40 dollar inclined bed frame ibt 1Inclined Bed Therapy:  Sleeping Inclined To Restore and Support Your Health For Free.  Fascinating Science, Discovery, History and Medical Research In Circulation And Posture, by Andrew K Fletcher.  Read the Success Stories.  Check the Forum.

Multiple Sclerosis Research

Raising one end of your bed (the pillow or head end) can help treat many of the ailments of our age including even MS. That’s a theory called Inclined Bed Therapy or IBT and in 2010 we featured it in New Pathways. When I first heard about it I must admit I was slightly sceptical.

The theory is based on the idea that lying flat in bed at night can lead to poor blood circulation and consequent problems. Human beings, the theory goes, have for millennia been upright and when we lie flat in bed at night we unbalance our bodies in every sense of the word.

The chief exponent of this theory is former mechanical engineer Andrew Fletcher who explained in the 2010 feature that in scientific terms gravity helps circulate our blood, cerebrospinal and lymph fluids and that when we lie flat in bed at night, gravity can no longer help our circulation. Instead the heart has to exert extra pressure on the circulatory systems causing veins to narrow, bulge or twist – a phenomenon which has been documented in many illnesses including MS.

After visiting Andrew in his Paignton home in 2010 and listening to him explain Inclined Bed Therapy I was more impressed and decided to give it a go. So, after returning home, I got some old bricks from the garden and raised the head end of my bed by 4”. I never went the full 6”as recommended by Andrew due to pressure from my then live-in girlfriend who thought it was a “therapy too far” for her, but when we split up and I moved out, the first thing I bought was a new bed

At the back of my mind was a wish to give IBT another go, but to do things properly by using proper bed raisers and going up the full 6” . So, in January 2016 I started the whole process again, going up 4” for two months and then 6”. For the past four months my bed has been raised by the full 6” and I must admit to feeling better than I have felt for ages.

At this point I must add a word of caution by saying that I am also taking other treatments for my MS such as statins and high doses of vitamin D and biotin. For this reason I can’t say there’s any scientific proof that IBT has been responsible for my improvement or played any part in it, but I guess the acid test of whether I believe in IBT is whether my bed is still inclined, and the answer to that is “yes” - it is still on the furniture raisers. (see pictures)

So, looking back do I think Inclined Bed Therapy has worked for me? I would say that the answer is a qualified “yes”. I can’t say for certain it has alleviated the symptoms of MS but it is inexpensive, easy to do and as I said earlier my bed is still inclined.
Andrew has repeatedly asked for a controled study to be conducted for people with ms. 
http://www.ms-uk.org/newpathways

http://www.inclinedbedtherapy.com


PS It's easy to determine whether the bed is helping or not, simply return back to sleeping flat :)

 

Hello, Andrew!

There are probably many people like me with MS, who do not wish to become involved in posting on forums, but who are carefully reading and weighing various options for alternative treatments for better health. The information on other threads about chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency in MS and the information that you have provided about Inclined Bed Therapy makes sense to me. I think that I have read through everything you have posted on the internet about IBT, but could not see the YouTube video because I have dialup service. I appreciate your sharing your findings and for your patient perseverance as you try to overcome the “Semmelweis Reflex” you encounter on all sides!
-------------------------------------------------------
In response to your initial questions above:

My mother has varicose veins in her legs; her mother had them; my daughter has them; and they each had surgery on them -- multiple surgeries in the case of my mother and grandmother. Although I am close to 68 years old, I still do not have them.

My upper legs have some spider veins, but not the lower legs -- which seems to be unusual. Twisted veins are visible under the skin, but they do not protrude. However, both legs have spasticity, especially in the lower portion, and it often feels to me that I am walking on wooden stumps below the knee. Perhaps the muscle spasticity is helping to keep the veins from bulging? On the outer aspect of my lower left leg (in the calf area), there is a bluish area about the size of a quarter, which is painful most of the time. When I exceed my limits of physical activity, the pain extends from the knee to the ankle. I do not know whether the pain is due to muscle or vein problems.

Since my teenage years, the veins on my hands have been very large, swollen and protruding. I can remember feeling a little embarrassed to have hands that looked like an old lady’s hands -- like my mother’s! Looking back, early neurological symptoms began to appear around this time, also.

Hemorrhoids -- mild, and perhaps related to childbearing?
---------------------------------------------------------
Since I have experienced more than enough surgeries in my younger years, my priority now is to look for alternative choices to surgeries and drugs.

I tilted my bed on February 20 to see what would happen.

I have no camera, and will be keeping only simple notes of observations.

What I noticed immediately, from the first night, was the change in the color of my urine. For about 38 years, I have been very health conscious and careful to practice good lifestyle habits, including drinking about 72 ounces of water daily (body weight about 118 pounds). This was supposed to produce very pale, straw colored urine, but it never did -- it was always dark colored -- until February 21, 2009. Now my urine output stays very pale and straw colored. Also, when I first awaken in the morning, I no longer need to rush to the bathroom. I can turn over and actually lie in bed for another hour or more before arising, if I so choose!

Beginning after the third night, my back feels different. The spine feels “looser” somehow. The skeletal alignment has improved, and I find that I can now do heavy (for me) physical work without feeling any back pain the next day. This has a negative side to it, because I tend to push my limits a little too far for several successive days to the point where I am so exhausted that I cannot do much of anything for the next few days -- but -- my back does not suffer for it! I find this wonderful and amazing!

These and other simple differences make it worthwhile for me to maintain the inclined bed indefinitely. What began as an experiment is now a lifestyle change. I would not go back to the flat, horizontal sleeping and resting position. As more time passes, there will be more benefits, neurological and otherwise. Of that I am now certain, and I will be watching for them.

You can know that you have helped yet one more person. Thank you, Andrew, for taking the time to share with us what you have learned about Inclined Bed Therapy.

Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 1:02 am    

Hello, Andrew!

There are probably many people like me with MS, who do not wish to become involved in posting on forums, but who are carefully reading and weighing various options for alternative treatments for better health. The information on other threads about chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency in MS and the information that you have provided about Inclined Bed Therapy makes sense to me. I think that I have read through everything you have posted on the internet about IBT, but could not see the YouTube video because I have dialup service. I appreciate your sharing your findings and for your patient perseverance as you try to overcome the “Semmelweis Reflex” you encounter on all sides!
-------------------------------------------------------
In response to your initial questions above:

My mother has varicose veins in her legs; her mother had them; my daughter has them; and they each had surgery on them -- multiple surgeries in the case of my mother and grandmother. Although I am close to 68 years old, I still do not have them.

My upper legs have some spider veins, but not the lower legs -- which seems to be unusual. Twisted veins are visible under the skin, but they do not protrude. However, both legs have spasticity, especially in the lower portion, and it often feels to me that I am walking on wooden stumps below the knee. Perhaps the muscle spasticity is helping to keep the veins from bulging? On the outer aspect of my lower left leg (in the calf area), there is a bluish area about the size of a quarter, which is painful most of the time. When I exceed my limits of physical activity, the pain extends from the knee to the ankle. I do not know whether the pain is due to muscle or vein problems.

Since my teenage years, the veins on my hands have been very large, swollen and protruding. I can remember feeling a little embarrassed to have hands that looked like an old lady’s hands -- like my mother’s! Looking back, early neurological symptoms began to appear around this time, also.

Hemorrhoids -- mild, and perhaps related to childbearing?

Since I have experienced more than enough surgeries in my younger years, my priority now is to look for alternative choices to surgeries and drugs.

I tilted my bed on February 20 to see what would happen.

I have no camera, and will be keeping only simple notes of observations.

What I noticed immediately, from the first night, was the change in the color of my urine. For about 38 years, I have been very health conscious and careful to practice good lifestyle habits, including drinking about 72 ounces of water daily (body weight about 118 pounds). This was supposed to produce very pale, straw colored urine, but it never did -- it was always dark colored -- until February 21, 2009. Now my urine output stays very pale and straw colored. Also, when I first awaken in the morning, I no longer need to rush to the bathroom. I can turn over and actually lie in bed for another hour or more before arising, if I so choose!

Beginning after the third night, my back feels different. The spine feels “looser” somehow. The skeletal alignment has improved, and I find that I can now do heavy (for me) physical work without feeling any back pain the next day. This has a negative side to it, because I tend to push my limits a little too far for several successive days to the point where I am so exhausted that I cannot do much of anything for the next few days -- but -- my back does not suffer for it! I find this wonderful and amazing!

These and other simple differences make it worthwhile for me to maintain the inclined bed indefinitely. What began as an experiment is now a lifestyle change. I would not go back to the flat, horizontal sleeping and resting position. As more time passes, there will be more benefits, neurological and otherwise. Of that I am now certain, and I will be watching for them.

You can know that you have helped yet one more person. Thank you, Andrew, for taking the time to share with us what you have learned about Inclined Bed Therapy.

ForeverSpring

Tue Apr 28, 2009 9:24 am  


Hello ForeverSpring

I sent you a pm thank you for your most welcome post, leaving your post at the end of the thread to encourage a few more people to read what you are saying and hopefully test this simple therapy. I wrote in another post it is only a matter of time before some of the people on this forum who have tilted their beds will begin to notice unusual changes, some changes will be obvious, but others will take a while before people remember “hey I don’t have to do this anymore” or “I used to take x amount of minutes to do this”. I am particularly interested in eyesight improvements in people with irreversible optic nerve damage. This has proved if you pardon the pun Spectacular. Two ladies in Devon within a month of each other regained their eyesight after being registered as partially blind. Two ophthalmologists wrote to me within the same month from two different towns asking how blocks of wood under a bed could restore their sight.

Thank you so much for taking the time to understand my reasoning behind this therapy. Many people skim over it and draw an erroneous “this cannot possibly have an effect” conclusion”
Wobbly on this forum wrote;[quote] bed tilting is not gonna work--that much i can say --it might help or after this problem is fixed to maintain the results/ i have seen some of the dopplers this is real blockage

Well Wobbly, had you have seen what I and many others have observed, you might not be so ready to draw such a conclusion about a therapy you have not taken the time to investigate thoroughly. But you are correct in a sense also, because if you never tilt your bed, then of course it can never work.

RE: Urine. This for me was one of the greatest observations ever made using IBT. My own late Father had acute renal failure while in hospital and made to lay flat rather than at an angle as I had been arguing and almost got myself thrown out. Eventually they submitted, well while my back was not turned at least. My Brother, sister in law, wife and myself were told his demise would be rapid, the tar like urine was caused by blood, he had multiple organ failure and would not recover.

When they eventually tilted his bed, within a few hours, his urine became clear, he regained consciousness from being comatose and gained another precious 8 months of life following a stent operation to relieve pressure on his gallbladder caused by cancer, which unfortunately had spread to his liver before he was admitted to hospital.

Indeed, my own experiments and the observations of many people who were testing IBT had enabled me to make the prediction to the doctors that his kidneys had not become irreparably damaged as they insisted was the case. Those 8 months of extra life Dad had enabled him to come to terms with the fact that he had progressive cancer. Even so, I fanatically researched alternatives, for him but Dad, bless him was a hardened stubborn man who would never bend or bow to anyone or anything. I learned that day that IBT cannot give anyone immortality.
This story did not end here but is too painful for me to continue, but needed to be said to show that your observations with urine changes are very important and fit comfortably with the gravity dependent circulation theory.

