Raising bed to ward off GERD

If a person raises one end of their bed 6", how could that affect blood flow? Wouldn't you end up with either clots, or cold feet (not a joke!), etc? Is there someone here who knows?

We have raised the bed 6" to help with my GERD. We've had it that way for several years now. I have not noticed any trouble with cold feet (however, my feet are usually cold when I go to bed anyway). My wife hasn't complained about cold feet either. Neither of us have had any trouble with blood clots or anything else. I suspect raising the bed would only cause clot problems if one were to stay in bed for days at a time.

Jeff

Well, I don't KNOW about its effect on blood flow and circulation to the legs and feet, etc. - BUT - I DO know that raising the head of our bed 6" was too, too much. We ended up scrunched down towards the bottom of the bed every morning!!

So what my husband did was cut some 2"x4" into six 2"x4" blocks. He made 2 blocks of 2 of these blocks nailed together and set them on the side rails that support the spring and mattress at the head of the bed and then one each of those blocks about midway down the side rail supports to balance and support the mattress and spring. We found 4" was a good height and neither of us had circulation problems to our legs and feet that we were aware of.

I've ALWAYS had cold feet, RevnJerr!! Even as a kid I couldn't sleep if my feet got cold and ALWAYS wore socks to bed, still do as a matter of fact!!! Yet I run barefoot all summer and in decent spring and autumn weather. Go figure!

Actually, I was as concerned about a cold upper body as anything else - being higher all night instead of level. Slinky - did you find that even 4" did help your GERD?

I put a 2X4 board, with a rubber cap that fits the bed post so it does not slip, under the head of the bed. I found that this about 3 inches of elevation helped with GERD and also helped cut down on air swallowing. I would try this more gentle elevation first for several nights before I went to the higher if I were you.

It helped hubby's. Mine was a misdiagnosis. In a way, mine wasn't reflux so much as it was bacterial overgrowth in the small intestine forcing some reflux. Tummy biopsies confirmed not h.pylori or other stomach irritation. Alternating tetracycline and amoxycillin the first 10 days of every month evenutally cleared the bacterial overgrowth up. (I have a partial obstruction at the site of an old resection due to Crohn's disease).

My father did this for his indigestion. Of course, it didn't help since it was actually heart disease that was misdiagnosed, but I don't recall any complaints other than sliding and such.

Julie, I'm not a doctor, but if the heart creates enough blood pressure to circulate through the body all day while you're standing, why wouldn't it be sufficient to circulate with your body only tilted a few degrees? I wouldn't worry about other problems unless of course you know that you have a very low BP or circulatory problems to begin with. In that case, best to speak with your physician.

Why not try a wedge pillow sold at pharmacies and medical supply stores. They have several heights and they cost around $25. I have the 7" pillow and it has helpled some, I think they come in 4" sizes and also 10" sizes.

Well, I don't have any circulatory problems that I know of, but having seen and heard of horror shows (that's what you get for working your whole life in teaching hospitals ) I was just curious, and do have a little GERD (or maybe a bigger one) that I'd like to help out, but as I am also a stomach sleeper (the one with the cut-out hole in the foam for my FF mask) I want to try the bed thing, but not do some radical bed thing in case it doesn't work out. Thanks for all the help guys!