Taye Diggs on His Insomnia Battle After Becoming a Dad: 'Never Really Got Over It'

Taye Diggs is opening up about the sleep disorder that deeply impacted his work and home life.

On Wednesday, Diggs, 51, opened up to host Janine Rubenstein on the PEOPLE Every Day podcast about his long-term battle with insomnia and how it's affected his relationship with his 13-year-old son, Walker, and his acting jobs.

"This insomnia started when Walker was born," the Broadway vet revealed. "He wouldn't sleep all the way through the night, so I wouldn't know how many hours I would be awake, and then I'd have to work the next morning.

Diggs said the lack of sleep eventually started to affect him on the job. "I wouldn't know how many hours of sleep I would get and it would affect my work. I'd get anxious and it created a cycle and I never really got over it."

The Best Man actor said he looked for a crutch to make it through the days and nights. "I'd try to do whatever I needed to do to stay awake during the day and, and try to fall asleep and stay asleep, you know, whether that meant more wine in the evenings or more energy drinks and Red Bulls during the day," he told Rubenstein.

"I always found little hacks that would kind of get me through," the actor said. "And it wasn't until just recently that my son took me aside and said, 'What's going on? You have work and then it's time for us to hang out and you're not really there.' And that bothered me. So I finally checked out a doctor."

Diggs admitted that it can be hard to admit when something is wrong and you need help. "It's okay to ask for help because once I did, I was given some options," he shared. The doctor prescribed insomnia medicine Quviviq and Diggs thinks it's made all the difference.

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"I was waking up between two and five every single day and it was affecting everything, mostly my time with my son," the How Stella Got Her Groove Back actor said. "So I took it and gave it a couple of days, and so far so good. My kid can see a difference in how involved I am with him."

During the exclusive interview, Diggs also talked about co-parenting with his ex-wife Idina Menzel. "She runs the show," he said.

"She has a career and she has her own relationships and she still makes sure that Walker is where he needs to be when he needs," the actor said about Menzel, 51. "He's got the best coaches and the best teachers, and we're at the best schools, and it's all because of her."

Diggs also talked about the slew of projects he's currently juggling. He's starring in the upcoming franchise The Best Man: The Final Chapters, he plays head coach Billy Baker on the hit TV show All American, he's an accomplished children's book author, and just recently, he started strutting his stuff on Tik Tok with girlfriend April Jones. He's got his hands full, but he's happy to be healthy.

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