# How weird is it that I can't fall asleep on my back? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 10, 2009, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-weird-is-it-that-i-cant-fall-asleep-on-my-back/516982 "2009-11-10T01:32:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-weird-is-it-that-i-cant-fall-asleep-on-my-back/516982/21 "2009-11-10T16:50:37Z")
Yep, cannot sleep on my back. Could sleep on my stomach but I have become (irrationally?) convinced that I am putting too much pressure on my heart, so it’s side or nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Chopper9760](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cdc98d/32.png) [@Chopper9760](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chopper9760)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-weird-is-it-that-i-cant-fall-asleep-on-my-back/516982/22 "2009-11-10T16:57:38Z")
Does anyone else hug the edge of the bed? I started doing this a couple of years ago and I have NO idea why. I wondered if downgrading from a queen to a full bed would be a real drag but I find that there is enough real estate left over for another person. A fat, star-fishy person even. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-weird-is-it-that-i-cant-fall-asleep-on-my-back/516982/23 "2009-11-10T17:33:32Z")
I have bad hips and shoulders _and_ sleep terribly. I sleep best on my sides (right side is best), but I do this odd twisted position. I’m technically on my side, but my hips are rotated so the upper leg (so if I’m on my right side, it’s the left leg) is in contact with the mattress from at least the knee on down. Then my shoulders are twisted a bit in the opposite way. Both of these ensure I don’t have direct pressure on the bad joints\*, but I’m sure it’s doing my back no favors! 🙂 I _can_ sleep on my back a bit, but I don’t care for it. I literally am unable to sleep on my stomach. If I wake up for work and am still really tired, the way to _wake up_ is to lay on my stomach. - they dislocate easily and are painful to truly lay on. ---
**Author:** ![Gesturing\_Mildly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/65b543/32.png) [@Gesturing\_Mildly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gesturing_Mildly)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-weird-is-it-that-i-cant-fall-asleep-on-my-back/516982/24 "2009-11-10T17:47:55Z")
Whenever I fall asleep on my back, I get terrible nightmares. I was a stomach sleeper until recently. Now it hurts my lower back, for some reason. Only two choices left until I have to start sleeping standing up! ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-weird-is-it-that-i-cant-fall-asleep-on-my-back/516982/25 "2009-11-10T17:48:47Z")
FWIW, I find sleeping on my back much easier when I use a neck pillow. I have a big pillow for side sleeping and a neck pillow for on my back, and I will often wake up in the middle of the night and swap out pillows along with changing position. Fortunately my wife sleeps like a rock through my contortions. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-weird-is-it-that-i-cant-fall-asleep-on-my-back/516982/26 "2009-11-10T17:51:17Z")
I can sleep anywhere, anytime. You give me two minutes and I’ll be out like a light. Side, back, stomach, upside down, in a chair, standing up, on a plane, at my desk, underwater (no, really, I have photos) – doesn’t matter. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-weird-is-it-that-i-cant-fall-asleep-on-my-back/516982/27 "2009-11-10T18:27:11Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > Not at all weird. I slept on my side when I was a kid, until a horrible sunburn on my back caused me to sleep on my stomach. I got used to stomach sleeping and stayed that way. A distant cousin of mine was in some kind of accident (car I think) and was in traction for quite awhile, like in the movies when you see someone in a body cast with parts attached to cables and stuff. He used to be a side sleeper, but his aunt said that ever since being stuck on his back for so long, he now always sleeps flat on his back and will wake up in the exact same position he went to sleep in. The guy doesn’t move an inch. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-weird-is-it-that-i-cant-fall-asleep-on-my-back/516982/28 "2009-11-10T19:18:22Z")
Do any of you back sleepers snore? I never snore, unless I’m on my back (I voted for “side sleeper”) and then I snore loud enough to wake myself up. Seems to me that sleeping on your back is more conducive to snoring. ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-weird-is-it-that-i-cant-fall-asleep-on-my-back/516982/29 "2009-11-10T21:09:41Z")
