blood pressure

I inclined my bed about three weeks ago. Amazingly, it almost entirely cleared my varicose veins. I wonder if anyone has experienced improvement in hypertension. I have not seen many testimonies on this issue and Andrew mentioned that it could go either way which is a little ambiguous.

tipsforpots.wordpress.com/inclined-bed-therapy/ interesting in relation to POTS
My Experience

Over the spring of 2017, I was waking up three to four times a night with a serious need to urinate. Getting out of bed made me incredibly lightheaded. I would stagger to the bathroom, ramming my shoulder into the door frame most every time. I was also seeing a cardiologist. The cardiologist recommended an inclined pillow or an inclined bed and said it would help slow my kidney function and decrease my morning lightheadedness. I chose the inclined pillow. It seemed easier and I had no idea how I would raise my bed without it falling apart. The pillow helped a bit with my morning lightheadedness, but not with the frequent urination. Some effects were probably lost because I would slide down the pillow at night or stop using it because it was uncomfortable.

In October of 2017, I saw another cardiologist who specialized in POTS. She told me I needed to actually put the whole bed on an incline. With a Google search at home, I learned about “inclined bed therapy” and finally understood how to incline my bed. Since then, I’ve only been going to the bathroom a maximum of once per night, and usually very close to the morning time. I also find it easier to get out of bed without feeling lightheaded. By easier, I mean it takes less time for my symptoms to fade and me to be ready to get out of the bed.

bonjour
avez vous trouvé des précisions sur l'action du lit incliné et l'hypertension artérielle ?
merci

Hello
did you find out about the action of the inclined bed and high blood pressure?
thank you

Blood pressure should be monitored. IBT does change it in both directions and has stabilised hugely fluctuating blood pressure for people with spinal cord injury.
It is logical that arterial pressure should increase by the same amount that vascular pressure decreases. However, this assumption has been proven to be inaccurate for everyone. Blood pressure for many has not moved in the slightest. Each of us is different so there is no one size fits all.

"We recently showed that the physiological response to SHU at a lower angle of 5°, or a tilt load of 9% [9], was associated with orthostatic improvement in a small case series of nine older inpatients with OH [10]. There were significant haemodynamic changes consistent with intravascular volume expansion in patients who underwent SHU at 6 inches for 1 week.

However, the sample size was small, the period of follow-up short and the intervention un-controlled; so both the efficacy and generalisability of this treatment remain uncertain.

The aim of the study was to investigate the physiological effect of SHU at 5° (6 inches) on orthostatic tolerance for 6 weeks in a large group of patients aged 60 and over who had OH from all cause in an open randomised controlled trial."
academic.oup.com/ageing/article/40/2/187/47278

I do not know if this study is much help. We are trying to find out whether inclined bed helps with hypertension. This study was concerned with the opposite - low blood pressure and how to raise it in older patients.

This is somewhat alarming
>>>The SHU group had more leg oedema than controls <<<

Oedema tends to move towards the ankles on IBT, rather than being spread out. However, this is temporary as our circulation takes time to re-absorb the excess fluid. No doubt in their study, they saw an increase in oedema for some, but I doubt they would have waited sufficient time to afford it to resolve.

I have been monitoring my BP daily for a few months, sleeping flat and inclined. There does not seem to be a whiff of a difference one way or the other. It could be that a longer time is necessary. Currently, I have my bed inclined permanently (or at least for long time), we will see if there is any difference.

Three months later and more observation of BP sleeping flat and inclined. It seems there is a rise in BP when my bed is inclined.
This is important to me and since I have not seen any benefits from inclining my bed (at least observable) I am going to dismantle my bed risers and will sleep on a flat bed. It gets rid of constant sliding towards the foot of the bed which I find disagreeable.
Good luck to everyone.

Well done for giving IBT a decent trial period fresedo. I don't think it's going to suit everyone, but you've given it over a year so you should know by now if it's for you. You did mention that it was beneficial for almost entirely clearing your varicose veins within 3 weeks of inclining your bed. It would be useful for other people with varicose veins to know if that is still the case after a year on an incline, and if any residual improvement is reversed when you go back to a flat bed. I hope not. Good luck to you too.