The spine loosening again is another benefit from IBT, traction is applied to the spine while on an incline, this decompresses the joints and the improvements in circulation help to re-hydrate the tissue to provide relief from joints that have become too close together and cause inflammation and pain.

You should also notice the muscles in your legs changing, gaining in density over the months.

But please, take it easy, do not overtax yourself and gradually increase your exercise regimen.

Alun, who kindly provided the pictures and gave permission for me to use them to help others, reported a while back that high humidity increased the size of the veins causing them to bulge out. Again increasing humidity will disrupt the density changes that release the solutes down the arteries and assist the circulation. This would mean that the heart would have to do all the work. This would mean that the heart being a pump, would begin to inflate the veins and increase the pressure in the arteries as the veins backed up and became swollen.

Perhaps along with the heat from a hot bath or shower, the humidity factor should be taken into account where a person with ms has a relapse brought on by the pressure changes?

Photographs: Not sure whether you have a webcam or not, but these can take reasonable digital photographs should you wish to do so.

All the best

Andrew


Wed Apr 29, 2009 4:28 pm  


Your comments regarding heat and humidity are interesting.

After living for too many years in the hot, humid Southeast U.S., an opportunity arose last fall for me to move to the semi-arid climate of the Rocky Mountains. I promptly seized it and moved from an elevation of about 700 feet above sea level to a little mountain town about 8000 feet above sea level. I feel so much better overall these last 6+ months in this cool, dry climate.

During the dry, cold winter, the snow is unfailingly dry, small, powder-like flakes. The two months of the year here with the most snowfall are March and April. These months are comparatively much more humid than the rest of the year, and the snow is wet, large, heavy flakes. The higher relative humidity during these two months, even though it was not as overwhelming as the humidity in my former residence, noticeably aggravated my MS. This was independent of air temperature, as we have had only one morning so far this year when the low temperature was not below freezing. Humidity is definitely a factor for me.

I have learned that venous circulation can be so easily disturbed.

Tight belts, tight bands or elastic on underwear and socks -- and anything else that leaves its mark in the skin -- is to be avoided, as it hinders the circulation.

It is also disturbed by poor posture, or by habitually crossing the legs (e.g., one knee over the other) when sitting.

Wearing too much clothing over some parts of the body, while other parts are lightly clothed (especially the arms and legs), is also disruptive to the circulation.

These are little things, but they have a long-term impact.

Perfect health depends upon perfect circulation.

I am thankful that more attention is being given to this aspect of health, and especially with regard to MS.

Mon May 04, 2009 2:13 pm  


Please do post more of the intriguing results of your work. Perhaps not everyone will be interested in them, but some of us are.

When considering personal health, my primary interest is in the simple, natural remedies that are easily within the reach of all of us. Whatever measures we can take to directly improve our overall health will have a secondary benefit of mitigating MS or any other health problem we may have.

We ourselves are largely responsible for improving our health in ways that the medical professionals are not and cannot be. We can choose what to eat and drink, what kind of physical activity to exercise our bodies, how much time to be outdoors in the sunshine and fresh air, what time to go to bed, and so much more. It is all up to us to find out what to do, and then to do it.

Even if the improvement resulting from each implemented measure is as little as 1%, when you combine them together, they amount to something significant. All those “one-percenters” are important!

Tilting the bed the suggested inches is such a simple thing to try, and at so little expense.

We can choose to tilt our bed or not, but if we do not, then we will never know how it might have helped us -- over a few days, a few months, or years.

That is why I tilted my bed, and I am glad that I did.


Fri May 22, 2009 1:56 am    Post subject:

My bed has been tilted for about three months now.

In 1983 I spent about 6 months in the hot, humid Southeast U.S. Shortly after arriving there, I experienced a really nasty attack of neurological symptoms, accompanied by a breaking forth of red petechiae on my upper legs. I had never had petechiae before and did not even know what they were called. When I questioned two different physicians about them, the reply was, “Oh, that’s nothing.” I was certain that they were “something” due to their sudden appearing with the other symptoms.

Ever since that time, I have had petechiae -- for 26 years. They gradually increased in number and spread over the trunk of my body and then a few even on my neck and upper arms and lower legs. Sometimes there were less, sometimes more.

However, today there are fewer than there have ever been in the last 26 years! They seem to be darkening and disappearing from everywhere, and that can only be a good thing. I attribute this change to the inclined bed.

Fri May 22, 2009 2:44 pm    

Is this only a coincidence . . . Or not?

Two days before you posted about Pauline, the spring hinge on one of the side-pieces of my bi-focal eyeglasses broke. I had purchased the glasses last August, just before I moved 1500 miles to my current residence, so I could not bring them back to the supplier.

Since I have no spare bi-focals and am legally required to wear them for driving, I immediately took the glasses to the only optometrist here in town and asked him if he could replace the side-piece with anything that would work, which he graciously did. As he was repairing them, he showed me that both lenses were loose and then tightened them into place.

A few hours later, while I was working water into a bag of potting mix, one of the lenses in these glasses fell into the mix. I thought to myself, What is going on here? These are new glasses, and they are of good quality. What do I do now? I do not want to impose upon this optometrist again for repair of glasses that he did not even furnish to me originally. I am not due for another eye exam until August, and do not want to spend the money for an extra appointment and glasses right now.

I decided to pull out my old bi-focals and get by with them until August. When I put them on, I realized that I cannot read with them, but that’s alright. I can wear my current reading glasses for close-up work and the old bi-focals for driving and other long-distance viewing.

The next day I was out driving with these old eyeglasses, and I realized that I can see better with them than I could before I got the new ones last August. Is it only my imagination at work, or have I just become so accustomed to worsening vision that I have forgotten what it is like to see well? Or maybe there is a reason that these new glasses suddenly fell all apart on one day? It does make me wonder.

Anyway, for the coming three months I will continue to work with my old bi-focal glasses for driving and the current reading glasses. When I have my next eye examination in August, we shall see whether or not there have been any measurable changes in the prescriptions and maybe get some new bi-focals -- or maybe not.

After personally witnessing a few measurable changes for the better, I am becoming inspired with all sorts of possibilities! I just need to be patient and wait. . . .

ForeverSpring


AndrewKFletcher

Fri May 22, 2009 3:22 pm    


Thank you for reporting your eyesight changes. Only time will prove your sight changes are not a figment of your imagination but are following a predictable path. Sight improvements took place with people who do not have ms, although my wife's sight has continued to gradually deteriorate for reading and although a friend with pigmentose retinosa (deterioration of the cones at the back of the eyes (genetic) did not exhibit any improvements, many people with a range of sight problems did. The most dramatic were those relating to optic nerve damage in people with ms.
http://www.rnib.org.uk/xpedio/groups/public/documents/publicwebsite/public_rnib003662.hcsp

http://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/index.php?topic=18961.50
Petetchia was mentioned on the NS forum by R.D. in relation to vasculitis.

Although Alun who he thought might have vasculitis did not and the petetchia cleared up by the time the next set of photographs were taken.


AndrewKFletcher

Sun May 24, 2009 7:38 am    Post subject: Pain before a gain. Worse before better?


Soon you will begin to gain more improvements.

There may be some pain before gains. Not all the time with ms but usually shooting pains down legs and arms moving around rather than a persistant pain in one area, as nerve pathways open up. This is often the pattern, although some fortunately bypass the pain.

Many people reported sudden pain from cavities below the gum line from teeth that had been decayed and should have ben reporting decay back to the brain, but not just in ms, age also numbs the gums and a number of elderly people also reported a trip to the dentist to sort out nerve pains.

This was also the case with spinal cord injury, pain before recover in sci was viewed positively, as it meant that there was communication developing with the brain from below the injury site.


ForeverSpring
Sun May 24, 2009 4:56 pm


From my first post back on page 4 of this thread:
On the outer aspect of my lower left leg (in the calf area), there is a bluish area about the size of a quarter, which is painful most of the time. When I exceed my limits of physical activity, the pain extends from the knee to the ankle.

The pain in my lower left leg, described above, has not been present at all for the last three weeks or so -- although I have been busy with activities which would usually aggravate it.

Wed May 27, 2009 2:19 am
AndrewKFletcher wrote:

The pain you are referring to could be excessive venous pressure on a nerve, hence the blue hue to the skin. This makes sense with regards to your report about the pain improving.

Thank you. That's what I was thinking, too.

I am still trying to digest all the information about CCVI and its impact on the central nervous system. There is a lot of current research on chronic venous insufficiency relating to other conditions, as well as MS. The research is helpful and seems to be moving in the right direction.

However, what concerns me is that we have to know the underlying cause of any health problem before it can be successfully treated. When the underlying cause is not addressed, we patch the problem, and then have to patch it again, and yet again -- but it is never really fixed.

Among other symptoms, I have had an MS-related, left hemiparesis for about six years, with a sense of heaviness, numbness and tingling on that side. I have been taking 4.5 mgs. of LDN (low-dose naltrexone) daily for about 4 ½ years. It is the only drug -- including over-the-counter drugs -- that I take for anything. It helps tremendously and seems to halt progression, but it does not cure MS. While I am thankful for LDN and appreciate its benefits, I still hope to be able to stop taking it someday. I want to be drug-free!

The shooting pains you have described and the renewal of communication in the central nervous system with Inclined Bed Therapy is intriguing and offers hope for permanent success. It shows how our bodies may heal if given the proper conditions, and IBT may be one of those conditions of the solution that I am looking for. We shall see how it goes in the coming months.

I realize that it would be nearly impossible for you to continue tracking the history of those with whom you worked, but I shall ask the question anyway: Do you know if any of the people with MS, who continued to keep their beds tilted, ever progressed with further debilitation due to MS?

ForeverSpring
Wed May 27, 2009 2:28 am    

I saw the photo of an ancient Egyptian sloped bed and thought that maybe only the wealthy had used this type of bed. After a little search, this idea was dispelled by an interesting item from National Geographic. Below is a partial quote from the article:
-------------------------------------------------------
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/08/0805_020805_giza.html

Ancient Beds Suggest Barracks Structures

Among this season's interesting finds are mud ramps approximately one meter wide, believed to be bed platforms. Ancient beds were often designed with the foot a bit lower than the head.

The beds were found within large "galleries," or colonnaded porches half open to the sky, which allowed sunlight to stream in and smoke to float out. Lehner believes the galleries may have served as a dormitory or barracks for temporary workers, providing sleeping quarters for as many as 2,000 people at once. Originally excavated during the 1999 to 2002 field seasons, the galleries appear to be part of a vast complex that also housed activities such as copper-working and cooking. . . .

Analysis of human remains has suggested that workers apparently had access to medical treatment. Evidence has been found of healed broken bones, amputated limbs, and even brain surgeries.

Tue Jun 23, 2009 12:59 am    Post subject:


My bed has been tilted for 4 months now.

The petechiae continue to gradually diminish in number.

I did not believe that I would experience the healing, "shooting pains” you described earlier, because the LDN (low-dose naltrexone) that I take for MS prevents various pains for me.

Since I began LDN 4 ½ + years ago, there have been no new symptoms, no relapses, no further progression of MS. There are no new lesions evident on the MRIs. The damage caused prior to LDN is still present, but I am doing well -- as long as I continue the LDN.

It helps with immune problems, too, not only for me , but also for some of my friends with MS -- with our allergies, asthma, etc., as well as some MS symptoms. I have tried several times to skip a dose (just to see if I could! ), and have had problems begin within a couple of hours -- problems with spasms, paresthesias, breathing, allergies, joint pains, etc. This is why I thought that the LDN might hinder any “healing pains” in my case.

