Have anyone tried the wedges?

  • Thread starter Thread starter CharBerry
  • Start date Start date
C

CharBerry

Guest
I'm with MountainReader. I bought an expensive wedge but it was not comfortable to me at all. Putting some blks under my bed worked much better. Problem now is that with the new bed we bought there's no way I can put anything under it. I'm lucky (I guess?) that I don't have night reflux much although I know the damage is being done. Don't try and use a bunch of pillows because that could make it worse.

CharBerry
 
I saw at a hospital supply store they sells foam wedges and the sizes are 7", 10" and 12". The man told me people put them under the matress.
The price starts about over $100 each for the 7", forget how much exactly.
He also told me that one is only for a single bed, so since I have a King size bed, I might have to put 2 or 3 of them.
I don't mind paying for these wedges as long as it works, rather than buying the expensive adjustable bed.
Does anyone ever try these wedges, and did they work, also what size?
 
I have a very thick mattress, so I cant put it under there. I put the wedge on top of the mattress & 1 pillow on top. It works for me. I still get reflux once every few weeks. Jina
 
You could spend the money and try a wedge, but I would recommend just raising the headboard of your bed 6-10 inches. It is much cheaper and may be more effective than the wedge. If you purchase a wedge, make sure it is specifically for this purpose. You don't want your torso to be bent when you lay on it, that may make things worse.

To raise your headboard, you can use bricks or purchase inexpensive bedrisers. I got mine at a local bed and bath type store.
 
MountainReader:
Thanks for your reply.
A friend of mine who is in the furniture business had made me two 4-inch wood blocks. It was a very nice piece of work, where the color-matched exactly with the finish of our bed's headboard and frame. However, when we raised the bed with the support of those two blocks, he considered it was not a good idea. The king size bed might break, because the wood support in the middle, under the bed, was not enough. So this project was abandoned. Does your bed look OK when you raised it?
 
I went and bought the Wedge Pillow ($30) - I was skeptical when I saw it because the slope is not very high.

I used it last evening and woke up @ 12:30 with horrible acid backing up into my throat. I was pretty upset - tossed it on the floor and put my (4) huge pillows back on the bed and slept sitting straight up for like the 100th time...

I am having HORRIBLE break through reflux (in spite of a modified diet, significant weight loss, Prevacid x1 daily and Carafate x 4 daily) - so I am pretty upset right now.

I am being scoped 9/19 - I wonder what could be causing this....

Nessa
 
Sorry to hear about your reflux, Vanessa.

The good news is that you will be having your scope done soon. That is a big step toward a diagnosis and (hopefully) some badly needed relief from the nasty symptoms. I am happy for you!

Thanks to you and others for sharing your experiences with the wedge. I have been thinking of buying one. Perhaps I shouldn't. I use foam pillows. These I put on top of a couple of the biggest and fluffiest pillows I could find. This seems to work quite well and lets me get some sleep. Like Charla, I can't elevate the matresses or the bed. If I did, I'd probably need a stepladder to get in & out of the bed. :D

Please let us know how your test goes. Best of luck! :angel:

flowergirl
 
Hi-This is my first post. I cannot sleep without my bed wedge. Bed Bath & Beyond has them in this size, 7" H x 24" W for $30. Mine is a bit higher. Only problem is that I cant fit it in my suitcase, but it is a tremendous help with my reflux. Jina
 
I probably should not be so quick to judge the wedge pillow - as my reflux had broken through before I attempted using it...

I am having an upper endoscopy. I had lots of bloodwork and a Ultra Sound of my entire GI system - said everything looked ok - now he wants to see what is happening inside. I am scared - but the pain and constant reflux is unbearable so I will have to face it. I truly hope he 'sees' a cause and is able to fix it.

I am sorry that surgery did not help you and that you are still suffering so badly. That is terrible.

I will let you know how my test goes - thank you all for your kind worRAB!

nessa
 
Sorry about your bad reflux. I take a Nexium in the am & in the pm. I also take Zantac at night. My wedge is bigger than the one in Bed, Bath & Beyond. I got it mail order a few years back b4 they sold them in stores. What type of scope are you getting? I got scoped a few years back.They put a tube up my nose, down my throat & into my stomach. I had a battery pack thing that recorded all of my acid reflux for 24 hours. I failed the test! That was for the DR & the Insurance Co. I had surgery after that & I can tell you, my reflux was WORSE after that. Jina
 
Thanks Thirablyjina. I will look at Bed ,Bath & Beyond for the wedges. Did you put it under your matress or just lie down on it?
 
Nessa-An upper endoscopy will be very helpful. The scope I had-honestly, was WORSE than surgery. When I went back to the hospital 24 hours later, they said I was the first patient in quite some time that managed to keep the tube in the entire 24 hours! After that, my sister found something on the internet that makes the procedure much easier & much less invasive. I would never go thru that again. The upper endoscopy is much simpler. I have this durab flap on my esophagoues (sp?) that doesnt like to close. It just opens up & lets the stuff back up. Believe it or not, my worse offender is water. I can drink small amounts of juice at night-its smooth, but water kills me. Jina
 
I've had my bed raised at the head by around 8" compared to the foot end for around 6 months now, even during my totally reflux clear perioRAB. The thing with elevating the bed in such a way is that the level of incline brought on by elevating the head end is spread across the entire length of the bed from foot to head. So the elevation difference at the head is 8" compared to the foot and around 4" higher midway down the bed etc. Now the distance between your waist/stomach area and neck/throat region is much shorter, only taking up maybe 30% of the length of the bed. This is the important region of your body in regarRAB to reflux moments when laying down in bed. So even with the bed on the incline with blocks/bricks/books etc under the head sitting say 8" higher than the foot, the effect is reduced for your neck to stomach region as that length is far shorter than the entire length of the bed. So therefore you're not utilising the full incline the bed produces, but only about 30% of it. Basically, your neck/throat region isn't 8" higher than your stomach region, it's maybe 2-3" higher at most.

Now with wedges, which I bought one of yesterday, they produce the incline in that immediate area of the top half of your torso, not across the full length of the bed, providing a much higher incline from head to waist. I have lowered my bed right back down to where it used to be, with the base sitting just 1-2" off the floor at both head and foot and have placed the wedge under the mattress/top of the base at the head end. It creates a much more inclined surface for the important region of the body as it focuses primarily on that, rather than spreading the incline across a much further distance. And with the addition of some good pillows you can raise even higher at the shoulder region for more incline as long as it's comfortable. I tried using the pillows to incline me when using the whole bed inclined but found I would slide down at times and wake in not the best state. But with the bed flat in the lower half now that allows me not to slide as my legs and feet have no incline now to slide down as the flat surface there curtails that and keeps me raised in my upper half. I did this last night and has no real reflux at all compared to bad night the night before. Bed time comes around in another 9hrs or so and hoping it will be as good or hopefully even better.
 
Back
Top