Bigskyfam Posted April 19, 2015 Report Share Posted April 19, 2015 I elevated the head of my bed early on for over a year. What I noticed was that the headaches and heaviness in my head decreased. I traveled for a week and was without my tilted bed. I took the block away. Feel okay. Better in a way with decrease in swelling of my hands/feet. Still love my propped up pillows. What is everyone else doing or tried? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dizzyallie Posted April 19, 2015 Report Share Posted April 19, 2015 Hi bigskyfam. I was told to raise it using bricks. Couldn't raise it enough so I bought one of those triangular wedge things. Helped a li, that was a few years back. Now I just sleep with 2 pillows. Sometimes I feel the need to drop my head tho, can't explain it. Too much elevation can worsen me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goschi Posted April 19, 2015 Report Share Posted April 19, 2015 I elevated the head of my bed more then one year ago - unfortunately without any positive effect at all... I rather felt more uncomfortable and slept worse, as I needed to lie totally flat for a good night sleep since I was a child Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
targs66 Posted April 19, 2015 Report Share Posted April 19, 2015 I am finding that I need more pillows/elevation! It's quite uncomfortable for my neck but I absolutely can't sleep flat. I feel like I'm drowning. Worried I'm going to end up sleeping in a chair!Can anyone explain roughly why the elevation helps some people? It seems counter intuitive, given that I have low BP - you'd think that lying flat would help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dizzyallie Posted April 19, 2015 Report Share Posted April 19, 2015 I dunno targs I haven't laid flat to sleep since 2010, it flares my dizziness bad and then I get vertigo. Even when I've had mri s it's been really hardon the head. I remember my spec saying laying your heart should be lower than your head. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted April 20, 2015 Report Share Posted April 20, 2015 Targs66 I was told it helps with blood circulation. I thought the same thing when told to raise the head of my bed, I thought it would make me worse, but it didn't, it helped a little bit. I still don't understand the science behind it though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshinegirl Posted April 20, 2015 Report Share Posted April 20, 2015 I raised the head of my bed and it took a while to get used to. The reasoning I was given behind this is your heart does not have to work as hard if you have a high heart rate. Also, when you lay flat, your kidneys sense the change in begin to filter out more water. For us who have to keep the fluid going, this just undoes all we worked for during the day! So, the first night I raised my head and torso, I was not up all night peeing! I have kept a higher blood pressure and my laying heart rate is usually pretty good. Even though my BP is up my HR does not remain stable when I stand or walk. I can drink less during the day and subsequently, don't have to have as much salt. Im also not as tired during the day because I can sleep through the night without trips to the bathroom. Just raising your head wont achieve these intended results. Your whole upper body has to be inclined. I don't know what this does for head aches or migraines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nomdeguerre0850 Posted April 20, 2015 Report Share Posted April 20, 2015 Sunshine, I had the same experience as you did. I'm not up five plus time to go to the bathroom. It is now consistently only once a night. The reasoning you got was similar to what I was told. Kidneys are retaining more fluid in the body. I'm not sure I actually understand how it works, but I guess I don't have to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshinegirl Posted April 21, 2015 Report Share Posted April 21, 2015 Kidneys constantly talk a back and forth with the brain via chemical signals and levels of hormones that change throughout the day. When you lay flat, the fluid that accumulated in your legs and other parts gets redistributed back to your kidneys. It is the kidneys job to keep a state of homeostasis including sending off a thirst signal when you are running low on fluid and to create urine when there is an excess of water. Under normal conditions, this works well but if you have pooling or any kind of edema, then you will experience more urine being made when laying flat vs a person who does not have this situation. Before I began laying with my whole torso elevated, I had excess urine at night and also excess thirst at night as well. This has all resolved. All blood test showed that my kidneys have no problems of their own....that were not set off by battling with POTS things. Excessive night sweating also stopped. sweat is a way to get rid of water and urea...so that makes sense.Abdominal pooling creates problems for me as I feel like all my organs are squished and my guts shut down too. This is a catch 22 because the nausea, poor motility and all that is not helpful. My kidneys do feel stressed during these times. I feel sucker punched in the back lower rib area. It resolves without incident to my kidneys but I do wonder if there is something I can do in this situation?Kidneys do a lot more than move water and make urine. The signals sent out also do things like instigate the creation of blood cells. This makes me wonder if those with low blood volume have a breakdown in the 2 functions? I wonder if there is a way to tell? Im thinking a blood test that counts red cells should be able to tell if there are enough being made.Kidney function is measured in a comprehensive blood panel that measures bun and creatinine. Creatinine and BUN (urea) are waste product produced by the kidneys. Too high or too low ratios might mean something is wrong.I can only speak to these things after hydrophrenosis (sp?) during pregnancy when one of my kidneys nearly popped. This is the end of my knowledge about kidneys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
targs66 Posted April 24, 2015 Report Share Posted April 24, 2015 Thanks for the answers! Complicated stuff - my neck hates all these pillows, but I can't sleep without them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cskjeie Posted May 28, 2015 Report Share Posted May 28, 2015 hmmm... I might have to try this! I have a horrible time sleeping too.I cannot understand why it would work? but I'm all for it if it does! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigskyfam Posted May 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2015 I've had my bed down to regular height for 6 weeks now... Still prop my pillows Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.