Posted on 04/19/2006 10:25:10 PM PDT by neverdem
Faith Sullivan of Minneapolis was having a really hard time getting a good night's sleep. For years, she had slept about seven hours a night. Then, in her late 50's, something changed. After going to bed at 10 or 11 p.m., she would wake up around 3 a.m., unable to fall back to sleep.
No, neither depression nor hot flashes were disrupting her night's rest. It was caffeine. She never drank caffeinated coffee in the evening, but she often had it as a midafternoon pick-me-up. Though she found it hard to believe that coffee at 4 p.m. could disturb her sleep at 3 a.m., at the suggestion of a friend she tried cutting it out. The result was striking. Within a day, she was back to sleeping seven hours a night.
While not every insomniac's problem is so easily solved, many if not most of the millions of Americans who now rely on sleeping pills could cure their insomnia simply by changing their living and sleeping habits.
Food, Drink and Drugs
Caffeine is not just in coffee. It's in tea, colas and other soft drinks, some herbal teas, chocolate and some medications (Anacin and Excedrin, for example). There's even a little caffeine in decaffeinated coffee and tea. For people highly sensitive to caffeine, its stimulant effects can last as long as 20 hours. Even decaffeinated coffee in the evening can keep me awake.
Alcohol is a sedative. It's O.K. with dinner but ill-advised as a nightcap. When broken down by the body, alcohol lightens sleep and can cause early awakening.
Likewise, a large meal before bed makes many people sleepy initially, but can result in disrupted sleep. This is not to suggest you should go to bed hungry. Rather, stick to a light snack, preferably one high in carbohydrates or...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Reading NYS articles....does it for.....meeeeeee.....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Evening vigil to Bacchus, with sacrificial libations, always does the trick. Attending a vespers service works for many, too.
I've had to cut it down to one cup a day. My heart double beats for up to 3 hours if I take too much. I love the stuff tho.
Hot cocoa before bedtime releases sleep hormones in the brain. Tastes good, too...
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