Thursday, June 06, 2019

Butterscotch clouds, a tangerine and a side order of ham

I used to think I was a morning person.

Have I told you this before? I also to also have a great memory.

In any case, I told Nick the other night that I used to be a morning person and he laughed so hard I thought he was going to hurt himself.

To support my assertion, I said that in Peace Corps, I voluntarily got up at 5:45 am to go running every morning. The fact is, I went to sleep at 9:00 every night, because there were no streetlights, and once it was dark, it was dark.

But in any case, my contention is that I used to be a morning person. I also told him that two different roommates, Maude and Jane, thought I was a morning person.

It could, however, also be by contrast, because neither of them prefer to speak at all in the morning.

At any rate, at some point I became a not-morning person. And there have been years where I could barely struggle out of bed at all.

There were years that I blamed my children, because they were, in fact, to blame for waking me at regular intervals throughout the night.

But now they are solid little sleepers.

And lately my sleep is worse than ever.

So now I'm wondering if maybe I should cut out coffee entirely. Or have, like, one cup in the morning and then be done for the day.

This is very much not my M.O. I like many cups of coffee. Although I do stop with the caffeine by noon. Ish. But maybe, maybe at this juncture, that's not good enough.

I have a friend who quit coffee entirely because she found it made her anxious. Does it make me anxious? I don't know. Not sleeping definitely makes me anxious.

Nick has, upon threats of clockily harm, muffled the Heirloom of My Discontent. So now when I'm up at 3:00 am reviewing every single misstep I've ever taken in my entire life, at least I'm not also counting the hour and the half hour with DING DING fucking DING.

That's better. And yet, still I struggle.

Maybe I go to one cup. Or maybe switch to decaf. Maybe I give up coffee entirely. I do enjoy coffee. And caffeine.

But there have been a variety of things I've enjoyed over the years that have not been my friends.

Have any of you quit drinking coffee and felt like it improved your life?

11 comments:

  1. Frugal Vegan Mom6/06/2019 4:00 PM

    I have not, but have also heard too much makes people anxious. I get jittery after a couple cups, but that is enough to see me through to the morning poop, and then I don't feel like drinking anymore, so it's a non issue. Anyway! Have you tried all the standard "get a good night sleep" recs, like no screen time right before bed?
    One product I really love is Natural Calm (plus Calcium, Raspberry Lemon Flavor) - it supposedly helps you get to sleep better, but also a good way to get extra water, vitamins, AND helps with regularity!

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    1. FVM! Hello and thanks for the input! I have tried no screen time before bed, and some nights I am better than others with it. I take magnesium (when I remember) before sleep. But this week in particular has been awful and I don't know why--but I'm tired, so I up my caffeine, and then I'm tired again...So I'm wondering if that's been the culprit this week. I know age figures in, as well. Ugh.

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  2. I cut sugar out of my diet and went for light meal with lots of vege and only a little protein for dinner and make sure it’s hours before bedtime. Within 2 days I was sleeping better and longer. Now if I have anything with sugar during the day my sleep is disrupted and I wake feeling very fuzzy and my eyes take ages to focus. Also no real coffee after 12pm unless I know I am having a night out and need to stay awake.

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    1. You make an excellent point. I am a sugar junky, and I wonder if I am spiking my blood sugar and leaving myself exhausted. Yikes. Cutting out sugar is the hardest thing for me. Coffee would be a much easier give-up.

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  3. I saw an article recently that said you are supposed to drink a cup of coffee, then nap. Not sure the validity of it, but thought I would throw it out there for you.

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    1. A friend of mine says she can drink a cup of coffee and then nap! I told her I was super envious.

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  4. I have cut back to the one cup in the morning, and no caffeine whatsoever the rest of the day. Unless I’m drowsy and will be driving at night. I was drinking green tea for a pick-me-up thinking that it was a better choice, but that has caffeine and it didn’t help with the sweaty anxiousness. So I turn to mildly caffeinated white tea, or diluted green tea (with lemonade) for the wake up beverage. After my morning cup of joe, I switch to hot water with lemon. Getting older sucks.

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    1. I have, of late, been having a lot of conversations about caffeine and anxiety AND alcohol and anxiety. I almost never drink anymore because it messes with my sleep and leaves me so tired. But a friend recently said that she wakes up anxious, or she'll be anxious and/or crabby the next day. Yes, getting older super sucks.

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  5. I think the idea is that you nap immediately after drinking it, so that you get a 20 minute nap in while your body processes the caffeine, which then wakes you. It’s a short nap plan. It takes me more than 20 minutes to fall asleep, so not for me.

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    1. That is interesting. It typically takes me more than 20 minutes as well.

      Today I stopped caffeine at 10:30 am and have had no sugar (so far so good--trying for several no sugar days in a row to see). Let's see if this helps.

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  6. Yes. Combined with my anxiety and faulty gall bladder, the coffee thing was just bad for me. I've been off coffee for over two years and it's helped.

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