Beds

[Katie]

Hi all. I've been suffering from residual lower back pain since surgery. Absolutely nothing near what it was like pre-op, but just enough to keep me on some meds, and it is mainly at night. Every time I first lay down in bed, I get a sharp throbbing pain all across the lower back. I put it down to the connective tissue 'letting go' from trying to keep me together all day. (My core strength is still not great...my fault ).

If I have been overdoing it during the day, laying down does help, but it is a catch-22 situation. By morning, I wake up very sore and tired, not rested at all. I have been diagnosed with sleep apnea and have a machine that helps, but the back pain is still the main issue.

I've always dreaded traveling and being in a strange bed, as that seems to be worse again. Driving is fine...it is the horizontal position It didn't seem to make much difference as to how expensive the hotel was...some were worse than others, but none were "I don't ever want to get out of bed" comfortable.

Well, we took a short vacation last weekend with friends, and spent the night in the Hyatt Regency. I thought I died and went to heaven! When I first laid down, there was NO pain. My back relaxed. I slept like a baby and when I woke up in the morning, I was totally content. No pulling myself up because it hurt too much to lay there....I didn't want or need to get up. Total comfort and bliss

We had gone to a wonderful play that day, then a great evening at a seafood restaurant and music festival, and the best part of the weekend was the bed...how sad is that

Now of course, the bed at home seems even worse, and all I think about is getting the same brand as the one from that weekend. I checked with the hotel and they sell them from their website...Yeah! But hubby is not happy that our almost new, king size (and expensive) current bed that he is happy with, is facing replacement. Our budget will not allow for it at the moment either.

But at least I now know that there is an answer for my pain...that it isn't something that I have to live with forever. I thought that since every other bed I've been in was giving me the same problems that it was just me and my crappy back. Instead, it just confirms dear hubby's belief...he married the girl from the storybook "The Princess and the Pea" Only the best will do for this sensitive creature.

Off to squeeze my hens so I can sell more eggs......

[ajj1001]

what kind is it? I literally wouldn't get out of bed without my bed, that said the amount of time spent in it means that the mattress is showing signs of wear but the most expensive bit was the electric base.

[Gilbert P]

HI Katie

We are also looking into a new bed

I wake up every day so stiff nad sore its killing me Osteoarthris (sp?) Our mattress is 14 years old.

Let me know what you find?

Gil

[Katie]

Now, keeping in mind that everyone's taste in beds and other things personal is quite, well.... individual , this is what I found to be awesome for me.

King Grand Bed

Here is the original link off the Hyatt.com site, and following the links that get you to the order page above.

Hyatt at Home

They of course try to sell all the linens, office supplies, luggage, etc. as well, but I only have eyes for one thing ;-) I'm not sure if I could get by with just the mattress and use our existing box spring, since my set is just two years old (Kingsdown brand), and save myself ~$300, but if it voids any warranty, then I'll probably get the whole thing (eventually).

The bed doesn't look like anything special...no super-duper extra-deep pillow top or anything, but it sure gave me a good night's sleep. We have a new queen Kingsdown in our spare bedroom that's a bit better than the master bed, but we find it a bit small after getting used to the king Our guests & house-sitters all seem to like both beds, but they sure don't agree with me.

I have to add though, that the Westin Hotel also makes the "Heavenly Bed", and when I stayed there just before my back decided to give up the ghost I thought that was the best one ever. I haven't tried it since, so can't compare the two fairly now. Although when we were shopping for our existing bed, I'm sure the price was a lot higher and that's why we didn't go for it then. Their price is still a bit more, but close, but their complete bed linens are more than the bed itself Very lovely though, if that is one of your vices And I'm kicking myself because the Hyatt bed especially is la bit ess than what we spent on the evil one.

Here's the Westin bed Westin At Home - Heavenly Mattress & Box Spring

The best way to see if either of these make your back happy is to plan a mini vacation with a loved one at these hotels and try one or both out Nothing worse than investing a lot in one of these and finding that you hate it. But if I take one more night away from home in this bed, I may never return

Hint: We were shocked to see that our on-line price for the hotel was $110, but if we had booked in person it would have been over $300

[Cindylou]

Gil, I think you definitely have reached the end-cycle of your mattress, at 14 years old! That is likely contributing to a fair amount of your back pain. Some of those mattresses Katie mentioned really sound like they are worth investigating. I don't know which way we will turn when it's time for a new mattress again. Ours is a rather high end Chattam and Wells, luxury line, California king size. My husband travels a good 80% with his job, which translates to sleeping in a lot of different brands of mattresses, all over the east coast, and he just swears by our Chattam and Wells as the best mattress he has ever slept on in his entire life. I'd have to check in my file to see what we paid and even what year that we bought it, since it's been awhile. But I know since we bought it, there are a lot of good competition of mattresses out there, so I suspect we will still go through "the mattress testing" when the time comes to purchase again. Does anyone really know what typically the life cycle of a mattress is supposed to be? Is it 10 years? I really have not investigated that, but would be curious. CL

[dalhousie]

what kind is it? I literally wouldn't get out of bed without my bed, that said the amount of time spent in it means that the mattress is showing signs of wear but the most expensive bit was the electric base.

I've had my adjustable bed 6 years now. I got it when I had my fusion in 2005 & it's had a lot of 24/7 use since then. I didn't have long between my fusion op & ADR fully recovered & even when I was at university I used to lie on my bed if I was doing reading for research. I was wondering whether to try a Furmanac for my next bed. I know yours has had a lot of lying on but it's not that old to be showing signs of wear.

I remember you got a Furmanac bed - which one did you get & have you been pleased with it since you bought it? My mattress can be a bit "sinky"- it is latex & reflex foam filling.

[Katie]

With the ones we've had, four years seems to be about the limit before it shows signs of hollowing out in our favourite spots As you said, it has had a lot of 'down time', but still... They have a ten year warranty, so we have gotten a replacement for the first one, and I'm about to talk to them about this one too.

I just took a 3" memory foam topper off ours as well, and my back seemed better without it. And my sinuses cleared as well within a day or two...I had been stuffed up for so long I didn't notice it any more. But that thing must have been off-gassing and bothering me. So many environmental problems have developed in the past half dozen years....just one more on the list. Be aware that it happens though.

[Pbchoclovr]

I'm a bit slow to enter this conversation... but I have to say I currently have bed envy! A few weeks ago, I was out and about and stopped in a mattress store. My current mattress has a very well developed groove from the constant use, even though it's only about 5 years old and just had it rotated to wear out the other side, but know that's only a temporary fix. I wanted to test out the Tempurpedic mattresses, instead wound up testing the Serta IComfort system. I am in love!!! I soooo want this bed with it's adjustable base. I stopped at Sears this afternoon just to lay on one....I had to fight two little kids off just to test out it's adjustable base and massage feature. They thought it was a toy to play with and wanted to know when they could play. After laying on it a good 20 minutes or so... I want one! Not sure how long I'm going to be able to hold off ....if they can make me a sweet deal... I just might go for it!