It’s been nearly six month since I last posted so I thought I would give an update on my complicated bed situation. It’s positive: I am consistently able to sleep through the night now!
In January I posted to the SleepEZ forum despairing because my DIY mattress, which replicated a version I had found “too soft” before, now felt too firm, and especially caused pressure points on my ribs. “Is it the mattress that changed,” I wondered, “or me?” Spoiler alert: It was me! I have since learned that my chronic pain was not caused by my mattress, but is related to an inflammatory condition. The good news is that I’ve learned strategies for keeping it under control (including painkillers, physical therapy, and postural improvements), and I’ve landed on a mattress stack that I can sleep on!
My chronic pain explains why I found an “ordinary” bed too firm. The tough thing is that, in this situation, you also don’t want to make the bed too soft, because that can cause back problems that exacerbate the problem. For a long time, I was sleeping propped up on a pile of soft pillows because this was the only way to reduce immediate pressure on the ribs and get to sleep, but ultimately I think I was doing myself a disservice by sleeping with poor alignment.
As for my mattress, I did do what SleepEZ suggested and swapped out some of dunlop for other latex types. My current build, from bottom to top:
3" 30ild medium dunlop from SleepEZ
3" 30ild medium talalay from SleepEZ
2" 20ild soft Earthfoam from Sleep on Latex
2"ish deluxe wool topper from St Peter Woolen Mill
I’ve been consistently able to sleep on this stack for nearly six months! I waver between finding this “too firm” and “too soft” which means it’s probably about right, and anyway I am able to get to sleep, so YAY.
The wool topper is really the lynchpin of the whole thing since i find it much more comfortable and pressure-relieving as an immediate sleep surface than any firmness of latex. (I had in previous posts worried that I may be allergic to wool… it turns out that because of my various inflammations of eyes/throat/etc., I am unusually irritated by “flyaway” hairs and particles in the air from handling wool batting, but this is only a problem if I’m directly handling the wool itself as part of a DIY project, adjustable pillow, etc. I am able to use a fully enclosed item like the wool topper with no problem!)
Changing my sleep position was another necessary part of my journey, since I am now absolutely unable to sleep in my former position (stomach) due to pain. Sleeping on my back is the best position, and I credit my buckwheat pillow with helping me learn to do so without neck pain. I’m also learning to sleep properly on my side with the help of a body pillow (what I used to call “side sleeping” was actually the fetal position and I would slump during the night and wake up on my stomach).
If I were to do this over, I am not sure I would mess with latex at all; but the stack I’ve got now is working fine, and I am very glad to have found out about wool toppers, buckwheat pillows, and body pillows, all of which have been sleep game-changers.