I remember others saying they use many many pillows to prop and support themselves for sleeping. Some even sleep in recliners during bad flare ups.

I had to wrap & pad my elbows for awhile as they were so sensitive to just the pressure from the mattress - and I trained my self to sleep on my back with arms straight at my sides at the time too.
That was during the most acute time of my injury {RSI/TOS} - luckily finally being off work & with some very good PT /DC care after a few months I could start slowly progressing forward and doing easy activities again.
I was just happy to be able to cook simple meals again.

But time wise it took me about 2.5 - 3 yrs to recuperate to a stage where I can do "normal" activities - but I have to really pay attention to how I'm feeling and be ready to have some down time to recover from certain heavy or intensive activities.


But I wonder if you might have some vascular /vein compressions happening with the swelling that you describe.
Or blocked lymph nodes?? that will cause swelling /puffiness in places.