Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) Indigestion, Heartburn and Digestive disorders testimonials

Following long hospital stay & strong broad spectrum Antibiotics at the age of 49 I developed increasing issues with tonsil stones and eventually GERD.  Was removing tonsil stones almost daily buy the end of this period and throat was sore all the time and craters we’re getting deeper. Prescription meds for the GERD made me sick and I was taking Gaviscon Advance nightly.  Eventually I stumbled on this site and as my bed legs are too chunky for custom raisers on Amazon my husband re built out wooden bed so the mattress sits at the recommended 5%.  The improvement in my GERD was instant.  The tonsil stone production slowed down and although I think the fluid still gathers (post nasal drip maybe) I assume it drains.  Thank you for that advise I don’t like to think where I was heading with this increasing problem.

In Chile during the 70s  reknown pediatrician Dr. Isidoro  Horwitz started to use IBT to treat his reflux patients. My sister and I were 4 and 5 years old and we slept  like this for over 5 years without using any medication. Before meeting Dr. Horwitz our parents struggled just to keep us Alive. Today, we are both in our 50’s and enjoy great health.

G'day;

I noticed that a mistake is often made in this and other websites about IBT. Advice is often given about using the length of the bed to calculate the correct magical 5 degree angle.  That advice is quite misleading.  The distance that must be used is the distance between the legs near the head of the bed and the legs near the foot of the bed -- not the length of the bed.  For example, my bed is 200 cm long, but the distance between legs is only 141 cm.

I used a CAD program to precisely calculated the required length of the legs at the foot of my bed, while retaining the original legs near the head of the bed, in order to achieve a 5 degree angle.  I have uploaded that drawing as an image titled 'Bed Angle Calculation', in case it is of any interest to anyone else.  

The bed is a Wenatex bed, in case anyone is wanting to modify that brand of bed.

I consttucted tdhe legs from 90 mm downpipe PVC, and the materials cosst about $ 20 AUS or about $ 15 US.

I have also (hopefully, successfully) uploaded photos entitled 'Installed Bed Leg', 'Bed Leg Assembly', and 'Bolt Through Slide-on Cap' to give more details.  

If anyone wants any more details about fabricating the legs, feel free to send an email to hughpittman@yahoo.com.au.

While I am here, I might also mention a clear-cut benefit of IBT.  I haven't seen it mentioned eleswhere, although I have not read all posts, so I might have missed it.  IBT helps reduce or eliminate gastric reflux.  This is not hard to understand. Gravity moves the contents of the stomach down away from the inlet valve at the top of the stomach when a person lays down with their head higher that than their stomach.

Cheers,

Hugh

Link to Avalina sharing her experience with Inclined Bed Therapy (IBT)   https://youtu.be/6H7gSolYBc0?t=1h27m49s
Avalina also discusses the changes in people she has advised to sleep with the head of the bed raised 6 inches. Varicose veins, spine problems, snoring and more.

Below is the transcript including the timeframe on the video relating to Avalina's video testimony.

I had terrible stomach problems for a number

1:27:52.100,1:27:59.340
of years and I went to the Doctor but unfortunately
the tablets I was given had many side effects.

1:27:59.340,1:28:04.699
Course they do
Yes of course so one of them unfortunately

1:28:04.699,1:28:12.190
was breast enlargement and being a small lady
That can't be a bad thing he he he he

1:28:12.190,1:28:15.730
I didn't want to have a sort of over toppling
problem you know

1:28:15.730,1:28:24.449
Anyway so I came off those and well didn't
know what to do really and found Andrew's

1:28:24.449,1:28:26.390
inclined bed therapy and thought I would give
it a try.

1:28:26.390,1:28:35.850
My husband made the bed and I can safely say
within 2 or 3 days I had no more stomach problems.

1:28:35.850,1:28:44.020
Yeah so I am a great advocate of inclinedbedtherapy.com
not only that I find I am more refreshed in

1:28:44.020,1:28:51.239
the morning I sleep better and I get over
things quicker, you know illnesses and I am

1:28:51.239,1:28:55.949
less thirsty in the mornings and it's a great
mood lifter.

1:28:55.949,1:29:08.840
Brilliant yes.
Did you say your husband is trying it?

1:29:08.840,1:29:16.040
Is that David?
Yes it is

1:29:16.040,1:29:22.699
Hello David
Well yes we are getting around to it we sleep

1:29:22.699,1:29:30.570
in separate beds, Yeah I like to sleep separately,
I like to get a good nights sleep.

1:29:30.570,1:29:36.650
But yeah we are working on that David at some
point we are going to order the wood when

1:29:36.650,1:29:41.500
we have got some money order some wood at
the end of the year and my husband will make

1:29:41.500,1:29:45.400
an inclined bed for himself
Excellent

1:29:45.400,1:29:59.230
Thank you for chipping in, very interesting.
What were your stomach problems, acid reflux?

