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.

I got Covid in August 2021. I haven't been the same since then. I already had several autoimmune disorders and all this extra pain now sucks Sleeping has been awful, 1-3 nights no sleep, getting terrible anxiety issues, which make things worse. I keep hearing songs like a radio station playing but nothing is on. I have tried YouTube for sounds to drowned out the music, but needed to be really load like rain on a metal roof. I was on Oxycodone with muscle relaxers prior to Covid, but sometimes they don't seem to last long. I've missed out on most of Holidays with my family which sucks. I'm 58 yrs old and my depression has been taking me to places I don't like to go. I've reconnected with my Psychologist for counseling once a week, as I am also bipolar and all this added stress has made me feel like a nut case. Tossing and turning constantly to get comfortable is wearing me out as well. I spend most of my time in my room with my cat nowadays. I live with my family members including my son. I constantly feel like I am not pitching in around the house. I am starting in March to talk to someone in Post Covid clinic at the U of M Hospital in St.Paul, MN. It was the earliest they could get me scheduled. So many other issues that I could almost write a book.

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There is a way to know if you had Covid. The Mayo Clinic does an Antibody test! You go online to book through an iChor lab near you. It cost $120.
I got Covid in Sept. ‘21. Sleeping terribly.

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@dsiemarie

There is a way to know if you had Covid. The Mayo Clinic does an Antibody test! You go online to book through an iChor lab near you. It cost $120.
I got Covid in Sept. ‘21. Sleeping terribly.

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Hi @dsiemarie From what I’m reading in my research, iChor is a lab based in Alberta, Canada. COVID-19 Antibody Serology Testing is available in Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer, Vaughan, and Fredericton only.

I’m so sorry you ended up with Covid! Do you have any other lingering side effects besides the disrupted sleep?
Were you fortunate enough to live near one of these cities to get tested?

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@loribmt

Hi @dsiemarie From what I’m reading in my research, iChor is a lab based in Alberta, Canada. COVID-19 Antibody Serology Testing is available in Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer, Vaughan, and Fredericton only.

I’m so sorry you ended up with Covid! Do you have any other lingering side effects besides the disrupted sleep?
Were you fortunate enough to live near one of these cities to get tested?

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Vaughan and Fredericton are not in Ab. Not sure where Vaughan is. The other is in TO.
Where are you? Would be worth contacting Mayo to find out where u could get an antibody test done. IChor sends the samples to Mayo Clinic labs for processing.
I had mine done. My antibodies are at >250 (more than the test is set to count)
0.8 confirms you’ve had a Covid infection.

Other symptoms: hair is falling out.
Otherwise mostly recovered.
Had some tremors for a few weeks after- resolved now.
Have some inflammation ( an old chronic issue that has been dormant for 1.5 yrs)
A bit of depression setting in. (-30°C and few daylight hours & lockdowns also compounding)
Some memory/recall issues

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@dsiemarie

Vaughan and Fredericton are not in Ab. Not sure where Vaughan is. The other is in TO.
Where are you? Would be worth contacting Mayo to find out where u could get an antibody test done. IChor sends the samples to Mayo Clinic labs for processing.
I had mine done. My antibodies are at >250 (more than the test is set to count)
0.8 confirms you’ve had a Covid infection.

Other symptoms: hair is falling out.
Otherwise mostly recovered.
Had some tremors for a few weeks after- resolved now.
Have some inflammation ( an old chronic issue that has been dormant for 1.5 yrs)
A bit of depression setting in. (-30°C and few daylight hours & lockdowns also compounding)
Some memory/recall issues

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I’m happy to hear you’re mostly recovered from Covid. It’s always disconcerting when your hair falls out! That can be a pretty common reaction to an illness. I’ve heard a lot of positive results from people taking biotin supplements for hair loss.
I’m in northern Wisconsin so I share those dark, cold days with little vitamin D3. I take supplements and I also start out each morning sitting with my SAD light which gives a full spectrum ‘sunshine’. Seems to help keep me annoyingly perky. 😅

At this point in time, I’m not really in need of an antibody test. And, being immuno compromised, the results wouldn’t necessarily give an accurate indication of my immunity. I have had 2 shots and the booster so finger’s crossed that I have some level of response.

That’s true with any of the tests that are available. While they may indicate antibodies in the blood and show an immune response from Covid or the vaccine, there are other factors involving B and T cells, which come into play in creating the immune response when exposed to the virus.

But it’s great to see you have an antibody count. Means your immune system at least recognizes the covid virus and may offer you some protection in the future.

Did you have the covid vaccination?

