Insomnia due to post-Covid began to torment people for months

In online communities, there are countless complaints from patients about sleep disorders. In desperation, people go to a variety of measures, but not everyone manages to establish their usual sleep. In the meantime, a new study by an international team of authors has emerged, showing that 40 to 60% of people with post-COVID suffer from sleep disorders. According to eyewitnesses, most often people began to develop sleep problems after suffering “light” Omicrons, and this symptom torments people for weeks and months. Will the epidemic of insomnia take over the planet, MK found out.

As Vyacheslav, a member of the covid survivors group, says on social networks, chronic lack of sleep has been the cause of his depression and poor health for several months: “Wow! I lie until 4-5 at night and look at the ceiling. I tried to count the sheep, but it’s unbearable! They jump over the wattle fence, mix up, make some sounds all the time, either they counted it, or they didn’t count it … Some kind of bacchanalia. I began to count sloths – they are so leisurely, so thoughtfully slow, it helps a little.

“I already sleep through the night: neither sedative drops, nor walks before bedtime help. Two months from the onset of the disease, but it feels like the further, the worse and worse with sleep, ”Maxim tells his story.

“I was sick six months ago, but since then terrible insomnia has begun. I can not sleep for days. It seems like I fall asleep for half an hour, and wake up in a cold sweat. As if the brain has forgotten how to sleep. Not only do I sleep 4-5 hours a night – I don’t sleep at all! I drank sleeping pills for about a week, but it doesn’t help anymore. I don’t know what to do,” such is Anton’s story.

“Another misfortune after Omicron is insomnia. It’s impossible to sleep at all. You have to drink drops, then you get up to work all broken, ”writes Sergey.

“My son (20 years old) has insomnia, nothing helps. And so for many months in a row and every day. They prescribed pills, but after them he couldn’t wake up for a long time, he had a daily headache, and a state of inability, heaviness. Difficulty concentrating, desire to sleep throughout the day, and tiredness, constant tiredness. Tired of talking, the slightest. Looking for peace and quiet, can not stand it when it is light, if there is no way to dim the light, he covers himself with a blanket with his head.

And medicine is stupid: all it can do is prescribe sleeping pills, having exhausted the useless advice that only aggravates fatigue and insomnia, such as sports, walking, etc. He suffered. Preparing for the session in complete silence. Sounds, flashes of light are painful. Is there really no cure in the 21st century? He was ill with Covid twice,” says Antonina.

“After the postponed Omicron, I can’t sleep at all. Previously, a loading dose of antidepressants helped, but now it is past, ”complains Irina. And Olga says that in the two years that she has been suffering from insomnia after covid, she has tried, it seems, everything – but nothing works.

Someone says that he sat down tightly on antidepressants – and let go. Someone is trying to solve the problem with “harmless” motherwort and valerian (although to no avail). For some, insomnia goes away on its own after a few weeks or months. And others go crazy in search of magical remedies. For example, in one of the groups they are seriously discussing “an effective and free means of falling asleep quickly” – treatment … with sound. “There is a science of kinetics, healing frequencies of solfeggio. After listening to this program, he always cuts down to sleep, ”the girl Victoria shares with her groupmates.

Meanwhile, the authors of a new scientific paper shared the results of a study conducted among 962 patients treated for post-COVID syndrome at the Cleveland Clinic from February 2021 to April 2022. When contacting the clinic, 59% complained of mild to moderate sleep disturbances, 41% – from moderate to severe.

Patients experience prolonged and debilitating symptoms for more than 4 weeks after the acute onset of SARS-CoV-2 infection. At the same time, several international studies have already shown that the prevalence of sleep disorders in PCD is 34-50%. However, until now, researchers have not studied the relationship between mood disorders and fatigue with the severity of sleep disorders, which the authors of the new work tried to do.

All study participants who complained of sleep problems were carefully examined. It turned out that hospitalization, greater severity of anxiety and moderate or severe fatigue were significantly associated with moderate or severe sleep disturbances.

The authors of the work concluded that the prevalence of sleep disorders in post-COVID-19 is quite high. Especially if the patient was treated for covid in a hospital, and he still has an anxiety syndrome and asthenia against the background of PCS.

Scientists believe that if “mild” variants of SARS-CoV-2 continue to come around with insomnia for a large number of patients, it is possible that someday we will come to the conclusion that an epidemic of insomnia will begin in the world.

Somnologist, head of the Department of Sleep Medicine at Sechenov University, President of the Russian Society of Somnologists Mikhail Poluektov says that sleep is a unique state: “Scientists have discovered a defense mechanism based on the cyclicity of sleep: if we encounter a problem, we should go to sleep. How much sleep do you need for this mechanism to work? It has been proven that adults need 7-9 hours of sleep, this is scientific evidence. Even if you work hard, you are stressed – you still need to sleep at least 7 hours. People now have more sleep disturbances, and the need for healthy sleep is increasing.”

Every fifth Russian today experiences problems with sleep. Daytime tension during a period of severe stress simply does not leave us with the onset of night, and strength and emotional balance are not restored.

The expert advises to stop physical activity 3-4 hours before bedtime, and in the evening treat yourself to pleasant emotions: talk with loved ones about good things, watch a movie, do a hobby. If there are no contraindications, you can take baths with magnesium salt. You can also use essential oils (baths, aroma lamps). There are no universal recipes, but with persistent insomnia, you need to contact a specialist – and he will try to look for a way out.