Why Do I Fall Asleep After Drinking Coffee? (Solved & Explained!)

Despite coffee’s reputation for being able to keep you awake, coffee doesn’t have the same effect on everyone. From caffeine tolerance to the different areas of the brain and body coffee impacts, there are many reasons you could fall asleep after drinking coffee. 

The way you drink your coffee as well as outside factors not related to your coffee can also be contributing to your difficulty keeping your eyes open, even after drinking a cup or two of coffee. 

Why Doesn’t Coffee Wake Me Up?

Coffee is considered a stimulant because of its caffeine content, but caffeine doesn’t work the same way in everyone’s body. There are a couple of theories as to why people don’t feel the impacts of caffeine, especially if they are regular coffee drinkers. 

Can I Develop A Tolerance To Caffeine?

One theory is that your body develops a tolerance to caffeine. When caffeine hits your system, it impacts adenosine levels, which help to regulate your sleep. When your body gets used to caffeine, it actually has the opposite effect. 

Thus, those adenosine levels rise when you’re used to caffeine, which will cause you to feel more sleepy. When caffeine leaves your system, its impact on your adenosine levels wears off as well. 

Could I Metabolize Caffeine Too Quickly?

Some researchers do believe that each person metabolizes caffeine in a different way depending on how often they consume it. Therefore, if you drink a lot of coffee, your body metabolizes it differently over time. 

This could lead to caffeine basically just working itself out of your system. 

How Long Does Caffeine Usually Last?

Caffeine can take anywhere from a half hour to an hour and a half to work its way through your body, which is when you’ll feel the most of caffeine’s effect. 

It usually wears down within a few hours after consuming it; for some, it leaves their system quicker than for others. Even if the caffeine hasn’t left your body, you may not feel alert for long. 

Does Stress Affect How Effective Coffee Is?

There are some studies that suggest caffeine and cortisol, the stress hormone, aren’t too fond of each other. Some experts believe caffeine increases cortisol, but others don’t believe there’s enough caffeine to make much of a difference. 

Either way, being under stress can cause you to feel excessively tired, rendering that coffee essentially useless.

Does Coffee Cause Me To Feel Stressed?

Caffeine can impact your epinephrine levels, which are also known as your adrenaline levels. The spike in your adrenaline levels from your coffee can cause your body and brain to think it’s stressed out. 

These stress responses in our body can give us a quick moment of alertness, but as they fade, it can completely wipe us out. 

Does Coffee Make Me Anxious?

Some people who experience anxiety or depression might find that drinking coffee can affect their nerves. This can cause you to feel jittery or like you can’t sit still, but this impact is typically temporary. 

It can feel as though you’re temporarily way too alert, only to feel exhausted after a short while. Hydrating at the same time as drinking your coffee can help minimize these effects a little bit. 

Does The Sugar In My Coffee Make Me Fall Asleep?

If you have sugar with your morning cup, you could be causing an increase in your blood sugar. This can lead to an eventual crash, which for some people, doesn’t take long. 

This means it could be your sugar that is making you tired because it causes you to crash shortly after drinking your coffee. It might be time to try your coffee black. 

Does The Milk In My Coffee Make Me Fall Asleep?

Your milk is most likely not contributing to how your coffee wakes you up. That being said, there is some interesting science behind milk and one of its amino acids, tryptophan. 

Tryptophan can actually make you sleepy. However, the couple of splashes of milk you put in your coffee don’t have enough of this amino acid to make a difference. 

Some people have found swapping their dairy for plant-based milks has helped them feel less drowsy, but it could be a placebo effect. 

Does Coffee Leave Your System Quickly When You Go To The Bathroom?

For some, coffee helps wake up their digestive system, meaning they have to have a bowel movement shortly after finishing their cup. It can work great to flush your system out, but if you’re not hydrating when you’re drinking your coffee, you could also be flushing your energy down the tubes. 

Not being adequately hydrated can have an impact on your drowsiness and your fatigue levels, among many other things. 

Is Coffee Dehydrating?

Coffee in and of itself does not have a major impact on your hydration levels, despite popular belief. However, it can cause people to have to go to the bathroom, and the more you drink it, the more you may have to go. 

However, going to the bathroom often can dehydrate you. Additionally, many people don’t drink enough water in the morning to ensure they are hydrated. Mixed with coffee, this can impact your hydration levels, which can make you feel very tired. 

Should I Drink Coffee At Night If It Makes Me Fall Asleep?

It’s generally not recommended to drink coffee late at night. The typical recommendation is to refrain from caffeine six hours before you plan on going to bed. 

While it might be tempting to have some coffee at night since it makes you sleepy in the morning, it may not have the same impact on your body or brain. 

Could My Coffee Be Bad?

There is a slight chance that your coffee beans have gone bad, and they aren’t working because of it. Coffee can actually grow mold, which can make you sick, but it has also been shown that it can aggravate chronic fatigue. 

This is because of the mycotoxins in some of the mold that can grow on coffee beans.