Painful pressure points at night - any advice?

Everyday living
1

Hello to you all, I was wondering if anyone had any helpful advice on the above. The pain is so bad in my hips joints when lay in bed on my side, that I have to regularly turn. This is becoming increasingly difficult for me to do as my legs ‘lock’ in spasm, despite Baclofen, magnesium tablets and oil and Botox injections (which I am due for again) and I have to wake my husband to turn me. As you can imagine this is not ideal as we both need our sleep. Does anyone have any helpful tips?

Take care, Jo

2

Yes, I can offer some advice as I am in a similar situation.

A few things might help.

They all need the help of any of the following; district nurse, OT, GP, physio…depending who can do the necessary first!

I have an electric profiling bed…it sits me up, as I have no core strength at al, it also raises my legsl…Social worker at respite centre got me that, as soon as I got home.

I have an electric air circulating mattress…have tried many to find what`s best…district nurses are so patient with me, through all the changes.

There are sleep systems…OT or physio have seen me about these.

Placing soft pillows between your knees and ankles will stop bone on bone or skin on skin pressure pain.

Heel protectors made of silicone or foam may help.

I was getting really painful heels for years and nurses treated it as pressure pain, but nothing helped, until it was thought it could be nerve pain, not pressure. So I`ve been on pregabalin for a few weeks and there is definitely a benefit. The pain is reduced by about 90%! I still need my feet supported by a pilllow.

So., hope this lot helps you a bit. It`s a horrible problem when pains prevents a good nights sleep.

How is your hubby coping with broken sleep?

I have a carer sleepover 1 night a week, so my hubby can get a rest, without worrying about me.

luvPollx

3

Hi Poll, thank you for reply. You have provided me with several useful snippets of information and advice - some avenues I have been down already and some yet to try. I am seeing my GP next week anyway and will ask about Pregbalin, as I don’t like taking Neurofen every night.

My husband is not coping at all well with broken sleep as he has a demanding job. Things are not great at the moment due to my increasing deterioration, but on a positive note, we are working on obtaining help. (To be honest we are both struggling). He needs regular breaks and just isn’t getting any. We are due to have a carer’s assessment in the near future,

Thanks again, Jo xxx

4

Hi, oh I am pleased to have been able to help.

As well as having an assessment for your hubby, what about looking into Direct Dayments for yourself?

I have 16.75 hours a week, plus the 1 night sleepover. A lady comes in every morning, to get me up, showered and dressed. 2 others take me shoppping, to see a film and to enjoy a bit of retail therapy too!

Twice a year, my carers take me for short breaks, which gives my hubby a few good nights and days rest too.

pollx

5

At present I don’t think we qualify for financial help. I had a medical ill-health pay out from the last company I worked for. The remainder of this money (supposedly for my future) is about to be spent on an extension and altertions to our house to make our lives a lot easier, for example a wet room, open plan living space and easy access to ouside decking area. At present we have no help whatsoever and are just about to embark on this minefield,

from daunted Jo xxx

6

My guess (and it is a guess) is that you might benefit from a few stretching exercises to open up the hip. It’s fairly common for us MSers to experience a tightening of hip ligaments and some work with a decent physio, or osteopath, could help increase your range of motion and perhaps reduce the pain.

I hope you find a workable solution, because lack of sleep is miserable and can’t help with fatigue either.

7

[quote=Golightly]

Hello to you all, I was wondering if anyone had any helpful advice on the above. The pain is so bad in my hips joints when lay in bed on my side, that I have to regularly turn. This is becoming increasingly difficult for me to do as my legs ‘lock’ in spasm, despite Baclofen, magnesium tablets and oil and Botox injections (which I am due for again) and I have to wake my husband to turn me. As you can imagine this is not ideal as we both need our sleep. Does anyone have any helpful tips?

Take care, Jo Hello Jo. I too have trouble sleeping at night due to joint pain. OT just been today to do an home assessment. She’s arranging for something thats going to help me with getting out of bed to take the pressure off my joints…part of it slots under the bed. I can’t remember what its called, my memory is rubbish, along with some gadgets for the bathroom. Maybe your GP could arrange an home asessment for you? All the best,