Always wondered what level of mental clarity in the morning is average or not

I was just wondering this morning as I was making a half cup of low acid, caffeinated, coffee, watching the squirrels through the kitchen window run around working diligently to bury nuts in preparation for future meals.

-I don’t think squirrels get brain fog in the morning lol.

Even as a child, I don’t ever remember waking up feeling well rested and mentally clear. I’m guessing a lot of people are like this which is why the coffee industry is so huge. But then there are some who are not like that at all.

I always was, and still am an afternoon or evening person.

In my case, mental clarity changes with the seasons. In the spring time I wake up anxious and as fall /winter progresses, I wake up with brain fog. It’s rare that I am in middle ground. I find this an interesting observation, and I have Googled that, I am not alone.

In the fall and winter, I drink 1/2 to one cup of coffee in the morning, in the spring time I drink variations of calming tea in the morning, along with adrenal adaptogens like holy basil .

I know people who drink no coffee, and those who drink 5 cups of coffee all day long, which would make me go crazy. And then there are smokers who have a cigarette first thing in the morning to call them selves. But then a some people are smokers and coffee drinkers at the same time which seems to cancel each other out and makes no sense to me.

Since I was born with a immune system problem, ill often on as a child, then tick illness sometime, maybe in my youth, and then thyroid disease later on, …..is why I asked this question.

I’m not sure what it’s like to be “normal” in my 5 1/2 decades of living. Seems like I’ve been getting closer to normal though,

(This is probably not a good place to ask this either, but some of you probably remember what your level of mental clarity was like before you had chronic illness. )

🤔

I’ve never been a morning person - but since treating Lyme I don’t sleep in like I used to.
Could be coincidence.
But I do wonder if I had Lyme/Bart since I was a young kid. Possibly kept in check until several years ago - going through a lot of stress… and/ or a nasty cat bite.

i used to be someone who could sleep anywhere - any time.

i was working hard - long hours - crazy busy schedule - and probably always in some kind of sleep deficit - but any chance i got - i would just be able to switch off and get 30 of 40 minutes - even in the most uncomfortable or improbable of circumstances.

eg often i would be asleep on flights while the plane was still on the runway.

i would also often go to bed and wake up in the exact position i had gone to sleep in - having not moved all night and feeling completely rested - not stiff/groggy/achy/sore head/ unrefreshed

these days everything has to be just right to even sometimes get a decent nights sleep - routine just right, room supper dark, temperature just right, pillows just so, a sleep supplement stack etc etc

its crazy what this illness does to your body

i was never really a morning person though - always something of a night owl
but i would at times go for a run before dawn if i had a big day ahead of me
so i could function early in the day if i needed to
that is unthinkable at the moment

i noticed my night owlishness got more pronounced after i got ill
but my partner who was an early bird - became even more so also after becoming ill
so she would start going to be before 9pm - and waking around 4am
whereas i would struggle to go to bed before midnight and rise around 8

so i think it might be that lyme or chronic illness in general kind of just extenuates whatever predilection you already had