Hi there…two people looking for a mattress to relieve our aches and pains!
I last bought a mattress in 2015. I worked for a furniture/home goods store, and they switched mattress providers. This meant they had to sell the floor models of the old provider at an unbeatable discount, and as an employee I got first dibs. It was a Simmons hybrid, but all that mattered to me was that it cost $250, down from $1200. I was 24, couldn’t imagine a better deal, and tickled to have the most comfortable mattress of my life.
I had many happy years with that mattress, mostly shared with my husband, who I met not long after the purchase. In time, the mattress wore out, as they are wont to do. Being frugal people, we decided to attempt to extend the life of our mattress with a tempurpedic topper, purchased somewhat impulsively at BB&B.
We loved this topper at first, but in time it became far too soft. Our frugality turned to cheapness; we had just purchased the topper (I want to say January 2023) and felt the money spent would be a “waste” if we replaced our mattress so soon after its supplementation. But, as time passed and we stubbornly slept on this monstrosity night after night, our physical aches and pains worsened. I’ve now had chronic SI joint pain for 8 months, despite weekly physical therapy. Our holiday travels and subsequent slumber on alternate mattresses forced us to confront a truth we’d been avoiding: our poor excuse for a mattress is causing us daily pain and strife. We can no longer deny it needs replacing, and ideally to have been replaced 14 months ago.
As such, we are now under self-imposed pressure to get a new mattress “tomorrow.” However, we live in Atlanta, which is strangely and tragically devoid of local mattress companies and retailers. There are two options beyond the dreaded MF (which are plentiful) known to me: Natural Sleep Mattress, whose showroom is temporarily closed for an unknown amount of time due to structural issues of the building; and Golden Mattress, whose hours are truly bizarre and whose salespeople are somewhat notoriously noxious.
Out of sheer desperation, we did walk into a MF earlier today, just to see. The salesman was predictably pushy, but I am not the type of person to make a major purchase the same day, so he was very much frustrated by me. He even pleaded with us to put just the tax on the sale down so he could lock it in. Oh well, too bad for him.
We tried some mattresses, and ended up liking the tempurpedic proadapt firm very, very much. In fact, as we walked down the street after leaving the store, we both remarked on how our back pain was gone! Gone!!
HOWEVER. I am supremely wary of a tempurpedic purchase because I am terrified it will fail in 2-4 years, and we’ll have wasted thousands of dollars. I’m not opposed to spending some serious cash on a mattress, because as a lifelong insomniac, I deeply understand the importance of a good night of sleep. If we go the tempurpedic route, we will of course buy a tempur base, so we can take advantage of the pathetic warranty should the need arise. But, I’m hesitant to buy the first mattress we “liked,” because did we like it because it’s right for us, or because it feels better than the travesty at home?
This brings us to the question: what does one do when alternate mattress stores are unavailable or inaccessible? In addition to my wariness of a tempurpedic for reasons stated above and those explored in this forum, which I have perused, I am even more wary of buying a mattress I’ve never laid on.
My husband seems to agree with my reservations, but he very clearly has the attitude of, “it felt great, let’s just buy it!” But, he’s kind of a chump and always trusts the salespeople. He even brought up the “sale” we’d miss out on if we failed to buy from MF by Monday. I know. I fully understand his desperation, which I share due to the horrible pain I’m in each day. But, I’m not about to throw thousands of dollars at a problem, just to slap a bandaid on it for a few years before an overpriced mattress breaks down prematurely.
Anyway. I’m very long-winded, so I will leave you with our specs:
Person A: 180lbs, 5’9”, back/side sleeper, hip/low back/knee/neck pain
Person B: 200lbs, 5’7”, side sleeper, SI joint pain
We both liked the Simmons hybrid, and we both liked the tempurpedic proadapt FIRM model. The medium felt just like our topper, which we’ve established causes agonizing pain.
Does anyone have advice for us? I so appreciate the thoroughness of this website, and the helpfulness of the forum members. May we all get a good night of sleep!