1:29:59.230,1:30:05.860
Yes that's right, I mean it is so debilitating
all day finding whatever you eat you just

1:30:05.860,1:30:13.940
feel you have got this terrible heart burn
and acid reflux and all related problems etc,

1:30:13.940,1:30:20.960
it didn't matter what I did, let's just say
that other things have helped too since then,

1:30:20.960,1:30:23.610
but the first thing that helped was the inclined
bed therapy

1:30:23.610,1:30:27.230
Right
Yeah from there I was able to take things

1:30:27.230,1:30:35.170
further, you know change diet eventually etc
but to start off not to have to take the tablet

1:30:35.170,1:30:42.080
and have a natural replacement for that you
know was really important to me. I don't like

1:30:42.080,1:30:48.010
taking tablets.
Was that zantac, I just hate having to take

1:30:48.010,1:30:52.699
those?
Oh yes exactly, I am not a person for taking

1:30:52.699,1:30:57.730
tablets so I really did resent taking anything
that could give me side effects so it was

1:30:57.730,1:31:03.060
lovely, really great to have that feeling
of ahh I have got some relief with the inclined

1:31:03.060,1:31:09.710
bed therapy and then from then on I could
make changes. So I have stayed inclined and

1:31:09.710,1:31:15.300
what I suppose I aught to say to people is
to try it and stay on it, don't come off it

1:31:15.300,1:31:20.449
when your symptoms have ceased. When you feel
that things have changed, I know a lot of

1:31:20.449,1:31:23.980
people have said oh I tried it and it was
really great, but then went back of course

1:31:23.980,1:31:28.100
to sleeping flat. Well I think that is a disaster.
Why would they do that

1:31:28.100,1:31:34.380
Well people I suppose sleeping in bed with
partners, perhaps there have been problems

1:31:34.380,1:31:37.199
there and.
I said there was a couch

1:31:37.199,1:31:44.850
Yeah well that's right but I can understand
but you know I suppose that's what I want

1:31:44.850,1:31:49.199
to say really is stay with it if you are going
to do inclined bed therapy don't give up after

1:31:49.199,1:31:51.190
a couple of months stay with it.
Yeah

1:31:51.190,1:31:57.210
Interesting that you were talking about people
who were on it that got away because I can't

1:31:57.210,1:32:02.730
get away, when I went away to my sisters place
in Vermont and I had to sleep flat I thought

1:32:02.730,1:32:08.010
that I was going to die in my sleep
Yeah, absolutely, you feel suffocated don't

1:32:08.010,1:32:12.989
you.
Yes yes

1:32:12.989,1:32:16.989
I also want to tell you something great that
happened because I live on a small island

1:32:16.989,1:32:25.969
and there is only 57 of us and 3 people here
also sleep inclined. One particular man they

1:32:25.969,1:32:31.040
are all elderly but one of them had a very
bad varicose vein in his leg and for years

1:32:31.040,1:32:37.590
he has had this varicose vein.
I would say it was in 3 or four days his varicose

1:32:37.590,1:32:41.410
vein disappeared after sleeping inclined.
Which is fantastic isn't it

1:32:41.410,1:32:42.910
It is fantastic
That's beautiful

1:32:42.910,1:32:49.219
Yeah and he stayed inclined. I say to him
are you still inclined? He says Oh yes. he

1:32:49.219,1:32:53.320
he he he
And another guy also had a very bad neck problem

1:32:53.320,1:32:56.989
and there has been no therapist that managed
to sort it out.

1:32:56.989,1:33:01.219
He was suffering with his neck problem so
I thought I would mention it to him and he

1:33:01.219,1:33:07.280
said Oh I will give it a try and again that
was within literally within a week. He said

1:33:07.280,1:33:14.050
I don't believe it, what Doctors couldn't
fix, sleeping so simply it's fixed. He said

1:33:14.050,1:33:18.449
I am telling everyone I'm telling everyone,
i'm driving people mad, I'm telling them ha

1:33:18.449,1:33:22.780
ha ha ha
He has become an inclined bed bore like the

1:33:22.780,1:33:26.280
rest of us.
Yeah absolutely that's right

1:33:26.280,1:33:31.600
It is amazing some of the immediate benefits
a lot of them take a lot longer but my girlfriend

1:33:31.600,1:33:36.360
remarked immediately that my snoring had almost
been eliminated.

1:33:36.360,1:33:42.120
Oh Yeah Yeah The snoring is great
I told my cousin about that and suddenly her

1:33:42.120,1:33:48.989
and her husband were sleeping in the same
bed again now. Because it eliminated his snoring.

1:33:48.989,1:33:53.580
And then I called Andrew and told him about
this and he said oh yeah inclined bed therapy

1:33:53.580,1:33:55.540
has saved many marriages.
Yes

1:33:55.540,1:33:58.820
ha ha ha ha
Fantastic isn't it

I was researching general health issues after experiencing too many side effects from the acid reflux medication I was prescribed, when I stumbled upon one of Andrew's articles in 2009. It took a few months for my husband to get the materials together but he did a great job and late 2009 I was sleeping on a 6inch incline. It took a few days for it to become a natural feeling and to get used to slipping down the bed but within 2 days I noticed my acid reflux had lessened to the extent I felt it safe to stop taking the prescription drugs. I remain acid reflux free to this day. The other thing IBT helped with is my snoring. My husband will tell you it hasn't completely disappeared but it lessened to a degree that I wake in the morning feeling like I've had a decent nights sleep, refreshed and full of energy. My mood improved too because of the quality of sleep. My husband plans to follow suit this year when we have the money for the materials, he's hoping for a reduction in his high blood pressure.

I also had two friends that tried it with amazing results. One man, in his late 60's had a very painful neck, he'd been to many professionals but none of them had helped him in this matter. He tried IBT and on the first night it had cured his neck pain! I remember seeing in the local corner shop, really animated, telling everyone else in the shop what IBT had done for him! He now lives in Ireland, and I know he's spreading the message there, in fact, he decided to go to an 8 inch incline but I've not heard if that is any better for him.

My other friend is a man in his mid 60's, he had a prominent varicose vein. He tried IBT and within a week his varicose vein had completely disappeared! He remains sleeping inclined. Both men also mentioned that they made less trips to the toilet during the night.