Ask HN: Relation Coffee VS Sleep
I'm curious to know more about the quantity of coffee versus the sleep quality you have. Feel free to share tricks you have to sleep better or ways to handle the stress/coffee versus more sleep situation. Thanks
I practice "sleep hygiene" (UK NHS websites have a lot about this) and if that fails I get a short prescription for one of the Z drugs, usually 7 days of zopiclone, to 'kick' my sleep back into a pattern.
There are considerable problems with use of melatonin: It's not regulated in the US which means you will find it hard to accurately dose and the research suggests it's pretty lousy, unless you have jet lag. I'm in the UK, and melatonin is a prescription only medication, and GPs will usually not prescribe it for sleep disorders.
http://summaries.cochrane.org/CD001520/melatonin-for-the-pre...
I usually "downgrade" to tea later in the day and maintain a consistent melatonin regimen. Melatonin is well-attested in its ability to improve sleep quality:
http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/epcsums/melatsum.htm
I wouldn't count on the efficacy of melatonin unless you are sleeping 6-8 hours a night and are otherwise healthy and devoid of a sleep disorder.
People like to mention vitamin D, but taking it as a supplement is correlated with worse sleep, not better. As a counter-suggestion to vitamin D supplementation I would avoid artificial light exposure (use Flux if possible) after sunset as well. (This has been shown to produce delayed onset sleep patterns.)
That's the only real factual data I have for this, I would avoid relying on anecdote.
This was not medical advice, just a citation of facts.