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I just turned seventy and have been suffering mattress woes for about 40 years. Went the water bed, air bed, memory foam mattress, posturepedic, etc etc route. Meanwhile I've gotten to the point where I dread bedtime. We moved recently and all my plans to try a latex mattress flew out the window. We had to buy beds immediately or sleep on the floor. Could find no latex dealer nearby, not with the limited time and a Google search anyhow. So I ended up with an expensive coil mattress again (learned long ago to avoid pillow tops. We decided on twin beds because it was getting difficult for me to make a king up in the morning. Back problems, hip problems, fibromyalgia, weak legs...yuk. The twin is a disaster, not to mention the coil mattress. The saleswoman talked me out of an extra long (so overwhelmed by the sudden move I could barely think). I'm 5'10." I had started sleeping in the guest room at the home we moved from, a full bed with a very cheap hard mattress. On that I used a four inch twin memory foam, one of the two we rescued from the memory foam bed that developed indentations after a year. On the hard mattress is worked fairly well. In this new house there is no guest room. Fast forward new home and new twin bed. With the four inch foam I had to jump up to get into the bed even with my long legs. Then, because the foam is quite soft, it was a struggle to get to the center and it aggravated all the back/hip trouble. After the second night I "slept" in a recliner until we brought out a two inch memory foam that had been set aside because of indentations. A very little better, but one side was still firm and the other squishy. (For some reason my covers keep sliding off the bed so I am using king sized covers to keep them on.) A few days ago we moved the mattress and topper head to foot and the firmness is now only about one fourth of the width of the bed instead of one half. To make things worse, I've gained a lot of weight because of inability to get much exercise, etc. Around 220 pounds, I think. Mostly around the middle. Whatever bed use will end up with indentations in a year or three. I like side sleeping best, but now often sleep on my back because it's a bit less painful. My husband can sleep on anything and, though long suffering, I know he doesn't want to buy me another bed with all the expenses of moving and some needed remodeling, especially since no bed so far has been much better than the last. Hope that's no overkill on background. It's after one a.m. and I'm probably writing more to delay going to bed. :-( I'm wondering if a latex topper would help? I know it needs to be at least three inches thick because of my weight. It would be easier to change positions than on the foam , from what I've read. I'm afraid to push for a whole mattress for fear latex won't be an answer and we will have wasted yet another bunch of money. I'm thinking if I did like the topper, I could later order a latex mattress and even use the topper on that. Until then, I'll still have to jump up on this too narrow bed that seems almost as high as a table, but I'll know if I like latex. I do like memory foam until it loses it's firmness, but have also become sensitive to chemical off gassing so natural latex would be much better. And I think it is supposed to last longer before the indentations show up. The fibro, pain, etc cause me to become overwhelmed easily. The thought of trying all kinds of latex layers, packing them up, exchanging, etc. is overwhelming. But if I do find that latex is helpful and end up ordering a latex mattress, unpacking and moving layers instead of a thick chunk would be easier for my husband (who is in his mid seventies) to handle, since latex is heavy. So with all that background, does anyone have suggestions for toppers as a beginning? Or any other advice? The nearest city of any size near us is Grand Rapids, Michigan, in case anyone knows of a place where I could find latex beds to at least try. If you've made it through this long post, thank you just for reading it. And thank you so much for any advice! |
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I apologize. My posts are confusing. The mattress is a Restonic CC triple cushion distinction plus. I only used the 4" topper for two nights. It was a disaster because it was too high and too soft, making it painful to adjust positions. I switched to the old 2" topper (we cut it to fit with a bread knife).. It seems it must be memory foam, because that is all we purchased, but the finger press test doesn't act like memory foam; it smooths out in a second or two. It did cut like other memory foam toppers we did surgery on. When I changed to the 2" topper, the part under my left upper body was firmer (seemed higher but that is because it was firmer) than the right. We rotated the whole mattress and topper and now most of the topper is evenly soft. Now where I sleep there is cushioning but no firmness. Because I have fibromyalgia, any pressure, (even a wrinkle) is painful. So I need to buy a topper that has enough pressure relief. The new mattress to many might seem soft enough. On my back it is bearable for a short time. I can't sleep on my side at all on it (without a topper). When memory foam is new it has the needed cradling effect and support, though changing positions is a bit of a challenge. That was true of 2", 3", and the 4" memory foam. Indentations make position change very difficult and painful. I am hoping that latex will resist intentations longer. I read on one site that it will develop them in two to three years. If so toppers will be less expensive to replace than a whole latex mattress. I also read that it is easier to change position on latex. Before we moved, I used a new 2", and then later a 3", memory foam topper on a Spring Air bed that was a bit softer than our new mattress. The Spring Air developed the indentations after less than a year from purchase and that was around the time that fibromyalgia was becoming worse. Most people wouldn't have been bothered by the dips that early, but even small indentations cause me problems. There was still good support with the Spring Air mattress under the memory foam topper. When the indentations and softening on the second topper began to cause difficulty I moved to the middle (king size bed) where it was still firm, then switched to the guest room. That bed was very firm. I used one of the four inch thick pieces that we took off the memory foam mattress we had purchased before the Spring Air. It had become overly soft with time but on the hard mattress it was bearable. It seems in my experience that when the memory foam becomes soft, the indentations disappear. And because the mattress and springs were inexpensive, they were lower to the ground so the extra 4 inches wasn't too high. It was about that time that I started researching latex. I hope this helps make things more clear. Thank you so much for your help! |
| hi, not sure i'd be much help and to take my advice would not be inexpensive: i think you should look into adjustable bases. i suffer from chronic lower back pain and sore joints brought on by autoimmune disease and find it very difficult to sleep flat. i much prefer for my upper body and legs to be raised. as of now i'm sleeping in a reclinder, but have slept in an adjustable bed and the difference is amazing. again, not an inexpensive option as you'd need the bases as well as new mattresses but i wanted to present the idea as a viable option. good luck. |