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Friday 7 October 2016

Spoonie Survival Kit: Spoonie Friendly Bedding


Being a spoonie seems to bleed over into every part of our lives. Things that you barely even thought about as a non-spoonie become complicated, time consuming, often costly decisions. Everything from what to eat to what kind of soap to use or what kind of light bulbs you have in your house become minefields, balancing symptoms with sensitivities, budget & about 100 other things.
When you are in bed you just want to get the best possible rest you can & not deal with anything, which can be hard when your duvet makes you feel like you are being slowly crushed under a matt of (incredibly heavy) nettles...
There are lots of things spoonie friendly bedding needs to do (every spoonie has different requirements) but as the nights are starting to draw in & it gets colder I thought I'd post some of my favourites in the hopes they spare people the sleepless nights I had under my old winter duvet (double bed sized, unbelievably heavy & feather filled! lets just say it did NOT work for me).

Heated Blanket

Last winter, or possibly the winter before (they are all kind of a mush) I found my symptoms had progressed to the point where my winter duvet was too heavy for me to cope with. Unfortunately however it was winter & in Yorkshire that means the nights get COLD. Even wearing layers (including a jumper) to bed I was too cold to sleep.  Luckily for me my mum is something of a genius & thought of using my heated blanket at night (which I have to be honest, totally freaked me out at first). Totally works; when it gets really cold I layer it up with my spring/summer duvet but most of the time I just put it on a low-ish setting & sleep like a baby.
I've had a couple of heated blankets before the one I have now, one of which was really narrow & wouldn't have worked for this at all & one of which was itch-y & died on me (not a great combination). The one that I recommend the most is this one from amazon. It's not the cheapest ever - ~£50 - but it's so big & comfortable I'm totally convinced it's worth it & it's about the same price as good duvet.

Silk Filled Duvet

This is a bit of an extravagance if I'm honest, although I'm not sure how I'd cope without it. You know how I mentioned my mum is a bit of a genius? She's also a bit obsessed with finding things that will make my life easier, which is both a blessing & a curse sometimes :) This is one of her finds & for all that I thought it was just her being crazy when she first mentioned it I'm really glad she found it. Weight of my duvet is a massive issue for me, I'm not sure if that is a common symptom or just something I get but it's something I really struggle with, especially when the surface level pain (pain in my skin rather than pain in muscles or bones or organs w/e) is especially bad & this silk filled duvet is less than half the weight of the duvet I had before & is slightly warmer.
As I said, the duvet is a bit of an extravagance, I have a medium weight single duvet & it cost £145 (which I'm glad I didn't know when my mum bought it cause I would have freaked out) but it really does make a massive difference & it's not at all itchy which is also amazing. Possibly a good thing to ask Father Christmas for? Or do what my brother does & tell everyone you just want money because you are saving up for something & then get this ^^

Sheets & Pillow Cases

I wish I could tell you guys what kind of fabric would not trigger your touch sensitivity but unfortunately I'm pretty sure that depends on your body. My brother has dermographia (his body makes too much histamine & he gets unbelievably itchy) & prefers jersey cotton bedding. I'm mostly okay as long as my bedding is cotton although I have silk pillowcases for a number of reasons (silk is kinder to your skin & hair, but I also used to get rashes & spots under my skin when I uses cotton pillowcases that I don't get anymore & it doesn't burn even on really bad days).

I have to include my bottom sheet, another one of my mum's finds, mostly because it saves me from throttling my mum. I have a profiling bed (one of the only house adaptations the council could help me with) & I tend to toss & turn a lot in my sleep - I did before I got sick but I'm a LOT worse now - & most bottom sheets elastic can't keep them in place under that kind of stress. I don't really care but it really bugs my mum. I'd be laying in bed, barely able to move & my mum would start fidgeting with the bottom sheet, trying to get it tucked back under the mattress. The bottom sheet I currently have seems to hold up a lot better & is very comfortable (which is always a bonus).

Sorry for mentioning my mum so much but things like this are where she tends to excel :)

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