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I wonder how many folks that are taking Melatonin are coffee drinkers? I spent years trying to crack my sleep issues. Blackout curtains, magnesium malate / cit
by playcache 5y ago
I wonder how many folks that are taking Melatonin are coffee drinkers?
I spent years trying to crack my sleep issues. Blackout curtains, magnesium malate / citrate, no electronic devices for an hour before bed, CBD oil, even stronger CBD oil, different doses of Melatonin, 5-HTP, valerian extract, sleep apnea tests.
It never really significantly occured to me that it would be coffee as I believed I had ruled this out. I was already stopping coffee at 12pm and tried to limit to two cups. I also enjoyed coffee a lot, I spent good money on artisan roasted beans, a grinder and an aeropress (including one for travelling). Coffee is good for you right, antioxidants etc! Everyone drinks coffee and I can get it anywhere 24/7.
I decided it must be worth trying to drop it as an elimination test to see if it might help. I came across a reddit comment from a google search, where someone had quit caffeine and had a lot of success.
First few attempts failed, but eventually managed to get a day one out of the way (the stuff is addictive).
First 3-4 days were tough to put it mildly, constant pumping headaches and extreme fatigue. However around day 5 something wonderful happened. I had one of the most deep satisfying sleeps I had in years, it was like the sort of sleep a child has. Deep R.E.M level sleep with a vivid dream. I work up with a feeling of being deeply nourished. I actually cried as I was so happy I had found an answer.
I am now caffeine free for 10 months and I can still feel myself healing and the layers of the onion being peeled away. I very rarely get anxious now and my productivity at work is back at where it was when drinking coffee, but the difference is my focus is much better. On coffee I was like a scatter gun, whereas now it's more of a less manic focus.
I continue to sleep great, all night, no more 3 am wake ups. On the rare occasion that I do wake, I don't find myself in this delirium / anxious state where I proceed to toss and turn, instead I feel really at ease and drop off again.
Caffeine really gets played down as harmless (and perhaps for some it may be), but there are so many folks around that are suffering with sleep issues that could solve this by quitting. Caffeine binds to your adenosine-receptors. When adenosine binds to its receptors, neural activity slows down, and you feel sleepy. Adenosine facilitates sleep and dilates the blood vessels, probably to ensure good oxygenation during sleep. Caffeine blocks these receptors thereby removing the feeling of being sleepy. Studies are limited, but I wonder if the long term impact of playing with your biochemistry day after day for years has a bigger impact than we know of. It also increases cortisol the stress hormone, so this is where the anxiety comes from, cortisol is akin to 'fight or flight'.
- hoten 5y agoOnce I learned the half-life of caffeine is 5-9 hours, I started a rule where I only had caffeinated coffee before noon, and decaf after. Night and day difference (heh) in my sleep quality. Perhaps 12pm didn't work for you because caffeine stuck around longer in your body compared to mine. Did you ever try an earlier cutoff time?
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- xvedejas 5y agoSame here, except a 3pm cutoff has been adequate. That said, I usually have just one cup a day, and many (most?) other coffee drinkers seem to have more per day than I do. How long it stays in the body is about both how much coffee _and_ how late. If I were a heavy enough coffee drinker, maybe I'd even have to limit myself to before 10am only, to get sleep improvements?
- playcache 5y agoI don't think there is a hard rule around half life times, individuals metabolise it differently. Its also not just about the caffeine leaving your system, but the impact of cortisol being increased along with any other stresses you might have on any given day. I honestly prefer not drinking it all now. I operate better, feel more relaxed and its nice not having an addictive dependence to plan around (although its a less problematic one as coffee addiction is well catered towards). It's one of the best things I have ever done to improve my life, why would I want to try and sneak a bit back in.
- gwynplaine 5y agoThe effect of caffeine is controlled by several genes. One is the CYP1A2 gene that encodes for a liver enzyme critical for the metabolism of caffeine. Another is the AHR gene, which controls when and how the CYP1A2 gene is switched on and off. The general population have variants of these genes and so experience different response to similar doses. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3777290/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3777290/
- 5y ago