United Brachial Plexus Network

I'm only 25 years post injury but like you I am recently and for the first time having problems getting comfortable at night. I used to sleep on the right hand (affected) side, too but now seem to spend the whole night tossing and turning, and some mornings my neck is so stiff when I wake up I can't turn my head. If I sleep on the non affected (left) side I need a pillow under my arm and that's annoying and makes me hot. I currently have a virus which my gp says is probably affecting things so I'm hoping that when I've shaken that off I'll be sleeping better. I am also looking into amputation, that dead weight hanging off my shoulder all this time can't be helping and every other long termer I've spoken to who has had it done says it is the best thing they ever did. Scary tho....

I hope you get some slightly less drastic solutions offered! Remember if you do have any kind of stress or illness it will definitely affect the arm, it does mine.
Good luck Jen NZ

I too have a horrible habit of sleeping on my left side (affected side). I just went and had a neuromuscular massage and the gal told me to try sleeping with one of those body pillows between my legs at night. It helps keep your spine aligned properly and it has helped me to stay off my bad arm. I do tend to kick the pillow out though and end up on my arm still. At least I'm off of it for a while.

I too find myself prefering to sleep on my right side which is my affected arm. I don't get entirely comfortable on my unaffected side either, so I sleep with a stuffed animal.
When I go away and forget my stuffed animal I really notice a difference, and not a good one.
So I'm 25 and still sleeping with a stuffed animal. I have also considered a body pillow.

I am also a poor sleeper... I just cannot find a comfortable spot. I use to sleep on the right obpi side and that kept my arm warm but now it hurts and if I sleep on the left side I need a pillow to prop up the obpi arm and just gets so annoying. And then there is the problem of keeping the right side of my face and robpi arm warm while moving from side to side... Sleeping on my back also causes my neck to get hurt. I sleep very little and thought I was the only poor sleeper.

I twist and turn all night long and usually only sleep 4 to 5 hours straight. If I sleep 6 hours I think I have won a jackpot! Wow thanks for posting this now I know what to blame my sleeping habits on...

Kath

I sleep on the non obpi side. The only problem I have is that that arm frequently falls asleep so I am compressing a nerve somewhere. That sometimes wakes me up. Other than that, I am a very very deep sleeper and need a full 8 hours.

Frequently the shoulder falls into me from the obpi side. Hard to describe but you all will know what I mean. The muscles aren't there to hold it in place and the shoulder falls into my face. I find that if I place a pillow under the obpi arm it helps keep this from happening.

Nancy

I generally toss and turn alot too. I can tell when I haven't because my left (the OBPI side) arm will be asleep. I also sleep with extra pillows. I wrap my arm and leg over them....it really helps. I would suspect a body pillow would work the same as my two pillow method

OK, I have sleep problems too.I am LOBPI and always thought it was due to,menopause,or sleep apnea. My Dr. recommended a sleep test which I had and they never considered my LOBPI;ruled out sleep apnea and thought it is a medication side effect as I am on a life long course of an antidepressant. Now thanks to you all sharing on this topic I now feel it is OBPI related as I have never had longer than 4-5 hours of sleep for years even before I started on the antidepressant! I also have the same pain issues on my affected side at night as well as arm& hand asleep when I awaken. Thanks everyone,we are not alone!! I will definitely try the body pillow. No position stays comfortable for too long for me & wakes me up.
Carolyn

My son who is 32 has a rbpi from an accident in 95. He has always slept on his back without moving all night with his affected arm just laid out besides him straight after he has taken it out of the sling for sleeping. He told me he hasn't missed sleeping in any other positions. We tease him a little because you can almost see the indentation of his body on the mattress!

I hate to say this but I am happy too!

I thought it was just me! When I woke up last night... I laughed to my self because the first thought I had was, all you guys were up too! Well, except for Jenny I can't remember if it is day in NZ when its night here in NY... or if its the next day!

I will try the body pillow
Kath

xiggers, as you too are tbpi I was interested to know if your sleeping had been ok up until the 2 yrs ago you talked about? Mine was ansolutely not a problem until recently, I always slept on my bpi arm and slept like a log. I was wondering if it was my age?? Which I think is around the same as yours from reading your post on the roll call. Your injury sounds EXACTLY like mine, very little upper arm and no lower arm at all. I don't know what other injuries you got at the time of your accident but another thing that has just started happening is that I'm getting intense pain in some of the places my arm was broken, has that ever happened to you? It's very rare I 'meet' a tbpi who has had the injury longer than me and I feel the need to pick your brains!

I think I'm about 18 hours ahead of you guys Kath, so when you're in bed I'm probably in bed some of the time too! At least you have summer, the ski season opened here last weekend.....