Understand
Caffeine, alcohol and midlife sleep
Why the wine that used to help you drop off may now be part of why you wake.
4 minSource: NHS
Alcohol
Alcohol makes most people fall asleep faster and sleep worse. As the body clears it, sleep tends to fragment, which often lands in the small hours.
Many women notice this more in midlife than they did earlier, and notice it on smaller amounts.
A useful experiment is two weeks without alcohol on weeknights, keeping a simple note of how the nights go.
Caffeine
Caffeine has a long tail. Half of a lunchtime coffee can still be in your system at bedtime.
If you are sensitive, a cut-off in the early afternoon is a more reliable change than cutting down overall.
Source
NHS guidance on sleep and tiredness. Check the original pages for current wording and review dates.
Sleep is where memory consolidates and mood resets. It compounds further than almost anything else here.
General information, not medical advice. Narrated never diagnoses.
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