Post by Cindy on Oct 8, 2015 11:12:47 GMT -5
For those who don't know me, I've lived with severe chronic back pain for almost 16 years now. For me, the pain was always worst in the morning. From the moment I woke up, I was always in a battle to bring the pain level down to where it was manageable. As far as the pain scales go, it was always a 9 when I woke up. So we can all be on the same page, let me share the pain scale I use as I've found it's one of the better ones:
The pain would start shortly after I went to bed at night. I generally woke up every 2-3 hours in great pain. So I'd have to get up and sit in the best chair I had for my back and wait for the pain to die down enough to where I could go back to bed and go to sleep again. That usually took 1-2 hours. Sometimes, I had to take the narcotic that was prescribed to get the pain down enough, but I hated doing that as they made it hard to sleep, so I tried not to. As you can see, I was up and down all night long and would finally just give up and stay up sometime around 5 am. So on top of the pain, I was also very sleep deprived. Anyone who lives with pain, also knows that not getting enough sleep, makes it harder to deal with the pain. So I had that going against me as well. Even worse was that eventually my body would get so exhausted from all the lack of sleep, that there would come a night when I'd sleep like a rock and not wake up at all, no matter how bad the pain got. When I finally would wake up the next morning, the pain was off the scale on those days and I dreaded them more then anything.
By the end of the 2nd year of dealing with this pain, I dreaded bedtime. That's pretty natural because after all, who wants to purposely put themselves in a great deal of pain? When you've stuck your hand in a fire and burned it, you know how badly it hurts and you certainly aren't going to do that again! That's how I felt about bedtime. I knew how badly I'd hurt within a short time after going to bed, and I most certainly didn't want anything to do with it! I cried myself to sleep many nights; other nights, I'd be determined to just stay up all night and avoid it all together. But that never works because you have to sleep. It was a no win situation. I couldn't have handled the situation at all if I didn't have the Lord's help. I can't imagine how anyone could do it on their own. I'm sure many of you have been in the same situation.
Well, a few years ago I got very sick and had problems breathing. It was so bad that I had to sleep in my recliner for almost a week. What amazed me was that my back didn't hurt as much as it usually did both at night and in the morning. I didn't know if it was a coincidence or if there was a reason for it, especially since normally my back objected if I sat in the recliner too long, even with the special back pillow I used. At one point I did try sleeping in my recliner again, hoping that if I did, I wouldn't have to deal with the extra severe pain in the morning, but it didn't work because there was no support for my head, so I'd wake up with a very painful neck as well as the pain in my back. I think the reason it worked when I was so sick is because I was awake most of the night, and really only dozed off and on. So for the next couple of years I tried to figure out a way I could sleep in my recliner. I tried different pillows, and everything I could think of, to no avail, and finally gave up. I talked to my doctor about possibly getting an adjustable bed, as I was sure it would help a great deal, but he was sure that workers comp wouldn't pay for it and there was no way we could buy or rent one. So I gave up on that idea. Then, last year I got sick again, only this time had myself set up in my bed so I could sleep sitting up in it. It wasn't a very good set up, but it kind of worked, and once again, my back didn't hurt anywhere near as bad as it usually did! I was shocked and this time knew for sure I was on to something and was determined to figure out a way to make it work for me. I just couldn't find anyway to set things up so that both my lower back and neck were supported. I could "almost" get there but not quite. My bed has a wooden headboard and I kept waking up because my head would fall over and bang onto the headboard!
Then, last Easter, a friend sent me a box of chocolate covered strawberries, which I loved, but I loved the box they came in even better! The box was actually one big piece of cardboard that was folded in places to form a box, but even better was that the cardboard was padded with foam! So when I took it out and saw that it was all one large piece, I quickly realized that I just might be able to make myself something like a padded headboard with it. I grabbed scissors and duct tape and began making what I needed, and in the process saw the wedges I already had, and realized that I could incorporate them and wind up making something to actually recline on, so that's exactly what I did! The finishing touches were adding three pillows in front of it to give it more cushioning, with the top pillow being a feather pillow that could cradle my head. I used it that very night and my pain went down from a 9 (or more) to a 3 instantly! I slept all night long for the first time in years and had hardly no pain at all when I woke up!!!! I felt like a brand new person!
