Shoulder pain sleeping

[Chongo]

G'day Natalie. Here is a pic of the pillow position to take the weight off your crook shoulder while sleeping. As you can see there is very little weight on the shoulder she is laying on due to the gap between the pillows and you can play around with the positioning till you get it comfortable for you. You might need a higher head pillow to keep your neck in the neutral position and not pointing downwards, but you'll work it out. I hope it works and gives you some much needed sleep. Cheers. ☺

[Natalie-Lhianne]

Thank you so much. I’m definitely going to give this a try 😊

[Chongo in reply to Natalie-Lhianne]

No problemo. I know the horrible experience of shoulder pain, so I really hope it helps you out.....Manuia! (Cheers)

[sylvi]

Thats lovely of you darling and so kind.xxxx

[Chongo in reply to sylvi]

Thanks sylvi, and here's hoping you get your 'fun and games' sorted out soon. And say g'day to your tough as nails hubby for me, he's a bloody legend. Cheers.

[Hidden]

I tried this in the night too. (Shoulder long since damaged in RTC is always uncomfortable and I used a special pillow for yrs, then a towel rolled up tucked under the edge of pillow for neck support.) This could be a goer, I just need to find one with less oomph so it can be narrower. Thanks for posting.

[Chongo in reply to Hidden]

You want to experiment with different pillow height, firmness etc. Then you will work out what is best for you.

Both my shoulder rotator cuffs tore around 2006-7, so l have it pretty much worked out what works for me.

Good luck...but don't give up, you will get there.

[wishbone in reply to Chongo]

Yep, it's a matter of fine tuning to suit.

I did similar when I had problems with both shoulders a couple of years ago. I had a thick piece of foam cut to the required size for my back (couldn't lie on either side) and a the right thickness pillow for my head, and it did help me sleep better than previous.

[Chongo in reply to wishbone]

Exactly right. Once you fine tune to your body type and get comfortable with it, then it certainly does help.

That foam idea of yours has now got me thinking. So l might try cutting a large piece of foam with an electric knife to make a one piece setup with a hollowed out area for my shoulder and arm. It will be a lot of trial and error getting the two different support heights right for under the body and under the head to keep the spine in the neutral position...But l reckon l might be able make one.

If l can make one, then the main problem will be getting someone to make a couple of covers for it, 'cos it's going to be a weird shape ☺

[wishbone in reply to Chongo]

I probably should have mentioned that I could not lie down in bed or anywhere else for reasons other than just my shoulders, so I slept, or tried to sleep rather, slightly tilted back in a large reclining chair. I had the foam cut to length so when resting on the seat of the chair it reached to just below my shoulder blades.

[Chongo in reply to wishbone]

Holy hell man, l have just read a couple of your posts...You must have been in a bad way to have to sleep in a recliner. By the way, that was a brilliant idea having the foam going up your back to just below the shoulder blades then supporting your head with a pillow.

What other issues do you have?

I only had to sleep in a recliner for a few weeks after the surgery on my left shoulder, and that sh!%%#d me to tears. That was after the first week post op of sleeping at the kitchen table with my head resting on my right arm while my left was hanging by my side in the sling. Shoulder surgery knocks you around for quite a while, my right one is inoperable now, so l have to live with it.

I also had Radiofrequency Denervation in my CX spine to try and stop the nerves in my neck going haywire...C6 nerve root was being compressed and sending some whacky signals to my brain. (Some days l had no balance and would just fall over, weird). But that procedure was a great waste of time as it cost a fortune, hurt like hell as you're awake and only under sedation as they are pushing the hollow tube in and zapping the nerves in your spine with the probe, but worst of all it only lasted a couple of months till the nerves regenerated and started sending the whacky, painful signals again. (The specialist told me it would last from anywhere between 6 months to 2 years)...Nope!

Also l have Bilateral Ulnar Neuropathy, O/A in the knuckles, Lumbar Disc Degeneration and have just recently been diagnosed with R/A...Oh and a head only a mother could love. ☺

OK, I've had my whinge for the day...I'm off to the beach to lay on the sand, have a beer or 10 and read a book...Cheers.

[wishbone in reply to Chongo]

There's nothing like having a good old whinge!...now it's my turn. Not many issues really, it's just the ones that I do have, have caused me a fair amount of grief over the last few years. I've had RA for 16 years. Things were relatively ok for the first 12 years until I went and got me a chronic bladder condition that's caused me no end of trouble with infections. This in turn has created problems treating my RA, hence the shoulder trouble along with similar issues with multiple joints. I went through a particularly rough patch a few years ago when I took it on myself to stop taking all immune suppressing meds (which lasted for approx 3 months) to help reduce the risk of getting a serious infection, something I'd previously had and didn't want again!! Don't think that was a very clever move however as my RA went absolutely crazy and I ended up being housebound. It was during this godawful time that I believe inflammation managed to get into my lungs resulting in a serious lung condition, which being a bit of an ostrich, or perhaps a coward is more apt, I prefer to stick my head in the sand and try not to talk or think about it. Throw one or two niggles like acid reflux, which is another reason why I can't lie down, into the mix, plus an unpleasant skin condition and that's about it. On a more positive note, I've recently started taking a new type of med which has improved my RA, plus I've been infection free for over 2 years, something I never thought possible at one time. All fingers crossed for that continuing.............................

