Why giving up caffeine isn’t going to cure your sleep problem…
From quitting your morning coffee to switching off electronic devices, if you’ve struggled with sleep, the likelihood is you’ve been presented with sleep hygiene tips as a way to fix your sleep, maybe even having been given them by your GP.
The most common tip is to give up caffeine, as it is a stimulant and could be keeping you awake. In some ways this is absolutely correct; it is a stimulant and if you were drinking it right before bed I would tell you to stop.
However, in all the time I have worked with people who suffer with sleep issues only one has ever disclosed during assessment that they drink coffee before they go to bed. He had one cup every night in bed before his lights went off and as a result couldn’t fall asleep. Somehow, this lovely gentleman had made it all the way to one to one sleep sessions without coming across the sleep hygiene information which would have told him that caffeine was a stimulant and to avoid before bed. So, I explained why he should give it up and unsurprisingly he started sleeping better immediately.
But, this is the only one. The vast majority of the people I work with have given it up, many don’t even eat chocolate anymore as they have heard there is some caffeine in chocolate and in turn they are worried about its effects.
In order to explain why caffeine is not what’s keeping you awake, I firstly need to explain how poor sleep develops. Then you can see how giving up caffeine can actually be part of the problem…
Firstly something triggers an episode of insomnia. This could be a period of emotional stress like losing a loved one or going through a divorce, or it could be as simple as a cough and cold which disrupts your sleep pattern.
As a result of the poor sleep, we make changes intended to combat the effects of sleep loss but which end up making the problem worse. For example, we go to bed too early, we worry about sleep loss, we take herbal remedies, we wear eye masks and insist on silence, we even stop going out and socialising in case it stimulates our minds. In turn, we also take on all the sleep hygiene advice to the letter which includes giving up any caffeine, alcohol and often even TV for fear of blue lights.
We then start to spend more time in bed in order to get more sleep but end up lying awake staring at the ceiling. The more awake we are in bed, the more we relate our bed to being awake, leading to further poor sleep. Furthermore, we have given up lots of the things we enjoy, including a cup of tea first thing in the morning.
I encourage people I work with to think like good sleepers and good sleepers are all having a cuppa in the morning, and most likely one after lunch as well to combat the afternoon lull! Giving up caffeine entirely is not necessary in order to sleep well and in fact, I often advise people to drink it in the morning in order to wake themselves up if they have slept badly. It can be useful tool in helping them to stick to the new sleep schedule we agree on during sessions.
So, in summary caffeine can keep you awake if you drink too much, too close to bedtime, but if you are really struggling with sleep then simply giving up caffeine and taking on other sleep hygiene tips is not going to help. You have ‘unlearnt’ how to sleep well and can absolutely re-learn how, but in the meantime, enjoy a cuppa and a chocolate bar.
Here are my top tips to improve sleep:
• Don't spend too long in bed. The first thing we do when we can't sleep is start going to bed earlier to try and increase our opportunity for sleeping. Reduce the amount of time you spend in bed, go to bed later and get up earlier. This will encourage your body’s natural sleep drive to kick in. By reducing the time you spend in bed you will crave more sleep, fall asleep faster and find your quality of sleep will improve.
• Set a wake time and stick to it, regardless of how badly you have slept. By getting up early you will train your body clock to associate mornings with being awake. Staying in bed, dozing, often results in grogginess and low mood, so instead get up, have a cuppa and get some fresh air and exercise rather than trying to catch up on lost sleep.
• Stop clock-watching. If you are waking in the night then it is very tempting to look at the clock with each wakening to monitor how little sleep you are getting. However, this increases the pressure to fall back to sleep and makes it less likely. Set your alarm for the morning then avoid looking at the time again.
• Don't lie in bed awake. If you can't get to sleep after waking in the night or can’t fall asleep, get out of bed. The longer we lie in bed trying to fall back to sleep the more frustrated we get. This, in turn, means we begin to subconsciously relate bed to feeling stressed and being awake rather than asleep and it makes it more likely that this pattern will continue. Leave the bedroom and do something relaxing like read a book downstairs, then when you are tired go back to bed.
• Don’t worry about it. The worst thing you can do is worry, as worrying about sleep is worse than not sleeping. Not sleeping just makes you tired, and you have been tired before. But worrying about sleep makes you stressed, anxious and low. Follow the above tips to give yourself the best possible chance of sleeping well, but outside of that accept that sleep is not the only thing you can do to feel better. Try to leave a bad night behind you and focus on the day ahead. Go for a walk, get some fresh air and eat healthily to improve energy levels rather than just focusing on sleep.
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