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Sleeping sitting up



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I had my surgery on May 31st (one week ago) and feel like everything is progressing well. My biggest lingering complaint is sleeping. No matter what I do I cannot sleep on either side or flat on my back. The only option where I can get any relief is to prop my upper body up on about 5 pillows and sleep this way. If I try to sleep any other way I experience nausea or gas pains in my chest.

Anyone else encounter this issue? I have tried using pillows to prop up my belly on my sides, nothing seems to help. Any advice?

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I slept in a recliner for the first two nights. After that I was able to sleep lying down, but had to be careful for the first couple of weeks not to move around as I tend to roll a bit when sleeping and this caused discomfort with the suture areas. I know it's a challenge but once things healed a bit the issues for me went away fairly quickly.

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I slept in a recliner until I was comfortable sleeping in a bed again

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Same as above a slept in a recliner but I did it for 3 weeks as I am a side sleeper normally and would not have handled that (I tried after 1.5 weeks and went back to the recliner)

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I sleep upright for the first 3 weeks. It was the only way that I could sleep comfortably.

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Ugh, sleeping was the worst. I was always a stomach/side sleeper, and it was 2-3 months before I could return to normal. I also had to prop myself up on 4-5 pillows, especially for the first four weeks. It was annoying, but eventually it got better.

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Yes!!! I had to prop multiple pillows in a V shape and I slept in the middle propped up in a semi reclined position and had to keep my arms at chest level as well. I was sleeved on 5/26 and didn't sleep through the night until 6/5. I went to the chiropractors office on 6/7 and got a light adjustment on my upper back and I'm happy to report that today 6/8, I am totally pain free.

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I was sleeved on August 30. sleeping is quite a challenge. Normally I'm a side sleeper. sleeping flat is a problem because I'm more likely to be woken up because I've inhaled and am choking on whatever I drank shortly before going to bed (even water) - I am learning that I need to wait an hour or two after my last swallow of anything before lying down.

In the meantime, I'm using an adjustable wedge (Brookstone 4-in-1) so that I can sleep in bed in a semi-upright position. Use memory foam neck supports to keep my head from falling around. Put a pillow under my knees. This seems to work fairly well so far at preventing the regurgitation/choking.

Still taking Lortab for tummy and back pain. When it says take every 6 hours, it's like there's a clock in your body! I took the Lortab at 9 pm, and at 4 am (7 hours later) had to get up to address pain. Back and tummy ached liked I'd been beaten on with a baseball bat. Put hot pad on tummy, drank warm tea, took Lortab. We have a 15-year-old massage chair that I used to give myself a back massage. Watched a funny children's movie on TV. After about 1.5 hours, pain much diminished, and went back to bed (using wedge to elevate upper body, etc.)

Since I'm taking Lortab, am also using milk of magnesia (with doctor's approval) to prevent Constipation.< /p>

Seems like I'm aching more now that I did the first few days after surgery! But from what I read, by next week the pain should be much better.

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I slept in a recliner for the first few weeks.

Very comfortable.

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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

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