Post-game brain?

[Lee-Bro 1]

My beer league games typically are late Thursday or Sunday evenings, say 9:45pm or 10:30pm, depending on which rink we end up on. I've noticed several times after the game, after the 25 minute drive back home, and after the shower, that my brain will not shut down. I keep replaying the game in my head and thinking about how to do things differently next time or what I should have done differently. I'm physically tired but the brain will not let me go to sleep. This can go on 'til about 3am easily. God help me if I have any type of caffeinated beverage after the game, then it's that much harder to shut down and sleep.

I have the same issue regardless of win or loss, good game or bad game, the only time it doesn't really hit me is if we get an early game on Sunday around 5:30 or so. Sometimes it doesn't happen after the 7pm game, but we haven't had one of those in so long, I couldn’t say for sure. I never had this (to this degree) when I played baseball, nor does it happen when I officiate roller derby -though the after party usually wears me out for that. I'm sure there's some physiological explanation about the tempo of the game and rapid changes that put the brain in overdrive and not coming "down" from the "high" of the game.

I'm curious if anyone else suffers from this to the same point: sleep deprivation?

*edited to fix typos

[Jason Harris 31]

I haven't played night games in while, but I had the same trouble sleeping after games. I didn't feel I was replaying the game in my head as much as my whole body felt amped up. To some extent, I was overheated, which always makes it tougher for me to sleep, but it almost was like the runner's high with its release of endorphins.

I'm not really a drinker, but because I knew I'd be lying in bed and staring at the ceiling, I figured I might as well go to the bar with the boys and drink some water while we talked about whatever. I'd be up an hour or two later, but I'd generally be able to fall asleep when I got home.

[sickwilly 37]

Sleep after evening hockey is a huge issue for me. It's just as bad after shinny. I don't find that I'm ruminating about what happened. My mind's just too awake. I find that having a couple of beers afterwards actually makes it worse. I hate the idea of using sleep aids, too.

Unfortunately, I don't have any helpful suggestions (but would welcome any). I'm going to try doing some stretching/yoga instead of going online and having a couple of beers when I get home/can't sleep.

[Lee-Bro 1]

I try to avoid all caffiene the day before and day of games. If I do have any, it's earlier in the day.

Sickwilly, it's interesting you say you have the same issue w/ shinny. For me it's the opposite. The days I'm able to go play at lunch, I'm ready for a nap afterward. Go figure.

[ktang 34]

I think that applying your perception, predictive thinking, past experience, and judgment at a rapid pace in a fast and complex game really puts the cognitive part of the brain into overdrive. I think that the constant fast-paced decision making also differentiates hockey from some other sports.

After a while we condition ourselves to get our brain in gear during warmups and maybe that first shift.

I experience the same thing as the OP, too. Perhaps it's easier to get our brain in gear (starts for me when I'm packing my equipment for the game, and then on the drive to the rink) than it is to get it out of gear.

There are some studies about soldiers going into and coming out of combat. IIRC, one of them deals with the mental crash that occurs after the stress of combat is over, and the reasons for keeping a fresh reserve of troops to let the ones coming out of combat zone out.

I don't know if it's worth it for some PhD to do a study for hockey players, though!

[goblue9280 33]

I'm sure there's some physiological explanation

Combination of endorphins/chemicals and core body temperature. When the body temperature drops back down (may take 3-5 hours) you will get sleepy.

[Davetronz 109]

Yeah, I'm the same way. Usually up until 3:30-4:00am after a late game. I'm already a night person, so it seems to amplify the effect and keep me up even longer.

[Stoop 1]

Our games are late, and this happens to me pretty much every time. For me, I do think its worse when its a bad game. But either way, I'm up for quite a while. At this point, I just plan to use that time to get some things done.

[Katzenjammer 1]

I think it's that your cortisol is elevated due to physical and psychological stress.

[wrangler 157]

I've had that happen to me, too. It also happens when I've been working at a fast pace, thinking about a lot of things, and can't get the brain to understand that work is over for the night.

[shooter27 116]

When I played juniors and college I used to have a terrible time sleeping after 7 or 8 pm Friday games, even though we usually played the following afternoon. Most of my teammates had similar problems falling asleep post game. Generally, it was an issue of the adrenaline from the game not wearing off, making sleeping difficult till 2-3 in the morning, even though the games were over by 10 or so. I tried everything to get to sleep post-game, warm tea, ambien, melatonin, valium, sex, you name it. Never found a good solution for it, just dealt with it and tried to get as much rest as possible before the next days game. I haven't had any issues since I went from playing competitively to playing adult league, I guess since there are no stakes in men's league, the adrenaline doesn't get up as high.

