Incline Bed Therapy is heralded for its ability to help the body detoxify by keeping the organs a more active in their processes than they would otherwise be at night. This is done by raising the head of one’s bed by four to eight inches.
Though the results of this therapy can be amazing, for a Lyme disease sufferer with postural hypotension or POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome), IBT may be less than ideal. Why?
In postural hypotension, a person’s blood pressure drops whenever he/she is raised to a seated, or more commonly, standing position. If this position is maintained for a significant period of time, the resultant decrease in blood pressure leads to breathing problems, chest pain, dizziness and other accompanying symptoms. The same dangerous drop in blood pressure can occur with IBT, as one’s body is partially raised to a vertical position.
I am a POTS sufferer and I didn’t perceive any problems in raising the head of my bed four inches; however, when I attempted to raise it to seven inches, I had severe breathing problems during the night and awakened fatigued and sore the next day.
IBT can be a great therapy for increased detoxification, but for those with postural hypotension, caution should be exercized when propping up the bed for this purpose.