How to fight tiredness without caffeine?

[MummyBear405]

Hi all,

I'm 5w+1 and I feel like all I've done this weekend is sleep (thank god for bank holidays!) but now it's back to work and even getting dressed was hard work

My go to response when I feel like this is live off coffee for the day but as this is not an option, anyone have any suggestions?

TIA x

Hello! I think you’re allowed two filter coffees per day (NHS website). Could decaf coffee also trick your brain into thinking that it’s being fed caffeine? Not sure, but it might help.

The only other thing that I could suggest would be lots of fresh air and some energy rich food. Lucky it’s a 4 day week

I’m not sure if you’d be able to take this, but it does the trick for me www.boots.com/metatone-original-flavour-tonic-500ml-10000770

Have a coffee!

I'm 5 wks too and I was utterly exhausted but found it got much, much better after a couple of days of starting to take an iron supplement from the supermarket. Worth a try!

sleep is the obvious one - make sure you get enough.

however - it's fine to have a couple of cups during pregnancy.

From the information my midwife gave me 200mg of caffeine a day is fine? I have however been reading lots on here about people cutting out caffeine completely.

I don't drink coffee but have been drinking Diet Coke.. I've stopped all my other vices and don't really want to stop this one too.. but have I missed something somewhere?!

Thanks for all of your responses!

I think you're right and I can have 2 cups of instant a day but I'm used to having 5 or 6 in a day in the office so for me this is cold turkey!

Also I did make one but because I got busy it went cold

Mint tea is very refreshing.

An apple or an orange would also help.

have one normal coffe in the morning, one in the afternoon.
decaff in between.

good luck!

I got into a routine of scraping through morning then having one caffeinated drink at lunch to get me through the afternoon.

@ELM8 I think you’re allowed 200 mcg caffeine a day. Diet Coke has caffeine in it. NHS website is really helpful with the caffeine combinations that can make up 200 mcg. E.g one instant coffee and a can of coke. I think there is caffeine free Diet Coke available (used to have a gold wrapper), which might be useful when you want to switch it up a bit. Hopefully Coca-Cola still produces it!

Thanks @Maybbabi :-) you're dead right, I got the caffeine free (gold label) and have started trying to make a cocktail of half that and half normal Diet Coke.. it just doesn't taste the same to me! As long as I'm staying under the 200mg I'll stick with it.

OP could you maybe try a similar thing and mix up caffeinated and decaf? Sort of like the caffeine version of a spritzer...

Anything with loads of ice seems to wake me up but iced decaf coffee is my favourite!
I couldn't drink caffeine before pregnancy except a can of coke on very rare occasions, but if you're normally ok with caffeine, nhs says up to 200mg is fine in pregnancy.

@ELM8 @Maybbabi yes you're absolutely right, my DH went out and bought me some at the weekend as diet coke is also a weakness of mine!

I just had a quick nap on the sofa in the break room and having coffee no 2. I've also got decaff in my bag but being discreet as everyone knows I think decaff is pointless (normally) so it's possible it'd tip some people off that something is up!

Only 10 more weeks of this until the exhaustion lets up right??

I allow myself 2 proper coffees a day. I do find though that decaff inbetween (a nice one) does also hit the spot and perks me up too. I think it's just the warm drink and flavour but I definitely find it perks me up.

Do you like herbal teas? Most I found pretty vile whilst pregnant but peppermint helped give me a boost.

Energy dense snacks like nuts, Greek yoghurt, cheese or avocado might help, but I think at this stage just get as much sleep as you can and know it won't be forever!

Water water water

Just have a coffee! Helps with the pregnancy constipation, too. Coffee has only show effects on baby at over 8 cups a day, so a very safe recommendation is to limit to 2 cups a day - no reason not too - no evidence to suggest pregnant women shouldn't drink coffee.

A shower always works well for me. Can be exhausted in the morning but a good hot shower always gets me going

@coral13 I agree, tried my first cup of decaff yesterday and it wasn't that bad! Certainly got me through the afternoon 

@Newyearsameoldshit I'm not a fan of herbal teas usually but as I'm not suffering from any nausea at the moment I might give them a go! I love nuts and cheese so definitely putting those on the shopping list thanks 

@HelpAFattieOutHere I jumped in the shower first thing this morning which really woke me up and I was in bed by 9 last night so fingers crossed today is less of a struggle

I have one regular coffee every morning. I need that caffeine boost first thing! I've always had one a day during pregnancy. Then throughout the day at work or on lunch dates I've stopped having coffee and drink water all day. I would usually have Diet Coke if out too so I've stopped that and stuck to water. I also have decaf coffee and tea in the house if I do fancy a second cuppa throughout the day.
I found that taking my pregnancy vitamins helped with tiredness. I'll miss those after the birth lol