In a fit of desperation after another night of ridiculously poor sleep, a night in a long line of sleepless sleeps, I quit coffee.
My coffee consumption had been slowly creeping up over the years.
At a recent Dr. appt. where my disjointed sleep was being discussed I was asked how many cups of coffee I drink. When I responded with wait, what's a "cup"? My doc said, "eight ounces". So even though I had been drinking smaller European sized 6-8oz. coffees so that I could cut back but still have coffee into the afternoon, I was still up to four cups. And that's not counting the tea. Wooof. She said, you might want to try cutting back, just to see. As I fall asleep just fine (I just don't stay asleep), I kind of took that with a grain of salt and set it aside.
It wasn't until many weeks of sleepless nights later that I started watching a few YouTube videos just out of curiosity. Was quitting caffeine something I really needed to consider? How hard would it be? What benefits did others find in their experience? Then one day I woke up in the early hours just like every other night and was not able to go back to sleep, up for the day at 3 a.m. Again.
That morning I decided to go all in and quit coffee. And ever stubborn, I decided to do it cold turkey.
I was prepared for a bumpy first week, and while I definitely went through some classic withdrawal symptoms, over all it wasn't that bad. Having recently needing to come off HRT abruptly, I can say that was worse. But back to the coffee. I had no symptoms on day one. On day two I felt super charged and full of energy, day three a headache, day four super sensitive and moody, and then it was over.
Maybe because I've only been a coffee drinker for six years, or maybe because I'm more desperate for sleep than coffee right now, I honestly haven't been craving it. I've had a couple of social decaf coffees this past week and they were delicious. I did not miss the caffeine.
That brings me to the things I've noticed part of this update.
The first thing I noticed about two days in is that my brain fog had completely disappeared. I thought that was menopause! Gone.
Then I noticed that I don't really feel anxious or stressed anymore. I would say my anxiety is 90% gone. I am shocked.
My energy is stable and very consistent alllllllllll day. I no longer wake up needing a coffee first thing or feel that pressing down drag that screams, "I need a coffee" throughout the day. Steady Eddie.
Am I sleeping through the night? Not entirely. But I am only waking up once and going right back to sleep, which is a HUGE improvement.
So I think we are going to stick with it and keep going. The lack of brain fog issue alone would do it for me, but the sustained balanced energy, and reduced anxiety are also totally worth it.
Meanwhile I came across a really interesting interview with Stephanie Romiszewski, a sleep specialist, whose whole premise was stop prioritizing night routines and focus on morning routines for better sleep. She maintained and discussed in a follow up interview with the same people that tracking sleep actually makes you sleep worse so try to let that go and let your body, a specialist in itself do its job. She also wrote a book called Think Less Sleep More. So I am leaning into that as well.