However, several times during this past month I was surprised to experience brief, unusual pains that were different from anything I have previously experienced. They occurred in different places in my feet and hands, and once in my upper arm. They came and went very quickly. It felt like burning, but not like the ever-present, sensory sunburn feeling on the skin of my upper arms. It was internal rather than surface, and there was movement rather than stasis -- just different, and hard to describe.

Another surprise for me this month is with my fingernails. Since 1990 or so, during a period of relapses, my fingernails all developed vertical ridges on them and gradually grew softer over the years. This year they have been so soft that they would split and break if they were bumped into anything.

Over the last two weeks, I have noticed that the nails are growing harder. The vertical ridges are still there, but the nails are not splitting and breaking like they were earlier. I have even been using them to pry some plastic lids open (bad practice, I know! ). Today I clipped the nails and could see a definite improvement during that process as well. Very interesting!

Thu Jun 25, 2009 1:54 pm    


In the autumn of 2002 my hands and feet began to be somewhat numb and clumsy, and they also could not feel how hot was the temperature of water and other items. A physician rolled a little wheel with prickly points all over my limbs and, in the lower sections of both arms and legs, it felt like someone was only brushing a feather over my skin. EMG/NCV testing ruled out peripheral neuropathy, but revealed problems with nerve conduction. My hands and feet have been like this continuously for almost 7 years, and I had accepted it as being permanent.

Recently my fingers have regained enough dexterity that they no longer fumble when trying to pick coins out of my change purse, or tiny bits of lint off the floor, for example. They are also actually feeling hot items when handling them. My feet are experiencing similar changes, but I notice it more with my hands in the daily activities of life.

The skin on the lower arms and legs feels strange -- a little “irritated” (for lack of a better word) -- and I am very aware of the sensation of clothing resting on the skin, or the movement of air across the backs of my hands.

I am a bit awed!

Mon Jul 06, 2009 1:29 am
Last week I spent 4 nights away from home and away from my own bed, which has been inclined for over 4 months. I was visiting in someone else’s home and had planned, “for the sake of science“, to sleep flat and horizontal for those 4 nights and note what might happen. However, I was not able to get through even the first night that way!

When I laid down for sleep, I could feel fluids shifting and moving into my head. My sinuses felt like they were filling up and I suddenly developed a post-nasal drip. I felt fullness and pressure in my entire head, but especially in the back and top, and it grew into headache. Then pains developed behind both eyes, and more so behind the right eye.

It was really awful! It was a little similar to what most people might feel if you were lying on a horizontal bed and then hung your head down over the edge for a while. Ugh!

For years before I tilted my bed, I frequently mentioned specific pain in the right top of my head and behind my right eye to doctors and never received any answers as to what was causing it. Now I know!

I think that I have CCSVI in some of my veins, but I do not want to undergo any more surgery. I am hoping that, with time, the Inclined Bed Therapy will help to correct it.

Anyway, after about an hour of this discomfort, I got out of bed and took the seat cushion from a chair that was in the room, folded it in half, and stuffed it under my pillow. I slept with my upper body raised at a high angle and my legs horizontal. It was not as good as my inclined bed, but it was better than lying totally horizontal.

The next morning, I learned that the head of that futon bed could be raised to 3 different positions (maybe 30, 60, and 90 degrees?), I set the head of the bed at about 60 degrees and slept that way for the remaining 3 nights.

That is my brief experience with reverting to sleeping horizontally. It’s no wonder that people in Andrew’s trials refused to revert for a period of time! I wouldn’t do so, either, not even for the sake of science!

What was most surprising was how badly I felt within only minutes! And I used to sleep that way every night for nearly 68 years!

Andrew, words cannot express how grateful I am to you!
Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 5:36 pm

Andrew, I think it would be well for you to explain on this thread why IBT would not be helpful to a person whose veins are completely blocked by collapse, a blood clot, or congenital disorders. Although the reason is obvious, it may be overlooked or forgotten, or just not thought through.

Also, please note that most persons with MS have cognitive dysfunctions, including slower speed of processing information and difficulty with retrieving it from memory storage, despite the intellect being intact. We may have problems with attention, planning, organizing, and making decisions. We may not like to talk about it, because of the misconceptions of others. Some may even deny or ignore it, but it is part of the challenges we have in our daily lives.


Mon Jul 13, 2009 5:40 pm

I would also like to mention, for the sake of any new readers to this forum, that Chronic Venous Insufficiency (or CVI) in publications usually refers to that problem encountered in the legs, but it may be found anywhere in the body. There are various degrees of CVI, and a completely blocked vein would be the most extreme case and would require extreme intervention. This applies to only a small percentage of cases.

Inclined Bed Therapy is a gentle, non-invasive treatment which has been shown to be helpful to non-extreme cases of CVI, including some people with MS.

Logically, most of the factors that increase your risk for CVI in the legs should also be considered factors that would increase your risk for CVI in the brain and spinal cord. Think about such things as: saturated fats in your diet, overweight, smoking, drinking insufficient water, lack of exercise -- in general, anything that would hinder perfect circulation of the blood. We can do for ourselves what no physician can do for us, simply by making some positive changes in these aspects of our lifestyle.

Next week I will make my monthly post related to my own ongoing experience with


Wed Jul 15, 2009 9:26 pm    

Collapsed or severely restricted / blocked vein and I.T.

This should be on the first post, as you rightly suggest.

Following a report from a lady with a collapsed vein in the foot who joined the pilot study and found that her circulation in the foot deteriorated due to the incline rather than improving as many had done. It was quickly realised that in the case of a collapsed vein rather than a swollen vein that decreasing the venous pressure as is the case with varicose veins and oedema, the restriction would be further closed.

A post from Cheerleader makes this point and for which I am grateful and would like to learn more if possible. I don't think under these particular circumstances Inclined therapy will be of much use to anyone with a collapsed vein without corrective surgery to open up the veins.

This was written a long time ago and reference can be found on the net.

A collapsed vein is rare and should be carefully monitored and anyone who has this condition should not join this study as this study is aiming to cause the veins to be drawn in by changing the pressure inside the veins and increasing the tension in the blood. In the case of a collapsed vein circulation will already be severely restricted so further reductions in the size of the vessel will restrict circulation rather than improve it in this case. If however a vein has been surgically closed for cosmetic reasons, this is not the same as a collapsed vein and in this case should not complicate your experience using I.T.

One other case was a known heroin addict of many years who had severely damaged veins and ulcerated legs. His veins sustained heavy damage from constant injection in the legs and arms. Hi veins were collapsed and responded well to I.B.T. with the ulcerated skin becoming fully recovered in several months of avoiding flat bedrest.

With this observation in mind, if you suspect or have a confirmed case of a collapsed vein, I.B.T. may be of some help but you will need to monitor skin colour and pressure test the skin using a finger pressed firmly into the skin and released. The skin should return to normal colour quickly almost instantly responding to the pressure release as your finger is moved away. If this is not the case during Inclined Therapy you may need to consult your doctor to find a remedial solution before returning to I.B.T. or indeed returning to sleeping flat.

It is also very important to increase the amount of water you drink using I.B.T. as it has a diuretic effect on the body as waste products are more effectively removed from the blood more water will also be removed along with it into the bladder and will need to be replenished.


Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2009 12:18 pm    

As of today, my bed has been tilted for 5 months. I have been eagerly awaiting this date to post the changes noticed during the past month.

Summer days are getting hotter. I am not experiencing the MS fatigue or pseudo-exacerbations when I get hot and sweaty -- no more dysarthria and dysphasia (speech and swallowing difficulties) from the heat. My heat tolerance is much improved.

Not only is my body more energetic, but my mind is clearer. Some previous cognitive difficulties have disappeared, some others mitigated, and it feels like I am awakening from a long nightmare, thankful for the freedom and light of day.

I used to inadvertently bite the inside of my left cheek several times a week -- painful and bloody. There is quite a buildup of scar tissue there. That has not happened for weeks.

The stiffness is gone from the lower legs. I used to feel a burning sensation on the soles of my feet upon arising in the morning. It is no more.

There is still some very faint sensation of numbness and tingling in places from head to foot on the left side, but the limbs are not as heavy and that entire side is stronger. There is a new spring in my step.

For the first time in 6 years, I am not limping anymore while walking! After living all those years with a weakened left side, I had considered that to be permanent -- with all its accompanying problems -- and expected it to gradually worsen..

During the visit mentioned after my last monthly report, we spent an entire morning at the Denver Zoo. Afterwards, I was impressed at how well my body had handled the heat and being on my feet all morning -- on hard pavement, no less -- but I still had a slight limp.

Several days later, while I was walking from my home to the post office, I noticed that I was not limping as I moved along. I was so excited that, when I arrived at the post office to check for mail in my box, I forgot to mail some items that were in my backpack. About halfway home, I remembered them and returned to the post office to put them in the mail slot. By the time I reached home, I had walked 3 miles and was still not limping.

The next day I decided to really put myself to the test. I walked 5 miles in the midday heat -- with no problems other than a sunburned nose and my hot, sweaty, tender feet did get blisters on the bottoms due to the unaccustomed workout!

To increase strength and endurance, I am gradually increasing my daily walk from 2 miles upward, and am thinking about changing the type of exercise on alternate days. I hope to join some of my family members on their hikes in the mountains before the end of summer -- a goal I could not have envisioned before this new development.

Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2009 12:57 am

In my monthly report above, I should have mentioned that, along with the disappearance of years of stiffness in the lower legs, the muscles there no longer look so straight and drawn, but have been filling out and are more normal in appearance -- a visible sign of good things happening!


Tue Jul 28, 2009 5:39 pm
Hello, Andrew!

My legs feel so much better that I just want to go, go, go!

I wish that I could somehow view what is happening inside my body as these changes are occurring. That would be fascinating to watch.

Please feel free to use on your blog any observations that I have posted publicly here. (Pardon my ignorance, but where is your blog located? )

Tue Jun 23, 2009 12:59 am

My bed has been tilted for 4 months now.

The petechiae continue to gradually diminish in number.

I did not believe that I would experience the healing, "shooting pains” you described earlier, because the LDN (low-dose naltrexone) that I take for MS prevents various pains for me.

Since I began LDN 4 ½ + years ago, there have been no new symptoms, no relapses, no further progression of MS. There are no new lesions evident on the MRIs. The damage caused prior to LDN is still present, but I am doing well -- as long as I continue the LDN.

It helps with immune problems, too, not only for me , but also for some of my friends with MS -- with our allergies, asthma, etc., as well as some MS symptoms. I have tried several times to skip a dose (just to see if I could! :roll: ), and have had problems begin within a couple of hours -- problems with spasms, paresthesias, breathing, allergies, joint pains, etc. This is why I thought that the LDN might hinder any “healing pains” in my case.

However, several times during this past month I was surprised to experience brief, unusual pains that were different from anything I have previously experienced. They occurred in different places in my feet and hands, and once in my upper arm. They came and went very quickly. It felt like burning, but not like the ever-present, sensory sunburn feeling on the skin of my upper arms. It was internal rather than surface, and there was movement rather than stasis -- just different, and hard to describe.

Another surprise for me this month is with my fingernails. Since 1990 or so, during a period of relapses, my fingernails all developed vertical ridges on them and gradually grew softer over the years. This year they have been so soft that they would split and break if they were bumped into anything.

