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Just curious if any of you folks out there have had any long term experience with these beds.

I have checked the consumer sites, but would welcome other opinions.

Thanks.

I don't know about the beds, but I use one of their pillows and it rocks. Actually, I think I'm going to use it right now! g'night

Tempurpedic is wery expensive. The idea is great, and some better alternatives exist.

For example Tempur uses a high-density foam under the memory foam. It won't last long.

Check out this place. I've got one of their mattress kits. The latex core has a much longer warranty than Tempur offeres. My kit is 35 ILD Talalay latex core with Sensus Brand Memory Foam on top. There are several other options now.

Call Mark, or use his forum. Read the forum archives too. You'll see many recomendations, and he doesn't always try to sell you the most expensive thing.

There are lot's of other options, so check them out too. I'm plesed with my purchase though.

LDC wrote:This is no cure for my back condition, but is a sure miracle for my painful way of life. It is the most comfortable thing I have ever slept on!!!!

Queen size. You supply a solid foundation.

Tempur Classic: $1600 + $160 shipping = $1758 (actual total from the web site)
Others are even higher. Also, the Tempur wrranty is 10yrs + 10yrs prorated, not 20. Read the fine print:)

From MemoryFoam.com:
Millennium Mattress Kit : $620 (closest to Tempur feel)
Bougainvillea Mattress Kit : $980 (softest, all latex)
Del Rey Mattress Kit: $935 (my choice, but with 35ILD not 28ILD support layers)

Shipping included.

Both have similar return poliocies if you don't like it, but again, memoryfoam.com has lower shipping costs (FedExGround, much lesst than $160). Don't forget is you return to Tempur you pay shipping both ways.

It's probably a good thing that matresses last a long time, because shopping for one can be a real adventure.

Is there any proven clinical benefit to a soft matress?

The matress my wife and I share is a Stearns & Foster model that's so firm that you could probably roll over and chip a tooth on it. It suits us fine.

I've never been able to get a good night's sleep on a waterbed or soft matress.

Just to throw out another option, we stumbled upon a little known alternative called a "tube waterbed". The water, rather than being in one huge bladder, is in tubes about 8 inches wide. The tubes are contained in what amounts to a foam box, which looks like a regular mattress. No side rails, no pads, and standard sheets work like a dream. Propagation of waves, and redistribution of water when weight is applied, is only head to foot, not side to side. My wife and I can get out of bed without the other feeling it AT ALL -- which we could never do with our old conventional mattress. There's about 3 inches of foam over the tubes, so you really don't much feel like you're on a waterbed at all (nor do you need a heater). BUT -- the tubes allow support (aka water) to be redistributed evenly from head to foot. I've experienced the same thing LDC mentioned -- I wake up in the same position I went to sleep in, with no pain or stiffness. And it's THE most comfortable bed I've ever been on -- including the Tempur-type beds we tried at some mattress stores before we came across this one.

A couple of other advantages: the bed cost us only $421; and since the primary support is tubes of water (which never compress and need to be replaced), the ONLY thing we may have to replace someday is the 3" thick sheet of foam. We've had it for almost two years now, and the foam shows no sign of compressing -- even on my side (I weigh 260 lb, down from 300 two years ago), but we're thinking of buying a sheet of memory foam to replace it, thinking it MIGHT get slightly BETTER. But we're a little worried; we're afraid we might starve to death, since neither of us would ever want to get out of bed to cook a meal!

The only disadvantage is that it's VERY heavy. I estimate that ours, including the pedestal I built for it (2x6 lumber and 3/8" plywood -- that cost me another $150 in materials, BTW, but gave us 5'x7'x1.5' additional storage) weighs right at 700 lb, which REALLY holds the sheets in place when you tuck them in! But each tube weighs only 70-80, and they can be carried to the bathtub and completely drained (ours have no baffling; you can get "waveless" tubes, but I don't feel any waves now), so it's a lot easier to move than than the old single-bladder waterbeds. In fact, since it weighs only about 30 lb. empty, it should be a lot easier to move than any STANDARD queen bed.
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Joe Baker, who doesn't expect to *ever* buy another bed.

Full-motion waterbed forever

Chuck(G) wrote:It's probably a good thing that matresses last a long time, because shopping for one can be a real adventure.

Is there any proven clinical benefit to a soft matress?

The matress my wife and I share is a Stearns & Foster model that's so firm that you could probably roll over and chip a tooth on it. It suits us fine.

I've never been able to get a good night's sleep on a waterbed or soft matress.

As to proven clinical benifits I don't know, there are lots of aneccdotal claims for sure. If it help somone, great, even if it a placebo effect. These are not "soft" in the sense you thinking. The lower layer is quite firm, especiall the 35ILD latex. The "soft" feel at the to is the comfort layer, which releives pressure, like your shoulder or hip when lying on your side. You cannot judge these mattresses by pushing down with your hand. The upper layer need full body weight on it for the support layer to come into play. Lie down on one to get the feel.