When I saw my doctor a couple of months later, he was surprised at how much better I was doing so I told him what I'd done. I no longer dreaded going to bed at night, in fact, now I looked forward to it! My biggest problem now was that I felt so much better that I wanted to do more, and of course my back didn't allow me to. When I saw my doctor again 3 months later, I told him that now I knew an adjustable bed was exactly what I needed. I really wanted to find a way to get one because the contraption I made wasn't going to last forever. By September it was already deteriorating, and I couldn't always get it fixed right so that sometimes I was having more pain in the morning then normal, but still nothing like what I used to have.
Then something happened that I don't think I'll ever forget. I'd been working in my garden longer then I should have one day and was in a great deal of pain because of it. This time it wasn't just my back, but was also my neck and shoulder as well. I was in such bad pain that I did the unthinkable. I decided that it would be better for me to sleep laying down for a change instead of sleeping sitting up like I normally do. So I went to bed laying down at about 11pm. I came wide awake from a dead sleep at 1am in such severe pain that I was screaming! I instantly realized that I was once again experiencing what used to be my "normal" pain, and quickly got myself to shut my mouth so I wouldn't wake up my husband who was at the other end of the house (thankfully!) . I wasn't exactly "quiet", as I was still moaning, but at least it was muffled now. (when the pain's that bad, you just can't completely control yourself) I finally managed to get myself to an upright position and realized that my walker wasn't next to my bed like it used to be. Back when this level of pain was the norm for me, I always kept it right next to my bed so I could use it to stand up and get to where my meds are. Thankfully, I'd never actually put it away, but had simply pushed it away from my bed, but now I couldn't reach it. So I went to stand up, instantly realizing that I couldn't, the pain wouldn't allow it. Rather then falling, well, actually on my way down, I managed to lean forward far enough to grab one of the handles of my walker and prevent myself from going all the way down. The walker is on wheels so once I had the one handle I was able to pull it over to me and hold myself upright. Then came the pain of attempting to walk with it to the other side of my room where I kept my meds. I couldn't have done it if it didn't have those wheels as I couldn't lift it up at all due to the pain, but eventually, I managed to get to my desk, where I could sit down and take my meds. Then it was back to the old routine of taking the morphine and waiting an hour for it to work - if it worked. The pain was so severe this time (as it often was in the past) that one dose didn't do much, so an hour later I took a second dose, and again began the waiting game. I have my bible on my computer so while I was waiting I spent time in the Word and talking to the Lord. That's always what kept me sane when I was in this much pain before, and once again I felt the peace of the Lord surround and comfort me. A little over an hour later, I was finally able to go back to bed, but you can trust I did NOT lay down again! No way! I went to bed and slept sitting up like I'd been doing for months till that night and vowed I'd never again lay down to sleep!!!!!
What truly amazed me was that I'd forgotten how bad that pain used to be all the time. Oh I knew it had been at least a "9" on the pain scale. I knew that intellectually; but somehow I didn't remember it physically, if you know what I mean. It was kind of like when I had by babies. I remembered that having them hurt, but by the time I was in labor with another one, I'd forgotten just how bad it had been. I'm actually glad this happened, because now I know for absolute sure that a big part of the pain I've been in for almost 16 years has been caused by laying down in bed at night. Sleeping sitting up has quite literally changed my life. While I still live with chronic pain and while it can still be quite severe at times, it's not anywhere near as bad as it used to be all the time. As anyone who lives with pain knows, if you start out with pain at a "9" on the pain scale, you have to spend a lot of time fighting to get the pain level down to manageable, and just about anything can rev it right back up to that level if you're not careful. But if you start with it at a 3, you're not fighting it constantly. Instead even though it may very well go up to a 7 or 8 after some activity, since it didn't start out that way, you have a better chance of bringing it down; you know it's not going to stay that way for most of the day. Instead of living with constant severe pain, now I simply live with pain that's sometimes severe. (generally because I've done something like working in the garden, or grocery shopping) Granted, I still can't do much without causing myself a lot of pain, but at least I'm not in severe pain from doing nothing more then sleeping.
Best of all, because I was able to prove this, my doctor was able to prescribe me an adjustable bed and workers comp is paying for it. I don't have it yet, but expect to get it this month. I can hardly wait!!!!
I wanted to tell my story so that others who live with back pain could see if sleeping sitting up might help them. It's really more reclining then sitting up. My husband took a picture of me one morning after he got up and I was still asleep. I start out sitting up a little higher then this, but by morning, this is what it looks like....