Over the last two weeks, I have noticed that the nails are growing harder. The vertical ridges are still there, but the nails are not splitting and breaking like they were earlier. I have even been using them to pry some plastic lids open (bad practice, I know! ). Today I clipped the nails and could see a definite improvement during that process as well. Very interesting! :)

In the autumn of 2002 my hands and feet began to be somewhat numb and clumsy, and they also could not feel how hot was the temperature of water and other items. A physician rolled a little wheel with prickly points all over my limbs and, in the lower sections of both arms and legs, it felt like someone was only brushing a feather over my skin. EMG/NCV testing ruled out peripheral neuropathy, but revealed problems with nerve conduction. My hands and feet have been like this continuously for almost 7 years, and I had accepted it as being permanent.

Recently my fingers have regained enough dexterity that they no longer fumble when trying to pick coins out of my change purse, or tiny bits of lint off the floor, for example. They are also actually feeling hot items when handling them. My feet are experiencing similar changes, but I notice it more with my hands in the daily activities of life.

The skin on the lower arms and legs feels strange -- a little “irritated” (for lack of a better word) -- and I am very aware of the sensation of clothing resting on the skin, or the movement of air across the backs of my hands.

I am a bit awed! 8O

Mon Jul 06, 2009 1:29 am

Last week I spent 4 nights away from home and away from my own bed, which has been inclined for over 4 months. I was visiting in someone else’s home and had planned, “for the sake of science“, to sleep flat and horizontal for those 4 nights and note what might happen. However, I was not able to get through even the first night that way!

When I laid down for sleep, I could feel fluids shifting and moving into my head. My sinuses felt like they were filling up and I suddenly developed a post-nasal drip. I felt fullness and pressure in my entire head, but especially in the back and top, and it grew into headache. Then pains developed behind both eyes, and more so behind the right eye.

It was really awful! It was a little similar to what most people might feel if you were lying on a horizontal bed and then hung your head down over the edge for a while. Ugh!

For years before I tilted my bed, I frequently mentioned specific pain in the right top of my head and behind my right eye to doctors and never received any answers as to what was causing it. Now I know! :!:

I think that I have CCSVI in some of my veins, but I do not want to undergo any more surgery. I am hoping that, with time, the Inclined Bed Therapy will help to correct it.

Anyway, after about an hour of this discomfort, I got out of bed and took the seat cushion from a chair that was in the room, folded it in half, and stuffed it under my pillow. I slept with my upper body raised at a high angle and my legs horizontal. It was not as good as my inclined bed, but it was better than lying totally horizontal.

The next morning, I learned that the head of that futon bed could be raised to 3 different positions (maybe 30, 60, and 90 degrees?), I set the head of the bed at about 60 degrees and slept that way for the remaining 3 nights.

That is my brief experience with reverting to sleeping horizontally. It’s no wonder that people in Andrew’s trials refused to revert for a period of time! I wouldn’t do so, either, not even for the sake of science!

What was most surprising was how badly I felt within only minutes! And I used to sleep that way every night for nearly 68 years! 8O

Andrew, words cannot express how grateful I am to you!


Mon Jul 13, 2009 5:36 pm

Andrew, I think it would be well for you to explain on this thread why IBT would not be helpful to a person whose veins are completely blocked by collapse, a blood clot, or congenital disorders. Although the reason is obvious, it may be overlooked or forgotten, or just not thought through.

Also, please note that most persons with MS have cognitive dysfunctions, including slower speed of processing information and difficulty with retrieving it from memory storage, despite the intellect being intact. We may have problems with attention, planning, organizing, and making decisions. We may not like to talk about it, because of the misconceptions of others. Some may even deny or ignore it, but it is part of the challenges we have in our daily lives.

Andrew K Fletcher Reply:

Wed Jul 15, 2009 9:26 pm
This should be on the first post, as you rightly suggest.

Following a report from a lady with a collapsed vein in the foot who joined the pilot study and found that her circulation in the foot deteriorated due to the incline rather than improving as many had done. It was quickly realised that in the case of a collapsed vein rather than a swollen vein that decreasing the venous pressure as is the case with varicose veins and oedema, the restriction would be further closed.

A post from Cheerleader makes this point and for which I am grateful and would like to learn more if possible. I don't think under these particular circumstances Inclined therapy will be of much use to anyone with a collapsed vein without corrective surgery to open up the veins.

This was written a long time ago and reference can be found on the net.

A collapsed vein is rare and should be carefully monitored and anyone who has this condition should not join this study as this study is aiming to cause the veins to be drawn in by changing the pressure inside the veins and increasing the tension in the blood. In the case of a collapsed vein circulation will already be severely restricted so further reductions in the size of the vessel will restrict circulation rather than improve it in this case. If however a vein has been surgically closed for cosmetic reasons, this is not the same as a collapsed vein and in this case should not complicate your experience using I.T.

One other case was a known heroin addict of many years who had severely damaged veins and ulcerated legs. His veins sustained heavy damage from constant injection in the legs and arms. Hi veins were collapsed and responded well to I.T. with the ulcerated skin becoming fully recovered in several months of avoiding flat bedrest.

With this observation in mind, if you suspect or have a confirmed case of a collapsed vein, I.T. may be of some help but you will need to monitor skin colour and pressure test the skin using a finger pressed firmly into the skin and released. The skin should return to normal colour quickly almost instantly responding to the pressure release as your finger is moved away. If this is not the case during Inclined Therapy you may need to consult your doctor to find a remedial solution before returning to I.T. or indeed returning to sleeping flat.

It is also very important to increase the amount of water you drink using I.T. as it has a diuretic effect on the body as waste products are more effectively removed from the blood more water will also be removed along with it into the bladder and will need to be replenished.

Reference to earlier mention of collapsed vein.
http://www.sheknows.com/articles/804528.htm

Mon Jul 13, 2009 5:40 pm

I would also like to mention, for the sake of any new readers to this forum, that Chronic Venous Insufficiency (or CVI) in publications usually refers to that problem encountered in the legs, but it may be found anywhere in the body. There are various degrees of CVI, and a completely blocked vein would be the most extreme case and would require extreme intervention. This applies to only a small percentage of cases.

Inclined Bed Therapy is a gentle, non-invasive treatment which has been shown to be helpful to non-extreme cases of CVI, including some people with MS.

Logically, most of the factors that increase your risk for CVI in the legs should also be considered factors that would increase your risk for CVI in the brain and spinal cord. Think about such things as: saturated fats in your diet, overweight, smoking, drinking insufficient water, lack of exercise -- in general, anything that would hinder perfect circulation of the blood. We can do for ourselves what no physician can do for us, simply by making some positive changes in these aspects of our lifestyle.

Next week I will make my monthly post related to my own ongoing experience with IBT.

ForeverSpring

Mon Jul 20, 2009 12:18 pm

As of today, my bed has been tilted for 5 months. I have been eagerly awaiting this date to post the changes noticed during the past month.

Summer days are getting hotter. I am not experiencing the MS fatigue or pseudo-exacerbations when I get hot and sweaty -- no more dysarthria and dysphasia (speech and swallowing difficulties) from the heat. My heat tolerance is much improved.

Not only is my body more energetic, but my mind is clearer. Some previous cognitive difficulties have disappeared, some others mitigated, and it feels like I am awakening from a long nightmare, thankful for the freedom and light of day.

I used to inadvertently bite the inside of my left cheek several times a week -- painful and bloody. There is quite a buildup of scar tissue there. That has not happened for weeks.

The stiffness is gone from the lower legs. I used to feel a burning sensation on the soles of my feet upon arising in the morning. It is no more.

There is still some very faint sensation of numbness and tingling in places from head to foot on the left side, but the limbs are not as heavy and that entire side is stronger. There is a new spring in my step.

For the first time in 6 years, I am not limping anymore while walking! :) After living all those years with a weakened left side, I had considered that to be permanent -- with all its accompanying problems -- and expected it to gradually worsen..

During the visit mentioned after my last monthly report, we spent an entire morning at the Denver Zoo. Afterwards, I was impressed at how well my body had handled the heat and being on my feet all morning -- on hard pavement, no less -- but I still had a slight limp.

Several days later, while I was walking from my home to the post office, I noticed that I was not limping as I moved along. I was so excited that, when I arrived at the post office to check for mail in my box, I forgot to mail some items that were in my backpack. About halfway home, I remembered them and returned to the post office to put them in the mail slot. By the time I reached home, I had walked 3 miles and was still not limping.

The next day I decided to really put myself to the test. I walked 5 miles in the midday heat 8O -- with no problems other than a sunburned nose and my hot, sweaty, tender feet did get blisters on the bottoms due to the unaccustomed workout!

To increase strength and endurance, I am gradually increasing my daily walk from 2 miles upward, and am thinking about changing the type of exercise on alternate days. I hope to join some of my family members on their hikes in the mountains before the end of summer -- a goal I could not have envisioned before this new development.

Tue Jul 28, 2009 12:57 am

In my monthly report above, I should have mentioned that, along with the disappearance of years of stiffness in the lower legs, the muscles there no longer look so straight and drawn, but have been filling out and are more normal in appearance -- a visible sign of good things happening! :)

PostPosted: Thu Aug 20, 2009 12:34 pm

Today marks 6 months of using the inclined bed, and improvements still continue.

As someone who has had to wear socks in bed every night for over 40 years because of cold feet, I can tell you that my feet are definitely warmer at night on the inclined bed. The socks get pulled off in the middle of the night now while I am sleeping, but my feet are still nicely warm when I get up in the morning.

Everyone has a favorite position for sleeping. Mine is in lying on the right side, and it has been the only one comfortable for me until recently.

Now I can rest on my back for at least an hour, and not feel any pain or discomfort due to scoliosis or degenerative disc disease. The gentle traction of the inclined bed apparently has stretched my spinal column to this beneficial result.

I can also now lie -- and even sleep -- on my left side for the first time in many years. I used to carefully avoid lying on my left side, because within a few minutes there would be increasing numbness, tingling and pain on that side, along with a lot of cardiac arrhythmia. If I were unfortunate enough to accidentally fall asleep while lying in that position, I would awaken with all of those symptoms highly intensified, and severe spasticity besides. Not so, anymore!

There remain yet some patches of sensation of very mild numbness and tingling along that left side (face, arm, leg) and of burning on the upper arm.

I have not had any spasms anywhere for over two months!

During the years preceding my last exacerbation 6 years ago, I had noticed that, no matter how vigorously or how long I walked, I could no longer achieve that good feeling of an endorphin boost. It had gradually decreased over the years until it felt like there was none.

About a year after that exacerbation, I learned about LDN. One of the major factors in my decision to try it, was that researchers had found that people with MS have only 12-20% of the endorphins that others have, and one of the effects of LDN is that it increases that low level of endorphins by as much as 3 times for the following day. I began taking LDN and have found it to be a great help. Although it does not restore the endorphin level to 100%, the daily increase is far better than what I had previously experienced without it. With LDN I could push myself to walk 2 miles, even though it would make me tired and there was no invigorating endorphin boost from the walk itself. I did it for overall health benefits and because I knew that I must keep my muscles as strong as possible.

Now, over the last several weeks -- for the first time in 10 + years -- the walking exercise is producing a very noticeable endorphin boost! This change suddenly began while I was still walking only 2 miles daily -- which, as I mentioned above, had been a longstanding habit. This is truly amazing, and suggests that much more is happening inside my body due to the tilted bed.

