WOT: Memory foam mattress toppers

[Evan]

I had a particularly poor night in another futile attempt to engage in what passes for sleep. This is related to my health problems and isn't a passing thing and will not get better. I have pain in most parts of my muscular/skeletal system and am not able to sleep in one position for very long.

My wife made a comment a minute ago that a local store has on sale memory foam mattress toppers. I have always suspected that I wouldn't like sleeping on one but have never had an opportunity to try one. They are expensive.

Does anybody have any experience with this sort of mattress or mattress topper? In particular anyone with any type of arthritis?

[Iceman Motorsports]

I bought a high dollar memory foam mattress a few years ago. Yes you can dance on it without your beer can spilling or waking your partner up but I will never get another one. I've had two back and two shoulder surgeries and a good quality spring mattress still works better for me.

[cybor462]

Wow this is neat. I was thinking of one of those 3000.00 matress sets that you can put your Wine glass on (let's get this stuff right) and it will not spill. Of course if you drink 20/20 you wouldn't care anyway.
But getting back to this, I too have a wasted back and have only been able to sleep on a water bed ever since 15+ years now. I have a waveless matress w/heat and I do sleep. I have not had a good nights sleep for over 15 years but al least with the water bed I can sleep.
I have been watching those commercials about memory foam and to be honest my wife is the one that hates the waterbed. She wants the foam.
I can't offer any help on the foam. I will watch this to see what others say.

[slowtwitch]

Boy, I'll be watching this thread. I've been wondering about these beds, also I'm in the same boat, years of hard work, body abuse and now paying the price

pete

[Alistair Hosie]

as you know I have parkinsons disease and dont sleep well at all on top of this I am on a breathing machine and last night was the worst night for me too jumping jumping jumping all night long I had to drug myself so much that this morning I am sleeping sleeping all the time during the day I get to my workshop 25 yards away about once a week at the moment and yes I have a spring ,matrress so I feel your pain brother Alistair

[pcarpenter]

This is a little divergent from the original question, but it is an endorsement of a product that is *great* in my opinion.

We have one of the Select Comfort beds. My back is *so* much happier. It takes a bit to get your firmness tuned just right and to get used to a mattress that conforms, but WOW! What a difference. The even pressure makes a huge difference.

They know how to sell these in the Select Comfort stores....they put you on one and air it up until you tell them that it feels about like your current mattress. They then let air out until you tell them that you can feel the pressure even out over your body. They let you lay there for a minute or two and then run it back up to the number you were at when you said it felt like your own bed.....which then feels like a brick with sheets.

We come home from vacations where we have been on a variety of other people's beds and go back to it and say ahhhhh!

They have an outlet store, too that sells beds that were returned during the trial period. They completely replace the whole mattress cover so the only thing that has been anywhere else is the innerds (air panels) and the inflator. They cannot sell these to some states that have laws against the sale of used bedding. We saved quite a bit on what is otherwise a really expensive mattress.

I have no connection to the company other than being a very satisfied customer.

paul

[Willy]

Evan,35 years as a truck driver and heavy equipment operator has left me with not only several herniated discs but with cervical spine damage as well.Too many years of using my back instead of my head! I haven't been able to sleep for more than four hours at a time without pain since 1981.
Although I have not had any personal experience with the memory foam,I can tell you that I have tried just about everything else.After having spent thousands and thousands of dollars on different types of beds...just about anything you can think of,I am always reminded of what a neurosurgeon told me a few years ago.In a nutshell he said that if half of the hype that the mattress hucksters said was true,then he would be out of a job.
So if you do find that miracle please share it with the rest of us as I'm sure there are more of us out there that sleep in pain.
If you do try one out, make sure that you can return it after a couple of months if not satisfied.
These are supposed to be the golden years,golden years my ass...hell some days I can't even write my name.

[Mark Hockett]

I have the same mattress as Paul, Select Comfort. I worked as an auto mechanic for 24 years. Bending over fenders and lifting stuff like cylinder heads and manifolds off can really mess up your back. I used to have muscle spasms in my back all the time, to the point I could not stand up for a day or more. Since we got the Select comfort matress my back has been great. I have not had a muscle spasm for over three years and I'm still lifting heavy stuff in the shop.

Just like Paul when my wife and I go on vacation we have trouble getting comfortable on the normal mattresses and its a relief when we get home to our bed.

One thing I like about them is they can be rebuilt. If the top pad wears out its very easy to change, same with the cover and any other part in the mattress. That feature is kind of nice for guys like us who like to fix stuff instead of throw it away. I also like that because getting rid of old matresses can be a pain and it seemed like we were getting a new mattress every 4 years. This matress came with a 20 year warranty so it will probably be around for a while.

[lynnl]

Several years ago when I was having extreme back and sciatic pain, I ordered one of those Select Comfort beds and tried it for the 90 days or six months, or whatever the trial period was. I sent it back. Decided it made no difference at all.

Fortunately, I later discovered the root causes of these problems are not physical at all, but rather mental and emotional.

It's not the physical wear and tear, it's life's accumulation of emotional baggage (much of it self inflicted) that manifests itself and masquerades as physical ailments.

It's unfortunate that I can not force you to believe that. You'd be far better off if I could!

[lugnut]

Evan, we bought one of the Memory Foam Mattress toppers from Costco about a year ago and we both have liked it real well. I don’t know how the one we have compares with what you’re looking at. Ours is about 3 ½ inches thick and quite heavy. Cost about $120. When it came, it was vacuum packed in a heavy plastic sack and was only about the size of a pillow. After opening the package and letting is set for 24 hours, it puffed up to a Queen size mattress about 3 ½ inches thick. We both sleep much better and I know my back is the better for it. The only problem we have is that it has a tendency to work toward the foot of the bed. And Bottom, fitted sheets struggle to fit it in.
Try one you will like it
Mel