Mattress painfully firm, low budget... topper? or low priced matty from BB.

[paisley]

then the odds are good that you may be dealing with a physiological or medical issue rather than a mattress issue

i dunno. I tested probably well over 30 mattresses in the last month and on none did i experience this discomfort or pressure, even when on them for 15 minutes. well, except the super hard one i tried on topper on, that didn’t feel great.

lying down and sleeping gives me discomfort from the firmness, not alignment is i guess what i’m trying to say. there is no difference in the pain of sitting on the bed with the latex vs. the old visco in the same way that sleeping on it is the exact same sensation as my now to soft visco.

If this is the case … then the odds are good that you may be dealing with a physiological or medical issue rather than a mattress issue because the pressure distribution and alignment are very different with sitting vs sleeping on a mattress. Solving a “sitting” issue would involve a different process from solving a sleeping issue.

my point was only i feel the same way with both toppers separately, both separately allow me to experience pressure from the mattress below and that the pain is exactly the same type of pain (although less with the new topper), in every position (sleeping, seating, leaning, etc) not a new different pain. but rather identical type pain which would believe me it is not all the sudden different issue. And if i were previously sleeping on my bed and my limbs were falling asleep then it’s pressure, and if i put even more pressure by a sitting/leaning position, obviously it’s going to feel worse but the sleeping issue is still pressure. Now of course they did not fall asleep last night, there is less pressure, but there is still pressure.

Again … the only way to test the suitability of a mattress topper combination is by sleeping on it … not by using your hand to press on it. This would be like going to a store and trying to buy a mattress by pressing on them with your hands instead of spending the time to actually lie on them and testing them carefully and objectively for PPP (Pressure relief, Posture and alignment, and Personal preferences). One doesn’t relate to the other and will not predict your experience when you sleep on the mattress.

i was only doing that to see how much pressure it took to compress it. not for any other reason.

If you plan to use your mattress for either reading or working on a laptop or sitting (or anything that may involve a different position from sleeping) then using an adjustable base or even something like a mattress genie under your mattress would be a much better solution.

It would be much better to start with removing the visco (and all the other layers except your protector and sheet as I mentioned) so that you aren’t dealing with an “unknown” layer to start with where the degree of softening in parts of the visco and its effect on your sleeping posture isn’t known.

I’ll give it a shot, I just never heard of a comfortable mattress where people can’t watch tv from it or read in it without major discomfort. Many many many many people enjoy sleeping in their beds and enjoy reading from the same bed… Many people watch tv from bed as well without an adjustable bed. There is def. a connection btwn my not being able to sleep without pressure issues last night and any night that i didn’t have my 3" doubled over, and also feeling the same pressure when i read in bed. And infact, i was able to both sleep comfortably and read in bed comfortably when i had my 3" doubled over.

when i test mattresses, if i like it after laying on it for a while i put myself in a normal bedtime reading position and didn’t experience discomfort in the beds i liked.

But all that aside, even when i lie down on this mattress without the mattress protector and topper cover i had on last night, i still feel a very firm uncomfortable mattress underneath me, so i’m not sure the an extra 8 hours of sleeping on it would feel better.
Whereas as soon as i doubled over my 3" two weeks ago, i could lie on it and feel good, lean up and feel good, and slept well on it as well.

i do see the reason for doing the levels one at a time, this way a person can adjust correctly, adding just what they need for relief while not messing with their alignment… but It should feel comfortable even just lying on it, and since it’s not, i’m not so not sure what i’m supposed to take from 8 more hours of lying in an uncomfortable painful situation. What should i be looking for? i’m not sure how much more sleep deprivation i can take.

[phoenix]

Hi paisley,

I’ll give it a shot, I just never heard of a comfortable mattress where people can’t watch tv from it or read in it without major discomfort. Many many many many people enjoy sleeping in their beds and enjoy reading from the same bed… Many people watch tv from bed as well without an adjustable bed. There is def. a connection btwn my not being able to sleep without pressure issues last night and any night that i didn’t have my 3" doubled over, and also feeling the same pressure when i read in bed. And infact, i was able to both sleep comfortably and read in bed comfortably when i had my 3" doubled over.

Beds are not designed for other uses or activities that involve positions other than sleeping (at least without something underneath them that can provide good support for the spine in other positions). It’s certainly true that many do this and some designs are more comfortable or even suitable for this than others but it’s also true that there are lots of people who develop back or neck issues issues when they do these types of things over a long period of time that puts ongoing stress on the back or spine (such as the reading position that you linked to). Back issues are one of the most common problems in our society and much of it involves people who don’t take good care of their back or posture issues that accumulate over time.

Your sleeping system is also not just a mattress but a topper on a very firm mattress where the two need to work together for sleeping first and then other things second. If you had the luxury of choosing a mattress that was more suitable for both (sleeping first and then perhaps other uses second) that would be different but you are restricted to the mattress you have for now and then finding the most suitable topper that will let you sleep with good pressure relief and alignment. You need to make the best of what you have because you don’t have the luxury for now of buying a whole new mattress.

What should i be looking for? i’m not sure how much more sleep deprivation i can take.

Good pressure relief and good alignment (which is the biggest priority of a mattress) in all your sleeping positions (and no other positions) over the course of the night. While initial comfort is what you will typically feel when you first lie on a mattress … alignment issues are what you would typically feel when you wake up in the morning. It’s important to differentiate them and to be clear about which “symptom” happens in each position and the details of the “symptom” so your odds of a good solution are improved. In both of these the goal is to recognize patterns that point to your longer term experience rather than just one or two nights experiences which can be the result of day to day stresses and circumstances.

One small step at a time with good feedback about each combination is the most effective approach. Your sleep quality is the most important part of what a mattress is designed to provide and everything else needs to be secondary for now.

Phoenix