With my left side now stronger and the limp gone, I have gradually increased my walking to a current 5 miles on Monday/Wednesday/Friday, and 2 or 3 miles on the intervening days (sometimes with Exerstrider walking poles for full-body exercise). When the weather is inclement, I resort to my ReboundAir mini-trampoline.

Another noteworthy event involves my immune system, which I would describe as “hyper-reactive“ for most of my life. I have multiple food and environmental allergies and sensitivities. Early this month I went to the local Dental Clinic for my 6-month checkup on my gum disease and dental cleaning. The hygienist is excellent. She really digs and scrapes everything clean. However, this causes a lot of bleeding and discomfort. Whenever I have had this cleaning done in the past, and even last February, it has always stirred up my immune system for a few days, bringing on those familiar “flu-like“ symptoms so common in MS following any body trauma. This time I was very surprised that there was no after effect!

As you can see from my progress reports, the improvements that I am experiencing since inclining my bed are not limited to the circulatory system, but affect also the skeletal, muscle, nerve, endocrine, and immune systems. This therapy seems to benefit the entire body.

ForeverSpring

Sat Aug 22, 2009 10:14 pm

I did it! 8O I am so filled with a sense of wonder that it almost feels like a dream, but I actually did it!

Today I went on a 4 ½ hour hike in the mountains with some family members. We climbed over rocks and tree roots to a lovely lake at an elevation of over 11,000 feet. The round trip was about 6 miles, with the return in the heat of early afternoon. The only little discomfort experienced is in my arthritic knee joints.

This was my first hike in more than 15 years! 8O It never could have happened without the changes due to the inclined bed. I was not the only person in the group to be highly impressed by this feat! What a difference 6 months on the inclined bed has made! :D


 Post subject: Inclined Therapy and Multiple Sclerosis Improvements
Sun Aug 23, 2009 9:11 am

Foreverspring Thank you for confirming the efficacy of Inclined Therapy for people with multiple sclerosis. Finding someone like yourself who is willing to record and report experiences and considerate enough to share your experience with the forum is a rare. I have never understood why so many people remain so ignorant of such a simple life-changing paradigm?

Congratulations on achieving your magnificent goal in the mountains and continued health improvements. While you were at the upper elevation did you experience anything unusual from the altitude regarding your ms numbness and sensation loss you mentioned earlier?

I for one are very excited by your posts and want to shout and tell the world but alas I know that most of the world has been conditioned and more interested in popping the latest pills.

If you ever decide to come to the UK please do let me know.

Perhaps now is a god time for people to read what happened on the earlier pilot studies posted in this thread so a comparison with your own observations can be drawn. And let’s not forget Terri Harrisons’s life changing experience either.

I have friends locally who remain on an inclined bed and who also have massive improvements from non-ms related conditions.

Perhaps one day when I am long dead and buried someone in a white coat might take this important research to the media and deliver it to mainstream medicine where it so rightfully belongs.

We desperately require more people with ms to give Inclined Bed Therapy a fair trial over a minimum of 4 months.

If you are already trialing inclined bed therapy then please share your experiences with the forum.

Andrew

PS, regarding the gum disease, gargle hydrogen peroxide diluted down from 3% to 4 parts water, swish around your mouth repeatedly 3 times a day and do not rinse. Overtime teeth become lovely and white and gum disease becomes history.
Again simple but a fact!


Sun Aug 23, 2009 11:41 am

I awoke at 2:30 this morning feeling hot and dehydrated, and have been sipping extra water today. On the way up the mountain, I exhaled a lot of moisture with my huffing and puffing; my heart was pumping hard and I was sweating profusely, causing more moisture loss through the skin. Although I had a liter of water with me for the hike, next time I would take 2 liters.

At no time during the hike, or even at the elevation of 11,000+ feet, did I experience any worsening of numbness, tingling, sensation loss, or any other MS symptoms. I still have -- as I mentioned in my 6-month report -- some residual patches of paresthesias on my left side, and they remain(ed) the same.

Andrew, you should have seen me climbing over rocks and tree roots, and crossing numerous brooks by balance-walking over a log! I can hardly believe that I actually did this!

On the way home, I kept saying to my daughter, “This is really something! I never could have done this a few months ago!” She agreed. When I told her that the only place I felt the effects of the exertion was in my knees, she cautioned me that I would feel a lot of muscle ache the next day, and pointed out the likely areas to be strained.

However, this morning I am a little tired, due partly to the dehydration and partly to the extra-early awakening, but my knees are only a little achy and there are no sore muscles anywhere! Considering my age, that is nothing short of amazing! I am thinking that the inclined bed must help the body to remove any toxins that would normally cause muscle soreness and stiffness after this kind of exertion. This is far better than I had anticipated!

I hope that you will witness during your lifetime widespread vindication by the medical community of your work. If not, you may know that you have done your best to help as many suffering human beings as you could.

My children are now considering how to incline their beds, too.

ForeverSpring

P.S.: Thank you for your suggestion of diluted 3% hydrogen peroxide for gum disease. I have read that its use at full strength is damaging, but I will investigate the use of the further diluted solution to see what I can find out about it.
 
AndrewKFletcher     
Fri Aug 28, 2009 10:52 am

It is interesting to hear that your expected aches and pains were not evident in the morning.

This may have been why the Ancient Egyptians adopted sleeping on an incline for the workforce building the pyramids, who probably didn't have a medical profession or indeed a physiotherapist.

I say this because I too have experienced the changes in waking up without muscular aches and pains following heavy manual labour when our bed was first elevated.

Have you considered reporting the therapy and your results to your ms consultant?

I wish I had seen you on the mountains defying the generally lousy prognosis people with ms are given. It must have been an awesome experience for you and your family.

It is very difficult for me to use up so much precious time trying to reach people who for some reason known only to them are impervious to thinking for themselves and would much rather let the medical profession think for them. When really I want to grab people and give them a good hard shake and scream the message down their ears in the hope that a few will evaluate what is written and follow your example. Frustrating does not even come close to describe how it feels to have so many people, who I know can be helped by Inclined Therapy, blissfully ignore what you have written and shared here with the people using the forum.

And what really get’s to me is that this is not the first time that people with multiple sclerosis have reported massive improvements. 2 pilot studies have already confirmed the efficacy of I.T for ms and other neurological conditions.

All that is left to say is when you are eventually sick of being sick and have reached a turning point where you have exhausted the endless drug related avenues and heard all of the excuses possible why you are not responding. Give this simple therapy a try for at least 4 months! And maybe, just maybe you can turn that same corner that Foreversping has and take control of your own health.

Apr 24, 2009 10:00 pm
     
I empathize with you in your frustration, Andrew. Thank you again for sharing IBT.

I have not had an MS consultant of any kind for over two years, and do not intend to find another one. My last neurologist retired and moved to a different state. At my final appointment with him, he did mention that he thought that some of my problems appeared to be cerebrovascular, although none of his testing could confirm that. He would be very interested to see the changes wrought in my condition by the inclined bed over these past months!

As mentioned earlier, I went into this experiment due to curiosity -- just to see what would happen. I had not even planned to post about my experience, but now I am glad that I wrote this chronicle, so that others can read it and see the possibilities for themselves. The mitigation and disappearance of signs and symptoms that I have had for years has been amazing. I suspect that there will be more improvements to come, although perhaps more subtle than what has already taken place.

The turnaround of my condition -- simply by altering the position of my bed -- is truly remarkable! Whatever are the little details as to how this is taking place inside my body, it is a life-changing experience that affects all my daily activities and outlook.

Inclined Bed Therapy is wonderful in its simplicity, and fits in well with my natural protocol for good health. While personal lifestyle factors undoubtedly affect its efficacy, it is a valid therapy and I will continue it for the duration of my lifespan.

Happy roads!

ForeverSpring

Fri Nov 27, 2009 3:18 pm

Little things mean a lot.

ErikaSlovakia, in her Inclined Bed Therapy thread on the CCSVI forum, mentioned her relief from nausea after tilting her bed. Me, too! :)

I am now at 9+ months, and am still noting beneficial changes. At my age, when you are expecting only gradual bodily decline, it is so delightful to encounter improvements, even little ones!

My medical history over the last four decades or so has always included a statement like this:
---------------------------
Frequent nausea - almost chronic; usually mild, but not always.
Rare vomiting - seems odd, considering tendency to nausea. One occurrence in 1991, one in 1965; previous occurrences in childhood.
---------------------------
The cause of that nausea was never determined. Since it was (thankfully) only a mild nuisance, I determined to accept it as just a part of my being, and keep moving on. When you live with something like that for most of your life, it just becomes "background noise" and is seldom noticed -- much like my tinnitus. Because I also had other symptoms that accompany a lesion on the vagus nerve, I guessed that I might have a small lesion somewhere on that nerve.

Over the last few months, I had noted that the background nausea was no longer present, but did not connect its disappearance to the altered position of the bed until reading Erika’s comments -- an Aha! moment!

Another little change: I now find that I can thread my sewing needles more easily, because I can actually see the eye of the needle. For several prior years, that was not visible to me, and I would have to make several thrusts with the thread before it would find its own way through the hole. This makes sewing much more enjoyable.

Something strangely wonderful is happening with my memory, too, particularly with numbers. I started noticing this about a month ago in several incidents, and thought it peculiar.

For example, I was looking at a sewing pattern for infant clothing in a catalog in my local fabric shop, but it was out of stock there and I could not decide whether or not to order it. I decided to wait, and went home. A week later, I returned to the shop and told the owner that I would like to order it after all. She asked me the 4-digit number, and I told her and then said, “Wait, I had better go look it up.” I did so, and it was correct!

Another incident: A week ago, a woman I did not know telephoned me from out of state and left a message on my answering machine. It was about some important legal and financial business completely unrelated to me, and I realized that the message was intended for someone else. Since she had given her phone number, I telephoned her regarding the mistake. Thinking about the situation this morning, I can still remember her 10-digit phone number!

I do not know how this is happening, but I like it! :D

: Mon Nov 30, 2009 4:00 pm

As mentioned earlier in this thread, with the use of the inclined bed, spasticity is no longer a problem for me. I have been wondering if it would return with the cold weather, because, in the past, it was more active at the lower temperatures. However, I am still not having those nasty spasms of my previous life.

I live at an elevation of about 8000 feet in the Rocky Mountains, and it is a cool place. In August we had frost several times during the month. It began to snow here on September 21. Temperatures have been gradually falling since then, even as low as -2 F. (-19C.). I try to get outside for a walk every day, unless the wind chill is intolerable. ( In that case, I turn to the mini-trampoline for exercise.)

Still no spasms! :)


Sat Dec 12, 2009 11:02 pm

Today, after some discussion with Andrew about inclined angles in excess of five degrees in the Inclined Bed Therapy thread in the CCSVI forum here:
http://www.thisisms.com/ftopicp-80432.html#80432

I increased the angle of inclination of my bed from 5 degrees to 6.5 degrees.

Why not? :)

Mon Dec 14, 2009 2:24 pm

After trying the 8.5-inch elevation for two nights, I am thinking that I should return my bed to the 6-inch height. I like to experiment, always looking for something better, but sometimes it is best to leave “well-enough” alone! :lol:

Yesterday morning I awoke feeling unbalanced, like my entire left side was congested -- although I sleep on my right side -- and almost walked into the walls a few times.

This morning, the same thing happened. Also, today my entire left side is numb and tingly from head to foot. There is a pinpoint of pain in my left shoulder and just below my left elbow, and that arm feels heavy. (This is the way it was before beginning Inclined Therapy last February.)

