Anyone have insomnia as symptom of COVID-19?

Posted by mkqq @mkqq, Apr 30, 2020

Hi all,

So I got sick 8 weeks ago and the doctor thinks it might have been Covid-19. There was no way to be certain as the infection was already gone when I visited the clinic last week. They did a CRP test and it showed no sign of infection.

I started with a fever that lasted 3 days and suddenly on the 4th or 5th day I had a sleepless night. Then for the next 5 days I had alternating nights where I slept and where I couldn't sleep at all. For the last 8 weeks or so my sleeping has been absolutely terrible.

The doctor tells me she has seen other Covid-19 patients and some of they say they cannot sleep.

Just wondering is anyone experiencing insomnia as a direct symptom of Covid-19? Or does it always come down to anxiety and your fight/flight response? For me there is a lot of anxiety which is contributing to the problem.

Many thanks

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Post-COVID Recovery & COVID-19 Support Group.

@mkqq as more is studied and understood about this virus, more symptoms are being added to the list. See Mayo Clinic's list of symptoms here:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/symptoms-causes/syc-20479963

While tiredness and fatigue are commonly listed, insomnia is not, at least not at this time. A Google search of "insomnia and COVID" returns many articles about the stress and anxiety of COVID and how they can lead to insomnia.

Either way, since you know that anxiety is a part of your reality at the moment, it may help to work on reducing it. Mayo Clinic's @DrDonaLocke has started a blog series called "Creating your Resiliency Roadmap." As a resiliency workshop leader for Mayo Clinic Arizona staff, she is offering Connect members the same training through the blog. You may wish to follow along.

Roadmap Plan:
Day 1: Identify your own personal signs of stress
Day 2: What aspects of a stressful situation are most likely to be challenging for you?
Day 3: Identify stress coping techniques that already work for you and some tips from me.
Day 4: Some formal relaxation techniques you may want to try if you haven't already so you can add them to your toolkit for resiliency.
Day 5: Healthy thinking and recognizing and reframing unhelpful thinking patterns.
Day 6: Intentional focus on positive emotions and experiences
Day 7: Social support (and keeping those connections in this time of physical distancing!)

Get started here: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/page/living-with-mild-cognitive-impairment-mci/newsfeed-post/creating-your-resiliency-roadmap-introduction/

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To be honest for me the first 2-3 sleepless nights were the most mysterious, especially the first one.

That was a Tuesday night which was 2 days after the fever was gone. I did spend those few days trying to figure out if I had Corona or not, but I don't remember being overly anxious. On Monday afternoon and Tuesday I felt I was not breathing right, i.e holding breath a etc... this might have been due to anxiety.

But still doesn't fully explain why I couldn't sleep the whole night. Wednesday night I slept. Thursday night I couldn't sleep again. Friday night I spelt (although poorer quality), and Saturday night again couldn't sleep.

Since then it has just been going massively downhill. Then I started taking melatonin and even used Oxazepam for some days. I stopped with Oxazepam a few weeks ago and now only take a quarter tablet for the nights that I really need to sleep.

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I tested positive for COVID-19 through blood test. (I was found to have the antibodies.) My husband also tested positive. We have been in Senegal, West Africa for the past year. When I got COVID-19 I only had a mild fever for two days. I suffered no respiratory problems. I had one day when I could not taste food. The main effects I have had have been neurological. The virus seemed to exacerbate my existing back problem and caused increased pain in my gluteal muscles and calves as well a weird sensation in the whole area from my waist downwards that is very unpleasant. This was with pins and needles and muscle spasms. I was even incontinent of urine when I eventually fell asleep at the worst point. So, yes, COVID-19 has definitely caused me insomnia ,as all the pain and discomfort is accentuated when I am in the horizontal, but I am wondering if it is that alone that keeps me awake. I actually feel very wakeful too.

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@mariyamakabo

I tested positive for COVID-19 through blood test. (I was found to have the antibodies.) My husband also tested positive. We have been in Senegal, West Africa for the past year. When I got COVID-19 I only had a mild fever for two days. I suffered no respiratory problems. I had one day when I could not taste food. The main effects I have had have been neurological. The virus seemed to exacerbate my existing back problem and caused increased pain in my gluteal muscles and calves as well a weird sensation in the whole area from my waist downwards that is very unpleasant. This was with pins and needles and muscle spasms. I was even incontinent of urine when I eventually fell asleep at the worst point. So, yes, COVID-19 has definitely caused me insomnia ,as all the pain and discomfort is accentuated when I am in the horizontal, but I am wondering if it is that alone that keeps me awake. I actually feel very wakeful too.

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@mariyamakabo- Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. I hate not being able to sleep, especially when I'm sick. There seems to be an increase in insomnia due to COVID-19. There's even a name given by Neurologists: "COVID-Somnia".

https://journals.lww.com/neurotodayonline/fulltext/2020/07090/sleep_neurologists_call_it.1.aspx

Have you sought any kind of relief for your pain or symptoms?

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I got diagnosed with covid last Thursday and for the past few nights I haven't been able to sleep on time or when I feel tired. After reading the first comment about having a fever for the first 3 days then this, it reminded me of what im dealing with.

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To be quite honest, it is hard to distinguish if it is the pain I am in or simply stress, but my COVID experience seems to be that I am more wakeful and unable to sleep. It is unlike other viruses which make one feel really sleepy. My husband, who also got COVID is the same and he is not in pain. (The virus attacked my back.)

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PS. When we first got COVID we had no idea it was that as our symptoms were atypical, so there was no 'COVID stress'.

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@mariyamakabo

PS. When we first got COVID we had no idea it was that as our symptoms were atypical, so there was no 'COVID stress'.

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@mariyamakabo- Hello. Perhaps we didn't know a lot of details of COVID-19 at the beginning but we were afraid, nevertheless.

Here is some help with insomnia:
https://www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-guidelines-covid-19-isolation

I think that then it was stress about the unknown and now it's the stress of the known. I wonder which is worse?

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@isaac1046

I got diagnosed with covid last Thursday and for the past few nights I haven't been able to sleep on time or when I feel tired. After reading the first comment about having a fever for the first 3 days then this, it reminded me of what im dealing with.

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@isaac1046- Good morning and welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. Oh, no! When there is stress there is most likely insomnia. And if there is pain or other difficult symptoms that just adds to it. It's bad enough to have COVID-19 but when you can't sleep even if you are tired it adds to the stress. It's a vicious circle.

How are you handling the added stress?

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I’ve recently recovered from covid it’s been 2 weeks and I can’t sleep at night, I may get 2 hours but that’s it. It’s so weird cause my eyes get heavy but when I go to bed I can’t fall asleep. When I was sick with covid I slept through the night fine.

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