So hubby and I purchased our dream mattress - a king size Savvy Rest - soft/med./firm dunlop with a wool topper. We received it a couple days before Thanksgiving and it’s been making me feel sick. We both love this mattress - I can’t believe this is happening!
Earlier this year I was dx’d with asthma. However for 3 months prior to receiving our mattress my asthma was totally under control and I did not have to use my inhaler one time. I have never had a problem with latex nor did I have any issues when we tried out the mattresses in the store. We were there for a couple hours. The first night we used our bed the smells really bothered me and I had an asthma attack. I had to go sleep in my son’s bed. Since then I find sleeping on the mattress makes my stomach ache, my heart beat faster and of course the difficulty in breathing.
A week ago I had a RAST allergy test done for latex and today it came back negative. However I can’t live with these symptoms and emailed the store owner. (We’ve been in contact with each other since I first got the mattress and noticed symptoms.) They have a no return policy so I’m really concerned about this. This mattress was costly! She sounds like she might work with us and mentioned they have never had this happen to a customer.
Anyway, I don’t know where to go from here as far as selecting a different type of mattress. Memory foam is out, latex is now out, so it looks like we will need to try out the innersprings. Organic is important to me due to my asthma and allergies so could someone recommend a store in my area. I live in central Ks. Topeka is 2 hrs. away. Ks. City is at least 3 hrs. Any recommendations in Wichita?
While I can’t give you any specific “advice” because I don’t know the underlying cause of your allergy attack or your symptoms … I can outline what I would tend do in your circumstances.
It appears that the odds are very low that it’s the latex itself that you are reacting to so the first step I would look at is other possibilities that could be triggering your symptoms. This could range from your pillow (especially), the mattress cover (the wool?), your mattress protector, any mattress pad you may be using, your bedding, or any other environmental “triggers” that could be causing your symptoms including one of the most common which is dust mites. Just to rule out any other possibilities … it could even be the odor of the latex itself (even though it’s not harmful, some people are sensitive to odors) or even anxiety about sleeping on latex which could be affecting you even if it isn’t likely that this is the cause. It could also be that you are sensitive to the odor of one type of latex but not another so changing the type of latex may also be a solution. Talalay has a “sweeter” and often less persistent smell than Dunlop which has a more “rubbery” smell that can affect some people (see post #2 here)
I think the first thing I would do is consult with your doctor in a followup appointment so that they can “effectively” rule out that there is any “danger” in sleeping on a latex mattress. I would also consider a skin test (now that a blood test has been taken) to determine whether you have a type IV allergy which could be connected to the chemicals or substances used to make the latex (see post #2 here).
I would also invest in a mattress encasement and a pillow encasement which can protect you from any particles or dust mites that could be part of the cause. This would probably be a good idea anyway with any allergies or Asthma no matter which mattress you are sleeping on (see post #2 here).
If you take a step by step approach to rule out the possibilities one by one … the odds are much higher that you can isolate the underlying cause of your symptoms and can have some confidence about the cause of your symptoms and the materials you are sleeping on.
If it still turns out that you do want to or need to replace your mattress then some of the better options and possibilities I’m aware of in the Wichita area are listed in post #2 here (manufacturers) and in post #4 here (retail stores) but IMO it would be a shame to replace a high quality latex mattress when the latex itself may not be the cause of what you are experiencing.
There is another forum member that is in a similar position to you and my reply in post #6 here to her has a list of the most common materials that you would normally find in a mattress that you could choose from. Outside of latex … most innerspring mattresses would include either memory foam, polyfoam and/or natural or synthetic fibers.
Thank you for your response. I suspect too that it is the dunlop latex odor that I’m sensitive too. We received 2 shredded latex pillows with the mattress that we quickly had to put away because the odor was too intense for me and triggered my asthma. I wish now too I had realized the different smell between the dunlop and talalay.
I do have an appt. with an allergist to do some skin pricking tests however I can’t get in earlier than 6 weeks which seems like an eternity when I’m now sleeping on a lumpy guest bed we have. My husband took our latex mattress back because I feel like the smell has gone through the whole main level of our house and I’m tired of feeling ill and having out of control asthma.
Have you heard of mygreenmattress. com? They have a two-sided Pure Echo Organic Cotton Natural Mattress that I’m wondering how quality it is. I think I remember seeing on this site a list of organic mattress companies that have innerspring mattress with organic fibers but now I can’t find it. Could you link me to them? Do you have any insight to the quality of some of the companies over the others.
Also, Orman’s in KC carries the naturepedic beds however after looking at reviews on line it seems many complain how firm they are. Do you have any knowledge or experience with them?
They (and their sister company Quality Sleep) are members of the site which means that I believe they compete well with the best in the industry in terms of quality, value, and service. There are several versions of the Pure Echo mattress including a one and two sided and a version that also includes Talalay latex. They would be well worth talking to.
I think the post you mean is post #4 here. They are mostly not organic mattresses (although many of them use organic wool or cotton) but but they do all use good quality materials and components.