This was quite unexpected! 8O Perhaps the change of inclination two days ago has caused the circulation pattern to shift somehow?

I could return to 6 inches for a few nights to allow the left-sided symptoms to calm down, and then try the 8.5 inches again?

The left side is still weakened from my last relapse almost 7 years ago. It improved so much with inclined therapy over the past 9+ months. Maybe these are only temporary signs at the new, higher inclination, and they would disappear shortly?

I am more than a little apprehensive about taking that risk. Everyone’s body is so different. While the higher angle of inclination has worked well for others, it may not be best for me.

Do you have any thoughts on this? Do you know of a similar setback with anyone else who has tried to increase the angle of inclination?

I must choose between 6 inches or 8.5 inches before bedtime tonight. Right now, I think that 6 inches would be the wiser choice. :)


Mon Dec 14, 2009 6:48 pm

That is fascinating! :!: Thanks for your quick reply.

The change made in the incline was so small, really. 8O

Between the time I wrote my last post and the time I read your response, I put the wood blocks under the foot end to change the head elevation back to 6 inches.

I have been staggering around, my head feels top-heavy and achy on top, I am nauseous, and even had some pain deep in my right eye, which has not occurred for a long, long time.

Well, I will not try that again! :lol:

 

 

 

 


 

      Printable Images of the original Raised Bed Survey, conducted by John and Jean Simkins from the Multiple Sclerosis Resource Centre in EssexNow callled the MS-UK
Website: http://www.ms-uk.org/This report should have created a storm of interest in ms circles, yet the majority of people with ms will probably never read it or realise it's significance.   Yet simply raising the head end of your bed by six inches / 15 cm can have a positive affect on your health and symptoms relating to multiple sclerosis. Furthermore unrelated symptoms have also been reported to improve.

But this report is not just about multiple sclerosis. Within this document are reports from two people with complete spinal cord injuries who also observed improvemnts in sensation, bowl and bladder control and movement.

John Simkins said; "In the whole of my time working with people who have ms. This is the first time I have seen something that has a direct positive influence over multiple sclerosis".
 


“A large percentage of MS subjects in our study are sleep deprived and screened positive for one or more sleep disorders,” said Steven Brass, associate clinical professor and director of the Neurology Sleep Clinical Program and co-medical director of the UC Davis Sleep Medicine Laboratory.

“The vast majority of these sleep disorders are potentially undiagnosed and untreated,” he said. “This work suggests that patients with MS may have sleep disorders requiring independent diagnosis and management.”

andrew_k_fletcherListen Now: http://www.ms-uk.org/files/I62_bed.mp3

To Read Article: From the download page locate  "July/August 2010"

Download PDF of magazine for full text version:

http://www.ms-uk.org/copydownloads


Voice Audio of Inclined Bed Therapy Article in "July/August 2010" issue of New Pathways Magazine.

 

Andrew K Fletcher aged 53 is an inventor from a mechanical engineering background who applied density changes in sap from evaporation at the leaves of trees to show how a downward gravity flow can induce a returned less dense flow back to the leaves. He applied the same logic to the circulation of all fluids in the body and has researched a radical new approach to medical conditions including MS, “by thinking outside the box”. His new postural approach to illnesses is called “Inclined Bed Therapy” (I.B.T) this is where people raise their beds starting at 4 inches raising after a few weeks 6 to 8 inches at the “head end” aiming for an angle of around 5 degrees. Andrew Explains Why.

Posture Survey conducted on Thisisms Forum reached 100 vote target?
From:   Andrew K Fletcher )
Sent: 19 June 2010 06:44:09
To:  
.ExternalClass .ecxhmmessage P {padding:0px;} .ExternalClass body.ecxhmmessage {font-size:10pt;font-family:Verdana;} Dear Dr Zamboni, Dr Calude Francheshi, Dr Schelling, Dr Sclafani, Dr Beggs, Helen Yates (MSRC)

The results from a survey relating to posture in people with ms has revealed some very interesting patterns in the onset of new symptoms and relapses.

We would all like to hear your views on the results at Thisisms, and I am sure at the Multiple Sclerosis Resource Centre.

Dear Helen, if you could include a link to the original poll on your site and / or suggest a similar poll for New Pathways Magazine with a link from your website we could test the results. If we could involve a University with a view to publishing a peer reviewed paper based on both results it would prove to be a very valuable contribution to understanding how altering our sitting and sleeping posture can have a tremendous affect on ms symptoms.

Andrew K Fletcher

Reply from Dr Franz Schelling on MS Postural Survey

Postby AndrewKFletcher » Sat Jun 19, 2010 2:18 pm

Email: Permission Obtained From Dr Schelling to share
RE: Posture Survey conducted on Thisisms Forum reached 100 vote target‏
From: Dr. Franz Schelling
Sent: 19 June 2010 08:16:04
To: 'Andrew K Fletcher'

Dear Andrew,

The discrepancy between 1% deteriorations noticed at night while trying to get out of bed and 17% upon rising from bed as well as 18% upon waking in the morning appears remarkable.
In regard of the underlying haemo- and CSF-dynamic events, Alperin’s study fails to take into account that it is respiratory and other other bodily movements and exertions which alter intra- cerebral and –spinal fluid dynamics for more abruptly and intensely than arterial pulsations.

What I would yet primarily be interested to learn more about are the effects of raising the MS patients’ beds at different angles – and the dependence of these effects upon the presence of different forms of stenosis of, on the one hand, lesion-related and, on the other, not lesion related venous drainage systems of the brain.

Sincerely,

Franz


Location of Survey:



When are you most likely to notice a significant relapse /new symptom (RRms) or general deterioration / worsening of symptoms /new symptom (PPms)
Morning after sitting too long (Sitting)
16%
 16%  [ 16 ]
During or After using a wheelchair (Sitting)
6%
 6%  [ 6 ]
During the night while sleeping / trying to sleep (Horizontal)
6%
 6%  [ 6 ]
During or after standing (Upright)
5%
 5%  [ 5 ]
At night while trying to get out of bed (Horizontal)
1%
 1%  [ 1 ]
After or during Walking (Upright)
11%
 11%  [ 11 ]
Following a journey while sitting (Sitting)
12%
 12%  [ 12 ]
In the morning on waking (Horizontal)
18%
 18%  [ 18 ]
In the evening while resting (Sitting)
8%
 8%  [ 8 ]
Rising from bed in the morning (Horizontal)
17%
 17%  [ 17 ]
Total Votes : 100

To gain an understanding of what is likely to happen to you, read this letter from Terri Harrison who for 11 years has remained virtually symptom free. Terri is on my Facebook account friends list, feel free to contact her she would love to hear from anyone.

http://www.msrc.co.uk/downloads/npwm_2002_0011.pdf
Pathways Magazine: Multiple Sclerosis Resource Centre: MSRC

What was published:

Bed Raising Helps
Dear New Pathways, Since sleeping with the head of the bed inclined 6" higher than the foot, I have been in remission for longer periods of time - with instant relapse if I sleep flat. Teresa (Terri) K. Harrison

What Terri Wrote:


Dear Ms. Graham,

I have been asked to write to you to describe how I have been successfully dealing with my Multiple Sclerosis symptoms. I communicate regularly with those who are certain that the ABC drugs are the only way to assure no further progression, yet I feel that they are overlooking something completely safe and effective which has helped me greatly!

I was diagnosed over three years ago with relapse/remitting MS. This was after some ten years of strange symptoms that went undiagnosed. My symptoms began with numbness/tingling (pins and needles sensation) from my shoulders down. That lasted several months. I went to a massage therapist that said my muscles were tight and had my lie on small rubber balls along my spine to help stretch those muscles. Whether that or simple a remission helped, I'm not certain. The tingling was accompanied with a strange sensation when I tilted my chin down to my chest. I found out after the MS diagnosis that this is L'Hermitte's sign and was nearly an assurance of MS. I wish someone had told me that then! My family doctor has little experience with MS and didn't refer me to the proper specialist with such strange erratic symptoms. About five years ago I had a problem which came on suddenly as I was driving. I experienced double vision. I immediately went to an optician to get a pair of glasses. Yet I complained that they didn't help much when she prescribed bi-focals at age 33! After a few weeks a changed to a pair of single vision lenses that I wore for some time. Other strange feelings from the on-set was a feeling that my skin was burned. It was super-sensitive to the lightest touch. My doctor diagnosed a muscular problem and gave my muscle relaxers. They only made me sleepy and the problem would come and go erratically. I noticed that a chill would bring this feeling on and taking a warm shower with gentle massage could get it to pass more quickly. Sometimes the feeling would take weeks to pass and I could get it down to days or hours with the warm massage.


The queerest thing that happened to hasten the MS diagnosis was when I woke up one morning totally without central vision in my left eye. I went to the hospital and they did a CT scan and other tests with no diagnosis. A few weeks later I got an appointment with an ophthalmologist. After observing that I had no pupil reaction to light with no other problems, she asked if I had ever been diagnosed with MS. I told her I has no diagnosis and she suggested that a neurologist would most likely agree with her that that was the correct diagnosis. She told me I was experiencing Optic Neuritis and that it would like pass in another three weeks. She was precisely right!
After a second episode of Optic Neuritis with the same eye and not quite such a drastic loss of sight, I had an MRI of my brain. The radiologist who read the results gave a certain diagnosis of MS. I followed up with a visit to a neurologist.I was terribly fascinated with the MS diagnosis. I knew very little about this disease and read everything I could. While I was looking for information on the internet, I was looking for specific suggestions about relief from a hot, burning sensation, different from anything I'd felt before.


One link took me to a page when Betty Iams was suggesting a possible hint for MS sufferers. She suggested that she had this burning feeling and she had a great deal of trouble walking. I had been noting a little trouble with walking, but a great deal of this burning. She also indicated that the need to get up to urinate during the night interrupted her sleep. I had a little trouble with this too. She suggested a study that she was involved in for people with MS who were not on any other medications. She had tremendous results and it seemed silly not to give it a try.


Betty's suggestion was from Andrew Fletcher. Andrew has done extensive research, which originally began when he discovered how trees raise water. Andrew found a way to use gravity to lift water higher than was originally thought to be possible using current physics theory! Through extensive research, Andrew took his theory further by relating the new laws of physics to how our human bodies function. His theory is that all of our bodies contain mineral salts and sugars and that when we lie flat they accumulate, without being circulated or removed by the bladder. These minerals may be what is "eating away" at the myelin causing the MS symptoms. Andrew's thoughts suggest that sleeping with our body inclined slightly, we increase the body's own circulatory system washing away the minerals that are at fault. My first thought was one of confusion over the scientific principals, but that the notion of simply raising the bed seemed so simple that I had to try it. I placed two plastic crates under the frame of the bed. I measured and that was only 5 inches higher at the head than the foot, but was the best I could do easily. The first night I tried this, I noted that the burning in my leg was gone and I didn't get up during the night. My husband hated it since we slid down to the foot and wasn't going to do it again. I put us back flat and went back to the burning feeling right away. The next night I was ready to send him to the couch! I was going back to inclined. I did add a footboard to ease the sliding down problem.

