I have never been a coffee drinker. I’ve tried to like it, but I just don’t. I’m a soda girl, always have been.

I have friends who’ve talked about how they stopped drinking coffee after a certain time in the afternoon so they could sleep at night. As I entered perimenopause, I, too, began having trouble sleeping. Yet the idea of giving up caffeine didn’t occur to me. No coffee, no caffeine, right?

Then, one night I was enjoying dinner with a friend. We talked a little bit about menopause. As I took a sip of my soda, I told her about my sleep problems. “You know,” she said, “you should consider giving up caffeine.”

“What?” I said. “I’ve never had sleep trouble related to caffeine!”

“How do you know?” she asked.

The truth was, I didn’t know, and she was right. I switched to caffeine-free soda (and drink it only occasionally), and my sleep has greatly improved. I also discovered that caffeine can precipitate hot flashes, so in addition to doing myself a healthful favor, I’m feeling relief in multiple ways.

I’ve never been so happy to be wrong!

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