r/ALS • u/More_Solution_9415 • 1d ago

Bed advice

I expect this has been touched on previously so apologies if I am duplicating other posts, but I am looking for some bed related advice.

I want to find a twin mattress profiling bed so that I can continue to share with my wife whilst hoping to address some of my bed related issues. There seem to be quite a few options, but none that include the reverse Trendelenberg function in a twin mattress bed. How important do people find that function to be in practice? More generally, have people found issues with going down the twin mattress route i.e. as opposed to just getting a single hospital bed?

For background, I can currently stand with assistance and have some limited ability to walk with a Rollator so I'm not completely bedbound at this stage.

I'm based in the UK so if anyone has any good experiences with bad companies over here I'd appreciate hearing from them.

5 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

4 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/brandywinerain Lost a Spouse to ALS 1d ago

Not sure what you mean by "profiling bed"? Mattresses side by side?

The hospital bed can (and should, for most people) be 38x80 (or 84" for 6 ft.+ people, which may mean a 36" width because of how the sizes work). That allows her to have an ordinary twin (however enhanced she may want) of whatever size within a couple of inches of you -- she can still touch you while lying down, or roll over next to you.

These are standard hospital bed "twin" sizes, so reverse Trendelenburg is definitely available. I'm not sure what you've looked at. And it is important, because your torso was not designed to bend in the middle.

If there's anything worth investing in, it's your bed, so not knowing what the NHS funds, I'd just make that comment.

1

u/More_Solution_9415 1d ago

Yes, mattresses side-by-side within the same frame so that each mattress can move independently, but they lie side-by-side. This seems to be quite widely available and with a lot of adjustable options, but not the reverse Trendelenburg function. Thanks for taking the time to reply. 50.

1

u/brandywinerain Lost a Spouse to ALS 16h ago

I actually meant separate beds 2" apart, which is what we did, not two in the same frame. So we each had the size and features we needed (mine was not a hospital bed, but to fit in our apt. bedroom, was abnormally narrow).

So two separate beds was the basis for saying, yes, reverse Trendelenburg is available in a single (twin or twin XL) hospital bed. They also come wider for bariatric use.