 

For three years I have been sleeping in this position. I have had no further major symptoms with MS. I do have an occasional problem usually aggravated by stress or lack of enough sleep time. I had an occasion to sleep flat in a hotel for one night and I had an episode of Optic Neuritis that passed the very next night I was back to my own bed! The bed has helped my husband with his gastric reflux and we both snore much less! Neither of us would go back to sleeping flat. I have modified the plastic crate method of raising the bed. We now are using plastic PVC pipe that the legs of the bed simple fit into and the frame rests on top as if we'd simply extended the legs. The head of the bed is 6 inches (15 cm) higher than the foot of the bed. The only medication that I take is .5 mg of Xanax to assure a solid night's sleep and cholesterol medication, 20 mg of Zocor. Sleeping inclined was certainly helpful for me. I recently had another MRI. "There are no enhancing lesions to suggest acutely active plaques and no other contrast-enhancing lesions are depicted on the MRI". This is in stark contrast to the MRI three years ago! My only lingering symptom is some loss of feeling in my left hand. Increased use and exercise seems to improve its condition slowly.


Terri Harrison

By the way...I used the PVC pipe with I travelled to Trinidad. It worked perfectly!!! I didn't get a lot of sleep while travelling, but a single night in "my" bed put me back to normal!!

Had dinner where I had previously told the waitress about sleeping inclined. She has used over 8 kinds of medicine, including interferons, for her MS. She didn't see anything wrong with trying the bed - and it didn't cost her anything (her other meds cost more than she makes!!) She is very happy to report that it is working!! She doesn't have the muscle cramping and some of her other symptoms have stayed in remission!! She wanted me to thank you for all your work to get her where she is now - after only a month or two!! (She has been diagnosed for over 15 years)

Replies from Terri Harrison

I truly have had a wonderful experience sleeping inclined since February 1998 when I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. At that time I was looking for information and ran into someone with similar experiences to mine - I found someone who had some pain and other symptoms. She was recommending sleeping inclined and put me in touch with Andrew.

What he offered involved no pain or money (my kind of therapy!!) I used a couple of large books to prop on the frame of my bed (how easy!!) The very first night, the symptoms subsided. That was amazing - but my husband complained about sliding down. I thought - no problem, it worked. I removed the books and slept flat again. The pain came right back! I suggested my husband could sleep on the couch or get over it.

We have both been sleeping inclined ever since. My neurologist asks me during my annual visit how I'm doing. I've had subsequent MRI's and there is no sign that I'm progressing negatively. The doctor reminds me that MS isn't supposed to get better (but I appear to be!) Smile

Beginning in a few days I'm going to start toward a degree in nursing. My doctor is encouraging my studies - he doesn't foresee any problems with this rather serious endeavor. The MS is not a problem for me. I try to stay in touch with my body and take it seriously if it tells me I'm tired or too hot or cold. The best thing for these "problems" is to go to bed and get some rest. It has never failed to restore me to where I was before I was ever diagnosed with this "debilitating" disease!

Feel free to contact me at tharri8896ATbex.net if you have other questions! Replace the AT for @ to talk to Terri

Terri Harrison
USA

Quote:

Question on thisisms  forum:  Terri,

Curious minds would like to know . . . What has it been like to spend 11 years with MS on a tilted bed?  How old were you when you started? How has it helped you? Has your MS progressed at all since you began this therapy?

I am looking forward to hearing from you, and I am sure that others will find your experience interesting and encouraging, too.

Reply:
Terri Harrison
28 May at 03:35
I was 34 when I was diagnosed with MS. I was lucky enough to find about about the tilted bed right away. My husband complained about falling off the end, but I found an old headboard and we used it as a footboard and that stopped the problem.

I have experienced some occasional flare-ups, but nothing that hasn't passed completely. I occasionally "play" with the height at the head, but if something flares up, I go for a higher setting for a few months (or more) and it ALWAYS works!

"Marrital" relations are a big more challenging on an incline, but who says we can't use a different bed (the guest bed?) for that? It's not like I intend to SLEEP. Sleep is serious business to only be carried out on the inclined bed for my nightly MS therapy.

Even on vacation, I take my PVC pipe pieces to prop up the head. I have wondered what the airline screeners thought about the pipes in my suitcases!

Terri Harrison

 

MSRC Logo from Raised Bed Survey

 

RAISED BED SURVEY

Therapeutic approach by Andrew Fletcher

(Raised the head of the bed by six inches/ 15 cm)

Interviews conducted face to face 20th-22nd June 1997

9 with people who have MS, 4 with people who have: -

Severe spinal injury =2, psoriatic arthritis =1,

Ex-terminal alcoholic =1.

(in some instances the experiences of the partners were noted)

plus 1 telephone interview with a person who has MS

1 discounted face to face interview where bed was not used over 7 months

Interviewers Mr John Simkins & Mrs Jean Simkins

(Andrew Fletcher attended some interviews as observer)

Method & Approach

Evaluation in every case and on each aspect considered is based on the answers given by the interviewees and therefore each report amounts to a subjective review. IN a few cases there is some more objective evidence, e.g. reports of optical examinations and access to records of physical recovery of the spinal injuries, psoriatic arthritis and alcoholism. Medical reports haven not been sought but two opticians reports were supplied.

The values given to answers obtained from specific questions are based on perceived degrees of change on using the raised bed, from the 'norms' described for the preceding months or years. Pertinent to this approach is the comment by one responder to a 1997 MSRC survey:- "When my MS started my condition was considered abnormal, nowMS is well establishedmy condition is considered normal!"

Thus changes from what had been considered 'normal' were verbally examined for extent, depth, permanence and influence on lifestyle.

 The Multiple Sclerosis Resource Centre Limited- Company No. 284203-Registered Charity No. 1033731. Registered Office- 4a Chapel Hill, Stansted, Essex CM24 8AG. Fax No. 01279 647179

 Basis of assessment

This report is submitted in the knowledge that no scientific validity can be claimed nor indeed was there ever any intention to do so. The objective was to identify why and how people believe they have benefited, or not, and to quantify and where possible evaluate the quality of their information about use of the raised bed.

We have done that with 14 people, most of who have MS. What we found at worst is generally encouraging and, in the case of certain signs and symptoms, suggests that substantial benefits may be obtained.

We believe there is good reason to conduct further investigation into the therapeutic value of sleeping on a bed raised by six inches / 15cm at the head. What is at work here is not specific to multiple sclerosis but the disease offers an excellent test-bed for investigation of affect on wide range of symptoms. The basis of physical and sensory sign and symptom improvement via this therapy is rooted in encouraging a body process that is normal and essential to human life and is an integral function in every human body.

It is our view that further work could best be done by a series of relatively short term studies on group of people who would be subject to detailed analyses of medical and health condition before and after the study period, and be monitored regularly throughout.

We believe that nothing in this report is overstated. A study protocol would benefit from taking on board much of what was learned and is reported from this survey. The additional use of other parameters including biological data related to blood and fluid circulation in the human body and a whole-body approach to analysing the results, would be likely to provide a viable objective view of this approach.

 

MS ONLY INTERVIEWEES

Breakdown- age, time from diagnosis, time using bed

Ages

30-39 years = 2: 40-49 =2: 50-59 =5: 60-75 =1

TIME FROM DIAGNOSIS

Range- 3 months to 26 years: Average = 11 years

TIME USING RAISED BED

3-6 months =3: 7-12 months=2: 13-18 months=5

 

 

EVALUATIONS

Key to scores and values shown below are as used throughout.

Value

(1) Change noticed at minimum level; may be spasmodic; may not continue; may not be obvious to others.

Table 1, Second highest number of changes at this level

(2)Definite change; mostly continuous; obvious to others; sufficient to relieve a sign/symptom to a moderate level.

Table 1, Highest numbers of changes were described at this level.

(3) Definite change with good sign/symptom relief; commented on by others; benefit is functional ability, virtually continuous; any fall back is short term and benefit recurs at a similar level

Table 1, Fourth highest number of changes.

(4) High level of change; very good benefit in functional ability; very obvious to others; only occasional short-term regressions in level of benefit.

Table 1, third highest number of changes.

(5) Exceptional change particularly with tremor and Oedema; very obvious to others

Table 1, Only two people at this level

Table 1 All;

Overall, the analysis shows various levels of improvement over 18 different signs/symptoms. All figures show that for every sign/symptom at least three people (30%) have indicated a benefit at one of the five values.

Value 2 shows the largest number of indications of benefit (which may include the same people in more than one sign/symptom).

There are three signs and symptoms with the highest number of people (7) claiming benefits, (at various values). They are Mobility: Balance: Bladder: Hair condition.

The second highest number (6) includes Co-ordination: Optical: Oedema/Veins: Sleep: Wakeup: Finger/toe nails: Temperature.

The third highest number (5) includes Tremor: Spasm: Healing/Skin Quality: Sensory Perception; Energy level: Pain.

The least number (3) includes mood swings: Endurance

 

Changes

1

%

2

%

3

%

4

%

5

%

All

%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mobility/Balance

4

40

 

 

1

10

2

20

 

 

7

70

Tremor

1

10

2

20

1

10

 

 

1

10

5

50

Spasm

1

10

2

20

1

10

1

10

 

 

5

50

Co-ordination

2

20

2

20

1

10

1

10

 

 

6

60

Skin Qual/Healing

1

10

 

 

1

10

3

30

 

 

5

50

Optical

2

20

2

20

2

20

 

 

 

 

6

60

Oedema & Veins

 

 

 

 

4

40

1

10

1

10

6

60

Bladder

2

20

3

30

1

10

1

10

 

 

7

70

Sensory

2

20

2

20

 

 

1

10

 

 

5

50

Mood Swings

2

20

1

10

 

 

 

 

 

 

3

30

Strength/Endurance

2

20

 

 

 

 

1

10

 

 

3

30

Energy Level

3

30

 

 

1

10

1

10

 

 

5

50

Sleep Patterns

2

20

2

20

1

10

1

10

 

 

6

60

Wake Up

1

10

3

30

1

10

1

10

 

 

6

60

Condition Nails

 

 

5

50

 

 

1

10

 

 

6

60

Condition Hair

 

 

4

40

1

10

2

20

 

 

7

70

Temperature

1

10

3

30

1

10

1

10

 

 

6

60

Pain

 

 

3

30

 

 

2

20

 

 

5

50

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Totals

26

34

17

20

2

99

 Table 1

The list of signs and symptoms includes only those with 3 people or more reporting improvements whatever the strength of those improvements. Improvements in signs and symptoms reported by less than 3 people over all values are listed in table 1a.

Table 1 illustrates the range of values for each of the 18 signs/symptoms, reported by the 10 people with MS we interviewed. Each person was permitted only one beneficial change, (horizontal axis) against any one sign/symptom.

The interviewers allocated the value.

Table 1a Improvements in signs/symptoms reported by less than three people.

General weakness = 1 person: Bowel = 2: weight change = 2: Memory = 2: Concentration=2: Fatigue = 2: Speech = 1:

Asthma = 1: Other respiratory = 2: Circulation = 1:

We find this an interesting list, as there was very little benefit reported in the respiratory function and related conditions. It seemed natural to assume that these would respond very well to this particular type of therapy. However it appeared that only three people had these conditions at a reportable level.

Fatigue also offers food for thought, as it can be one of the root causes of problems with memory, concentration and speech. Considered as a composite area of benefit then the total becomes a hefty 7, and maybe the relationship of these and the therapy could be grounds for a study that we did not have time to do.

 

Notes related to table 2

There were 38 reports of no change over the full range of 18 signs/symptoms.

People reporting no change may have reported on more than one sign/symptom.

