Mattress shopping makes me feel like Goldilocks
How are you sleeping? Do you toss and turn all night and wake up in the morning feeling like you’ve been run over by a truck? Yeah, that pretty much sums up my sleeping habits over the past year. I was blaming most of the issues on menopause since all of my girlfriends in the same age range also complain of hot flashes, night sweats and insomnia. Isn’t aging gracefully wonderful, ladies?
Several years ago, I started waking up with such pain in my side and hip that it felt like someone stuck me with a steak knife. I noticed my old mattress had developed a nice U-shaped indentation right in the middle and figured it was time to buy a new one. After shopping online and trying a few in the store, I bought one on the lower to medium end of the price range and was blissfully happy for a while.
Last year, it all started again. When I bought the mattress, I made the mistake of buying “soft” or “plush” because I simply cannot sleep on a firm mattress. It feels like concrete to me, and I wake up every half-hour with numb shoulders, arms, and hips. Whether the plushness or the cheapness was to blame, that mattress was letting me down and giving me aches and pains again. I bought a puffy mattress pad and later added a 3-inch memory foam topper. At first, it felt great and much like sleeping on marshmallows. The mattress was piled so high with cushioning that I nearly needed a ladder to jump into bed and someone to pull me out in the morning!
Finally, it was time to face the music and buy another mattress. This time, we went in person to two different mattress stores and laid on and rolled around all over dozens of mattresses. I started to feel like Goldilocks when she was trying the three bears’ beds: “This one is too hard. This one is too soft. This one is just right!” We started playing around with the adjustable base beds and found the “zero gravity” setting, which felt amazing! I’m not sure I could sleep in that position but it sure would feel good to relax and read or watch TV like that for a while.
In the end, we had sticker shock during our mattress shopping but wound up with one that was just right: a hybrid with memory foam on top, plenty of coils to support beneath and an adjustable base. Ours doesn’t have the “zero gravity” setting but it comes pretty close! Word of caution: Don’t stay in that position too long or else your feet will go numb. Almost one week in and so far, so good. Hopefully we chose the right mattress to last for a long time. In the meantime, I’m not losing any sleep over it!
Kristin Emery can be reached at kristinemery1@yahoo.com.