I would compare them based on how good a match any specific mattress is for you in terms of PPP relative to the price of each and based on the criteria of your personal value equation that are most important to you. None of them would have any obvious weak links but innerspring /natural fiber mattresses tend to be firmer than mattresses that use foam and when the fibers pack down over time they will tend to become firmer yet (vs foam mattresses which usually become softer over time). When you are looking at this type of mattress it would be very difficult to compare them in terms of “commodity value” because you wouldn’t be able to find out the raw material cost of the different types and amounts of natural fibers, the species of wool used, the thickness or denier of the fabric, the amount of wool in each mattress, and the construction methods used (such as tufting) and labor involved in the construction of each mattress, all of which would be a significant factor in the price of each. Even if you had access to the raw material costs … these types of mattresses are much more labor intensive to make and require more specialized skills that are also reflected in the cost and the most important part of your purchase would still be how suitable it is for your specific needs and preferences and whether any difference in prices was a good reflection of a noticeable difference in PPP. The only part of this type of mattress that you can really compare in terms of the cost or quality of the components inside it would be the innersprings but even here the most meaningful way to compare innersprings is based on the weight of the steel inside it which won’t be a spec that is available to you so once again the most effective way to compare them would be based on your testing results and PPP relative to the cost of each mattress.
Firmness and softness is relative to each person and a mattress that is too firm for one person may be too soft for the next. Again … your own personal testing or experience is the only way to know whether it’s a good match for you in terms of PPP. They are very high quality mattresses but they are also in a much more premium price range than other mattresses that use the same materials so I would make some very careful value comparisons if you are considering one of these to make sure that your experience on the mattress justifies the higher cost relative to other mattresses that use the same materials. They are also one of the few manufacturers in the country whose manufacturing facility is organic and make some mattresses with the highest level of organic certification (rather than just using organic materials) so this may also be important to some people even though it doesn’t affect the actual quality of the materials. You can read more about this in post #2 here and in post #2 here.
I had a similarly disconcerting experience with our, oh so comfortable, latex mattress. I ended up in the ER, unable to breathe. It turned out NOT to be a Type 1 latex allergy and I am having some more testing. Now, we are wanting to avoid latex completely, even though it would probably be OK if it were completely encased.
I found this organic innerspring mattress at a reasonable price:
I so wanted to like it, but it was too firm for me. Now we are comparing certiPUR polyfoam pocket coils. Very comfortable and with a rayon FR (no chemical FRs).
While mattress shopping yesterday, within 10 minutes of being in the showroom and trying out a few latex beds, my girlfriend became sick and was having difficulty breathing. She said it felt like her “throat closed” so we had to take her outside for fresh air.
She’s never had latex allergies, and I’m not entirely certain it was the latex, but it was extremely odd/scary.
Did you ever uncover what was causing your sickness?
While there are numerous possibilities that could be responsible for her symptoms … on the chance that there is a type I latex allergy involved it may worthwhile getting tested to rule out the possibility because latex is so common in our society that it would be a very good idea to know because with any systemic allergy that involves breathing the symptoms can become progressively worse after repeated exposure (like someone that has a mild reaction to a bee sting but then the symptoms become worse after a while and in some cases may require that they carry an epipen).
There is more about latex allergies in post #2 here including links to some good sources for some of the symptoms that can be involved but with any significant allergy that involves breathing or a systemic reaction it isn’t something I would take lightly.
Phoenix
PS: Hopefully buttercupbetty will see your post and update us but she was tested and confirmed that it wasn’t a latex allergy (see here) but I don’t think she ever did find out what it was.
I doubt it was a latex allergy as she doesn’t have any other reactions to, say, rubber gloves or more common latex, in general. Could it have been off-gassing / VOCs or is this considered to be a latex allergy?
Yes … her doctor confirmed that it wasn’t a latex allergy. The latex that is used in mattresses is also different from the latex that is used in gloves (which is dipped not foamed and washed). The most common issue with gloves is irritant contact dermatitis which comes from an actual irritation to the skin often in combination with skin sweating and a type IV latex allergy is a sensitivity to the chemicals used to produce the latex, not to the latex itself. Neither one is the same as a type I latex allergy which is an actual allergy to the latex proteins themselves.
A true type I latex allergy is an allergy to the surface proteins in latex not to VOC’s. All the foamed latex you are likely to encounter has been tested for harmful substances and VOC’s either by Oeko-Tex or Eco-Institut (which are both stringent testing protocols) so VOC’s are not likely to be an issue with latex unless there are some kind of unusual sensitivities or health conditions involved. Memory foam and polyfoam are both more likely to be a source of VOC’s that someone may be sensitive to than latex but if the polyfoam or memory foam was made in North America or is CertiPur certified (a slightly less stringent testing protocol than Oeko-Tex or Eco-Institut) then most people would also be fine with it in terms of VOC’s unless again there were some unusual sensitivities involved. Having said that … there are some people that are unusually sensitive to memory foam in particular (even if it’s certified) and there are also a few that are sensitive to polyfoam as well but in most cases these are people with health issues such as MCS (multiple chemical sensitivities).
I really don’t know why your girlfriend became sick and it’s even possible for example that there could have been mold or spores in the air or could have been something else completely but all of this is just speculation.
It’s one of those things that you really won’t know … until you do. If she were to have a similar reaction from close contact with other natural latex mattresses then it would increase the likelihood that it could be something connected with the latex.
I was tested NEGATIVE for a Type 1 latex allergy. I do, however, react to gloves, latex bandaids, etc. I knew this before we started shopping for a latex bed, but thought that it wouldn’t be the same. t had a similar reaction to your GF in a “natural bed” showroom. Almost immediately after entering the store, I had difficulty breathing and tightness in my chest. Needless to say, this is very anxiety provoking! And it became hard for me to separate the breathing difficulty from the sheer panic. (My symptoms resolved shortly after leaving the store.)
I never did find out what specific agent was triggering the problem. So I have accepted that I will attempt to avoid “uncovered” latex and stick with mattresses that have encasements sewn closed.
Good Luck! I’m glad your girlfriend is doing well!