I am on my third bed, an adjustable with massage, and 3rd couch. I cannot get comfortable, ever. I’ve tried firm and soft support. I wake up every few hours in terrible pain, especially my neck, lower back, hips and usually have a headache. I have to constantly adjust my bed and go from bed to couch and back several times a night. Terrible sleep causes daytime aches and tiredness.
Does anyone have suggestions for better comfort while sleeping?
Based on my own upper/lower back issues and 10 knee surgeries, I’ve had the most success with
Sorry if this is hard to picture. 
It has become such a big deal through my 10 knee surgeries that we 're NEVER getting rid of the “knee surgery” couch we store out of sight downstairs.
Buckwheat pillows: they’re pricey, but my husband swears by his. You’ll find them on Amazon, and I’ll try to get the link later to the family who specially makes them—as it’s they are NOT all the same, and if you don’t get the “right” kind, there can be a pest problem (ha)!!!. The rankings are even 1 or 5 starts—people either love it or hate it, but there is a money-back guarantee. Granted my husband doesn’t have PsA, but he’s had loads of neck issues the last 10 yrs. He’s FINALLY found relief these last 2-3 yrs with his buckwheat pillow and sleeps much better.
Firm chairs and couches, fitted for our size. We’re a short family. I’m 5’3" and my husband is only 5’8". He’s even stopped using his recliner due to his chronic neck issues. A chiropractor we know says there’s growing evidence recliners are contributing to a lot of neck problems. I can’t prove that though.
Two things I forgot to mention–only one is kind of furniture though.
For cold climates and/or winter time—a heated mattress pad. I’ve had family members with severe OA swear by them. We’re investing in one this coming Fall/Winter. An electric blanket is nice, but it isn’t cutting it for me in the dead of winter when it’s <30 degrees. I live in the central US (St. Louis, MO), by the way. If I’m not completely warm at night, I wake up and felt like I never even slept. 
This past winter was the worst I’ve ever had.
I asked my Rheumatologist a couple of years ago if there was ANY other way to help me get a good’s night’s sleep, as nothing was helping there for awhile. We agreed to a muscle relaxer every night that didn’t make me too loopy or drowsy the next morning (took a little trial and error). Some of them don’t work well after a couple of months because of the tolerance one builds. However, if I cycle it and don’t take it every single night, it DOES make a difference. I just sleep a bit better and wake less achey/stiff. I can’t say this is for everyone, but considering I don’t seem “bad enough” for a Biologic yet, and the Plaquenil is only “kind of” helping, this is a good addition for me.
Last—and I swear I’m not into taking a bunch of meds 
—My orthopedic surgeon’s office always gives me Valium with each knee surgery too (I average a surgery every 2-3 yrs, trying to avoid a replacement at my young age of 46.
) He knows I can’t seem to find a rheumatologist who will start me on a Biologic, and he’s sent me to the ones considered to be the best here—but some days I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck and just can’t sleep. He knows I save them for those really bad days/nights every 3-4 wks when I’m miserable and just could cry. It at least allows me a good night’s sleep where I TRULY relax and rest. My massage therapist told me some Drs are going back to the idea that Valium isn’t the evil drug of the 80’s that got so many moms hooked, IF it’s prescribed right. Apparently some are prescribing in very low doses for those of US that could use it. It still has such a stigma surrounding it though that I haven’t gotten up the courage to ask about it for a more “PsA” or chronic muscle tension issue. I’m afraid of how I’ll be viewed,KWIM? I think that’s why so many of us suffer in silence.
Again, I’m not pushing medications as a solution for everyone, but I think many of us have been to that point when nothing or no one seems to help and a work-around saves the day.
–Lisa
10 knee surgeries! You poor girl.
