Bed Wedges Ect ?

[zaney]

What do any of you use to keep your selves more upright in bed apart from pillows , (which always seem to squish down ) Ive been looking at bed wedges has anybody any experience of them or any thing else that would work the same please . Thanks Su

[Puffthemagicdragon]

Sorry I can't help. I can still lay down properly in bed. Not bad for a person with severe emphysema !

[caroleoctober in reply to Puffthemagicdragon]

I'm the same Puff and I'm on oxygen in bed, lie on my stomach most of the time too, with just one pillow. Funny how there is so much difference in the way this condition affects people differently.

[Puffthemagicdragon in reply to caroleoctober]

I'm on oxygen too but only half a litre. It is odd. There are so many extremes.

[Gordon57]

I've had bother for over a year now, not being able to lay down and settle in bed. A lot of my problems come from rolling over and laying on my front, which causes a very tight chest for many hours once I wake up, but does not wake me in itself.

I've tried a wedge. Yes, it props me up so I'm not wheezing or coughing, until I get off to sleep, when I still roll over and end up face down, except now my head and neck are being forced upwards and give me a bad back as well - still not waking.

I don't take sleeping tablets. What I tend to do is to stay up watching TV, playing on the computer or whatever, until I am very tired. I hate laying in bed awake, I need to tire myself out before I go to bed so I go almost straight off. That means I sleep very deeply, not much disturbs me, and I can sleep for several hours when I do get off.

But, the hassle of having a very sore chest, and/or a bad back and neck, for many hours has put me off being in bed. I tend to sleep on the settee more, with cushions against the hard end arms, which give me much more support than a wedge or pillows. I can't roll over onto my front either.

I have used the wedge on the settee as a leg support, using it with short end towards my torso and my legs over the top, with my feet at the thin end. That seems to give me some relief form aching legs, but not always.

The wedge would be fine if I just wanted to be propped up in bed. If I am ever ill and need to stay in bed then maybe it will get used more as it was designed for. Right now it's usually left on the floor at my side of the bed, as the wife likes to spread out if I'm downstairs, and she says it's in the way...

[linb]

Got my bed wedge from e-bay, it does the job with a few extra pillows for comfort.

lin x

[Bevvy]

I got my wedge from Amazon and find it very helpful.

Took a bit of time to get used to it but wouldn't be without it now!

[nanniesue]

I have had a back rest for years. Got it from physios but you can get them at most mobility shops as well. I just pop a couple of pillows one above the other on top & am really comfy. I adjust the depth of slope depending on how my breathing is at the time & feel much more confident to sleep. Couldn't do without mine.

[zaney]

Thankyou all so much for your replies , I am just hoping that something will help me get a nights sleep , Like Gordon i stay up till i am really tired but even that doesnt seem to work , I will have a word with the rehab people and physio see if they have anything i can try , didnt think of them before . Fingers x being propped up a bit will be of some help . Su

[Hidden]

you can put books under bed at head to raise you a bit more.

[linsabout]

OT bought me bed wedges out & they do help. I was told to put under the pillow but trial and error showed me that under the mattress worked best.

[Shaun53]

I had quite bad gastric reflux a few years ago and sleeping upright or with the head of the bed raised was suggested, I have always slept on my side and really couldn't find a comfortable way using pillows etc, I then had a brain wave and took the legs of the bed at the feet end and put blocks under the headboard end, so that the whole bed was on a slope, it felt funny to start with I soon got used to it and it did help quite a lot.

[thatcham1939]

A bedrest is very good you could have it at any angle you want. the othe thing is a bolster pillow wrapped in a sheet and tightly put across the bottom of the bed, but i dont, know what is wrong with you, but we used this method with my patients on my ward

good luck janx