel as a caffeine user is the selfishness. The only thing I care about is getting through my to do list. The dopamine boost of getting done what I want quickly becomes a fiending. I’ll never forget the first time my son asked me to play action figures with him while I was on caffeine. It was impossible to even answer the question — melding my imagination with a 1-year old was a %$^&^% nuisance getting in the way of responding to more emails and texts!
The worse part of how I feel as a caffeine user is the anxiety. While my son learned to sleep, I remained awake, anxious that he would wake me up. Once he had figured out how to sleep, I was still anxious — convinced that he was now sleeping for too long. While on caffeine, anxiety got in the way of sleep recharging me.
The worst part being a caffeine user? Feeling like crap for most of the day, especially in the morning. My enthusiasm for starting days turned into annoyance. There was no way I could drink enough water (I tried) to counterbalance the dehydration brought on the diuretic qualities of the drug. When I overdosed by consuming too much too soon, I couldn’t do anything other than remain cracked out — waiting for that feeling to go away. I gained weight, presumably due to the sleeplessness, and grew out of my clothes.
In summary, being a caffeine user didn’t work out great for me — I only cared about myself, ignored people I cared about, couldn’t sleep, and physically felt like crap. That was the hardest part for me. The negative side effects of being a caffeine user weren’t worth the benefits: enhanced focus and energy that’s easy/affordable/convenient to use.
To be clear, I still sought the benefit. The considerable mental energy and focus requirements of being a dedicated Dad and professional (in addition to sibling, child, colleague, friend, etc.) remained.
Q2: How is being a FeelZing user different than caffeine?
A: The biggest difference for me is no anxiety about dosing. With caffeine, I was constantly worried about how much caffeine to consume, and when. With FeelZing, I just put the patch on and move on.
Q3: Since you’ve switched to using FeelZing, how have you noticed your quality of life change?
A: Big picture, as a caffeine user I wasn’t confident how I would be able to do everything I wanted to do, and still feel good. As a FeelZing user, I’m confident — even/especially during the moments when I’ve got a lot to take on.
To summarize why, I’d say that FeelZing increases confidence that I’ll have mental energy and focus when I need it, and not when I don’t. The way to describe how the product works for me is “sharpening my mind,” free of anxiousness. By putting the patch on before kid playtime, working, and working out, I get more out of those activities. I have more mental energy and focus, more reliably, to tackle them.
Q4: Have you noticed any benefits related to dependance / addiction? In other words, have you noticed that you get fewer headaches from caffeine user withdrawal, or that you no longer have a developed tolerance to caffeine?
A: Yes. The headaches, ever present as a caffeine user, are no longer a part of my day. My teeth are whiter. I feel better and stronger than I ever have.
I do miss the daily smell of cacao beans. It’s been replaced by looking forward to the sensation of the stimulation. Like others, I’d describe the session as “an electric massage”. You never forget your first time, as the sensation is so strong and unlike anything else.
Plus, caffeine is now the perfect “break in case of emergency” solution. If I need to pull an all-nighter, no problem. As a caffeine user, this fail-safe wasn’t available to me.
Try FeelZing for $5/per use to see if you can experience some of the same benefits that Kane did.
