Hi SleeplessinDallas,
I think that your question is a valid one and goes back to some of my “instinctive” concerns about how unusual this was back in post #11 here.
When I talked with them at the time they said there had been no issues with this and because I know that they listen carefully to the feedback from their customers I was satisfied that there had been no issues but your question is slightly different and has to do with the flex strength of the slats themselves and may not be something they have “connected” to certain feedback like yours.
While I have no direct experience with this combination … thinking “logically” there are a few things I would wonder about. First, the pocket coils aren’t as heavy as latex and may not pre-compress the slats to a flat position. Coils also react to pressure differently than latex because the pressure that goes “in” the top of a coil comes out the bottom in the same surface area while latex “spreads out” the pressure into a larger surface area as it goes deeper because the latex cells are all interconnected and affect the ones beside them. This means that the coils may “pass on” the contour of what is below it more easily than a latex foam core and since there are only a few inches of latex above them to “widen or even out” the pressure, it may be something that you can feel. This all means that it may very well be that the center part of the bowed slats may be slightly adding to the pressure you feel directly above them.
While all of this is “theory” of course and I don’t specifically know the firmness level of the slats, it certainly makes sense to me as a real possibility. I would probably test the theory by putting the mattress on the floor (with a blanket to protect it) if you can to see if this makes any difference before I bought a firm slatted base.
The other side of this is connected to the “popping” of your spine. Because you mentioned that you spent a good deal of time hunched over a computer (as I do), there may be a tendency towards a curvature which has become more “rigid” and the popping may be a symptom of the spine loosening into a more “normal” flexibility and position. This too is of course theory (and a chiropractor would know better than me about this) but I do know that both the process of developing a misalignment and rigidity and the process of correcting it can have similar symptoms. If this is the case … it could also account for the tossing and turning and even the “movement” of the pain/discomfort (which is not uncommon in a “healing” process) because of the of the re-alignment/adjustment process.
If you had to rate the overall discomfort … would you say it’s improved somewhat, become worse overall, or is about the same but has just changed location?
All of this is somewhat “educated” speculation of course and the real reason may be a combination of factors or even something different completely but your comments have certainly made me suspect (as you do) that the issue may be connected with the slats and if you can I would certainly test it out on a firm (and even) floor.
Phoenix