Sleepiness and Coffee

I’ve been tired quite a lot lately. I’d been blaming it on various things – a general busy-ness, recent emotional stress, etc – but I kept coming back to coffee. Both as a drink to keep me alert and as a thing that may be contributing to my tiredness.

I *love* coffee. Just coffee. I’ll do a Frappucino now and then, but mainly, just thick, dark, hot coffee. I drink a few cups every morning, and sometimes after dinner. Anytime I wake up from sleep or a rare nap, I usually put some coffee on.

At a summer job in college, I made friends with a guy (easily three times my age at the time) who had recently given up coffe. He told me he had quite a lot more energy since quitting. That seemed backwards to me at first – how does “no caffeine” give you energy? But it makes sense. Caffeine doesn’t *give* you energy, it *uses* the energy you already have, right? It’s a push on the accelerator, not a stop at the gas station.

So I am taking a coffee break. Ha ha. Yesterday morning was my last coffee until July 7. I expect it’ll take a few days to adjust, and then I’ll have three weeks of caffeine-free days.

We’ll see if I’m better-rested then. And if I am, um … stop drinking coffee altogether? Ugh. Maybe decaf.