Sounds like you've had your fair share of problems. Serious back and shoulder pain can mess up your life big time as you've unfortunately found out. Hope you enjoyed your read on bondi beach along with those 10 cans of fosters......

[Chongo in reply to wishbone]

Thanks mate, l had a great day. I don't live in NSW where Bondi is, but l instead went to Wilsons Promontory in Victoria, my home state. The "Prom" is a heavily protected national park where wildlife is in abundance. If you camp there overnight, you have to lock up anything edible or the wombats or possums will have ripped open the containers and eaten all your tucker by the morning. The place is pure magic, and the diving around the islands not far offshore is the best l have ever experienced.

And drinking Fosters?...Hell no!...Anything but that !! Hyuk.

Anyway, here's hoping your new med works out for you, what is it?...I'm asking because I've been on 10mg of MTX weekly for the last 2 months, and l think it's doing nothing now that l have tapered off the Preds. I am in mega pain again.

Plus, it sounds like you have been through enough crap for long enough and could do with a break. Cheers mate.

[wishbone in reply to Chongo]

You're making me jealous going camping in a wildlife rich national park. That place sounds fantastic! I used to do a lot of hillwalking until this stupid disease put a stop to it. Loved watching wildlife, especially birdwatching, which I started doing around 40 years ago.

I'm taking baricitinib, it's one of a fairly new class of drug called JAK Inhibitors. Been on it for close on 5 months and I'm doing ok so far. Methotrexate can take a fair while to start working. Think it was around 12 weeks when I started taking it many moons ago. Of course it might not work at all, and if you're in a lot of pain then I wouldn't leave it too long before going back to see your rheumy.

Oh, and I was only joking about the bondi beach/fosters thing. Perfectly understandable that you didn't get it as my corny welsh humour rarely seems to travel well.

Good luck to you and hope you get that pain sorted soon.

[Chongo in reply to wishbone]

Yeah, the Prom is a magical place, some parts of the area remind you of the movie Jurassic Park with the massive crass covered cliffs/hills. You then hike a bit further and the next thing you're on a beautiful golden beach, amazing place alright.

Sorry to hear your days of being among nature and especially the bird life is over...Even if you're having one good semi pain free day, I'd get out amongst it again if l was you...It does wonders for the state of mind.

Thanks for the heads up on your current med and also giving me the timeline of how long it takes MTX to kick in. I am seeing my doc next week so we will discuss it then, but at the moment I'm feeling pretty cruddy all over, so I'll just have to wait and see.

And yeah, the Bondi joke went sailing straight over my thick, dopey head, haaah! Cheers mate, hope all is still going OK with you.

[Mmrr]

thanks I might give it a go !

[Chongo in reply to Mmrr]

Mmrr, you have nothing to lose...So give give it a whirl.

Here's hoping it helps.

[Creakywrists]

I did this !

I also put a v shaped pillow on top which gave a bigger space for the shoulder and held my head in position. Got me through a lot of nights. Now it’s my elbows when I flare....

[Chongo in reply to Creakywrists]

The V shaped pillow sounds like a great idea. I'm going to get one and try it myself. Thanks for the tip. ☺

Unrelated but...I woke up this morning and it feels like somebody has dropped a massive rock on top of my left foot. It feels like it has got a cracked bone from one side to the other. My right foot is a bit sore too. Weird hey? But I reckon it will be gone tomorrow or the next day as these things usually do. I can't even put weight on it at the moment, so if it doesn't go away I'm off to the docs for a cortico shot in it on Monday.

Jeez l hate this R/A, it's like a raffle every night not knowing what part or parts of my body are going to hurt the next day.

I am thankful for the good days though. Then l go like hell and try to do as much as l can and live life...Diving, surfing, fishing etc. My doc has made it very clear that my heavy lifting and heavy working days are over, so now I'm just gonna sit back, maybe do some light part time work, have a beer and enjoy life by the sea, so l really can't whinge. I just keep telling myself there's a lot of people out there much more worse off than me and things will be cool.

[gailyb]

That's a brilliant idea. I'm definitely going to sleep like this .. Thank you.x

[Chongo in reply to gailyb]

I'm glad you found this suggestion useful, gailyb... I really hope it helps you out.

Just remember...It takes time to adjust to the new position and will require a bit of trial and error to get it right for you.

Manuia! ☺☺☺