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I have been having a lot of sleep meds nights, like right now writing this. I went to bed early 8 pm because I didn't get sleep for 2 nights, 3 days. After checking clock it was already 5 hrs and still no sleep. I have a mind that constantly is thinking and gets worse when I close my eyes. I have tried all mgs of melatonin but even at 40mg no help. I take several other medications at night for other mental health and autoimmune disorders. I used to get sleep taking my Clonazepam 2 5 mg tablets at bed and was able to fall asleep. I have several pain issues which have gotten worse since I got Covid in August 2021. I had a positive on my antibodies test which I had to have done to enter Post Covid group at the U of M hospital.. My entire family got sick at the same time so we all quarantined, which meant none of us had gotten tested. So to show I had COVID-19 the antibody test was required. My second night in a row of no sleep brought me to the brink of thinking I was going crazy. I have learned from reading that one of the things I experienced was Auditory Hallucinations, hearing music when there is none playing. I had several times that this had occurred at night but only for a short time then stopped. I have never been able to sleep to music so it was driving me crazy. Songs I had never heard distorted sounds and signing. First it came through heat vent only when furnace was running, then I noticed it in other areas. I went on YouTube to try to get a sound to cover the music. It took several times until I got rain on a tin roof and turned it up because the music would also get louder. I became paralyzed as soon as the music was drowned out as my body was so tired. I had to turn off the TV to sleep because it was too load then. Prior to all this when I first closed my eyes it was like a slideshow in my head going both vertical and horizontal at an extreme speed, I could feel my eyes against my lids racing to keep up, then my thoughts turned to my family all getting up in age and I would soon be saying goodbye to my loved ones. Then thoughts went all the way back to years ago and everything I could possibly feel guilty about flooded my thoughts. My anxiety levels were off the charts. I have had DBT classes and had learned how to redirect thoughts, but this was so bad none of the techniques I had used before would work. I was severely shaking, trying to hold back crying which would induce migraine. Hard to breathe like a panic attack but way worse than anything I had experienced prior. I had no control over my thoughts, then the music issues started as mentioned above. I have spoken to my psychologist about what happened to me and she made me promise if it happens again to go to the ER to have them give me something to sleep. I've been hospitalized quite a few times over the years, sleep is definitely not something you get in a hospital, at least not in my experience. Dr said to sleep when ever I am able, and as I am disabled I at least have that option to try to sleep during day. My pain issues are what has caused not sleeping this time. My oxycodone and muscle relaxers are not enough to reduce pain enough lately. I hope this is not a repeat of prior experience. I missed both Christmas day and New Years with my family and that was depressing. I live with my two younger siblings, my son, and mom. Sleeping days is a challenge when everyone else is awake.
I hope that no one has to go through this to this extreme, I really thought I was loosing my mind. I should mention I am Bipolar so racing thoughts at night have been my life for years now. The experience I am having with insomnia to this level is not normal though.

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I was positive in August. I'm still suffering from side effects, but it's getting better. Fatigue and insomnia are still a daily issue. The insomnia is frustrating for sure. Hang in there and just know you're not alone in this. We've all thought we were going crazy at some point, heck some days I still do!

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I was diagnosed with Covid 10 days ago. I really didn’t think i had it because all i had was a dry cough and a bit of fatigue. My most bothersome symptom was insomnia. I never have trouble sleeping but for the first 5 or 6 nights, I got maybe 4 hours of sleep a night. I was not worried, my mind wasn’t racing, i was just wide awake. Around 4 in the afternoon I would get tired and close my eyes for 10 minutes but that was it. It lasted about 5 days, then just intermittently for a few days after that. Last night, my 10th night, I slept like a baby. It’s a relief to know I’m not alone, this is a symptom I have never seen discussed until now.

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I too have had a sudden change in ability to sleep after having a mild case of Covid. I feel tired but not sleepy and lie awake for hours. If I fall asleep and then wake, again I am awake for 2 or more hours before I fall asleep again. I am not tense/anxious about covid. If feels as if I had some caffeine in the evening or chocolate or some things that I always avoid. Melatonin the last few nights has helped but its only giving me 4 -5 hours.

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I had Delta/covid last August and even with vaccinations got really ill. Never went to hospital but had to use nebulizer as my Sats we in high 80’s low 90’s for weeks. (Collapsed lung) but had to ask for the xray. Lots of other symptoms as mentioned in these posts but the most debilitating is Insomnia. So sick, so fatigued could Not sleep was Wakeful ALL THE TIME. Cat napped, for weeks and weeks. Now 8 months out I get about 4 -5 hrs average ( not all together). Sleep study, cpap, RLS meds. Meditation apps massage melatonin. Only using bed for sleep yada yada. I fall asleepand boing, wake up, 3-4 hrs later and am Wide awake. Try to sleep. Or get io and read the paper. Do not nap during the day so I can sleep at night. Even went to an “ insomnia” specialist, nada!! Anyone try acupuncture?

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