Please let us know how it works for you. I myself have been looking and haven’t made it to fsf, but will definately try next week. Of all the places I’ve been around I actually liked the old school spring with a foam topping on it. I did find a place that had a solid latex 8 or 9" bed, but it wasn’t anything special for me.
Hi jet757f,
I’d also keep in mind that it may take you a few weeks to adjust to a new sleeping surface so a few days may not be long enough for the mattress to break in much less for you to adjust to it. One of the advantages to the layering you have is that you can rearrange the layers if you need to.
I’m looking forward to your feedback.
Phoenix
Yes if it seems too firm I may exchange the top medium for a soft.
I will let you know how it works out.
Thanks
I’m still have the same hip/leg soreness as my last mattress.
It happens after around 5 hrs of sleep.
I called Shaun today and he is sending a soft layer for me to try.
If I still have the problem I will switch all the layers around to see if anything works.
The soft layer was no help. Same problem.
Unfortunately I’m going to have to send the mattress back. It is a real pain trying to get the mattress layers into the boxes as I found out with the one layer I returned.
So now I am back where I started with no idea on what kind of mattress would help me.
I guess I will try memory foam and the select sleep at a hotel.
Hi jet7571,
I think you may be losing an opportunity to help you understand why you are having some of the issues you are having. Regardless of whether the mattress you have in some combination of layering ends up being the ideal for you … I think that the more “random” approach you are taking or considering may not help you get any closer to a solution to your sleeping issues. I have several suggestions that may be helpful in both the short term but more importantly in the longer term.
First … I would suggest that it may be worth considering that there may be other issues involved in the “symptoms” you are experiencing that may have little to do with any mattress. Mattresses can’t solve physiological or medical issues although they can certainly make some difference in the comfort you experience while you are working on them in other ways.
Second … I think you are making changes (and exchanges) too quickly without giving your body the chance to adapt to a new sleeping surface or layering. As you can see in post #2 here … there is an initial breaking in period and adjustment period with any new mattress before you can know for certain whether it is working for you. Your body may also need to “unlearn” what it has become used to and how it adapts to pressure and alignment issues that are unique to you and the mattresses you have slept on in the past. I would recommend reading post # 2 here and post #7 here as well.
Third and perhaps most importantly … you have 90 days to help you discover what type of layering is the closest to your ideal and help you understand more about the types of design that work best for you. Regardless of whether you end up keeping your current mattress … the flexibility of its design means that you have a real opportunity do do some re-arranging and experimenting that can give you some insights into why you are having the issues you are having.
The type of issues you are having can be because of comfort layers that are too firm but with your higher weight it is equally likely (perhaps even more likely) that it could be because your hips are flexing beyond their neutral range and firmer support layers may be helpful to prevent your hips from overextending. Your experience on the Corita and on softer layers may be pointing to this as well. This firmer support can be accomplished by some layer rearranging (with each one being tested for at least a week) and would give you the opportunity to find out how your symptoms change (regardless of whether they are completely resolved) with different combinations of the balance between pressure relief and support.
Of course what you do is entirely up to you (and the option of a refund is one of the “values” of the choice you made) but it seems to me that you would be losing a meaningful and possibly important chance to help you understand more about the design of a mattress that may help you to the degree that it’s possible for any mattress to help and that a more “random” or “all or nothing” approach that doesn’t take advantage of the layering options of your mattress and the chance you have to gain some understanding about your symptoms may have much lower odds of success and getting you to the end result you are looking for.
Phoenix
I’m going to take your advice and move the extra firm to the top and see what happens. I wasn’t going to do this because moving these layers around is a big PIA. Keep in mind this is a Ca King so nothing is easy.
Also I am beginning to think that it could be a medical problem that no mattress will fix. This is something that I have thought about too.
Anyway I will let you know how it works.
Thanks
Hi jet757f,
I’m not so sure that is the next layer combination I would try and it certainly wouldn’t be my “advice”.