[skyscrape 5]

Same thing here. Both late night drop in and games. I go home and take 2 midnight pills. These works pretty well for me as an over the counter sleep aid. Mostly melatonin, but I still struggle falling asleep.

[snuzzo24 0]

I play night games and used to have a problem going to sleep after. I found that listening to music after a game and going for a walk really helps calms me down.

[chippa13 1844]

Reading is another good way to relax your mind.

[tareatingrat 4]

I hate to recommend popping a pill, but I have found the product "Sleep MD" to be extremely helpful, because I have the exact same problem.

As well, if you're drinking after a game, you probably aren't getting the most restful sleep, either.

Not that I'll stop drinking...

[AfftonDad 88]

Benadryl helps me. It is relatively harmless (I asked the pharmicist once if you can take it indefinitely and she said yes). While it is primarily an allergy medicine it has a side effect of drowsiness. In fact, it is the sleep ingredient in many over the counter sleep aids.

[stick&puck 1]

Had the same thing happen to me when i have late games takes a bit of time to get the body to quite down and get into sleep mode.

I always guessed that once you get your adrenaline going from the game you wake up and it just takes some time for the body to calm back down.

[Doctor Hook 0]

I go through the same thing after my late night beer league games. Hence sticking around after for some wobbly pops and jokes with the boys. Usually after that I'll go home and catch up on DV-R'd shows while enjoying additional beverages. The life of the beer leaguer...

[number21 3]

I play night games and used to have a problem going to sleep after. I found that listening to music after a game and going for a walk really helps calms me down.

Reading is another good way to relax your mind.

Both of these.

My games aren't as late as they used to be in Chicago and they are all on Fri-Sun so it's less of an issue. After a beer or 2 in the locker room, hanging my gear, walking the dogs, a light snack then a hot shower (yeah I prefer my hot shower at home than the dirty cold rink shower). That usually does it for me. If I still feel a little amped, reading usually knocks me out. Or maybe I am just getting old.

[Doctor Hook 0]

Personally, I enjoy the post-game mental replaying of game highlights and lowlights. Actually, I usually concentrate on my f-ups. I replay them in mind, figure out why they happened, and learn from them so maybe next game I can identify the situation and deal with it differently.

[Lee-Bro 1]

Last night's game started @ 10:15. I went right to sleep after the shower. I guess it takes a good beating (lost 7-2) to help you sleep.

[Grinder 2]

A dram of Crown Royal over ice and a couple of rounds of MW3 are just the thing to wind me down. If I'm going to be awake for an hour before I can possibly fall asleep, I might as well be entertained.

[technophile 0]

Yeah, there's no way I can relax/sleep sooner than about 2-3 hours after a game. Back when I had 10:30 or 10:45 games that could lead to some rather short nights; fortunately these days my games are no later than 9:00, which is livable.

Between the aftereffects of the adrenaline, thinking over the good and bad things I did, etc it's just impossible to quiet my brain down enough. Nothing really helps, reading or whatever; it just takes time for me. Although I usually have a beer or two in any case.

It doesn't really bother me, in some ways I kind of live for that ~4 hours on game day (driving to the game, the game, driving home, the 2 hours of brain-buzz) as the best part of my week. Sometimes the next morning is a little tough but it's always worth it.

[sickwilly 37]

Combination of endorphins/chemicals and core body temperature. When the body temperature drops back down (may take 3-5 hours) you will get sleepy.

After reading this comment I tried taking a cool shower after the game instead of a hot one. Stayed in until I felt like my body had cooled down a bit. On both occasions, I fell asleep pretty easily after I came home. I'm not 100% convinced that this will be a long-term fix yet, but it saved me at least a couple of hours on both nights. Thanks for the info that gave me the idea.

[mug25 2]

It's not just hockey for me. After I hit the gym I come home, shower, relax and just prep for bed. Usually takes a few hours but I'm asleep around 2:00-2:30am.

If you're really having trouble sleeping, you should consider chamomile tea + Melatonin Pills. If I feel I'm really awake, I'll take those along with my usual ZMA Pills + Casein Shake 30 min before I go to sleep.