And this is what my new bed will be like: (I got this off the web just to show what an adjustable tempurpedic bed looks like)
The pain would start shortly after I went to bed at night. I generally woke up every 2-3 hours in great pain. So I'd have to get up and sit in the best chair I had for my back and wait for the pain to die down enough to where I could go back to bed and go to sleep again. That usually took 1-2 hours. Sometimes, I had to take the narcotic that was prescribed to get the pain down enough, but I hated doing that as they made it hard to sleep, so I tried not to. As you can see, I was up and down all night long and would finally just give up and stay up sometime around 5 am. So on top of the pain, I was also very sleep deprived. Anyone who lives with pain, also knows that not getting enough sleep, makes it harder to deal with the pain. So I had that going against me as well. Even worse was that eventually my body would get so exhausted from all the lack of sleep, that there would come a night when I'd sleep like a rock and not wake up at all, no matter how bad the pain got. When I finally would wake up the next morning, the pain was off the scale on those days and I dreaded them more then anything.
By the end of the 2nd year of dealing with this pain, I dreaded bedtime. That's pretty natural because after all, who wants to purposely put themselves in a great deal of pain? When you've stuck your hand in a fire and burned it, you know how badly it hurts and you certainly aren't going to do that again! That's how I felt about bedtime. I knew how badly I'd hurt within a short time after going to bed, and I most certainly didn't want anything to do with it! I cried myself to sleep many nights; other nights, I'd be determined to just stay up all night and avoid it all together. But that never works because you have to sleep. It was a no win situation. I couldn't have handled the situation at all if I didn't have the Lord's help. I can't imagine how anyone could do it on their own. I'm sure many of you have been in the same situation.
Well, a few years ago I got very sick and had problems breathing. It was so bad that I had to sleep in my recliner for almost a week. What amazed me was that my back didn't hurt as much as it usually did both at night and in the morning. I didn't know if it was a coincidence or if there was a reason for it, especially since normally my back objected if I sat in the recliner too long, even with the special back pillow I used. At one point I did try sleeping in my recliner again, hoping that if I did, I wouldn't have to deal with the extra severe pain in the morning, but it didn't work because there was no support for my head, so I'd wake up with a very painful neck as well as the pain in my back. I think the reason it worked when I was so sick is because I was awake most of the night, and really only dozed off and on. So for the next couple of years I tried to figure out a way I could sleep in my recliner. I tried different pillows, and everything I could think of, to no avail, and finally gave up. I talked to my doctor about possibly getting an adjustable bed, as I was sure it would help a great deal, but he was sure that workers comp wouldn't pay for it and there was no way we could buy or rent one. So I gave up on that idea. Then, last year I got sick again, only this time had myself set up in my bed so I could sleep sitting up in it. It wasn't a very good set up, but it kind of worked, and once again, my back didn't hurt anywhere near as bad as it usually did! I was shocked and this time knew for sure I was on to something and was determined to figure out a way to make it work for me. I just couldn't find anyway to set things up so that both my lower back and neck were supported. I could "almost" get there but not quite. My bed has a wooden headboard and I kept waking up because my head would fall over and bang onto the headboard!
Then, last Easter, a friend sent me a box of chocolate covered strawberries, which I loved, but I loved the box they came in even better! The box was actually one big piece of cardboard that was folded in places to form a box, but even better was that the cardboard was padded with foam! So when I took it out and saw that it was all one large piece, I quickly realized that I just might be able to make myself something like a padded headboard with it. I grabbed scissors and duct tape and began making what I needed, and in the process saw the wedges I already had, and realized that I could incorporate them and wind up making something to actually recline on, so that's exactly what I did! The finishing touches were adding three pillows in front of it to give it more cushioning, with the top pillow being a feather pillow that could cradle my head. I used it that very night and my pain went down from a 9 (or more) to a 3 instantly! I slept all night long for the first time in years and had hardly no pain at all when I woke up!!!! I felt like a brand new person!
When I saw my doctor a couple of months later, he was surprised at how much better I was doing so I told him what I'd done. I no longer dreaded going to bed at night, in fact, now I looked forward to it! My biggest problem now was that I felt so much better that I wanted to do more, and of course my back didn't allow me to. When I saw my doctor again 3 months later, I told him that now I knew an adjustable bed was exactly what I needed. I really wanted to find a way to get one because the contraption I made wasn't going to last forever. By September it was already deteriorating, and I couldn't always get it fixed right so that sometimes I was having more pain in the morning then normal, but still nothing like what I used to have.
