4:00 a.m. - Compliments of Dr. Pepper

I haven't written in a while because we've been traveling, and I've also had a lot on my mind and haven't known how to explain it yet.  So, after such a long absence, you may be expecting something enlightened and deep and meaningful.  Think again, my friends.  What you get today is a random tale of sleep loss and Dr. Pepper.  Hey, gotta start back somewhere, right?!

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For as long as I can remember, it took me 30 minutes to an hour to fall asleep EVERY SINGLE NIGHT.  Every night.  No exceptions.  I remember trying everything, including counting sheep.  Of course, when ADHD is part of the equation, (and even sometimes when it's not!) counting sheep brings its own issues - I would forget what I was doing at about Sheep # 5 or 6 and eventually, sometimes many minutes later, remember what I was supposed to be doing and say some version of, "Oh, crap!  1, 2, 3..."  Not super helpful.  (I tried this method again last night, btw, and I got up to #8 before forgetting and never remembering again about those blasted sheep). This all lasted until I was about 22 years old when I suddenly started falling asleep in 5 minutes or less.  This general trend of bliss has lasted 8 years and counting.  I do still wake up sometimes during the night, but usually it's just to roll over and go back to sleep.

My sleep problems no doubt resulted from a variety of factors.  My ADHD (which I didn't yet know I had) - trouble falling or staying asleep is a classic symptom of ADHD.  My age - the melatonin production in adolescents' brains is set to a different rhythm which means they are more awake until late at night and less alert and awake in the morning.  This pattern shifts as we grow into adulthood.  

I realized in the middle of the night last night, though, that the true cause of the change in my sleep patterns was largely the result of a change in the way that I consume caffeine.  I was working at Starbucks at the time when the big change happened, so it was easy to notice what/when I was drinking.  If I laid awake a lot one night, I'd think, "Oh, must have been that Caramel Macchiato I had on my 5 o'clock break."  I gradually shifted my afternoon coffee buzz to an earlier and earlier time until I found a time when I wasn't wide awake that night.  3 o'clock.  That is my cutoff.  It was way earlier than I thought it would be - but seriously, 3:30 latte meant being up that night.  3 o'clock or earlier and I was in the clear.

About 5 years ago, I quit drinking caffeine in general other than the occasional small amount randomly.  Drinking caffeine started to make me feel jittery and heart palpitation-ey.  So I stopped.  And I was someone who NEVER thought I would ever, ever, ever quit drinking caffeine.  Especially since even WITH the caffeine I was still tired most of the time.  I also quit drinking soda (bye, bye 10-year-long Diet Coke addiction).

Until last week, that is.  We were on family Stay-cation at my parents' house in Texas.  Early in the week we discovered the wonder of Dr. Pepper and Coconut Rum.  So I had a total of 3 Dr. Peppers all week.  Well, apparently 3 is enough for the High Fructose Corn Syrup to somehow get into the blood stream and make a person completely addicted to the Dr.  So I naturally had to splurge on 4th of July and get a ginormous Sonic Dr. Pepper to cap off the vacation week.  

Say "Hello" to my leetle friend!

 

In my soda-addicted haste, I broke my rule!!!  I had all of it after 3 pm (gasp!).  I guess I was hoping the caffeine wasn't strong enough to get me.  The result was an hour of twiddling my thumbs before even falling asleep only to be woken up in the middle of the night multiple times, including a two-hour Solo Think Tank Session.  I thought through which double stroller to get for Timon and Douglas.  What kinds of meals won't taste nasty if I make them now and freeze them for us to eat during the week following my surgery.  What I should blog about caffeine and its affects on sleep.  Whether to put the new chalk drawing we bought in our room or the boys' room.  All kinds of things that shouldn't be thought about at 4 a.m.  I was wide awake still at 5:30 when Micah's alarm went off, which was handy since it was so quiet he couldn't even hear it.  But not me!  Thanks to Mr. Pepper, Micah got to his meeting right on time!

So this is what I have to say to you, good people.  If you have trouble falling asleep (which so many people do), don't just assume it's the way you are.  I assumed that for 22 years.  And it wasn't the way I was.  Start to observe your caffeine intake and the timing of when you're drinking it.  A lot of people think they're not affected by caffeine and yet think it's totally normal to take 30 minutes to an hour to fall asleep.  Even if you think caffeine doesn't affect you, if you struggle to fall asleep, just try moving your last caffeine fix to an earlier and earlier time until you get to early afternoon and see if you notice a change.

Also watch out for multi-vitamins or B-vitamin supplements.  Anything with B-vitamins is going to increase your energy, and if I take those at night I might as well just not even get in the bed.

And if you don't drink caffeine and still have a hard time going to sleep, there's probably something else going on there - there are a multitude of things that can cause sleep disruption, of course - or maybe it is just the way you are.  I sincerely hope that this is not the case for you, though, because going to sleep in 2 minutes is freaking amazing.

And now I'm off to sleep - the non-sheep-counting kind.