Experiencing sleep difficulties? Try cutting out caffeine (coffee, tea, chocolate, cola ...)

arthritis.org/health-wellne...

I was looking at the possible interactions of drugs used for rheumatoid arthritis, and noticed that caffeine is contra-indicated with prednisone (and presumably prednisolone). I know that lots of people on this forum experience difficulty sleeping so I thought that I would share the info.

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

I did mention this is my recent post regarding sleep —

Extract -

Avoid food and drinks that contain stimulants such as caffeine or lots of sugar. Try to avoid coffee, tea (apart from herbal infusions) cola or chocolate (especially dark chocolate or chocolate drinks

Full post - healthunlocked.com/pmrgcauk...

[Hidden in reply to DorsetLady]

Sorry, as I don't have sleep difficulties I hadn't read you post. My bad, as the young people say.

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to Hidden]

Not a problem! 🌸

[HeronNS in reply to DorsetLady]

Wot, no TEA! Surely you jest? ☕

[Hidden in reply to HeronNS]

I know! Luckily, there's decaff.

[HeronNS in reply to Hidden]

I want the full monty - but not after 4 p.m.

[Hidden in reply to HeronNS]

I've been drinking decaff for so many years (because caffeine is a migraine trigger for me) that I no longer taste the difference.

[Meggsy]

I was drinking hot milk with cacao powder at night and staring at the ceiling at 2 & 3 in the morning for three nights running before I worked out that it was the cacao.

[Hidden in reply to Meggsy]

Cocoa is an odd one as we assume that it is comforting and will make us sleepy.

[Meggsy in reply to Hidden]

Yes that’s what I assumed, but when I Googled whether cacao contained caffeine I read that it does, plus it contains theobromine which acts like caffeine in some people. I guess I am one of those people. I was using pure cacao not cocoa so not sure whether the effect is more intense.

[Hidden in reply to Meggsy]

The main difference is that cocoa is roasted during processing whereas cacao is not. I doubt whether roasting affects the amount of either caffeine, I'm not sure about theobromine.

[Meggsy in reply to Hidden]

No, I’m not sure either. However I have now developed histamine intolerance so chocolate in all forms, being high histamine, is off the menu for now. 😥

[Hidden in reply to Meggsy]

😵😵🥺

[Coffeebeans]

Quite right. Its also known to stop MTX working as well therefore I drink mostly decaff now.

[Hidden in reply to Coffeebeans]

Me too - although I do have some dark chocolate each evening.

[Coffeebeans in reply to Hidden]

Me too. And why not if we watch the rest of the caffeine. There needs to be some treats in life 😜

[Hidden in reply to Coffeebeans]

You're my kinda person.

[Nanna71]

I have never changed my coffee routine, which is about a litre of coffee in the morning and I have been taking prednisone and other Dmards for two years. I sleep well, usually, and only drink a lot of water before bed in winter so I will get up at least twice to put wood on the fire. I have no bad interactions with anything that I know of; that's my experience.

[Hidden in reply to Nanna71]

I believe that some people are much more sensitive to caffeine than others. If it doesn’t affect you, that’s fantastic. Sleep well 😴