Is there any alternative to caffeine that can help me stay awake?

[amybeth11]

I'm going to be returning to work soon having been on maternity leave for nearly a year, my DS is now 10 months old (where has the time gone?!)

Anyway, my shift is 15:00-22:30 and he still isn't sleeping through the night, meaning I'm averaging about 4/5 hours sleep a day, and I'm worried I'm going to burn out and risk losing my job from lack of sleep and fatigue.

I stopped drinking caffeine when I was pregnant and when I last had a regular coffee I had a headache that lasted all day, so I don't want to have to resort to cappuccinos to keep me awake. Is there any supplement or herbal remedy that will give me a gentle boost to get me through to the end of the day?

Thanks!

x

I had to quit caffeine because of migraines.

Eating helps me (oatcakes, bananas if being good, jelly babies if not). Watching with interest for other suggestions.

What are you doing between 7 am and 3pm?

Can't you just stay snoozing? your child gets more sleep than that right?

I'd second eating slow release foods like flapjack and pasta, and maybe lucozade too? The only issue is that if you rely on the sugary drinks you might crash from the sugar later on and feel worse. Is there any way your childcare could start a bit earlier so you could have a nap before you start?

@JeffsanArsehole doing chores, keeping my son entertained! He has an hour nap between 11 and 12 but that's like the golden time I get to wash my hair or do the things I cant do with my little one around. He sleeps (roughly) from 8:30pm-12am then 2am-4am, then 6am-7am. He's a proper screamer, and tends to roll around and get himself stuck into awkward positions in his cot, otherwise I'd leave him and snooze!

@annatha at the moment until I go back to work we can only afford minimal childcare, my partner and I are having to work opposite shifts to compensate. Unfortunately we don't have any family or friends that can help us out here either. But once I've started saving then I can send him to nursery more often and hopefully use the extra time to catch up on sleep! I'll give the slow release foods a go though, thanks :)

Poor you

Try and go to bed when he does while you settle back into work, hopefully he will sleep longer soon

I find dried fruit pretty good for a pick me up, not good if you suffer from sugar crashes though.

What about guyarana? Think I've spelled it wrong though. Gives you energy

does all caffiene do it? I mean some people cant cope with coffee, but a cup of tea is fine

For me it is all caffeine. Luckily there are good decaf versions of tea and coffee available now but it is a bit of a nuisance.

Cocaine?

bit moreish

Apparently apples help but I've never tried it, I'm a coffee person, sorry!

Speed's a lot cheaper and longer lasting, Snozzberry

Ahh that's a pain. Totally get what you mean with nap time being a golden hour to get things done! Hopefully once you get back into the swing of things at work the lack of sleep won't seem quite so bad, and fingers crossed your ds's sleep improves too.

modafinill- seriously its a wonder drug, extremely cheap( about 50p for 200mg) and get this- it suppresses appetite. I ve missed more than my fair share of sleep and remember abject disgraceful gluttony, depression and problems with concentration. Modafinil heads all those problems of at the pass. Dont ask your GP for it though, they are always reluctant to prescribe it for anything other than narcalepsy.-i think they are scared of giving people to much power over their own lives because then the status of Doctor will be diminished- you'll have to buy online

Yerba Mate tea is a stimulant without caffeine - Tea Pigs do one but loads of other makes available .

It has a rather bitter taste which takes a bit of getting used to - maybe add honey ?

It does work in keeping you awake .

www.tesco.com/groceries/product/details/?id=280303398

Glittering - doctors are generally wary of prescribing drugs to healthy people unnecessarily as there can be side effects and it's better to treat root causes than rely on pharmaceuticals if you can. Internet availability of drugs should be treated with caution as you can't always guarentee what you are taking.
Plenty of sources suggest caution with this drug and it can cause problems with long term sleeping which could in the long term cause greater problems than they solve.
www.theguardian.com/education/mortarboard/2013/may/31/is-modafinil-safe-in-long-term

OP - I was in a similar situation when I went back to work. Snacking on slow release foods, catching up on sleep when I could and not trying to do more than was necessary around the house helped me get through it.

Ha! I was going to suggest modafinil too.

Thanks everyone, the side effects of modafinil look a bit scary, so I think I'll try the Yerba Mate tea for starters :) Oh and lots of slow release foods! Bring on the flapjacks ;)

cheese wakes me up. Protein foods in general.

What about nicotine, similar to caffeine in terms of potency and about as benign

Some people are super sensitive to caffeine and take much longer than average to metabolise it, I don't know if that means you are likely to be sensitive to all stimulants

Guarana (sp?) might be worth a try but it contains caffeine ?

ive tried modafinil and tbh, if youre sensitive to caffiene, then that is definitely not the answer. I have used it when experimenting with smart drugs to help me concentrate, but whilst it did help with that better than caffiene, it made me feel incredibly anxious. It is basically another form of amphetamine.