How can I keep myself upright while sleeping?

Posted by cjj2 @cjj2, Feb 1 9:38am

Seems like this would be a simple thing to do, but even with a wedge pillow I seem to slide down. Reflux wakes me up. I stop eating 4 hours before bedtime, but continue to drink water. I had an Ivor Lewis esophagectomy 4 years ago. For the past few months, I have had an irritated feeling in my throat & a dry cough. More recently, I have had occasional problems swallowing liquids - seems to go down the wrong way & sets off violent coughing. I’m worried about aspirating, but that’s another issue.
Any ideas for better upright sleeping?

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earle | @earle | May 2 9:53am

In reply to @gravity3 "It may not be the best sleep but I needed to sleep in a recliner." + (show)

@gravity3 It can be lived with. I slept in one for the 6.5 weeks of chemoradiation. I'm odd in that I opted against surgery (mostly age) and went to MD Anderson, although I've been to Mayo for another condition. I do, however, have GERD. I'm on Medicare and found that they would pay for a hospital-type bed, which I've used for about six months. Post-treatment and after returning to home, I tried everything which has been mentioned, including the whole-bed wedge. Nothing has equaled the Drive-branded hospital bed. They're not as expensive as one might think and, if Medicare wouldn't cover it, I'd buy it out of pocket. FWIW, the recliner was from Wayfair and it did as good a job as could be expected. It was fully electric, like my bed...