This Common Drug Could be Causing Your Insomnia by Paul Stevens

It should not be a surprise that caffeine can have an impact on one's ability to get a good night's sleep. While some people can drink a quad venti mocha right before bed with no troubles, others will toss and turn all night if they consume any caffeine during the day.

If you are suffering from insomnia, you may want to take a look at the amount of caffeine that you ingest as being a possible culprit. Before taking drastic measures, such as taking sleeping pills, see what happens if you eliminate caffeine from your diet.

To some this may seem impossible, but if you can start to get a proper amount of sleep each night, that will do far more to boost your energy level than downing cup after cup of coffee. When you also consider that a lack of sleep can have an impact on your overall health, it should be an easy decision to try and cut out caffeine to see if that will relieve your insomnia.

If you insist on that morning cup of coffee, at least avoid all caffeine starting about lunchtime. While it would best to avoid caffeine altogether, at least if you keep your consumption of it to the morning hours, it will mostly have worked its way out of your system by bedtime. It is important to keep in mind that cutting out coffee and tea does not mean that you are eliminating all caffeine. Caffeine is found in a number of products, some of which you may never imagine would contain caffeine.

To cut your caffeine consumption you will, obviously, have to eliminate coffee and tea. You will also need to avoid most types of soda (caffeine-free varieties are fine). Some candy contains just as much caffeine as a small cup of coffee, so it should be avoided as well.

One of the biggest surprise sources of caffeine is in some over the counter medications. Some, such as Midol and Excedrin contain nearly 50 mg of caffeine. When you consider that a small cup of coffee contains about 100 mg, that amount is quite significant.

You may not have to avoid caffeine forever. Just try to cut it out, or at least way down, to see if that helps with your insomnia. If it does not, then you will know that you need to investigate other possible reasons for your inability to sleep. This may include a visit to your doctor or making other behavioral changes.

If your insomnia is helped by reducing caffeine, then you should try to continue to avoid it. If, however, you want to try to drink coffee or tea once again, try to add it only in small doses. If you used to drink 3 cups of coffee a day, try to stick to just one. Also, if you just miss the experience and taste of your coffee or tea, consider one of the many decaf varieties. Many taste just the same as caffeinated drinks. Cutting caffeine may be the answer to your insomnia. When you think of the alternative solutions, such as sleeping pills, it is certainly worth a try.