Don’t forget that you need pressure relief (which comes from the top layers and may need a softer layer than extra firm) and you need good alignment/support that comes more from the middle and lower layers. Extra firm on the top layer may be among the worst of the combinations you could choose … at least for now … because you may have end up with both pressure issues and alignment issues.
You may be making changes that are too extreme and not taking long enough to test any of them.
I agree that re-arranging layers can be a “pain” but the tradeoff of effort would be small compared to what you can learn over the next few months and the possibility that you may get much closer and learn a great deal about your “ideal” layering in a mattress. This knowledge may benefit you in many ways (both in cost and quality of sleep) for many years, may help you get of the treadmill of mattress choices that don’t work as well as they could, and IMO is well worth the relatively small short term effort over the next few months.
I would take a more step by step approach with smaller increments of change and test each one for a little longer.
Phoenix
jet575f. I think you are wise in taking Phoenix advice on this and being thorough in your testing. I have followed this thread and also wondered if you might have a medical problem, as the symptoms seem to be the same on all mattresses. A few thoughts: the mattress will soften in the first few weeks, so give it time in each configuration. Also, go over Phoenix explanations on support layers and comfort layers. You may not want to put the firmest layer on top, but you may want to move the extra firm higher to see if you need a firmer support. Good luck. Lew
So which combination would you recommend? When I went from Medium to Soft on the first layer I did not notice any difference.
So maybe I should try to Firm on the top instead of Extra Firm?
Keep in mind this does not take a few weeks for my body to adjust in my case. During the week when I work I only get around 5 or 6 hrs of sleep and the mattress has felt fine in any combination as did the original spring mattress the Corita. I do not get the soreness on my side at all.
I feel the problem on my sides on weekends when I try to catch up on my sleep and get 8 hrs.
So with this situation I know right away. Nothing will change on this even if I try it for a year as I did on the old spring mattress the Corita.
jet, Phoenix really understands the physics of this, so I copied what I think is an important paragraph from one of his posts:
“The type of issues you are having can be because of comfort layers that are too firm but with your higher weight it is equally likely (perhaps even more likely) that it could be because your hips are flexing beyond their neutral range and firmer support layers may be helpful to prevent your hips from overextending. Your experience on the Corita and on softer layers may be pointing to this as well. This firmer support can be accomplished by some layer rearranging (with each one being tested for at least a week) and would give you the opportunity to find out how your symptoms change (regardless of whether they are completely resolved) with different combinations of the balance between pressure relief and support.”
I believe he is saying that your hips may be sinking in too much when you are on your side and that perhaps you should swap the firm and extra firm so that the support layer gives you more support. Personally, I found my latex mattress surface softened significantly so I would be inclined to keep the medium on top for at least a week. If you have a digital camera you can try taking a picture of yourself from behind while lying on your side. My suggestion is to take the picture after you have been lying on your side for a while, so you settle in. Phoenix could make a better guess as to whether or not you are sinking in too much.
Check this thread to see what I am talking about:
https://forum.mattressunderground.com/t/new-mattress-is-it-too-soft
I have one other thought. I used to be primarily and stomach and side sleeper. About ten years ago I was diagnosed with sleep apnea and starting using a CPAP machine to sleep. Because it required wearing a mask I had to learn to sleep on my back for at least part of the night. Sometimes I still take the mask off and spend some time on my stomach. Have you tried moving to your back when your hips get sore?
Best to ya, Lew
Hi jet757f,
I think Lew quoted the most relevant part of my last reply.
It’s also important to differentiate between “pressure relief” softness and “support softness” because these are different things completely (see post #15 here)
If it is indeed your hip joints that are out of alignment (and time plays a role in this as well because what is OK for your body for a shorter period of time may be uncomfortable or painful for a longer period of time as you know) … then the support that “allows” your hips pelvis to sink down too far could be the issue.
I know you don’t really believe this but I would also give each new layer combination more than just a day or two so that you eliminate the possibility as much as possible of other factors and make changes based on “patterns” rather than just “a few nights experience”. Many people have been surprised at the reality of adjusting to changes in a sleeping surface and the difference it can make. I would strongly encourage you to go relatively slowly here.
