South blues

I have a different neurological condition (CRPS with dystonia, myoclonus, tremor, muscle spasms - you get the general picture of body failure!!)

I struggle both with movement in bed because i have some difficulty with voluntary movement and lots of involuntary movement. I also have a great deal of atrophy because I can't walk - I can manage shuffling around in the house but have to use a wheelchair for everything else. That amount of walking isnt enough to preserve muscle and whilst I have movement problems, I have full sensation and chronic neuropathic pain so the lack of padding really hurts especially over my hips and sacral area where I get a lot of searing pressure pain.

I tried a memory foam mattress topper and it was a disaster for me - it gets extremely hot because it traps all your body heat. Some of the fancy mattresses are supposed to remove that heat but I don't know if they work or not. I also found that with limited movement and some weakness it was impossible to move, roll over, slide over the mattress topper and getting out of bed was an ordeal! It seems to 'grab and trap' you and it was so hard to move.

I found a solution which works better for me. I use a spare duvet (mine are feather filled but man-made fibre is fine too) I put a cover on and lay it over the mattress. If its not enough to be comfortable and relieve the pressure and pain, I put 2 duvets inside one cover to make it a really thick pad. I then sleep on top of that. It costs me nothing because I have spare quilts and duvets in the house, its not too hot and its easy to move around in bed. It makes a thick, soft pad over the whole mattress which i can vary the thickness of so that it effectively relieves enough pain and pressure.

It might be worth a try if you have spare quilts/duvets - it won't cost you anything so theres nothing lost if it doesn't work.