Has covid disrupted your life and affected your sleeping pattern? Is there an easy way to sleep with covid 19?
Sleep on your side or in the prone position (on your belly). Avoid sleeping on your back to prevent mucus from trickling down your throat and onto your chest. If you can sleep on your belly, use additional pillows for support and keep your head and neck elevated.
Does covid cause insomnia?
With the latest covid Delta variant, sleep has become an issue for many of you who have been living with covid symptoms.
Covid can and does disrupt sleep patterns for various reasons, and the term ‘coronasomnia’ has been coined by the medical profession.
Routines that are suddenly disrupted by covid cause many psychological problems, and because of the contagious nature of the virus, many of you feel isolated.
Being stuck indoors away from your daily routine of interacting with family and friends will impact your health, and one such impact is a disrupted sleep pattern.
One of the symptoms of coronavirus is fatigue, and combined with feeling rotten, you will need to take naps throughout the day, which is fine, and you should do this.
But, there comes the point where your sleeping pattern is out of whack, you are sleeping at strange times, you are isolated, and you have lost any interpersonal stimulation other than a phone call.
Is there an easy way out of coronasomnia?
Insomnia is the epitome of a bad nightmare! You can’t sleep, and the more you think about not being able to sleep, the problem perpetuates, and you find yourself spiraling into a vortex of self frustration and helplessness.
Insomnia has health consequences. You need sleep to aid your immune system, your immune system works on a cellular level, and when it’s suppressed caused by sleep deprivation, your health becomes worse.
Not sleeping causes your blood pressure to increase, your cortisol to increase, and you gain weight!
What’s the answer? You need to find a way of how to sleep with covid. Revert to your old daily routine even if you are in quarantine. Clearly stay home but start your day at the time you would have usually started the day.
Eat all of your daily meals simultaneously as you previously ate your meals, but you may want to reduce the portion sizes to compensate for your lack of physical activity.
Shower before bedtime to help you relax. If you have medication to take to help with covid symptoms, take it before you get into bed.
Keep your bedroom cool and use a humidifier to add some moisture to the air, which will help you sleep better with covid.
To help you sleep during covid switch off smartphones and computer screens, the light emitted fools your brain into thinking it’s daylight and you should not be sleeping.
Of course, sleep in a dark room to get the best chance of drifting off and restoring your sleeping pattern.
If you can establish your normal daily routine, you will eventually leave coronasomnia behind you.
Best sleeping position if you have covid
Hopefully, most of you experience no to only mild symptoms when you are diagnosed with covid 19. But we all have to sleep, so if you have covid, is there a better position to sleep in?
You all know that covid can be serious, and it affects your respiratory system. So, you need to sleep in a position that will help you to breathe. That’s why it is referred to as a SARS virus, severe acute respiratory syndrome.
Humans are creatures of habit, and we all have our go-to sleeping positions for comfort and rest, but with covid, you may need to find another way of sleeping if you have covid.
Scientists have been doing trials with sleeping positions to advise covid patients how to sleep correctly while they have the symptoms of covid.
It transpires that sleeping in the prone position is best for you if you have covid. The prone position or sleeping on your tummy enables the best position to establish a clear airway to help you breathe through the night.
Now sleeping on your tummy is not everyone’s favorite position for sleeping, so you need to find a comfortable way for you.
If you are carrying extra pounds around your belly, things become even more complicated.
Let’s assume the worst-case scenario is you just can’t sleep lying in the prone position for whatever reason.
The next best thing is to lay on your side with a pillow tucked into your tummy to lean forward onto the pillow. Once comfortable, use pillows to support your neck and head while curving your neck slightly back to open your airway.
This position is comfortable, and regardless of your reason for not lying on your tummy, you will be able to manage this position.
How to get the right kind of sleep
At the best of times, it can be challenging to get the right kind of sleep as not all sleep is equal and provides you with adequate rest.
Don’t use alcohol as an excuse to sleep. Alcohol provides poor sleep, and if you have ever had too much alcohol, you will know you do not wake to feel refreshed.
Avoid watching the news for a while. We are all wired to be news junkies and seem to need our daily fix of bad news and atrocities worldwide.
Switch off the news, switch off social media two hours before you sleep, and stop using smartphones and computer screens in your bedroom.
Keep your bed clean and fresh and made, so it feels like somewhere you want to be when you get into bed.
Keep your room cool and dark to induce sleep. If you struggle to drift off, use sleeping techniques like the 4-7-8 breathing method to fall asleep.
