I don’t have a sleep number
After using a bed that cost several thousands of dollars, I have come to the conclusion that I do not have a sleep number. Fibromyalgia should also be referred to as “Princess & the pea” syndrome. I can feel every wrinkle in the sheet because it feels like it has been burned into my skin when I wake up. Needless to say, I’ve spent way too much money & time trying to get comfortable. One of the solutions that worked best is an egg crate foam pad I got at Wal-mart for $12. I’ve also slept on about 12″ of foam that I had cut at a local fabric store. These turn any bed into the equivalent of one of those “space age material” beds. (Really they are just bragging about foam, yeah it’s memory foam, but it’s still foam). I always take them with me when I travel, they are the only way I can sleep.
I envy people who can just sit in a chair. Whenever I sit down I am longing for one of the few comfortable chairs I have sat in during my entire life. So goes life with fibromyalgia. Few people understand how sitting down can hurt. This is a quick tip for the blogger with fibromyalgia. I have tried to blog sitting on the floor propped up by pillows, in a recliner, in bed, on every couch I can find, at the dining room table, every chair in the house, & other people’s houses. The quest for the perfect chair alludes me. I have bought several office chairs in all shapes & sizes. I am convinced that the word ergonomics really means painful. I’ve owned more office chairs than more people have shoes. Either they lean too far back or hit the painful points in my back. I have found what works best is taking a body pillow & putting it on the back of my chair. Then I use a soft feather pillow on top of that. It is cushy enough for me to sit for hurs. Without this I have a back ache within a few minutes. How do you work at the computer comfortably?
Filed under: Home Business on January 16th, 2007
Work at a computer comfortably? Gotta be joking!
I relented, bought a laptop and now work mostly on the sofa or a very soft supportive futon.
Office chairs have me in agony within a couple of minutes - same for dining chairs. Have to be cushioned for me to have any chance of sitting at the table let alone enjoying a meal!
Tip for sleeping: nice very expensive orthopaedic mattress and a wee bit of self-hypnosis. Lovely
I have an executive chair that I use, but I do a lot of my typing on a laptop while sitting on the couch. They key is to have a lapdesk to put it on so you don’t burn your legs and you keep the air flowing under it!
And Fibro has often been referred to as the Princess & the Pea syndrome. My favorite sheets to use are the T-Shirt sheets. I find the best ones from Domestications (online) - they last several years and are soft right off the bat. I travel with my own pillow and my own sheets. Hope this helps!
Make that another vote for a laptop. I absolutely deplore not being able to upgrade my computer as the whim strikes, and while she has a nice 15″ screen, it can’t hold a candle to a big 21″ monitor.
On the other hand, I can use my sweet little gal whiel bundled up in my recliner, which is where I spend most of my hours. The rolling lap desk holds her precisely where I want her. An external, ergonomic, wireless keyboard fits in my lap and works very nicely. The wireless, laser mouse will work on the arm of the recliner if I don’t feel like raising my hands up to the lap desk, and that’s often the case (though I also use lots of keyboard shortcuts, or any of the nifty keys toys built in to the keyboard, or the splendiferous Wacom tablet I received for Yule).
I have another lap desk that’s better for days in bed. I’m very picky about my ergonomics, as we all need to be.
I do often have to put extra pillows beneath me in the recliner or the bed, though, and I have to shift frequently.
When I was pregnant with my daughter back in 1990, I had a nice ergonomic “task chair” and one of those “knee chairs” that were the rage in the late 80s, and switching between the two was the only way I could sit long enough to get any work done.
That memory makes me pine for two completely different recliners, so I could shift from one to another and have more of a break for the points that take the most pressure sitting in one or the other.