Coffee in a.m. Keeping Me up at Night?

Scientifically, I don't know. For what it is worth, though, my husband cut back on his coffee consumption because he noticed it was interfering with his ability to fall asleep and to sleep soundly. He was in a situation where he skipped the coffee for a few days and noticed an improvement in overall sleep quality which lead to his decision to cut down to one regular sized cup in the morning. At this point I can tell when he's fallen off his coffee wagon and goes on a binge. That night he flops like a landed fish which is hardly restful for either of us. I say cut back and see what happens. Good luck and many well wishes for better sleep.

Could you try switching to caffeinated every other cup? Then maybe only two cups out of 6 and then to one? 6 cups of caffeinated coffee is a lot.

Good luck!!

Six 8 oz cups of coffee is a LITTLE morning ritual?
That's a quart plus a pint of coffee.
(If you're drinking it black you don't have too many calories with it but if you add cream and sugar - Whoa Momma!)
That IS a lot of caffeine.
The tea may or may not have caffeine in it - totally depends on the particular type of tea it is.
As we age, many of us tend to get more sensitive to caffeine.
It's a diuretic - so drinking a lot can dehydrate you.
It can also elevate your blood pressure.
The older I get, I find coffee out right irritates my bladder - I HAVE to be near a bathroom 1 hour after I drink it - so I can't drink it before any lengthy road trips like I use to in my 30's.
I think you have a caffeine addiction.
Try reducing the amount of coffee you drink by 1 cup a week till you are down to 2 or 3 cups in the morning.
If you have any tea after that make sure it's herbal (no caffeine).
Be aware of any other caffeine sources during your day - sodas, foods (chocolate), medications, etc and avoid them.
Drink plenty of water.
I like a little chamomile tea an hour before bedtime.

I stopped my 1 cup of coffee in the morning about 6 weeks ago (I drink 1 cup of Earl Grey now - sometimes - sometimes I don't even want that).
The way I like my coffee, it's just too many calories to have on a regular basis.
So last week, as a treat, I had my 1 cup of coffee as I usually like it.
Well - I had not counted on losing my tolerance for it.
OMG! - I actually had a caffeine high for about 5 hours - rapid heart beat, feeling dizzy, slightly nauseous - if I'd had any heart palpitations I would have called 911.

Try to cut back on it and you should be able to sleep a bit better.
If you are worried about withdrawal, talk to your doctor about it.

http://lifehacker.com/5944489/how-to-kick-your-caffeine-a...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caffeine_addiction

Not sure if that's the reason but that's still a lot of coffee. I drink 3 cups in the AM and want to cut back myself. Try doing this instead, when you wake up drink a large glass of water or two. It will fill you up and then you won't want to drink as much coffee. The water is better for you, will hydrate you and make you feel better all around. When I do this, I usually have just a cup or cup and a half of coffee. I see no reason to cut it out all together.

That's a LOT of caffeine. I have no idea if that's why you can't sleep, but it's surely why you can stay awake.

Don't go to decaf cold turkey. You'll have a helluva headache if you do. Instead, come down a little at a time. You can still have the caffeine, but switch to the decaf in the later cups. A little at a time.

Look at the rest of your schedule. Do you get exercise? Do you eat after 7:00? You should go to bed at the same time every night. No TV before you go to bed, and read a really boring book before turning out the light.

You're on your own for if you wake in the middle of the night. THAT'S my killer...thank you menopause.

Dawn

I ditto that you're drinking too much coffee--the caffeine is likely the culprit keeping you awake, but menopause is probably also an equal culprit. Caffeine affects everyone differently. I must stop drinking anything with caffeine in it by at least 5pm if I plan on getting to sleep at all that night. Sometimes I have a bit too much tea, or I drink it later in the day than normal, and I ALWAYS have trouble getting to sleep and staying asleep that night.

If you feel you need the caffeine, try switching some of your drinking over to black or green tea. You'll still get some caffeine--though not as much--plus tea has a lot of really good things in it that are healthy for your body.

Also, as we age, our thyroid and adrenal glands have been taxed by living and the food we eat, the air we breath, the water we drink. Lots of caffeine is not good for the adrenal glands; if they get messed up, then you'll have a lot of trouble sleeping, falling asleep, staying asleep.

It would be in your best interest to begin curbing back how much caffeine you take in on a daily basis. I drink one glass of green or black tea a day--but, I add a lot of water/ice to my iced tea (that's how I usually drink it. I can drink a lot more "tea" if it's watered down). If I drink just a cup of hot tea, then it's one cup/day--the rest of the day, I drink herbal or rooibus tea.

