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I’ve decided on the Select Sleep 8500 from SleepEZ but need to make a final decision on layers. First, I’ll lay out (no pun intended) my stats and requirements: I am a 51 yr. old female, 5’2” tall, 155 lbs. I have lower back issues (degenerated disc at L5/S1), osteoporosis of the spine, osteopenia of the hips and a joint disease similar to Rheumatoid Arthritis. To top it all off, I’m an insomniac and a stomach sleeper (at least to fall asleep – when I sleep at all). This means that I need firm support but enough “cush” to avoid waking up with a frozen shoulder or an arm that’s asleep as I do now (currently extra firm innerspring with convoluted memory foam topper). Sean recommended firm/med/soft to play around with, but I’ve laid on a “ready made” latex mattress that was 5.5” of medium latex (30-32 ILD) and felt like it gave me a sway back when laying on my stomach. From reading this forum I’ve seen repeatedly that more than 1” of soft is too much and that the first 3” are what really counts. My current thinking is extra firm / firm / medium. If I find that to be too firm, I can add a 1” soft topper. Your thoughts? |
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Lynn brings up a very good point--everyone's body and comfort level is different. And with all your back and joint issues you will very likely have to tweak the mattress more than once to get it to work for you. I like a firm bed--or rather I should say, my back requires firm rigid support. But because I have arthritis I need some cushioning over that foundation. When I ordered the SleepEZ 10000 medium (32) firm, (38) and xtra firm (44) thinking this would give me exactly what I need, the extreme resilience the the Talalay exerted so much pressure on my joints that I ached all over. I've never felt anything like it (and hope to God, I never do again!) To make a long story short, I was never able to get that mattress comfortable enough to sleep on for more than two hours before I woke up in such discomfort that I would actually take the bed apart in the middle of the night and rearrange the layers looking for some relief. Eventually I just got up and went into the guest room where my old mattress was consigned and finished off the night there. Finally I returned the mattress. But it was an expensive lesson in what not to do. Aggie, check out Novahelp's posts about his experience with the same mattress. |
| Thanks, Cloud9. Your needs seem to be similar to mine (firm support but with a cushion) and your configuration same as I was considering. Based on everyone's experiences I've decided it's too risky to order something I've never laid on and I just can't deal with all the swapping and shipping. The place I am now considering (Popular Mattress Factory, El Paso, TX - 45 miles away) also has some latex over innerspring "euro" mattresses. I've read more than a few posts where people actually gave up on the latex cores and went back to innerspring, so that might be a good compromise. Currently on memory foam topper over old extra-firm innerspring - not bad, but the memory foam is hotter than Arizona in July and the mattress has seen it's better days. Was hoping for all latex due to the lack of motion transfer (sleeping with my husband is like trying to sleep through a never-ending earthquake). Going there this weekend - will post results. |