Side sleeping -- I'm confused.

[mrichardson]

Something I'm definitely going to follow up with my doctor on, but I've heard it's bad for your heart to sleep on one side or the other. I've heard it's bad to sleep on your left side, and I've also heard it's bad to sleep on your right side.

So which is it? I'm more comfortable sleeping on my side, because I have a lower back problem and sleeping on my back becomes uncomfortable after a while.

 

[dick0236]

I've never heard that one before. I sleep on left side, right side, stomach or back.......whichever is the most comfortable for me.

 

[Capizzi]

I sometimes got relief with a heat pad under my lower back. Hot showers gave me temporary relief. When not resting I tried to strech my back. You might also change the pressure on your lower back with small supports. You could try small rolled up towels or denser products designed for that.

I do not believe it is bad for your heart but it can be uncomfortable for some people to sleep on their left. Post surgery it is usually the rib musculature, sore from be stretched, and cut tissue that does not like to be pulled. You also have to figure out how to sit up and get out of bed without pain or pulling on healing areas. My pre surgery heart woke me up if I slept on my left due to palpitations; my chest wall hurt, although I thought it was my heart. I do not know what a mechanical valve feels like. Post surgery, I started sleeping on my left after several weeks. My scar is on my right side, so turning to the right was painful for a long time. The argument of why it is bad to sleep on the left is that the weight of your body compresses organs and tissue that might be distressed. However, most people are more distressed where the chest was opened. Keep moving

 

[Mgreenwood]

It can be bad to sleep on your right side, sleeping on your left will avoid heart burn (stomach acid) but I haven't heard anything about side sleeping related to your heart.
I haven't been able to side sleep post surgery, If you do lay on either side I'd expect you'd shift positions in bed and therefore not sleep the entire night on one side or the other - I wouldn't worry about side sleeping.

For the first few weeks after surgery I've been lying on my back at a 30-40 degree incline as its easier to get into and out of bed that way, sleeping on my side or flat on my back wasn't much of an option due to the pain.

 

[LiamF]

Five week anniversary yesterday. Still sleeping on my back - although I get off to sleep better on my left side it seems to leave me with terrible muscle aches for the following day. The downside is that I am told my snoring is terrible!

 

[Dodger Fan]

I'm a side sleeper. Post surgery I spent most of the next 3 weeks in a hospital bed. I then slept in an armchair for about a month. I finally slept in my own bed and eventually on my side. I sleep almost exclusively on my right side because I have a pacemaker on the left side of my chest and it causes discomfort when I sleep on it. I have been experiencing soreness in my right jaw and shoulder due to sleeping on my right but I keep doing it because it's the only way I will fall asleep.

 

[LondonAndy]

I'm a side sleeper too - both left and right. My cardiologist advised against side sleeping in the recovery period after surgery, but did not say anything about the longer term. I too have a pacemaker on the left had side, and for about a year after surgery I found it uncomfortable to sleep on the left side because of that but more recently it has been fine. I am at about 18 months since my AVR/ pacemaker insert.

I do sometimes get a little pins and needles in my right arm if I sleep on my left side, which I assume is to do with my slightly low blood pressure, but it passes quickly when I turn.