I can’t sleep!

This is so so hard. I’m not going to suggest meds/practices that have worked for me; instead I am just going to applaud ALL of you who are participating in daytime activities IN SPITE of not sleeping! Unless you have personally experienced the level of insomnia we are talking about, there is no way to know how deeply awful it can make a life. I hope you all hang in there and can find something—ANYthing— that will help. If your dr or psychiatrist does not validate your sleep nightmare, PLEASE get a Med provider who will. You are heroes.

You're welcome 😊

I take 2mg melatonin and 50 to 100mg Trazodone and in about 20 minutes I am very drowsy and usually fall asleep with no problem. However, I struggle with going back to sleep when I wake up during the night. For relaxing to help fall asleep, I've listened to a You Tube video that helps by Paul McKenna, "Sleep". You need to use ear buds because there's dual messages.

I have problems falling asleep as I have lived with that "internal tremor" vibration 24/7 since July 2021 . . . I sleep when exhaustion hits me . . . nothing works for sleep preparation. Sickening feeling, being tired always.

Gosh, now I know that I’m not losing my mind. I’m still fresh in the Covid positive circle - I’m going on 12 days since I first tested positive and 11 since first mild symptom. I cannot sleep at all. I’ve been like this ever since, but now it’s progressively worsening. It’s 2:28am my local time and my eyes are still wide open. Been to the bathroom a few times. So happy to know I’m not alone.

I’ve learned a lot from the book titled “Eat, Move, Sleep”. The 3 are interconnected so a problem in one might be an insufficiency in one or both of the others. Seems counterintuitive, but my experience is consistent with the book’s premise

michc - my PCP put me on a low dose of Lexapro to help my insomnia. It’s an anti anxiety, antidepressant. It didn’t seem to help. I’ve been reading a lot on antihistamines for long covid. It seems COVID triggers histamine release with resulting inflammation and antihistamines seem to help. So I’ve started taking 25 mg of Benadryl at night. It helps get me to sleep and although I still wake up to go to the bathroom every couple of hours, I can get back to sleep. This bathroom thing is really paradoxical. Do you wake up because you have to pee or do you want to pee because you’re awake?? So many issues with this damn long covid! You are NOT alone.

britelite, the first day of symptoms, I used Benadryl and it knocked me out after a struggle to sleep. Second night, did not work. The bathroom issue, I honestly can’t tell you which way it goes, it seems both ways at times. I do have autoimmune issues and had thyroid cancer, so I don’t know if that makes a difference. I have not tried any type of sleep aid. I worry when it’s time for me to return to work how I will function.

I had covid in August 2021 and even though I was exhausted I also could not sleep. Catnaps for months and months. I used Benadryl, melatonin, .5 lorazepam, tea, and any other herbal supplement I could find that didn’t interact with my meds. I also have autoimmune issues prior to covid so this may have impacted the long covid symptoms I still have to this day. I also had a 24/7 headache from hell so again, this might have really affected my sleep. Long story short, it took months and months to finally get some sleep( more than 1 hr at a time). I did have the luxury of being retired, I could never have worked otherwise. It gets better, nit great but better, i now take an herbal supplement with 10 mg melatonin L-Theanine and an herbal mixture. Bought mine at Whole Foods under brand name Natures Bounty Sleep 3. I usually sleep about 5 hrs a night with 1-2 bathroom breaks. Is this perfect? By no means is it perfect but it is better than literally no sleep. Ps. Don’t let people tell you that you Must be sleeping when you know you Are Not! That is crazy making and not helpful. Who would choose this side effect anyway? Good luck!

I usually wake up around 3:00 AM and then always had the urge to pee. I knew once I got up, I would have more trouble falling back asleep so I decided to stay in bed and try to fall back asleep. After a couple nights, I still woke up around 3:00 AM, but my body didn't feel the need to visit the bathroom, maybe it got re-trained. So you could try that.