# Debunk this myth: Sleeping with feet above head...... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 14, 2004, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunk-this-myth-sleeping-with-feet-above-head/224321 "2004-01-14T00:12:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![hauss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5fc32e/32.png) [@hauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hauss)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2004, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunk-this-myth-sleeping-with-feet-above-head/224321/1 "2004-01-14T00:12:53Z")
… accelerates sleep/recovery. For instance, 2 hours with feet above head equals 8 hours in a normal supine position. (This has gotta be bogus… it’s hard to search for though.) Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2004, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunk-this-myth-sleeping-with-feet-above-head/224321/2 "2004-01-14T00:22:51Z")
I’m glad I’m not the only one to have heard this; I posted a thread asking exactly this question a year or so back and there were some quite informative answers. I can’t link to the thread as the search function is not… well… functioning. Pretty sure the consensus was that it was bunk. Just out of interest, where did you hear about this? ---
**Author:** ![hauss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5fc32e/32.png) [@hauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hauss)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunk-this-myth-sleeping-with-feet-above-head/224321/3 "2004-01-30T04:07:59Z")
I just heard about it from some guy, not sure where he heard it from. My buddy tried it and said sleeping like that made him feel like crap, hehe. So, is this true or not? ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunk-this-myth-sleeping-with-feet-above-head/224321/4 "2004-01-30T04:10:25Z")
Funnily enough, when I lie on our couch in such a position that my legs and feet are well raised it feels very comfortable and I feel well rested after 1 or 2 hours of sleep. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunk-this-myth-sleeping-with-feet-above-head/224321/5 "2004-01-30T04:46:54Z")
It’ll be a night of misery for anyone suffering from GERD or chronic heartburn. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunk-this-myth-sleeping-with-feet-above-head/224321/6 "2004-01-30T05:36:17Z")
If you’re sleeping downhill, then your day could be like that, coasting. If your friend greets you with, “What up, dog?” you can say, “Feet, dude, feet.” ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunk-this-myth-sleeping-with-feet-above-head/224321/7 "2004-01-30T06:14:15Z")
In backpacking you always want to sleep with head no lower than feet. Sleeping head downhill results in a whacking great headache the next morning. Try it for yourself - stick a couple of books under the foot of your bed and go to sleep as normal. See how you feel the next morning. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunk-this-myth-sleeping-with-feet-above-head/224321/8 "2004-01-30T06:26:15Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > Funnily enough, when I lie on our couch in such a position that my legs and feet are well raised it feels very comfortable and I feel well rested after 1 or 2 hours of sleep. I think naps are different. If you only have 2 hours to sleep, you don’t want to sleep too deeply. If you’re too comfortable it’s difficult to get up after only 1 or 2 hours, and you feel like crap when you finally manage. ---
**Author:** ![hauss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5fc32e/32.png) [@hauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hauss)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunk-this-myth-sleeping-with-feet-above-head/224321/9 "2004-01-30T15:31:42Z")
So, I was right, it _is_ a tough search… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunk-this-myth-sleeping-with-feet-above-head/224321/10 "2004-01-30T16:03:01Z")
I slept with my feet on the bathtub and my head next to the toilet one night, and let me tell you, did I feel like hell the next day. I always thought it was the copious amounts of beer that did it, but now I know it was my sleeping position. I hittin the beer store on the way home, and I’m tossing pillows on the bathroom floor.