6 scary things caffeine can do to your body

• Caffeine is the most commonly used stimulant in the world.
• Up to 400 milligrams per day is the amount of caffeine that can be consumed without risks by the average healthy adult.
• Insomnia, muscle cramps, addiction, and incontinence are a few scary things that can happen as a result of drinking too much caffeine.

You aren't the only one who has a cup of coffee in the morning, a mid-day Starbucks run, and a soda in the afternoon just to stay awake.

Most of us think we can't function without caffeine, and we don't feel like ourselves when we have to go about our days with less caffeine than we're used to, but it's important to be mindful of some of the scary things that happen when you drink too much caffeine.

According to CBS News,"caffeine is the most commonly used stimulant in the world."The danger isn't necessarily the stimulant itself, but how much is consumed. The Mayo Clinic suggests that up to 400 milligrams of caffeine, about four cups, per day seems to be safe for most healthy adults.

Caffeine fixes come in a variety of preferences. But no matter what your vice is — coffee, soda, or energy drinks — scary things can happen when you drink too much of them.

You can't sleep.

It's easy to get caught up in a vicious cycle of caffeinating because you're tired, but can't sleep, so you're tired the next day, and have to have caffeine to stay awake, which in turn means you can't sleep again.

By now, you've likely already heard that caffeine can make it harder for you to fall asleep at night, especially if it's consumed later in the day. The more caffeine you consume, the more difficult it may be for you to have uninterrupted sleep at night.

A study published in the Journal of Science Translational Medicine found that caffeine "inserts a delay into the  approximately 24-hour metabolic rhythm that keeps your body running in time with the world." In other words, your circadian clock — the body's biological clock— is off by nearly an hour.This is part of the scientific reasoning as to why caffeine disrupts your sleep.

Your heart feels like it's beating out of your chest.

It may come in the form of jitters or feeling your heartbeat in your throat, or even feeling like your heart is going to beat out of your chest.

According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the consumption of energy drinks leads to "atrial fibrillation with high ventricular response (135-170 beats per minute)" in young people.

Basically, those who consume energy drinks might experience their heart beating much more rapidly and irregularly than usual, which can increase your risk for stroke and heart failure.

You may suffer from dehydration.

Have you ever noticed that the more caffeine you have, the more frequently you have to run off to the bathroom throughout the day? This is likely due to the diuretic and laxative properties associated with caffeine.

Along with causing you to take bathroom breaks more often, coffee also dehydrates you. While some say the dehydrating effects of caffeine depend on how often you drink coffee and therefore your tolerance for it (which is kind of frightening), founder of Nutritious Life, Keri Glassman, cautions "to limit your caffeine intake to moderate amounts — about one to two cups per day to avoid dehydration." This equates to about 200 milligrams or less.