To make some suggestions I would first need to have a reference point.
I’m assuming that you slept on the original layering (top to bottom) M/M/F/XF for at least a week … is this correct? A couple of weeks would have been preferable if for no other reason than the mattress is also breaking in regardless of any adjustment period you may have.
I am also assuming that the initial pressure relief semed to be OK on this layering and that the only issues were when you slept on the mattress for more than 5 hours?
I would need to know the layering that you slept on after you received the second layer of foam. I’m assuming it was S/M/F/XF? I would also want to know how long you slept on this.
If you really felt no difference in the top two layers of S/M and M/M … then this would also point to the possibility of an alignment more than a pressure relief issue. The pain going into your legs also may indicate the same thing. Were the two layering combinations “roughly” the same or did you feel absolutely no difference at all that you could perceive in any part of your sleeping experience on the two layer combinations?
I would also keep in mind what you mentioned in your first post …
A good and logical step by step approach may at least give you some good insights as to why over the course of the next few weeks regardless of how it may end up.
Once I hear from you to confirm what you have slept on, for how long, and any input about any differences you could feel … I’ll try to give some suggestions that may be helpful or at least worth trying.
It may also be helpful to know what type of mattress protector you are using on top of the mattress and the type of low profile foundation you are using (to make sure that it has closely spaced slats and no flex).
Phoenix
Yes the layering was originally as you said Med-Med-Firm-Extra Firm. Maybe a little over a week. Now I have Soft-Med-Firm-Extra Firm which I think has almost been two weeks now. I did not notice any difference between the two combinations. They both feel fine to sleep on for me. What I am saying is that the mattress would have been fine for me in any of the combinations. The only problem is the soreness/numbness on my side when I sleep on it too long.
Hi jet757f,
Since you have the soft layer now … I think the next layering I would test would be S/F/XF/M from top to bottom.
This will keep the softest comfort layer but bring firmer layers up closer to you underneath it.
You may find this is a little too firm in terms of “pressure relief” softness because you may “go through” the soft too much and feel too much of the firmness of the layer below it but it’s the next combination I would try. Had you kept your original layers … the next combination I would have tried would have probably been M/F/XF/M (slightly firmer in the comfort layers and a fair bit more supportive underneath).
Can you also confirm the foundation you are using and the mattress protector as well?
Phoenix
Well that was a good workout. So now I have Soft-Firm-Extra Firm and Med.
The foundation is just the low profile box spring type.
The mattress protector is just a regular cover. It has alittle bit of padding.
So hopefully this works.
Hi jet757f,
Do you know what type of protector this is or what type of padding it contains? Depending on the type of protector and the amount of padding it may interfere to some degree with the feel and performance of the latex.
I’m looking forward to hearing about your experience with this layering.
Phoenix
Unfortunately I have decided to return the mattress. I already called and got the retun labels.
I have tried all different variations on the layering and nothing works.
So at this point I’m very frustrated since I am back to where I started and really no hope in finding the correct mattress for me.
Thanks for all your help with this. It was worth a try.
Hi jet757f,
[quote]Unfortunately I have decided to return the mattress. I already called and got the retun labels.
I have tried all different variations on the layering and nothing works.[/quote]
It would have been interesting to know the specific differences in your experiences between each layering order you tried (in terms of pressure relief and alignment) because the differences between them could have been very valuable as a “pointer” to finding the type of mattress that would be best for you whether it was this one or any other type of mattress.
In any case … I wish you good luck in your ongoing mattress search and if you have questions along the way that I can help with don’t hesitate to post them here.
Phoenix
There was no difference between firm and soft for me. They both felt good to sleep on. Both had the same effect after around 6 hrs of sleep with my hip and side aching.
Hi jet757f,
Both of the layerings that you tried would be “soft” in terms of pressure relief but one would have been firmer than the other in terms of support.
It’s too bad you didn’t have a chance to try some of the other layering possibilities because it may have given you some good insights into what you may need in a mattress … but c’est la vie 
Phoenix