Hi Ramona Joy,
I’m glad that you found us before you pulled the trigger on an iComfort or any other major brand when there are so many better options available to you.
The first thing I should mention is that there is no “formula” that can help you choose a mattress that will “fit” various medical conditions and that in the end only your own body will tell you whether any choices you make are the right ones. This can sometimes involve some careful local testing on various types of mattress so that you have a clear sense of the general types of materials and mattress that you are most comfortable with and that best fit your own unique needs and preferences. There are so many variables and different preferences involved that each of us can be unique.
I’m not sure if you’ve read this but the most effective way to find the best possible mattress for YOU is to follow the steps that are listed in post #1 here.
These steps basically boil down to
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Gathering some basic knowledge about mattress construction and materials.
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Knowing what to exclude and where to focus your time and energy most effectively.
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Researching the best sources of mattresses available to you.
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Testing various types of mattresses that you are most attracted to and finding out which ones best match your individual needs and preferences.
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Deciding between the “best” mattresses at the retailers or manufacturers you have visited and looking at all the pros and cons of each so you can make a final choice between what should by this time be very good options.
As an alternative … if the “best” mattresses available to you locally are not in the “value range” you want … then working with a good online outlet using your local testing as a gudeline can be an effective way to find good value. In this case … the knowledge and experience of the person you are working with is just as much a part of the “value” of your purchase as the mattress itself. Because you won’t really know how suitable any mattress is until you have had a chance to try it … working with people that really have your best interests at heart and can help you choose the model they sell that has the best odds of working for you can help reduce the risk of an online purchase. Their return policies if you make a mistake can also play a role in the value of your purchase.
In most cases … these manufacturers will make suggestions based on their specific knowledge of the mattresses they make or sell (they know more about their own mattresses than anyone), your feedback from your local testing, “averages” based on body type, sleeping positions, and your preferences, and any other information that can help them to help you more effectively. Because there is no way for them (or anyone) to know for certain how you will respond to any mattress until you’ve had a chance to sleep on it (there is no formula that can plug in your statistics, needs, and preferences and come up with the “perfect” mattress"), the options you have if you make a choice that isn’t the "best " for you are also an important part of value when you are buying a mattress that you haven’t tried. Of course if some of their mattresses have similarities to mattresses that are widely available locally then testing these in person can also help you narrow down your choices.
Because your needs are more specialized and “medical” because of your fibromyalgia and arthritis … it may also help to read some of the feedback and discussions with others that have the same type of challenges. A forum search on “fibromyalgia” (you can just click this) will bring up many posts that will probably be helpful.
It’s great to see the time that Tim took with you and I have also had some good conversations with Restava (which is why they are listed in the online memory foam list in post #12 here). Keep in mind though that the suggestions that they or anyone makes are really just “best efforts” and that in the end your own body and longer term sleeping experience will determine how well your choices turn out. This is especially true when your needs are more specialized and “medical” in nature.
NOTE ADDED: Restava is no longer a member here since a redesign of their mattresses and they may no longer be fully transparent about the materials in their mattresses … see this topic.
I would keep in mind as well that in most cases, those who suffer from fibromyalgia are particularly sensitive to pain from excess pressure and that your focus may need to shift slightly to take this into account. This may mean slightly thicker and/or softer comfort layers than would otherwise be ideal for others. This shouldn’t however be at the expense of good support that helps keep you in overall neutral alignment in all your sleeping positions (your spine and joints especially) because if your muscles are doing the work that the mattress should be doing trying to keep you in alignment or if your joints are overextended from a mattress that is too soft, you can also be subject to joint pains and the overall discomfort, pain and aches that come from your muscles working too hard over the course of the night.
Sometimes too if your natural alignment is different from the norm or “averages” … then what “works” for someone else with a similar body type and sleeping positions may not work as well for you because of the differences in your natural posture or physiology that are either either part of your unique makeup or are “learned” over time and have become part of your “body memory”. In these cases … a mattress that would otherwise be “perfect” may result in some discomfort as the body re-learns what natural alignment feels like and stiffened muscles, ligaments, and joints get used to a new sleeping surface. In some cases it may even be desirable to choose a mattress that otherwise wouldn’t be “quite right” for someone that didn’t have your symptoms so that any adjustment isn’t too extreme.
So you have a bit of reading to do and some local testing to get a sense of what may work best for you. While I don’t recommend them as a purchase option because of their poor value … if the Restava mattresses you are considering have been accurately “matched” in terms of feel and performance to the Tempurpedic models (and I would ask them this) then these would be worth including in your research so you can get a sense of what they may feel like if you decide to go in this direction. I would ask them how close their comparisons are in terms of feel and performance rather than just the layering and quality of materials and whether testing the Tempurpedics will give you a good sense of what their mattresses actually feel like (some manufacturers actually design and test their mattresses to feel and perform like the Tempurpedic line and in these cases their comparisons are not only about the relative value between the two but a close approximation of their feel as well).
The ultimate answer to your main question …
I have Fibromyalgia and Arthritis. Which Mattress Should I Choose?
Is the mattress that provides you with the best possible PPP (Pressure relief, Posture and alignment, and Personal preferences) inside your budget range. While there is no way to know this without your own experience on mattresses (either testing or sleeping on it in real life) … there are many things you can do to improve your odds of making the best possible choice. The most important of these is a little bit of research into the different materials and types of mattresses available to you, personal testing on different types of mattresses, and connecting with the people who sell good quality and value mattresses that have the knowledge and experience to help you make the best possible choices.
Hope this helps … and feel free to post if you have questions along the way.
Phoenix
PS: …
Of course I’m happy to help within the limits of my ability to do so but the lack of a phone number and personal information is by design. The people who have my personal contact information (outside of my site email that is listed on top of the page) are the manufacturing or retail members of the site and many of the other merchants and manufacturers that I talk with on a daily basis. This site has been a 12 - 16 hour a day project for almost 2 years now and this doesn’t leave me with any time for any private consultations whether on the phone or through email. I receive many emails every day already and except in rare cases where what is being asked is not appropriate for the forum, I answer with a “standard” request to post their questions on the forum so that others with similar circumstances or in the same area can benefit from the “conversation” which makes the forum a more valuable resource (and of course helps me to avoid answering similar questions many times). If my personal contact information was public … I would quickly be overwhelmed and what little time I have available to spend with my family would quickly become non existent.
While of course there is a great deal of information on the site that hopefully will help many people, and I’m happy to provide as much information as I can on an individual basis on the forum … the main goal of the site is to connect consumers with manufacturers and retailers (either local or online depending on what may be best for them) that have the knowledge and experience to give them the kind of “in person” guidance and help that is more specific to their individual needs and preferences. In other words … helping people to “connect with the experts” that can help them keeps me from becoming the information bottleneck that would limit my ability to help as many people as possible.