Silly question, but I'm fairly addicted to caffeine, and was wondering what the best strategy for caffeine intake on test day is. My concern about drinking a large amount of coffee during breakfast is that I'll have to go to the restroom before the built-in break, or that holding it in will literally distract me from the exam. Are you allowed to bring caffeine pills/5 hour energy type drinks into the exam room (in your ziplock bag)? I was thinking that could be a half-way solution.
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Just try to consume the normal amount of caffeine. Be wary of those 5 hour energy drinks. That give me this overwhelming hot feeling and make me sick feeling sometimes. So only use them if you have experience taking PTs with them. I used them sometimes during undergrad and realized there was a big difference between drinking one and going to work after class and drinking them and having to sit still for a few hours, haha.
As far as caffeine, i did a few days of test run PTs where i would wake up at 6 am and test at 9 am sharp. During those days, I would only drink one bottle of water along with one cup of coffee to see how often I'd have to use the restroom, etc. I found out that that's the perfect amount for me and i only had to go during break every time, which was perfect. Maybe you want to do a test run this week just to see what's the right amount for you?
I use something called Liquid Caffeine. It is just like the name says, liquid caffeine. If you buy the bottles with pumps, each pump is 83mg. My morning caffeine/energy drink is 2 pumps liquid caffeine, a dropper of B-Vitamin Complex, and then Mio for flavoring. You could easily put that mixture into a plastic bottle of some sort to use during the break.
good call Alex - I'm going to take one last PT tomorrow and try the 5 hour energy during the break, and see how it goes. If I feel "off" or different, then I'll probably forego it.
So this is where doing as many PTs under real testing conditions helps you figure out the volume of caffeine/coffee/etc. that will get you through the first three sections without issues. I had a 16 ounce cup of Americano the morning of and used the restroom right before the test. It worked out on the real test day but I feel like that was only the case because I had taken so many PTs testing for what works best for me. As for the caffeine pills and energy drink question, I'm not actually sure but I definitely wouldn't recommend it if you are not already using it during PTs or if you may crash in your last section.