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lostmsu

Anecdata: a heavy (2 x 8oz cans/day) consumer of Red Bull I got sleep problems starting around 34.

Can't be sure they are related, but Red Bull is definitely the main suspect.

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I've developed sleep problems as I've gotten older, but I've never touched Red Bull.

We can't draw any generalizable conclusions from isolated anecdotes like this.

Sure, but something formulated as a profound energy stimulant containing the equivalent of a cup of coffee of caffeine plus other energy boosters could be rightly suspected of affecting energy levels, and so possibly also sleep, given two per day?

Maybe for you or maybe not, but I need to write this out there: My wife (42 YO) started to experience sleep issues around a year ago. She tried with lots of stuff including delayed-release Melatonin, and nothing quite worked well. Until she started taking ZMA pills [1]. This supplement really solved her issues. I take "half dose" sporadically and really helps me get a full good deep night sleep.

It may or may not work for you, but it's one of those things that may be worth try it, and they sell it GNC and similar mainstreet stores.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZMA_(supplement)

It is the magnesium that is relevant.

Sleep naturally degrades as we age. So potentially the "development" is less a result of doing or not doing something versus just the degradation of sleep as a natural part of the aging process.

Sleep degradation is really not a natural consequence of aging. Rather it tends to be caused by negative lifestyle factors typically correlated with age, in particular obesity. Let's be clear about the causality here.

Because unfortunately, your problem as you get older is baggage - the worst thief of sleep of all time. Sorry, no cure unless you're a zen stoic psychopath. Would love to achieve that designation myself.

That’s a high amount of sugar. That by itself can’t be too good.

I doubt the sugar alone is to blame and not the high caffeine content.

There is not that much caffeine in Red Bull surprisingly. It’s a lot compared to a soda but it pales if you compare it to coffee: it’s approximately half as much as what’s in an espresso. Caffeine-wise, drinking two cans should be fine (provided you don’t drink a ton of other caffeinated beverages).

Honestly my first guess here is that we are in the presence of a confounding variable. I can somewhat imagine the life style which goes with having to drink two cans of Red Bull everyday. The cause of the sleep problems starting at the beginning of early middle age might actually be found here.

I don't think it's anything confounding; it's likely just age. Old people are really sensitive about drinking caffeinated coffee late in the day for reasons I never understood until my mid-30s, where suddenly I had to watch soda intake after 6pm or I'd get insomnia.

(Also, use phone/monitor night mode and don't do anything intense within 1hr of bed-- no gaming, no exercise, no forums, no outrage-inducing news, etc. Wind down with something boring.)

I drink the 0 sugar version.

And do you suspect the taurine, or the caffeine?

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