Caffeine on a night shift: how much, when, and when to stop
A night shift runs on caffeine, and two things go wrong most often: losing count, and taking it too late. This page is about the arithmetic: how much caffeine a shift can carry, when in the shift it should sit, and where to stop so you can sleep when you get home. It is not about making up for lost sleep, because caffeine does not do that.
PAX is caffeine. There is no nicotine in it and there never will be. A pouch is one known dose, 100mg, printed on the tin, which is the one thing a night shift's caffeine usually is not.
How much caffeine can a shift carry?
No more than 400mg from everything, the same ceiling as a day shift, and it adds up faster than it looks. An instant coffee is about 80mg and a cafe coffee anywhere from 95mg to 200mg. A 250ml can is up to 80mg. A 500ml can is up to 160mg. Three cans across a night and a coffee at the start can put you over the line. Where those figures come from is on our caffeine pouches vs energy drinks vs coffee page.
That is the case for counting in known doses. A PAX pouch is 100mg every time, so four pouches is the ceiling and there is nothing to estimate. Whatever you use, count the total for the whole 24 hours, not the shift.
When in the shift should the caffeine sit?
Early. Front-load it and stop well before the end, because the caffeine is still in you hours after you clock off.
Caffeine's half life runs somewhere between roughly three and ten hours, and the spread between people is nearly fourfold. Research has found that 400mg of caffeine taken six hours before bed still disrupts sleep. That study used 400mg, four pouches, so take the direction from it, not the number. What applies at any dose is the half life: the caffeine you take at 4am is still in you when you get home at 8am, and for some people it is still in you at lunchtime.
The pattern that follows: whatever caffeine you are going to have, have it in the first half of the shift, and stop earlier than feels necessary. Work backwards from when you plan to sleep, not from when the shift ends.
Does caffeine make up for the sleep you did not get?
No. Caffeine helps a rested person feel more alert. It does not restore performance under serious sleep loss, and no amount of it turns a short sleep into a full one.
That is the honest limit, and it is what the research we have read says. WorkSafe New Zealand defines fatigue as "a state of physical and/or mental exhaustion which reduces a person's ability to perform work safely and effectively." The fix for that is sleep, not a stimulant. Caffeine is for the ordinary flat patch in an otherwise rested night. If you are dangerously tired, more caffeine is not the answer, and we are not going to sell you one.
Why a pouch on a shift, then?
Because it is a known dose with no cup, no can and nothing to spill, and it sits between your top lip and gum while both hands are working. That is the whole case. A tin of 20 lives in a pocket. Nothing to queue for and nothing to knock over.
We keep ours in for 20 to 30 minutes and take them out when the flavour goes. One pouch per serving, never two at once. Do not chew it and do not swallow it. How to use one is on our how to use a caffeine pouch page. And a pouch does not care that it is night: a pouch at 4am is caffeine at 8am, the same as a coffee would be.
How do you sleep after a night shift?
Stop the caffeine early, and treat the sleep like the shift's most important job. We are not sleep specialists, so this is the short version, not a substitute for advice from someone who is.
Cut the caffeine at the halfway mark. Count backwards from when you plan to sleep, and further out again if you know you are sensitive. Then protect the sleep itself: the same room, dark, phone away, whatever it takes. Caffeine's job is the first half of the night. Sleep's job is the rest.
One pouch per serving. PAX is for adults 18 and over. It is not for you if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, or if you are sensitive to caffeine. PAX contains caffeine, and too much caffeine can cause an accelerated heart rate, nervousness, irritability and trouble sleeping. Who should not use one, and why, is on our are caffeine pouches safe? page.
Questions?
Email hello@paxenergy.co.nz or call 027 777 2899. If something on this page is wrong or out of date, tell us and we will fix it.
