my Flobed (so far)
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I promised the helpful people here I would report back, so here's where we are 2.5 weeks after receiving our CalKing Natural Latex Flobed. Me: 130 lb, fused spine, chronic lower back pain, side sleeper. Starting configuration: F/F/XF. Husband: 210 lb, occasional ergonomic back pain, back sleeper. Starting configuration F/XF/XF. Night 1: We initially set it up on the old boxsprings because we didn't have the platform bed yet. BIG MISTAKE. Neither of us slept. Nights 2-3: Covered the old base with plywood. Better, but still much, much too soft. Reconfigured to F/XF/F (me) and XF/F/XF (him). Both woke up with back pain the next morning. Night 4: Removed the egg crate layer on the top. He slept much better, but it was a complete disaster for me. Night 5: Replaced egg crate layer after moving all firmest layers as far up as possible. XF/F/F (me), XF/XF/F (him). After 2-3 nights I decided that this felt weird and hurt both the shoulders and the back, so moved mine back to F/XF/F which only hurt the lower back. But still very uncomfortable for me. Husband sleeping, but not happy. Conclusion: Mattress is obviously much much much too soft for us! So we ordered a SF layer for him to replace the F. But I'm worried about the shoulder vs hip problem. Given my back issues Dave recommended an XF VZone customized to my back problem, with the hip support firmer than his regular vzone. New layers arrived Monday. His mattress is now XF/SF/XF and he is much, much happier. We haven't moved these layers in the last 4 days. My VZone is XF under the hips and lumbar region, but it had an M piece under the shoulders. I swapped that with the head piece to get F under the shoulders. I've slept much better on this and my lower back is much happier. It still feels a little weird, as though my head is downhill from the rest of me, and I've had some neck and shoulder pain that may or may not be related to the mattress. So I'll be moving the VZone components around for a while to see what I can make better. We both still hate the eggcrate layer. But I think we may need something that soft now that our bases are so firm. I removed the mattress pad last night (thanks eagle) and that did feel a little better. I also flipped the eggcrate upside down though I doubt that did much. I'll give it a few more nights. Linda |
Re: my Flobed (so far)
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Linda: I'm sorry to hear you're having so much trouble getting your layers right. But this is not uncommon at all for folks who do have physical problems going in. What you're experiencing somewhat parallels my own experience. I started off fairly firm, but wanted to try softer layers so I got a soft layer and another medium layer. This didn't work at all. I have tried various combinations but have returned to what I had originally. Namely one side F/F/XF and I have recently changed the other side back to F/XF/XF and have removed the new topper and replace it with the old very thin topper. We'll see how this works. The new hundred percent cotton topper may prove to be the ideal covering this summer when it gets warmer. But for winter time my old topper seems to feel the best, it's so thin that I will bet you it is less thick than a dime. This is primarily due to the fact that it's wearing out after 10 years of use. But another fact regarding this old topper, is what it is made of. I checked the law labeled today and it is 50% cotton and 50% Dacron. So maybe this has something to do with it. At this point in time, all I'm looking for is comfort, and I don't much care what something is made out of, as long as it works for me. One of the reasons for going back to this firmer original configuration is the fact that I have been installing a new stereo system that includes a 5.1 speaker system, since I now have a receiver that will work with this more modern arrangement. This required getting behind my television and squatting down for a protracted number and period of times. I began having hip joint pain. It is better now but I felt like that the softer configuration I was using may have contributed something to this pain. So we'll have to wait and see how that works out. But I'm expecting good things since the pain has been working itself out anyway. So you just have to stick with it and rely on FloBeds to give you good advice coupled with your own personal experiences. One hint I can give you that might prove beneficial. I opened a Word document on my computer and kept a running daily diary. Most of that diary wound up in my thread "Just bought a new FloBeds" you can really get confused about what layers went where and what the results were if you don't keep a diary. Pretty soon it's like a dog chasing its tail! You have my best wishes, and good luck!  PS: I just thought of something additional I think I should add. You're putting the plywood under your mattress was a good idea. I am very much sold on the idea that we need a very solid foundation under our latex mattresses. We want the latex mattress to do all of the flexing. If you have an unstable ( read that too flexible) support system under the mattress then you can never tell what latex configuration is really best for you. Recently I changed the bottom layer of my mattress for the first time since I have owned my FloBeds. I was quite amazed at the difference the very bottom layer can make to the way the mattress feels. There was a fellow on this forum some time ago who reported that by putting a hydraulic jack under his slat foundation and only jacking it up 1/8 inch in the very middle of his bed that it made all the difference in the world the way the mattress felt. I believe that he was onto something. I think many times our platforms are not solid enough. The mattress industry has been telling us "For ever and a Day" that a good box springs makes a lot of difference. I have always thought they just wanted to sell us something extra. But I think there is a lot of truth in the fact that you need the proper foundation for your mattress. This message was modified Feb 20, 2010 by eagle2
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Re: my Flobed (so far)
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I have wondered how the flobed would feel with a solid topper in place of the convoluted topper. Some days my back is a little sore at night, even with the Flobed. Two nights ago I had low grade lower back pain throughout the night, couldn't get comfortable. But last night the bed was a dream and I didn't want to get up in the morning . . . go figure. Keep us posted on how the Flobed is evolving to fit your needs. |
Re: my Flobed (so far)
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Hi Linda, Wow! I'm not competent to comment on Flobeds yet, but I'm SO glad you're reporting your experiences. It's very helpful to read all the different configurations and how each affects the way it feels to you. I hope you're soon able to find the comfort you need. Please keep posting! Natalie PS - I like eagle's advice on keeping a diary. I can see how easy it would be to get confused about which change produced which result. |