Thank you for all the advice. My PsA iz severe affecting almost all my joints with constant flare ups. I am on my 3rd biologic, no luck yet. I am also bipolar and take klonopin often. I haven’t tried muscle relaxers but it sounds like a good idea. I’m not sure my doctors would go for it though. They are super stingy about prescribing meds. I had my first pain clinic visit about three weeks ago. It was medieval torture. The recovery took about 10 days and it didn’t really help.
I am wondering…does anyone with PsA ever get better? I’m co.ing up on 3 years since onset and have been so hopeless at times I dont care if I die. I would never do anything to hurt myself, I suffer enough. But the thought of living this way, and getting worse as the disease progresses, is extremely frustrating and demoralizing. If just one thing would ease up, like being able to rest comfortably, even once in a while, it would help.
My marriage is suffering as my husband is afraid to touch me because he doesn’t want to hurt me. I miss being held and snuggling.
I’m desperate. Dont know what to do. This forum has been the best source of support and advice. Seems like doctors still don’t really understand everything this disease does to a person and their family 
My best relief comes from using ‘a plush nest on the floor’ - sleeping on top of no more than one or two sleeping bags or a folded up comforter. When things are worst, I have a stack of folded bath towels to put between my knees and/or ankles when my legs are stacked on top of each other, or under ankles and knees or thigh by the groin if I feel the most comfortable sprawled out a bit. Or a towel under the bottom of my ribs to keep them from sinking down. I also play with the angle and height of neck/head/shoulder support, varying with the adjustable folding height of the towels.
On the worst nights, it really looks like a critter nest 
When I lived on a dorm, my father got me a plank of fat OSB and fat eggcarton foam.
Other than that, I refrain from couches and other overly plush seating and sit on NOTHING. EVER. with a ‘bucket seat’ or ‘sitting surface sloping down towards the back/backrest’. I fill the backwards slope up with (yet more!) towels - or a coat or sweater if I’m out somewhere - until it’s flat. I found the ‘slopes down towards back’ shape makes me put my weight on my sacrum more, rather than on my thighs and the ‘sit bones’.
Outside of that, I try to do a few reps of motions that help get the blood flowing to the areas that hurt worst, right before I go to sleep (hip circles, #4 stretch, shoulder rolls, etc). Not enough to get worked up before sleeping, but enough to ‘grease things up’ to help get into a stable comfortable position.
Even if ‘nesting’ is a bit too extreme for you, maybe trying towels or pillows to prop things up can help get you some better rest.
As for other furniture, aside from the completely flat chair, I usually sit on the floor on (who’d’ve guessed it, by now?) a folded towel or two. Because it’s hard, I move around a lot and don’t get extra stiff.
If we’re also talking non-‘furniture’ means for facilitating sleep with screaming joints, I have long and slow release melatonin that helps (slow release for normal days, fast and slow for days they scream loudest), and having magnesium with dinner and then about an hour before bed helps with the muscle tension.
I hope you get some satisfactory sleep in soon, through any means!
Kmestmo,
I hesitate to reply because your PsA sounds really horrible, much worse than mine so my experience of the disease isn’t very easily compared to yours. However, they say ‘fools jump in …’.
Maybe I’m deluded but I always believe there is something we can do to reduce pain and improve our quality of life. And again and again I recommend exercise with the proviso that I realise it’s not always possible.
Are you able to do any regular type of exercise? And if so, does gentle movement help your joints at all? The right kind of movement can be an effective pain killer, especially if done daily. I know you need the right bed, the right kind of chair or recliner etc. But easing up those joints during the day if at all possible may also promote a better night’s rest. Any chance of gentle swimming or hydrotherapy (assuming you don’t do that already)?
I can do some exercise on some days. I have a recumbent bike and 3lb hand weights I use whenever I can. I stretch a little in the morning which helps a bit although it feels awful while doing it. I do some light house work and walk around the grocery store a few times a week. I used to rely heavily on leaning on the cart, but after my pain clinic injections, I am able to walk mostly on my own 
. That’s a huge improvement.