AND I drink a lot of water. I try to drink 10 8-oz glasses of water/day. Most people are way too dehydrated.

Yes. I had to de-caffeinate because it is a migraine trigger for me. However, before I quit I started getting panic attacks and fluttery heart palpitations in the evening. After I went off caffeine, those went away. I never linked them directly because I avoided caffeine later in the day, but apparently it messes with all kinds of body chemistry with 24/7 effects. Some people are more sensitive than others so the symptoms are worse. I would try weaning yourself off, go totally caffeine free for a couple of months and see how that works for you. If there is no difference, you can always go back to your coffee habit :)

If I drank 6 cups of coffee, I would probably be awake at least 20 hours-easily. You can try decaf-or even a blend of half regular coffee and half decaf-maybe it's the routine and the ritual-not the caffeine?? Try melatonin to induce sleep.

Yes this is probably what is keeping you up.Think you should try to cut back to 2 cups and none after 11am. Switch to herbal tea for the rest of the day. Your body will thank you.

that's a lot of coffee. i'd cut it with some decaf, or pare back the amount to no more than 3, 4 at the most.
i'm the same age as you are, and i find i'm much more sensitive to caffeine than when i was a young 'un.
khairete
S.

Fellow 53 yr old here. I think the sleep issue is more of an age/change of life thing than a coffee thing. I've had the same problems for the past 2 yrs. What worked for me was adding melatonin before bed. It's an otc supplement so it's easy to find at the drugstore. I bought the 3 mg tablets and found that if I take 6 mgs a half hour before bed I actually fall asleep and more importantly stay asleep. No groggy morning hangovers either. Give it a shot.

Different people metabolize caffeine differently. I drink coffee all day - Community New Orleans blend most of the time, RavensBrew Three-Peckered Billy Goat on special occasions. I'm 48 and I average two pots a day. I even drink it at night and rarely have difficulty falling asleep. And I don't touch decaf.
You may be one of those people for whom a little caffeine goes a long way. Have you tried stopping your caffeine intake earlier in the day?

Wow 6 cups. I drink 2 cups a day and maybe a third mid day on a rare occassion. I love coffee also. I can't image caffeine in your system 12 hours later but I'm not totally sure. I find I need to wind down at night. Read a book, surf the web then watch a little tv. It sets my body up for sleep. Just like with kids who need a bedtime routine so to speak.

It's the age!!! However try cutting back on coffee or switch to decaffeinated. If it does not help, it's your age.

That seems like a lot to me but I don't know if it has anything to do with sleeping. At 53 I also had trouble sleeping. And it also started during the winter months where we have shorter days. Once spring kicked in and the days got longer, the problem went away. This year I haven't had any trouble sleeping, but I do take one Unisome every night. It doesn't knock you out, it just really helps you to drift off and then to stay asleep. It is non-habit forming; I do go a few nights every week without taking one just to make sure I can still fall asleep on my own. I can, but I wake up a lot. With the Unisome I don't wake up until the alarm goes off.

No, I would not think it has any effect on you. One thing that happens as we age is not needing as much sleep as before.

I can't remember the name of the theory, maybe Hayflick?, anyway, when we're younger our cells are dividing like crazy as an infant. That's why they need to much sleep. Their cells are in constant flux.

A teen's are still dividing like crazy until they get their adult bones and are as tall and big as they're going to get. Then the cell division slows down drastically.

When we hit those college years our brain needs a lot more storage space so we need more sleep. Then middle age comes and it keeps slowing down.

Then we hit an age where we really start to age into our young senior years. Our hair starts turning "blonde" and our skin starts to show those fine lines and gets thinner. Our bodies only need a lot of rest when we're fighting off an illness. We don't even know it's there unless we start feeling bad or running a fever. So we just suddenly realize we're not sleeping as much.

I suggest you try cutting it back by one cup then see if it has any effect. But I seriously doubt it's still effecting you at night time.

It's not likely the caffeine. More likely its your hormones. Make sure you drink plenty of water throughout the day to flush out all the coffee and you should be fine. I know when I have coffee after 4pm, I have to make sure I drink lots of water so I can sleep that night.

Hi my fellow 6 cupper! I also drink 6 in the morning! I am 33 (on the 18th) and I dont feel it has anything to do with age?? If I cut back to 5 cups i can feel VERY tired by 8 pm also if I go to 4 cups I need a nap by noon. Its like I am awake for the day with the coffee! Try cutting back to 5 cups and see how that works?

Well E., I hate to bring this up but if it is not the caffeine you could be pari-menapausal.

Look iinto it
DH