Then something happened that I don't think I'll ever forget. I'd been working in my garden longer then I should have one day and was in a great deal of pain because of it. This time it wasn't just my back, but was also my neck and shoulder as well. I was in such bad pain that I did the unthinkable. I decided that it would be better for me to sleep laying down for a change instead of sleeping sitting up like I normally do. So I went to bed laying down at about 11pm. I came wide awake from a dead sleep at 1am in such severe pain that I was screaming! I instantly realized that I was once again experiencing what used to be my "normal" pain, and quickly got myself to shut my mouth so I wouldn't wake up my husband who was at the other end of the house (thankfully!) . I wasn't exactly "quiet", as I was still moaning, but at least it was muffled now. (when the pain's that bad, you just can't completely control yourself) I finally managed to get myself to an upright position and realized that my walker wasn't next to my bed like it used to be. Back when this level of pain was the norm for me, I always kept it right next to my bed so I could use it to stand up and get to where my meds are. Thankfully, I'd never actually put it away, but had simply pushed it away from my bed, but now I couldn't reach it. So I went to stand up, instantly realizing that I couldn't, the pain wouldn't allow it. Rather then falling, well, actually on my way down, I managed to lean forward far enough to grab one of the handles of my walker and prevent myself from going all the way down. The walker is on wheels so once I had the one handle I was able to pull it over to me and hold myself upright. Then came the pain of attempting to walk with it to the other side of my room where I kept my meds. I couldn't have done it if it didn't have those wheels as I couldn't lift it up at all due to the pain, but eventually, I managed to get to my desk, where I could sit down and take my meds. Then it was back to the old routine of taking the morphine and waiting an hour for it to work - if it worked. The pain was so severe this time (as it often was in the past) that one dose didn't do much, so an hour later I took a second dose, and again began the waiting game. I have my bible on my computer so while I was waiting I spent time in the Word and talking to the Lord. That's always what kept me sane when I was in this much pain before, and once again I felt the peace of the Lord surround and comfort me. A little over an hour later, I was finally able to go back to bed, but you can trust I did NOT lay down again! No way! I went to bed and slept sitting up like I'd been doing for months till that night and vowed I'd never again lay down to sleep!!!!!
What truly amazed me was that I'd forgotten how bad that pain used to be all the time. Oh I knew it had been at least a "9" on the pain scale. I knew that intellectually; but somehow I didn't remember it physically, if you know what I mean. It was kind of like when I had by babies. I remembered that having them hurt, but by the time I was in labor with another one, I'd forgotten just how bad it had been. I'm actually glad this happened, because now I know for absolute sure that a big part of the pain I've been in for almost 16 years has been caused by laying down in bed at night. Sleeping sitting up has quite literally changed my life. While I still live with chronic pain and while it can still be quite severe at times, it's not anywhere near as bad as it used to be all the time. As anyone who lives with pain knows, if you start out with pain at a "9" on the pain scale, you have to spend a lot of time fighting to get the pain level down to manageable, and just about anything can rev it right back up to that level if you're not careful. But if you start with it at a 3, you're not fighting it constantly. Instead even though it may very well go up to a 7 or 8 after some activity, since it didn't start out that way, you have a better chance of bringing it down; you know it's not going to stay that way for most of the day. Instead of living with constant severe pain, now I simply live with pain that's sometimes severe. (generally because I've done something like working in the garden, or grocery shopping) Granted, I still can't do much without causing myself a lot of pain, but at least I'm not in severe pain from doing nothing more then sleeping.
Best of all, because I was able to prove this, my doctor was able to prescribe me an adjustable bed and workers comp is paying for it. I don't have it yet, but expect to get it this month. I can hardly wait!!!!
I wanted to tell my story so that others who live with back pain could see if sleeping sitting up might help them. It's really more reclining then sitting up. My husband took a picture of me one morning after he got up and I was still asleep. I start out sitting up a little higher then this, but by morning, this is what it looks like....
And this is what my new bed will be like: (I got this off the web just to show what an adjustable tempurpedic bed looks like)
We have our auto insurance with them, so he thought it had something to do with us! 
}
It's really stupid because my breathing has nothing to do with how I sleep and the only time it ever got that bad was the time years ago I wrote about in my letter to them. And that was due to pneumonia, not to any ongoing problem. 
!!