I think my main problem is that I dont get proper rest and recovery. As I mentioned in my original post, it seems no matter how I sit or lay, my joints are too weak to hold my weight. I can never lay on my side because my hips, shoulder and back scream under the pressure. I think I need to go up to the ISS and live in zero g until I find a drug that will work, lol. If only, right?
Thanks for explaining. I wonder … might being able to walk on your own most of the time help strengthen your joints and possibly, just possibly, aid sleep? That would be a huge improvement.
Zero gravity eh? I’m sure I’ve had that thought too. Wouldn’t it be amazing!
Speaking of zero gravity – people have had such good luck with zero gravity chairs they’ve started making them look like regular furniture to have in your home. Below is a link to the most recent top 20 list of chairs, many of which look like regular recliners!
azurelle
I’d like a zero gravity kitchen.
So how do these chairs work? I mean, it’s not like you hover over 'em. If they get your seal of approval azurelle I’ve got a feeling they’re good but can’t immediately see how they differ from other recliners.
Too funny!
Hey all. I’ve been researching beds, mattresses.
Has anyone ever tried the purple bed? Yes lol the company is really called purple. How about the nest bedding? Those are the two I’ve narrowed it down to. The prices differ pretty greatly between the two so that’s a factor for our decision. I just want to be able to wake up and not feel like I’ve been hit by the Mac truck while I was sleeping.
Thank you in advance for any input and advice.
I bought “the purple pillow” from the maker of the other “purple” products. It was really flat and weighted a ton. It is not for side sleeping since it is so flat. The texture was kind of nice. It was squishy. I bought it to alleviate neck pain. I’ve tried many pillows and almost always wake up with a sore neck and usually a headache.
This pillow did not work for me. Too flat and heavy and didn’t support my neck right, the major claim they made about it. So I contacted them to return it. They said I could either donate it to a 501c charity and get a receipt with a bunch of their information, including tax ID, which our local GoodWill would not give us. So the other option was to cut it up, literally, and send them a picture. So I cut it up and they refunded my money.
It might be worth a try for you and you can get your money back if you don’t like it. If you’re not a side sleeper, which I doubt many of you are, you might like it.
Hey @Kmwestmo. Thank you for your input.
I’m still undecided but that does help me a lot. Yes we’re side sleepers. Lol well we start out on our backs and end up on our sides.
Idk if I’d want to go thru the hassle of a refund. I just want to sleep comfortably and wake up not hurting from the mattress. Ya know?
Why do they cost so much too??!! Just crazy. But that just tells you how long it has been since I purchased a mattress. I think every mattress I’ve ever had has been given to me. Wow! Lol I just realized that.
I don’t think we’ll be giving the purple pillow a try tho.
It’s been a few days since the last post on this topic but I just ran across it looking for a different topic. I get the best sleep (not that best is actually good but it’s better than none at all) on a good quality memory foam mattress with a GOOD down pillow. They both come in different firmnesses (if that’s a word) so you’ll have to decide what’s best for you.
As far as furniture, I was miserable sitting on anything for more than a few minutes until I found Ekornes Stressless. Scandinavian made and very expensive but way ergonomically fabulous. Wonderful lumbar support, not the squishy impossible to get out of overstuffed things so popular now. And best of all, the recliners come in sizes. Yes, actual sizes like small, medium and large. That way you don’t feel like a preschooler sitting in the grownup chair with your back not touching the back and your feet dangling above the floor. Or like Shaquille sitting in a preschool desk. As stated before they are expensive but they also have a reputation for lasting 25/30 years. Seriously. So in the long run they are worth it. And you need to go to a showroom with knowledgeable people to help you find the right size and fit. I took my iPad and camped out in the one I thought was perfect to be sure before I took the expensive plunge. The sales rep said he encourages people to do that and has had many fall asleep. The sound of snoring is an indicator of a good fit 
. My only regret is that I can’t take it traveling…