Some thoughts about IBT from my own experiences

Hello all,

First post here. Just wanted to share my own experiences of sleeping with an inclined bed (head of the bed 6 inches higher than the foot).

For the last four years I have been using IBT with occasional breaks when travelling. Here are a few things I have noticed.

My dreams.
When using IBT I almost never have dreams. Yet as soon as I sleep in a completely flat bed I start dreaming again straight away. I'm not sure how important this is, but it's been said that dreams are like our internal psychologists, allowing us to deal with emotions and reduce stress. Has anyone else had the experience of less dreams while using IBT?

My breathing.
Without a doubt breathing through my nose is much easier when sleeping with IBT. I believe this must be because fluids that may cause the airway in the nose to be blocked are lower pressure in the head because it is higher up. I've also noticed that I have less bags under my eyes. Again I think that might be to do with less fluid building up there as it is drained downwards.

My lungs.
Something that concerns me is a recent x-Ray revealed that I have now small amounts of pureal thickening in the upper part of my lungs. The doctor told me this is something that happens in taller people because of the greater pressure gradient in their blood, so the upper part of their lungs get less O2 than they should. It could be that sleeping on an incline causes less blood pressure in the upper part of the lungs and thus less O2 there. It's concerning for me because this process is irreversible.

Muscle growth.
As someone who likes to workout at the gym, I know that rest is very important for growing and maintaining healthy muscles. If I sleep on an incline I suppose that my heart is working more at night to pump blood around my body. Does this mean I am not growing as quickly because of the extra energy my body spends spent doing that? Or does this process actually help because it prevents muscle atrophy from being motionless?

Would love to hear if any one has experienced anything similar!

Thanks!

Paul

Hi Paul, welcome to the IBT forum.
Odd that your dreams should stop when using IBT. The majority of people report increased more vivid dreams, even lucid dreaming and remembering their dreams. Though having said that, I can go for weeks perhaps months without remembering my dreams, or indeed whether or not I have dreamed.

Your lower pressure analogy fits with the IBT theory, as the upper most part of the tube filled experiments has the lowest pressure and can be observed in soft walled tubing to collapse the wall.

Re lungs Pleural Thickening. I do know of an elderly man who was exposed to asbestos when young and diagnosed with asbestosis, who sleeps inclined. He is short in stature so there is no connection with height in this instance. His long standing coughing problem has been easing over the last few years using IBT, it is almost as if, dare I say it, his damaged lungs are recovering, I have not heard of this problem occurring in tall people before, but as most tall people would definitely not be inclined, it seems counterintuitive that this is occurring because you are inclined? Are you a smoker or have you been exposed to pollutants such as asbestos or paint spray etc?

Muscle growth has been shown to occur where a medical condition normally atrophies the muscles and heart, using IBT. According to how circulation is affected by gravity, the heart and lungs are not working harder and against gravity, but working with gravity, so are in effect under less strain than sleeping flat. Muscle density also increases according to reports. Have you noticed muscles firming up using IBT?

Thanks for your post and hope this helps somewhat.

Andrew

Hi Sleepy Paul.

I have used IBT for about a year now and have never slept flat since starting except for a couple of occasions at someone elses house where I had no option for IBT.

I have experienced the opposite regarding dreams. I always have been a lucid dreamer but my first experience with IBT made my dreams exceptionally colourful and more lucid than ever. We are all individual and no doubt different people will not always get the same results.

I have not noticed anything regarding breathing with using IBT by itself, but then I am working from memory and it may have escaped me.

However, I recently had chiropractic sessions ever since IBT brought an unaddressed back problem to my attention, and the immediate difference I noticed was my breathing...it was better than ever, and I managed not only to sleep better without nasal passages constricting during sleeping (broken nose many years ago), but I also managed to hold my breath for two minutes, and that is something I have never been able to achieve for many years. So if IBT does fix back problems anywhere near the levels a chiropractor will achieve, then it should show some benefits there too.

Regards your pleural plaque I agree with Andrew. I have a friend who has pleural plaque issues and its because of the asbestos he was exposed to while working on building sites many years ago...he also was not aware that his crohns disease is likely also the result of asbestos, because we forget that we not only breath asbestos but ingest it also, and this no doubt causes much irritation to the gastro system over many years...I would be surprised if you have no digestion or bowel issues all these years while having pleural plaque.

Paul - the original Paul ! :lol: