Is Caffeine a Cause or Cure for Sleep Disorders?

Caffeine is colorless and lends very little flavor to whatever it is added to. When in its pure form it is white and very bitter. Caffeine is a drug that is found in many food drinks and medicine.

Caffeine is more commonly used to provide a boost of energy or heightened alertness. It’s often used to stay awake longer. College students and drivers use it to stay awake late into the night.

Many people consider as though they cannot function in the morning without a cup of coffee to provide caffeine and the boost it gives them. Medically, caffeine is useful as a cardiac stimulant and also as a mild diuretic used to increase urine production.

Caffeine is an addictive drug

Caffeine does many things including operating using the same mechanisms that amphetamines, cocaine, and heroin use to stimulate the brain.

On a spectrum, caffeine’s effects are milder than amphetamines, cocaine and heroin, but it is manipulating the same channels, and for this reason, caffeine can also be considered as addictive. You are addicted to caffeine if you feel like you cannot function without it and must have it every day.

Caffeine and Insomnia

Caffeine has been linked to many sleeping disorders, namely insomnia because of the physiological effects of caffeine. Insomnia occurs when you have difficulty sleeping. Many can not sleep at all.

Generally its effects last for only a few nights, but it is possible for the symptoms to continue for months and even years.

Insomnia can be caused by several factors, including

• A lack of exercise
• Psychiatric problems
• Use of drugs or alcohol
• Continual stress
• Excessive noise or light
• Certain physical illnesses

However caffeine is the most common cause for this sleeping disorder.

Consult your doctor or make an appointment at a reputable sleep disorder to get some treatment if your sleep has been disturbed for more than a few weeks and interferes with your ability to function normally during the day.

Caffeine and Normal Sleep Cycle

Normal sleep cycle is also gets affected with Caffeine. Your kidneys get affected directly by caffeine. It may cause kidney infections and/or urinary track infections. These infections may also cause difficulty sleeping.

In order to relieve your bladder, you may also have to get up several times in the night. This will cause interruption of your REM sleep cycle, thus making you tired when you get up in the morning.

You can eliminate this problem by reducing your intake of caffeine. Try switching to decaffeinated drinks. Caffeine does not change the flavor, so you should not notice anything different in the flavor.

Before going to sleep at night you may also consider drinking a glass of water to flush out your kidneys.

Giving Up Caffeine

You may want to consider doing the exact opposite if you are already addicted to caffeine. While giving up caffeine forever is the best option, it does not happen overnight. There are ways to make caffeine work for you if you are addicted to caffeine.

Some of the caffeine addicted people try drinking a cup of coffee about an hour before going to sleep. This generally mellows out their system. This works only because their body has become dependent on caffeine and requires it to function even in sleep.

There are other alternatives if caffeine is still causing you problems when trying to sleep. You can try over the counter sleeping pills or even something as simple as warm milk.

Over the counter sleeping pills have chemicals that make your body start to sleep. They can overpower caffeine and most other cause of sleeping disorders. Warm milk has lactic acid in it.

Milk when warmed, lactic acid in the milk releases a chemical that triggers your natural sleep cycle. Haven’t you ever noticed that a baby goes to sleep right after you feed it some warm milk?

Scientists have argued for years on weather or not caffeine causes sleeping disorders. They may never know for sure, but despite of what they say, only you know what your body does.

If you just pay attention you can easily fix it. Your body will tell you what it requires; it is up to you to deliver those requirements. Finally, caffeine or not, you can make yourself have a normal sleep cycle.