memory foam

Last summer I tried a memory foam (from Sleep Number Bed store) pillow. It was comfortable in the store and comfortable at home. After about an hour I woke up nauseated. The store said air it out for a day or so and try again. Long story short, I ended up trying
many different foam type pllows and they all affected my larynx -laryngitis sometimes with nausea. Lots of other smells, fumes bother me, and it will lead to asthma so -are there any foam type mattresses that don’t have that gas?

Hi wheezer,

Out of the three types of foam … memory foam is the most problematic for people who are sensitive. I can also tell you from personal experience that the symptoms that come from a sensitivity to the chemicals in some memory foams are not pleasant and can be quite scary. While I’ve only had the unfortunate experience with one memory foam product (a topper from Novaform), the burning throat, dry mouth, muscle aches, fatigue, palpitations, headaches, nausea, strange dreams, and general listlessness were not fun to go through. They subsided within 48 hours after removing the topper. Both of us experienced similar symptoms so this was an indication of a “bad” memory foam product but some people are sensitive enough that it seems that all (or at least most) memory foam products affect them. Neither one of us has had similar experiences with other memory foam mattresses we have slept on.

Polyfoam is less of an issue (although some people are very sensitive to this as well) while latex is generally considered to be the “safest” of the foams with the least likelihood of sensitivities.

Post #4 here along with post #2 here and post #2 here has much more information and links to resources about the “safety” of different materials that you will find in a mattress including memory foam.

Hope this helps.

Phoenix

Need to find chemical free mattress in Maryland
You can’t imagine (actually, with your experience you probably can)what a relief it is to discover I’m not nuts, and that I felt a lot more than nausea with that pillow. But I can see it’s going to take a lot of work to sort this all out. But the information is here.

Our queen bed is probably 25 years old and not feeling comfortable anymore. Once I wake up I get stiff and uncomfortable so I end up having to get up. My husband weighs about 180 and I weigh 230. My husband is a great sleeper, but I often wake up when he gets up during the night. All that is minor compared to the chemical sensitivity part. It didn’t occur to me that I might be sensitive to
something in beds other than memory foam. But more and more chemicals are affecting me so I want to avoid all that I can including that flame retardant. Working with 4 different doctors so no problem with prescription.

We live near Annapolis and about 20 miles from Baltimore. I’m hoping you know of some places we can go to look and test once I get more of solid understanding of the possible combinations.
This is a fantastic service and thank you so much.
Wheezer