Adjustable / profiling bed advice needed

[Dusty_in_Hope]

Hi everyone,

I am new to the forum and pn. I'm looking for advice as to whether anyone has found an adjustable and/or tilting bed helpful.

I am thinking of buying one to use in my living room to angle it to watch TV and so that I can use a laptop more comfortably on my belly. My actual 'sleeping' bed is a Tempur memory foam mattress plus a mattress topper of 2" of even softer memory foam on top, which is really comfortable for me. However, if I prop myself up with a low profile foam back support wedge cushion my buttocks start to take the pressure and my pn acts up.

My idea is that if I got an adjustable bed I could obviously vary the angle and thus alter to a certain degree the pressure on my 'nether regions', but I am also thinking that if I get a bed that also tilts, i.e. so that I can lie flat out but on a slight incline, this might help me see the TV without causing as much pressure on my backside. (This is the kind of thing I mean http://www.bakare.co.uk/resources/benef ... positions/) Has anyone tried this with or without any success?

I was even thinking that I could buy an ordinary memory foam mattress and, rather than buying an adjustable/tilting bed, I could get a custom made piece of ordinary fairly dense foam wedge-shaped that would be the same size as my mattress and I could just stick it under the mattress on an ordinary bed base to achieve the same slight 'tilting' effect. I'm also thinking that I might perhaps have to put a large foam bolster on top of the memory foam at the end of the bed so that I can support some of my weight with my feet if necessary, and to stop me from slipping down the mattress.

Any suggestions/ideas regarding this and any recommendations regarding any suitable adjustable/profiling beds would be very welcome. I'm in the UK (England).

Many thanks in advance for any replies.

Dusty

[Dusty_in_Hope]

I was even thinking that I could buy an ordinary memory foam mattress and, rather than buying an adjustable/tilting bed, I could get a custom made piece of ordinary fairly dense foam wedge-shaped that would be the same size as my mattress and I could just stick it under the mattress on an ordinary bed base to achieve the same slight 'tilting' effect.

I decided that to buy the foam as described above would cost too much money to possibly waste, so I've got my current (memory foam) mattress into a tilting/sloping position by means of putting some old mattress toppers, pillows, duvets etc., underneath (which has actually worked out surprisingly well). I will post how this works out for me in relieving the pressure on my backside private parts - just in case it might be of interest to anyone else who may need to be in a supine position during the day due to their pn/pne, but wants to be angled in such a way as to be able to watch TV or use a laptop.

[Violet M]

It really is a matter of trial and error to find the right set-up for a comfortable position. I hope this works for you, Dusty!

Violet

[Dusty_in_Hope]

Thanks Violet So far so good, but I'm a little worried about blood pooling in my legs - as I don't want to risk DVT, but I'm getting up regularly so hopefully that's covered.

[Violet M]

Well, that's smart thinking, Dusty.

[Dusty_in_Hope]

As coincidence would have it, there was a health programme on TV that reminded me about DVT - I seem smarter than I actually am!

[make-it-stop]

Hi Dusty,

So I take it you are able to lay on your back, then. I can't lay on my back at all because the posterior part of my pudendal nerve burns if I do that - like really, really bad to where I am sorry if I even lay on my back for one second!

To watch TV, I lay on my side in my bed (and face the TV, obviously). And when I want to use a computer, I just use my smartphone while laying on my side, since my smartphone is now my primary computing device. My phone is pretty big (it's the size of an iPhone 6-plus), so it's pretty easy to see everything on it. BTW, when I lay on my side, I use a "U-Pillow"; mine is the Comfort U brand. I also use it to sleep.

[Dusty_in_Hope]

Hi make-it-stop,

Yes, fortunately, I can lie on my back - but, that said, since I've been using a bed in my living room instead of a recliner armchair (as my once comfortable recliner armchair suddenly started killing my genitals no matter what position I put it in) I have noticed some numbness and discomfort across my buttocks. I'm hoping that if I get an adjustable bed, and put myself in a 'zero-gravity' position for some of the time, the numbness and discomfort will go away or at least reduce a bit. As you will have probably gathered with me saying the latter, I've now given up on my tilting mattress idea; it didn't end up helping me enough and made my legs ache...

In bed at night I too never lie on my back (as I wake up with my own snoring and coughing far too often; a sleep study I once had showed that I snore most of the night ).

I'm sorry to hear that you can only lie on your sides; I guess you must switch from one side to the other side on a regular basis - I know that I do at night, even though my bed in my bedroom is really comfortable for sleeping flat - it's a Tempur 'Celebrity' memory foam mattress with a 2" memory foam mattress topper, the latter being of the softest memory foam that I could get (55kg)....Talk about being like the princess in the fairy story of 'the princess and the pea', eh?!!

Can you stand at all without pain?

The Comfort U pillow looks great - At the moment I lie on my side cuddling an ordinary pillow with another ordinary pillow between my knees. Thanks v much for the suggestion

Dusty