I tend to avoid caffeine after around 7pm which for a late worker works out at around 6 to 9 hours before bed time. Ideally I want the effects to have mostly gone after 5 hours, so that when I get home I feel relatively tired. Even if I have no intention of going to sleep immediately after getting home (about 00:30)
I know a few people who will quite happily drink caffeinated drinks right up until they go to bed. At first I thought- what idiots. But they must be able to sleep otherwise they wouldn’t do it (unless they are so stupid that they don’t sleep and can’t figure out why not) So it makes me wonder if I by having a few cans of coke zero in the evening I am seriously altering my chances of getting to sleep in the negative direction.
Occasionally I have been so thirsty and lacking in decent alternatives that I’ve just drink caffeinated drinks near bed time. I have difficulty sleeping by default, but it’s hard to say if on those occasions when I’ve drank caffeine before bed time whether my sleep is significantly worse.
If I could drink coffee, tea, coke zero without worrying about sleep I would definitely do so. As it is I have to resort to alternatives - caffeine free coke or coffee, fizzy drinks other than coke, milk, etc.
It’s very significant for me and seems to be more significant over time, to the point that I rarely drink caffeine anymore. If I drink caffeine in the evening, I will be awake until 2 or 3 in the morning, no problem. Sometimes that happens if I drink it in the afternoon, too. My husband drinks a lot of caffeine and doesn’t seem to have this problem at all, so perhaps he’s built up a tolerance that I have lost.
I hate that most restaurants have no sugar-free and caffeine-free alternatives for beverages other than water. So, I drink a lot of water, and if that makes me look cheap, so be it.
I usually drink Diet Coke up until about 11:00 PM, and go to bed at 1:00. There have been times I’ve had some right before bed, and it didn’t affect me. Coke has a lot less caffeine than coffee, though, which I don’t drink at all. So I would guess I don’t get enough caffeine in my system to make a difference.
The extent to which it affects me has increased noticably as I’ve gotten older. (I’m 41) I’ve never been a coffee drinker. My primary source of caffeine has been assorted colas. These days i even notice that Diet Pepsi keeps me up later than Coke Zero.
I’ve tried to eliminate soda entirely but occasionally really want it with a particular food. I will not however, drink something cafeinated after 3:00pm.
It depends on your own personal biochemstry, which I’ve discovered can change over time.
Up until maybe 2 years ago, I had absolutely no problems drinking caffeine in the evening. In high school I regularly drank a full can of Coke right before bed without any sleep issues. More recently I commonly went out with people in the evenings to a coffee shop, and I’d drink caffeinated coffee (decaf tastes awful) and again have no problems sleeping.
My response to caffeine used to be that it would make me pee a lot, but it wouldn’t do a thing regarding how awake I was. I did (and do) drink coffee in the morning, but that’s way more about the comfort/familiarity/ritual than it is an attempt to wake myself up. I would have to have extremely high doses (much higher than a normal 2-3 cups of coffee) in order to get wired. Only time I managed it was when I’d been up all night popping TurboTruffles, Jolt, and espresso like there was no tomorrow.
Then a couple years ago, I was having huge issues falling asleep at night. I was on Ambien for several months; and in fact only stopped with the pills because I apparently built up a tolerance for them and they no longer worked.
It finally occurred to me to reconsider caffeine (after all, it had never been an issue before). I tried avoiding it after around noon or 1pm and when out at the coffee shop at 9pm would opt for a fruit smoothie or something instead of coffee. And it did help. It didn’t completely eliminate my sleep issues (they return on a semi-regular basis), but it does take noticeably longer to get to sleep if I have caffeine in my system.
It still doesn’t actually wake me up (in the mornings), but nowadays it will keep me awake.
For you, I don’t think you’ll know which way it goes for you without trying it a few times.
Well yes, water as an alternative. But something the alternatives all have in common is that they are boring. For me coke is for my evening’s entertainment and winding down as wine is to a restraunt meal - it is the best accompaniment (Well I guess actual wine is, but I am incapable of drinking alcohol in moderation unlike most people)
Caffeine free coke is nearly good enough substitute for caffeinated coke, but it is very difficult to source.
I think it’s a tolerance thing. When I used to drink a lot of caffeine it had little or no effect on my ability to sleep… nor did it wake me up in the morning but if I didn’t have morning coffee hoo boy did I regret it all day. So I’d even go so far as to call it an addiction thing. IME, someone who takes caffeine regularly will function normally with it, and someone who doesn’t will function normally without it. Since going off the stuff (it makes me very ill) my sleep/wake schedule is no different than it was before.
I definitely am addicted, I know a lot of people joke about it, but it’s possible. I get migraines if I don’t get some in the day. My choices are either purge during school and fail tests/homework or purge during vacation and have no fun during it, my will usually breaks after the migraine hits. Yeah, for anyone wondering how people fail to get over addictions: it’s not a little voice saying that you need it, it’s a little voice saying you have no other choice.
As for the thread, I don’t notice it affecting my sleeping. But I probably have a baseline tolerance now so it doesn’t really affect me.
When I drink coffee at night, it actually makes me quite tired and sleepy.
When I drink it during the day, the “pick me up” is more psychological, in the sense that it is part of the morning routine, than physical where I actually feel different after drinking it.
It seems to me there is a lot of variation from individual to individual.
It must vary quite a bit, I don’t even get a pick-me-up–psychological or otherwise. I can wake up fine without caffeine, all I know is that if I don’t have some at some point before I start feeling the sickness/headache setting in, I’ll crash.
I think caffeine most definitely affects sleep, at least for some people. There’s nothing I like better in the morning than a hot cup of freshly ground coffee, but if I have any after about 3:00 PM I’ll be wired until midnight.
It never really affected me until trying to get off of the tranquilizers. And I miss the “crash” which sometimes was helpful for me getting to sleep. I just can’t stand the part before the crash.
BTW, if caffeine calms you, you may have a slight form ADHD. That’s all Ritalin (or now Concerta) did. Heck, ADHDers are told to drink strong coffee if they run out of medicine. It stimulates the part of the brain that allows you to focus, and sometimes that lack of focus is why you can’t sleep.
I don’t find that I have trouble falling asleep if I’ve had caffeine in the evening, but if I wake up for any reason (noise, bathroom break, whatever) then I find that I can’t go* back* to sleep. That delay is why I tend not to have caffeine after about 2:00 p.m.
When I drank a lot of caffeine, it never bothered me right before bed. I’d have a coke or whatever, and sleep just fine.
A few years ago I greatly reduced the amount of caffeine I consume. I probably have about three servings per week now, usually iced tea. Sometimes I’ll forget about the caffeine issue, and have a nice glass of iced tea before bed … and then I am wide freakin’ awake for hours.
So I think one’s own tolerance has a lot to do with it.
Caffeine never effects my ability to fall asleep. It can make me extra jittery though. Like if I’m on an airplane flight I am nervous already, coffee makes it worse for me
Caffeine used to keep me up for hours if I had it before bedtime, and I’m not a light sleeper. Now that I work this crap job that keeps me up all night, I don’t have a regular sleep schedule any more. I drink three or 4 cups of coffee from 11 PM to 3 AM, and fall asleep fine at lunchbreak for a nap. I’m usually really tired after that so I have two more cups before I get off work, then I’m wide awake as soon as I leave (of course).
I haven’t had the jitters from caffeine in ages. If I’m going to NEED to be awake for a few hours I’ll take two No-Doz which makes me feel ‘normal’ but not sleepy or jittery.