Bed Rest

[lthomas521]

I know that people who have been bedridden for an extended period because of some sort of prolonged illness are at risk for orthostatic hypotension, but when I've gotten run down from too much orthostatic stress (i.e., too much time on my feet), a couple of days of bed rest do me a world of good. I end up more energetic and less POTSy. Anyone else have that experience?

[yogini]

Hi,

I definitely benefit from short periods of bedrest, and I'd venture that many/most others here do too...as do healthy folks when they are tired or under the weather. In fact when I first got sick I was able to work mostly because I spent nearly every evening and weekend totally resting. From what I understand, the danger with too much bedrest is that your body gets used to being supine; it seems unlikely that this would happen in a couple of days or if you otherwise spent sufficient time out of bed. If it's improving your symptoms and not making them worse, I'd keep doing it.

[Ernie]

Hi,

They (the doctors) are afraid we are going to be deconditioned. We need more rest to recuperate from the gravity.

[MNsue]

I had a Dr. that explained that when my battery was low I needed to recharge it by resting. I find that when I am not doing well, bed rest helps me. I think it is a balance. A little bed rest a little activity. If only life would work on my body's battery level, then I might be able to find a balance.

Take care

[MightyMouse]

Short periods of bed rest help me greatly when I'm run down. I think most doctors are afraid that you'll end up weaker b/c your muscles aren't working--as Ernie said, "deconditioning". I don't think anyone has done research on loss of muscle tone or strength for short bed rest times like a day or two for people like us, so your doctor is likely giving his opinion on the topic and not relating something based on science.

As always, listen to your body--mine definitely lets me know when I need to give it time to recouperate from "overdoing it."

Nina

[Guest tearose]

There is a major difference between being "bed ridden" and having "bed rest".

I think bed rest is vital to us getting healthy especially after being sick.

Staying healthy means knowing when to sit down and elevate our legs and just do some plain old "resting" too!

I think your doctor was not clear that resting does not mean you are tethered to the recline position for prolonged times.

[Dawg Tired]

When I got sick in the spring of 2002 I listened to the doctors and kept pushing - up to the point where I went to work one morning in Sept 2002 and was actually falling out of my seat - they had to call Hubby to come get me. I went home to bed and did not get up - except for doctor's appointments - until January 2003! I know now that I can't just keep pushing myself - if my body is in need of rest then I stay in bed.

[april abbott]

There seems to be a very thin line for me between getting a much needed rest from laying around, and just feeling horrible from no activity. Right after my symptoms for dysautonomia began in '99 I was put on bedrest because I had just given birth and had pre-eclampsia. I left the hospital with my bp at 190/118, and that was lying down and napping. So, I was put on bedrest and was told to stay there around a month, until my bp would come down. I was a case where after the birth my bp didn't come down, but went up instead. I'm sure now this had something to do with the dysautonomia, which no one knew I had at the time.

Well, one month stretched into around three months. I was getting horrible symptoms and the longer I stayed in bed, the worse I felt. Even now, while I have been on vacation from college, I can tell a big difference in my stamina and energy; all this is just from sleeping a couple of hours later in the mornings and not going to class. I'm weak, tired, out of breath, and can't even go grocery shopping; two weeks ago I was up every morning at 6:00, taking my daughter to school, going to class, studying, and cleaning house every day.

Then again, there are times that short periods of rest are helpful, especially if I feel run down from overdoing it during the week. For me, anything over two days of rest and I feel worse.