When I completed my first week of sobriety I decided to plunge myself, and rather overzealously, into researching the benefits of my new healthy lifestyle. A number of online articles suggested I would begin to notice my sleep improving, tempting me with words like deep and uninterrupted which really got my bloodshot eyes excited. Without doubt I was sticking to my sober guns if better sleep and a calmer mind were set to follow.
In the year leading up to me quitting on July 8th 2018, and noticeably in the last few months of me really overdoing the booze, bedtime was a horrific ordeal for me. It would take just two large glasses of wine to send me to bed with a heavy head and racing heart, or I'd simply drink myself into oblivion and lightly pass out until morning - getting up maybe two or three times during the night to use the loo and gulp excessive amounts of water. And if I did wake up hungover and decided not to drink that day I'd be sure to endure a night of chronic insomnia and anxiety which would run into the early hours of the next morning. When I say it out loud I've been sleep deprived for...years.
I'm now 65 days sober and I can report that yes, my sleep is deeper and most certainly uninterrupted (unless Rob's T-Rex level snoring wakes me), but I'm finding it increasingly difficult to actually get to sleep and I think I've finally figured out why (and yes, it's bloody obvious and my revelation is very late to the common sense party)!
I love love love coffee, drink the stuff all the time and easily rack up between three and five strong mugs per day. However when I drank alcohol I wouldn't have a need for the hot stuff past 4.00 p.m. as I'd be riding the post-work boozercoaster until late into the evening.
Now I've escaped the theme park of doom I've defaulted to drinking soft drinks and tea/coffee on the regular, and well into the evening which I - Einstein - have attributed to my progressively wired disposition. At the beginning of my sober journey, drinking anything satisfying would be top priority to ensure I didn't slip back into a bottle of vino. As I was still craving sugar and fizz I accidentally became over-reliant on caffeine (grounds for cross-addiction I'm sure).
Caffeine is regularly cited as the most consumed drug in the world and according to neuropharmacologists (people who study the action of drugs on the nervous system) caffeine is a drug that acts as a mild stimulant, blocking receptors in the brain (that can dilate blood vessels) causing headaches and other symptoms.
Now the word drug scares me a little here as the whole point of me being sober is not to consume any (!) but as sobriety is a hugely personal journey I'm deciding to keep caffeine in my daily routine as it simply helps me to avoid alcohol. If I was to give up both I'd turn into a legitimate crazy person and Jesus Christ I need something to look forward to if booze is off the table.
So it turns out me ramping up the caffeine intake between the hours of 6.00 p.m. and 9.00 p.m. isn't going to do me any favours when it comes to bedtime, so I've decided to experiment with some new changes now I'm feeling a little more confident about the whole no alcohol thing.
I'm going to try cutting out caffeinated drinks from 6.00 p.m. - this includes tea, coffee and softies which have become my main go-to's. Since giving up the vino I've been drinking all the caffeine (without realising as I was so fixated on avoiding booze) until I get into bed most nights, which is circa 10.00 p.m., so a caffeine curfew is definitely required to combat my gone midnight restlessness.
So with the loss of the above I need to find something to fill the void. On the hot side the obvious substitute is going to be decafe coffee and caffeine-free herbal tea. The best instant decaf coffee I've tried so far is Nescafe Azera Americano, and one of my favourite herbal tea brands is Pukka. Their range is organic and they do plenty of caffeine-free options, including three mint which has always been a staple in my kettle cupboard.
In addition to canning the caffeine in hot drinks I need to work on my cold drink choices too. So dark coloured softies are being binned and I'm stocking up on sparkling water and juices/squash that I can dilute with filtered water.
I'm not a huge drinker of Coke and Pepsi so I think I'll find this swapping system pretty easy, but I am anticipating some grogginess and tetchiness during the first few evenings of the experiment. Hopefully the switch will be seamless, the headaches will ease off and the time it takes me to fall asleep will drastically shorten...
I'll give it a 14-day run out and will report back on my findings.
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