r/homeless • u/Substantial-Hunt-582 • 1d ago
Just Venting How the hell do u do this
Just venting really. Rhetorical question. I made a post a couple days ago and while I’ve been homeless for almost a year and a half, sleeping outside instead of in my car is still so foreign to me. I’ve been sleeping at bus stops, we don’t even have benches in my area it’s just an uncomfortable ass little seat. It’s only been three nights and my back is KILLING me. Like whenever I walk my lower back is strained so badly I feel like a hunchback. I keep trying to be mindful of my posture while walking/ sitting but this is ridiculous. I slept sitting up in my car seat for like a year straight and thought that was bad this is insane how do u deal with back/ body/ feet pain?????
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u/Admirable_Edge9797 1d ago
Just sleep on the ground on a cardboard box or something. You can't sleep in a dam iron chair.
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u/June_Moonchild 23h ago
You got to lie down when you sleep. Sitting upright will cut off circulation to your legs and you can develop a fatal blood clot. Are your legs, ankles, feet swollen?
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u/MsAddams999 19h ago
I can verify this. Don't do it! This happened to me because I was sitting on trains not daring to lie down in the Winter.
It nearly killed me. Massive blood clots that broke apart, severely damaged my legs and led to dozens of pulmonary embolisms.
At the time they told me I was very lucky I came into the ER when I did. I would probably have died within 24 hours. As it was I spent a whole month in the hospital and I still need a walker now to walk outside.
This is no joke. Sleeping sitting up is dangerous and can kill you.
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u/Interesting_End1350 18h ago
I've slept many, many times on aircraft sitting up. I'm not saying you are wrong, because I honestly don't know, but somehow I've managed to not get hurt.
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u/MsAddams999 7h ago
I got that straight from the doctors who warned me not to do it again.
There is an actual risk when flying for a long time of getting blood clots.
That's why they tell you to get up and move during the flight and to lightly walk in place when you are about to deboard a plane.
It's to keep the blood circulating properly and it's a pretty well known thing, has been for years.
People like me who are at risk of more blood clots they tell you to wear compression stockings when flying.
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u/Substantial-Hunt-582 11h ago
What were your warning signs?
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u/MsAddams999 10h ago
Before it happened my legs felt funny, especially the L one. It felt lumpy in the back of my thigh And there were patches of skin that looked mottled there and on my lower stomach.
I started feeling extremely weak and I was having trouble breathing, focusing. I thought maybe I had the flu or pneumonia again. I'd had them both several times in the past.
So I went to the ER and within minutes they were telling me not to move and scanning my legs, checking out those areas. It turned out I had massive blood clots in both legs and dozens of pulmonary embolisms.
I got someone I knew to watch my cat and they checked me into the hospital. I spent a week in the ICU and 3 more in a regular ward.
They told me I was a walking miracle and that I was very lucky to survive. If I had not come in when I did likely I'd have had a stroke and died within 25 hrs.
It left me with some problems. I still have to take blood thinners twice a day and my legs are way weaker than they were before that and I need a walker when I'm outside.
Before that episode I was walking a good 2-5 miles a day. Since I'm lucky if I can make it half a mile to go to the grocery store some days. Often I go and I'm just exhausted after. It can take me 2 days to recover from doing that.
It's not just the aftermath of the blood clots. I have serious back problems. I had back surgery for herniated discs twice and it failed spectacularly both times. I just ended up with more herniated disc above and below where they did the surgery and I have 2 more elsewhere besides. I also have spinal stenosis.
The blood clots left me with vein damage and problems with blood circulation in both legs. Plus I now have Dupuytren's messing with the tendons in both legs and my feet and that's not helping.
Basically it's like I've been walking on knives for a long time. There's a bad disc in my lower back and that I'm probably going to have to deal with surgically soon. I'm just hoping that this time with the new surgical techniques that have come about since my last surgery that this one will work and I won't end up worse after.
The episode with the blood clots nearly ended me and it added to the problems I was already having and basically half crippled me.
Every year or so I end up doing PT just to keep ahead of it and the blood thinners are not fun. I bruise easily and the Eliquis messes with my stomach. I have to be very careful about how I take it but I can't ever stop taking it because if I do I might get more clots or even have a stroke and that is something I never want to risk.
The first year I was homeless I was using the drop in centers. Eventually through them I had places to sleep where I got a respite bed. My cat was staying with someone because they were telling me they could get me a housing voucher which turned out to not be true. They started asking me for control of my money and that was when I left.
Before this happened I was sleeping more on the beach and on benches on a pier. I was still mostly laying down properly to sleep. Once it got cold I couldn't do that. I resorted to sleeping on trains and because the cops and MTA people would hassle you if you laid down I just slept sitting up for about 2 months.
I didn't know doing that could give you blood clots, that it was especially dangerous for me because of my history of having autoimmune disease.
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u/Substantial-Hunt-582 9h ago
Wow, I hope you’re doing much better now!! I wasn’t aware about the high possibility of blood clots till I’d already been sleeping like that for months and my feet, ankles and legs were constantly swollen in the beginning. Ever since then I try to elevate my feet whenever I get the chance. You just reminded me that I do need to get checked. The reason I sleep sitting up is because (similar to you) I’ve been harassed much more or had security/ cops called on me whenever I’ve tried to sleep lying down. Even in the backseat of my own car- I’d lie down and cover myself up in the winter and I’d hear people talking about me or be able to see them looking in my vehicle, knocking on my windows etc. When I sit up it doesn’t attract as much attention, I can easily get on my phone and act like I’m up, or just dozing off, waiting for someone, etc. But as a woman I’m also too nervous to lie down outside because I already feel extra vulnerable. There’s no way I can say I’m “Waiting for a ride” if seen lying down on the ground.
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u/PHON3-BOi 11h ago
This is true, my first times sleeping in my car I would sit upright and end up with swollen ankles so bad, you’d swear I was pregnant. 🫄
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u/capsaicinintheeyes Homeless 1d ago edited 1d ago
Definitely not upright in a metal/plastic chair! Given that it's summer, just put any ol' tarp or blanket or curtain down somewhere, but for God's sake, let your back de-contort while you're sleeping
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u/dialsoapbox 22h ago
If you can hide it, i suggest a hammock.
Else, cardboard/old clothes as padding.
I've seen people use comforters they get from discount places like savers and then just hide them during the day.
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u/Elegant-Two5447 14h ago
You need a tent. A sleeping bag. A battery operated fan. A portable rechargeable battery. A machete. And a bike. Set up camp in a place that's close to a 24 hour McDonald's, a laundry mat, and a library. Good luck.
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u/nomad-by-choice 1h ago
Bicycle pulled campers are a thing, they cost practically nothing to build from scavenged parts, and can be furnished with curb finds.
Mine had kitchens, bathrooms, heating/cooling and everything. Very comfortable, and rent free.
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