A 34-year-old woman living with autism has gone viral on TikTok after sharing how a sleep pod costing less than £100 completely transformed her life.

Kate Leech, known as ‘Kate The Great’ on TikTok, said the Sleep Pod, from luxury loungewear firm Snuggy, was the ‘best thing to ever happen to her’.

“It has honestly changed my life,” she explained. “The people at Snuggy are geniuses and I can’t thank them enough!”

Kate discovered the sleep pod while searching for something to help her sleep better after having to take medication for years.

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“Before I had the sleep pod, I would lay awake for hours at night, tossing and turning,” she said. “I could never get relaxed enough to have a full night’s sleep. All that is a distant memory now thanks to the pod, it’s improved my life in so many ways.”

The sleep pod blocks out light and noise creating a quiet and calm atmosphere.

“It makes me feel safe,” Kate added. “That’s the best way I can describe it – I feel so safe.”

The petrol station assistant was diagnosed with autism in her mid-20s after doctors thought she had ADHD at school.

“I like things to go smoothly and fit in with my routine so even the slightest inconvenience like a queue in the shop when I need to buy milk can overwhelm me,” Kate explained.

“Before, if I hadn’t had any sleep this could cause a breakdown or a panic and I’d have to leave the shop but now, I am able to deal with it, get in the queue and stay calm.”

Kate said she didn’t realise how much sleep deprivation was impacting her condition and making it worse.

“I’ve noticed a huge change since being able to sleep through the night,” she added. “I recommend it to anyone that struggles with their sleep or has mental health problems.”

And it seems Kate’s not the only one benefitting from the pod – when she posted the pod on her TikTok, where she documents her life living with autism, she had more than 1.5m views, 368,000 likes, almost 6,000 comments and almost 5,000 shares- tiktok.com/@originalkatethegreat

“I had so many comments of people saying they were going to order one, or tagging in friends they thought it might benefit, I was shocked and pleased I was able to help.”

Snuggy had a pre-order list of more than 500 people waiting for the sleep pods when they came back in stock before Christmas.

Jack Griffiths, co-founder of Snuggy, said: ”Hearing stories like Kate’s is heart-warming for us and we’re so pleased we’ve been able to help her sleep better at night.

“We had no idea the impact the Snuggy Sleep Pod would have when we first started stocking it a few years ago, we just thought they would be cute and cosy accessories for children.

“We’ve been overwhelmed by the difference the pods have made to people like Kate’s lives and that’s why we’re now stocking them in all sizes from single to king size.”

The pods are available in pink, grey, navy and black and currently on sale from £65.