The highest number of no change reports

16 including spasm; oedema/veins; sensory; mood swings; strength/endurance; energy level; condition of nails; temperature

9 including mobility/balance; tremor; bladder;

8 including numbness; optical.

5 including co-ordination; skin quality/healing; sleep patterns; wake up; pain.

Perceptions of no change were a disappointment to people trying this therapy method, a response to be expected with any failed therapy. It is our belief that

table 2 indicates a high degree of integrity on the part of the interviewees.

Continued deterioration

We were surprised to receive only 4 reports of MS deterioration. It was not possible in the time available to establish much in the way of detail but as shown in table 2 the signs/symptoms involved were :- numbness: mood swings: Strength/endurance.

TABLE 2

NO CHANGE AND DETERIORATION

Changes

No Change

%

 

Continued Deterioration

Mobility/Balance

3

30

 

1

Numbness

4

40

 

 

Tremor

3

30

 

 

Spasm

2

20

 

 

Co-ordination

1

10

 

 

Skin Quality/Healing

1

10

 

 

Optical

4

40

 

 

Oedema & Veins

2

20

 

 

Bladder

3

30

 

 

Sensory

2

20

 

 

Mood swings

2

20

 

1

Strength/Endurance

2

20

 

2

Energy Level

2

20

 

 

Sleep Pattern

1

10

 

 

Wake up

1

10

 

 

Condition Nails

2

20

 

 

Temperature

2

20

 

 

Pain

1

10

 

 

 

 

INTERVIEWS WITH 4 PEOPLE NOT HAVING MS

 

Although these interviewees do not have multiple sclerosis we considered it relevant to talk with them in view of the way the therapy is thought to influence the overall functioning of the body. It seemed reasonable to investigate changes they experienced using the raised bed, particularly those producing similar reports to those of the people with MS.

We saw two men who have severe spinal injuries, a lady who has psoriatic arthritis, a male alcoholic of fifteen years addiction, whose medical specialist had given a prognosis of death within 3 months.

Improvements were reported in twenty different signs/symptoms, each with a value of between 1 and 5. Not every person reported on the same signs/symptoms and some reported no change. Overall, the best responding sign/symptom with this small group was Strength/Endurance with all 4 reporting beneficial change. (See table 3).

The second most common benefits included

Optical; Bladder; Sensory; Energy level; Sleep pattern; Wake up; Condition of nails; Temperature.

The least responses were seen in,

Mobility/Balance, Spasm, Co-ordination, Skin Quality/Healing, Oedema, Bowel, Weight change, Fatigue, Respiratory conditions, Pain.

No benefits were reported for

Tremor, Weakness, Mood swings, Memory, Concentration, Speech, and Circulation.

The highest number of changes were recorded at value 2 (21) closely followed by value 3 (19) and there were 5 changes at value 4 (see chart for details).

There were 3 reports of no-change, including Condition of hair, condition of Nails and Optical

There were no reports of deterioration.

 

TIME USING RAISED BED

Non MS Interviewees

Range = 8 months to 15 months


  TABLE 3 NON MS 4--People

Changes

1

%

2

%

3

%

4

%

5

%

All

%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mobility/Balance

 

 

1

25

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

25

Numbness

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

25

 

 

1

25

Spasm

 

 

1

25

1

25

 

 

 

 

3

50

Co-ordination

 

 

1

25

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

25

Skin Quality/Healing

 

 

 

 

2

50

 

 

 

 

2

50

Optical

 

 

1

25

2

50

 

 

 

 

3

75

Oedema & Veins

 

 

 

 

 

 

2

50

 

 

2

50

Bladder

1

25

1

25

1

25

 

 

 

 

3

75

Sensory

 

 

2

50

1

25

 

 

 

 

3

75

Strength/Endurance

 

 

3

75

1

25

 

 

 

 

4

100

Energy Level

 

 

2

50

 

 

1

25

 

 

3

75

Sleep Patterns

 

 

 

 

2

50

1

25

 

 

3

75

Wake Up

 

 

1

25

2

50

 

 

 

 

3

75

Condition Nails

 

 

2

50

1

25

 

 

 

 

3

75

Condition Hair

 

 

1

25

1

25

 

 

 

 

2

50

Temperature

 

 

1

25

2

50

 

 

 

 

3

75

Respiratory

 

 

 

 

1

25

 

 

 

 

1

25

Pain

 

 

 

 

2

50

 

 

 

 

2

50

Combined Results IN 14 People MS & NON MS

We finally combined the results for both the MS only group of ten and the Non-MS group of 4 to give an overall analysis of the full 14 interviewees. (See table 4).

This provides, in our view, some confirmation of the conclusion, based on the MS only results, that there could be an autonomic function at work, which may well be capable of influencing certain signs/symptoms.

TABLE 4 MS & Non MS Improvements 14 People

Changes

1

%

2

%

3

%

4

%

5

%

All

%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mobility/Balance

4

28

1

7

1

7

2

14

 

 

8

56

Tremor

1

7

2

14

1

7

 

 

1

7

 

 

Spasm

1

7

3

21

2

14

1

7

 

 

5

35

Co-ordination

2

14

3

21

1

7

1

7

 

 

7

49

Skin Quality/Healing

1

7

2

14

1

7

3

21

 

 

7

49

Optical

2

14

3

21

4

28

 

 

 

 

9

63

Oedema & Veins

 

 

 

 

4

28

3

21

1

7

8

56

Bladder

3

21

4

28

2

14

1

7

 

 

10

71

Sensory

2

14

4

28

1

7

1

7

 

 

8

56

Strength/Endurance

2

14

3

21

1

7

1

7

 

 

7

49

Energy Level

3

21

2

14

1

7

2

14

 

 

8

56

Sleep Patterns

2

14

2

14

3

21

2

14

 

 

9

64

Wake Up

1

7

4

28

3

21

1

7

 

 

9

64

Condition Nails

 

 

7

50

1

7

1

7

 

 

9

64

Condition Hair

 

 

5

35

2

14

2

14

 

 

9

64

Temperature

1

7

4

28

3

21

1

7

 

 

9

64

Pain

 

 

3

21

2

14

2

14

 

 

7

49

Table 4 lists 17 signs/symptoms which, with the exception of 'Mood swings', correlate with the 18 listed in Table1. This table combines the results of the two groups (14 people) and relates only to signs and symptoms recorded for five people or more. (36%), as the cut off point.

CONCLUSION

In each of the Tables we have presented results in terms of numerical strengths per sign/symptom, the related percentages of the appropriate total of interviewees and also how each of the values benefits (1-5) points to the corporate perception of benefits that the groups report they have obtained.

Overall we received well explained subjective reports in most instances, firmly suggesting that people believe there are benefits, many of them substantial, to be gained from using the raised bed as proposed by Andrew K Fletcher.

The obvious determination of the interviewees to be as accurate as they could with their comments was very helpful, if occasionally adding to the time needed to complete the interview. Unfailingly, we were received with great courtesy and interest in what we were there to do.

We carefully looked for evidence of exaggeration without finding any beyond the normal tendency to sound positive and present a good face. Even so, there were one or two who were clearly fearful of believing in what they considered genuine.

There is a lot of interesting information to be obtained from our survey, which we believe should be used to look more intensely at this therapeutic approach. Not, it is emphasised, simply from an MS standpoint alone, but taking into account of the autonomic function that forms the basis of Andrew Fletcher's proposal.

Should there be a proposal for further study, there must be an adequate protocol that includes provision for educational and training input to patients involved, explanation of the practice of using the bed and the general principle on which the concept is founded; frequent and effective monitoring of each user between starting and follow-up medical examinations.

It is no secret that it is difficult for people in any project to keep to the protocol if they are left to their own devices, without regular encouragement to stay with it.

 

Signed John Simkins

News Article about Inclined Therapy and multiple sclerosis Herald Express 1999
HERALD EXPRESS, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1999 11

Sweet dreams of cure for MS

Can sufferers heal themselves in their sleep?

AN OUT-of-work boiler-maker from South Devon claims he is on the verge of a breakthrough in the treatment of multiple sclerosis -using six inch blocks of wood.
Andrew Fletcher believes sufferers from the crippling neurological disease can ease their symptoms simply by tilting their beds.
Two woman who were each blind in one eye apparently regained their sight after sleeping at an angle.
And now the 43-year-old Paignton man has embarked on a worldwide research project in a bid to prove his theory — and force a cynical medical establishment to sit up and take notice.
Mr Fletcher, who has no scientific or medical qualifications, is trying to recruit 300 MS sufferers via the internet to test his ideas.
by JON ROSAMOND
He wants volunteers to sleep with their heads and shoulders raised by six inches and to record their observations in a diary.
The cause of MS, which affects 85,000 people in the UK alone, has baffled scientists for years.
Mainstream studies are concentrating on immunology and virology, cell biology, epidemiology and genetics.
One high-tech theory is that a virus or bacterial infection prompts the body's immune system to attack itself.
But Mr Fletcher, of Berry Drive, insists that fluids are driven through the body by gravity — and that chemical impulses cannot travel through the nervous system so effectively when the spinal cord is lying horizontally.
He insists that some of the 100 participants who have signed up for his trial so far are already reporting improvements in their symptoms.
"People have stopped sweating so much at night, they've stopped getting up to go to the loo, their balance is better in the morning and they don't feel so stiff," he said.
"I've got an oil tanker skipper from Bolivia taking part, a cardiologist from South Africa and even a neurologist from Canada.
"He is sceptical but he's going to give it a try. It all suggests that I'm on the right track."
Betty lams, an MS sufferer and author from California, has also reported positive results after sleeping with her head raised.
"I'm very excited about this study. Together we will make a difference," she said.
Although the powers that be in Britain have branded Mr Fletcher's earlier research efforts "unscientific," they seem unwilling to repeat them.

ANDREW Fletcher, who is looking for volunteers to put his theory to test the work on a larger scale.
"Most medical studies are funded by charities and huge drug companies — and there are no profits in my idea because it's so simple," he said.
"The Multiple Sclerosis Society are not being helpful. There seems to be a reluctance to accept new ideas.
"Adrian Sanders (Torbay's MP) tried to get the Prime Minister and Department of Health to listen, without success.
"I intend to use my data to beat the MS Society with a big stick and force them to take action — even if it bankrupts me."

Determined

Adrian Ellis, the charity's spokesman, told the Herald Express: "He's a determined man — you can't knock him for that.
"But neurologists can't see how sleeping at a slightly different angle would affect MS, which is a complex disorder.
"Let's see the proof. Then we'll prick up our ears and pay attention."
Mr Ellis conceded that alternative therapies had a "hard time" from the medical establishment because their claims are harder to prove.
"The list of these therapies is as long as your arm. If people find benefit from one of them, we would not try to stop them using it.
"But we would urge people to approach it with caution and get advice from a doctor."
What is multiple sclerosis?
MULTIPLE sclerosis is a disease of the brain and spinal cord and occurs when the fatty sheath that protects the nerve fibres becomes scarred.
When the myelin sheath is working properly, electrical impulses to the muscles and sensory organs are passed quickly and efficiently.
If it is damaged the messages become slower, distorted or non-existent.
The symptoms depend on which nerves are affected but include blurred vision, pain behind the eyes, ringing in the ears, tingling or numbness in the arms or legs.
Some people experience giddiness, loss of balance, difficulty with walking, speech problems and incontinence.
Countries with temperate climates, such as the UK, have a higher incidence of MS and the condition is more common in northern latitudes such as Scotland.