Time of day drinking coffee seems to matter for some. If you are sufficiently sleep deprived, a good cup o’ joe and lights out instead of perking up. There are some chemicals / medications that have slightly different effects depending on time taken.
Coffee is literally a strange brew. I found this factoid to be a stunning revelation: Coffee has chemicals that bind to opiate receptors. But not to worry. In moderation it has been found to be beneficial as a cognitive enhancer and safe.
The chemicals in coffee that bind to opiate receptors are opioid antagonists. Meaning they block or ‘clog up’ the opiate receptors so opiate chemicals can’t actually bind to them. Essentially, coffee can potentially interfere with opiates and make them less effective.
Thanks for the additional article. In the 1980’s some scientists with nothing better to do, immersed brain slices in coffee (don’t ask me why they decide to do this to brain slices they just had lying around) and found they did bind to opiate binding sites. Whether they function to be antagonists or agonist-antagonists is debated. Some believe pain is reduced as well. There are many chemicals with mixed properties.
Caffeine functions in that way and that is why it is found in products like Anacin. Nocioceptive perception is attenuated. But apparently it was not just caffeine that was binding. The findings are worth further exploration. Some of it has to do with adenosine chemistry but it may be much more than just that because it is really such a mixed brew. And the psychoactive activity from coffee is quite different than from tea.
https://www.researchgate.net/post/How-many-chemicals-present-in-a-cup-of-coffee
Yes
Well, for the “I need caffeine now” moment there is Diet Coke. The “oh, need refreshing taste” is Coke Zero, occasionally Coke Zero Cherry. Then to break up the cola war, Diet Dr. Pepper. I seem to have a problem 
If you want to try something tasty without all the chemicals, Sparkling Ice is a good choice. Tastes good, lots of flavors, green tea extract, good fizz factor, no sweetener, touch of juice, no calories. Back in the day you got your Saccharin and cyclamate in the TaB. The end of an era.
A friend of mine who knew a founder of $$$$Bucks, said their beans were slightly burnt, that’s their secret. Maybe that’s why people add the melted ice cream stuff. Hate to see a three year old running around with one of those though, then the parent wonders why the kid is hyper. Life is too short to pinch pennies for your coffee. Do you have a favorite bean or blend? I have an unopened box of Sleepy Time, haven’t tried it yet. I have really deeply ingrained sleep inversion, thought it might help.
Coffee. I didn’t drink coffee until I started working in an office where my co-workers included two retired Navy guys and one who had been in the merchant marine. The first one of them in the office each morning would start a pot of coffee, which I had to walk past to get to my desk. The rest, as they say, is history.
LOL. I hear ya.
To correct sleep inversion, pretend you have a term paper or project due (better still, get work done and be that much ahead) and keep yourself awake past 36 hours. My record in Residency was 40 hours with 2 hours sleep but it helped keep a septic man alive who was in respiratory failure when there were zero ICU beds left. But I digress.
You can easily do it without going insane or being an axe murderer 
(hey no excuses) and you can reset your circadian rhythm - as if you were an international traveler who must to adapt. This is a weekend project: Use caffeinated tea and bright lighting to force the brain to stay awake until ~36 hour or until you can’t. Obviously do not drive or operate machinery like wood chippers… 
Good luck. Hope this helps you and maybe some others.
Thank you Doctor Intrepid01 for your advice. May I ask your Specialty? So far my record is five days without a wink. I was goofy and cranky long before sleepy 
. Poor dwarfs. We can learn some of the most interesting things from Intensivist or Hospitalist, Trauma Docs. Thank you for all your difficult work during Covid.
Medical doctor. Primary and public health care now. Research while in training. Please also know that “sleep hygiene” whereby you go to bed at a fixed time helps. Lying quietly, for 7 to 8 hours has been found to be up to 80% as restorative as true sleep in some studies. Eating a fair amount of turkey for dinner (high in tryptophan without the toxic manufacturing contaminants) may help. Using Melatonin in the common 3 mg dose is 5 fold more than the brain makes. Taking a neurochemical until you pass out does not sound inherently safe to me. Focus on something pleasant like a flower you have seen and block out all other thoughts. The next day if refreshed will be better for it. Permit yourself time to heal each night at the same time.
Read light humor before sleep time. Warm bath. Pleasant thoughts. Not…
Doctor Intrepid01, thank you for the follow up recommendations. I use Melatonin, Diphenhydramine, Hyland’s Calm Forte, and white noise=thunderstorm. My PCP offered Lunesta or Ambien. I tried Ambien many years ago. 2 nites of the scariest nightmares and I stopped. I declined her offer for now. Trying more natural methods, such as your recommendations is my preference. Whoa, that Alien is not sleep compatible! I don’t watch TV, but I love my IPad. News, You Tube music videos, recipes, Woot, etc. It’s very kind of you to offer your expertise, I’m grateful.
I would imagine Public Health would be challenging during the Pandemic. Is it your preference or something in addition to Primary Care? I have received both Pfizer doses, but it seems the variants are now a definite concern. It must be frustrating for Doctors, researchers, et al. Learning on the fly. Do you have thoughts on Ivermectin? If I’m being intrusive, please let me know.
Yes.
Coffee 
Coffee
Ambien is shockingly scary in effects for some. It also has been used for lame excuses for speaking offensively while awake.
Doxylamine Succinate available from Amazon (various vendors) without prescription in 25mg doses is more sedating than diphenhydramine. Please do not operate vehicles, wood chippers, etc within 8 or more hours of last use. Unlike medications for physical illness, please try not to use every night, as accumulation and habituation should be avoided for things that make you unconscious!
Many persons are affected by bright light stimulation. News and games are not supposed to make you sleepy (opposite). So iPad or even phone in bed may not be ideal within 1 hour before sleep. YMMV.
Public health is intended to try to help communities, not just individuals thrive and in this era survive. Pfizer and Moderna vaccines appear amazingly effective vs. the dominant strains. Exception is the South African strain due to many mutations on the spike protein. For UK, Italian (dominant in US), Wuhann, and most current US variants, it still is very adequate (up to 95%). But unless we get the majority of persons immunized, more mutations occur with more infections. To reduce carriage spread by persons who might be immune, masking still is needed post vaccination. Woot should still sell masks!
I read the NYTimes article and am somewhat amazed that Sleep Specialist found it odd timing for the side effect warnings. Anyone that suffers insomnia, anxiety, pain issues, situations that interfere with sleep, will at some point want that sleep. If it’s a pill, elixir, magic, and side effects dealt with if/when they appear. Michael Jackson is an extreme example, poor man just wanted to sleep. I have read about cooking and eating, driving, sleep walking etc. most likely patients believe those are very rare circumstances. I will order doxylamine succinate and give it a trial run. 25mg about a half hour before sleep. I’m reading that vaccines are being given “out of turn” in many instances, but there are sadly still too many people that don’t believe Covid-19 is real, Bill Gates & Dr Fauci are profiting from vaccines, or the government is implanting microchips. With so many people fearful and willfully ignorant, refusing to mask up as a constitutional right of liberty- the virus will keep mutating. It must be extremely frustrating to see and hear from a physician standpoint. Thank you again for your sleep hygiene suggestions, I will let you know how it goes.
Dr. Pepper