I sleep on my stomach or side like all animals in the world (except house cats and dogs). Ever seen a wild animal (even birds and insects) sleep on their back ? ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-weird-is-it-that-i-cant-fall-asleep-on-my-back/516982/30 "2009-11-10T21:13:48Z")
I sleep 80% on my back, and 20% on my right side. Can’t sleep on my left side because I would be facing my wife, and for some reason that creeps her out. I never could sleep on my stomach. How to you breathe? I mean, obviously you have to turn your head, but that always hurts my neck. If there was a hole in the mattress for my face, like on a massage table, I could do it I guess. Well, except for the fact that I wear a CPAP mask, so that would get in the way too. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-weird-is-it-that-i-cant-fall-asleep-on-my-back/516982/31 "2009-11-10T23:29:11Z")
I can’t _fall_ asleep while on my back, but often wake up in that position. I don’t have apnoea AFAIK. I haven’t always been like this and I have no idea why it is so now; nor even when it started really. Odd. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-weird-is-it-that-i-cant-fall-asleep-on-my-back/516982/32 "2009-11-10T23:43:13Z")
I snore when I’m on my back, so I sleep on my side. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-weird-is-it-that-i-cant-fall-asleep-on-my-back/516982/33 "2009-11-11T05:06:22Z")
I have more trouble falling sound asleep if I’m on my back. Not sure why. Sometimes if I do so accidentally (watching TV or whatever), some saliva will run back and I’ll choke. :mad:. I’m much more comfy on my side, with a pillow in front to rest the upper arm on. I’ll often turn onto my back during the night, however. I usually try to go onto the other side, but sometimes I’ll be too sleepy and won’t make it the whole way. ---
**Author:** ![Carmady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f04885/32.png) [@Carmady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carmady)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-weird-is-it-that-i-cant-fall-asleep-on-my-back/516982/34 "2009-11-11T05:15:41Z")
I have tried to sleep on my side or stomach, but have never been able to. Side is more comfortable, but I will lie there all night awake that way (and have). It is at least possible, though difficult, for me to sleep on my back. ---
**Author:** ![ThirdOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@ThirdOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThirdOne)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-weird-is-it-that-i-cant-fall-asleep-on-my-back/516982/35 "2009-11-11T05:28:21Z")
The only time I slept on my back was when I broke my leg and had a cast from above my knee to my toes. My leg was slightly bent and I had to have it propped up with pillows. Of course, I didn’t sleep all that well most of the 6 weeks I had the cast. It sucked. Now, I mostly sleep on my side. If on my right, I have my left leg scissored over so it’s on the mattress, but my right knee will wake me up with pain if I stay on that side too long. I do sleep on my stomach sometimes, but end up on one side or the other. I use pretty flat pillows, am on a queen size bed and go from one side of it to the other. I like space! ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-weird-is-it-that-i-cant-fall-asleep-on-my-back/516982/36 "2009-11-11T10:24:04Z")
I used to never be able to sleep on my back, but now I find that I fall asleep either on my back or my side. I also have a tendency to fall asleep on moving vehicles. Even when I’m riding on the back of my boyfriend’s motorbike at terrifying speeds, I feel incredibly drowsy. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-weird-is-it-that-i-cant-fall-asleep-on-my-back/516982/37 "2009-11-11T12:49:30Z")
I wish I could figure out why I can fall asleep sitting up in an armchair, with the lights on but toss and turn in my bed with the lights out and the room quiet. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-weird-is-it-that-i-cant-fall-asleep-on-my-back/516982/38 "2009-11-11T15:48:05Z")
On the odd chance that I do fall asleep on my back, I snore. The snoring wakes me up, so I have to flip over to sleep. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-weird-is-it-that-i-cant-fall-asleep-on-my-back/516982/39 "2009-11-11T15:49:30Z")
I can’t sleep on my back. It hurts my tailbone. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-weird-is-it-that-i-cant-fall-asleep-on-my-back/516982/40 "2009-11-11T16:02:27Z")
I can’t either, never have been able to. I always thought I was a freak because in TV sitcoms they always sleep on their backs - Brady Bunch, etc. Joe [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-weird-is-it-that-i-cant-fall-asleep-on-my-back/516982.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-weird-is-it-that-i-cant-fall-asleep-on-my-back/516982.md?page=3)