BTW, I hate soft mattresses, and brefer something like a concrete floor. I don't find the foam soft at all. Just more comfortable:)

Tempur does have a second company, http://www.tempurmed.com, where thy market a similar mattress that claims clinical proof.

Not sure what you think of the Boston Globe, but here's an article they did. This is Mark's discussion on choosing components.

Thanks for all of your suggestions!

I am going to check out the memoryfoam.com. I was reading that they can set up a bed with two different sides in the King. That would be great since my wife and I are totally different sleepers.

Matthew Gilchrest wrote:Thanks for all of your suggestions!

I am going to check out the memoryfoam.com. I was reading that they can set up a bed with two different sides in the King. That would be great since my wife and I are totally different sleepers.

Yeah, Mark's pretty good about stuff like that. Let us know what you end up getting

the elephant wrote:Water beds tend to "bottom out" at really inopportune moments. Feahhh!!

For THOSE more strenuous activities you should choose from one (or all) of the following: Kitchen counter, the floor, couch, bathroom vanity, hot tub, back seat of 59 Chevy in the garage, on your neighbor's patio, picnic tables at the park, etc., etc.

the elephant wrote:Water beds tend to "bottom out" at really inopportune moments. Feahhh!!

Without going into any personal detail.... never.

Appropos of nothing, my wife and I have a combined weight of some 450 lb.
_____________________________

I CAN tell a funny story about a conventional waterbed. My in-laws had one. One night, it sprung a leak. Because there is a heater, the water was pretty close to body temp, and as my father-in-law (the heaviest object on the bed) sank deeper into the water, he didn't awaken for quite some time. When he finally did, the shock of being submerged was so great that he practically leapt from the bed. As my mother-in-law was now the heaviest object in the bed, she dropped, and my father-in-law's side rose, RAPIDLY -- sending not a trickle but a WAVE over her!
____________________________
Joe Baker, who loves his mother-in-law -- really!

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How do I ask this with some sense of the politic...

Are soft or conforming mattresses more preferred by thos who are on the portly side?

As spokesman for fat tuba players everywhere, I'll answer that. Just plain 'soft' is okay, but can result in sore joints the next day. Conforming is MUCH better. But firm or hard is just about unbearable. When your sides are round, flattening them to conform to a flat surface requires flexing of the spine in ways that are terribly uncomfortable and unhealthy. Also, the weight bearing down on a relatively small number of contact points against a firm surface can cause pain in the flesh.

For me -- especially a couple of years ago, when I was 6', 300 pounds -- the ideal bed is semi-conforming with a soft pillow-top. The worst: a sleeper sofa (there's a bar across every one I've slept on, and we jollier sorts cause the mattress to sink low enough that the bar runs right across the rib-cage).
________________________
Joe Baker, who is shedding his adapose tissue somewhat more aggressively this year.

TubaTinker wrote:

the elephant wrote:Water beds tend to "bottom out" at really inopportune moments. Feahhh!!

For THOSE more strenuous activities you should choose from one (or all) of the following: Kitchen counter, the floor, couch, bathroom vanity, hot tub, back seat of 59 Chevy in the garage, on your neighbor's patio, picnic tables at the park, etc., etc.

Do not forget those firm stacked bags of seed wheat, bales of leafy hay in the barn, and if you do not mind a large four legged audience, that soft patch of orchard grass out in the West pasture....

Chuck(G) wrote:How do I ask this with some sense of the politic...
Are soft or conforming mattresses more preferred by thos who are on the portly side?

I left for way beyond that "side of the port" a long time ago but I really prefer a super firm mattress myself.

Joe Baker wrote:As spokesman for fat tuba players everywhere... Conforming is MUCH better. ... When your sides are round, flattening them to conform to a flat surface requires flexing of the spine in ways that are terribly uncomfortable and unhealthy.

'Zacly the reasons I have used a full-motion waterbed for the last 30 years. I REALLY miss it when I spend nights in hotels.

(I forgot about the times in the open meadows , Paul)

ThomasDodd wrote:

Matthew Gilchrest wrote:Thanks for all of your suggestions!

I am going to check out the memoryfoam.com. I was reading that they can set up a bed with two different sides in the King. That would be great since my wife and I are totally different sleepers.

Yeah, Mark's pretty good about stuff like that. Let us know what you end up getting

Hey Matt,

Did you ever get a mattress?

How's it sleep?

Update (per Thomas' request):

I bought the Tempurpedic unit because my wife didn't want to buy from the dude in Orlando.

We had it for 5 days. My back was so bad by the end of the fifth night that I could barely walk.

We went back to the furniture joint and traded it out for $100 (to pay for another "free" delivery). They wanted me to keep it for 30 days, but when I showed them the doctor's not to stay out of work for 10 days (I stayed out for 2) and the two prescriptions (one for relaxers and one for pain killers) they nicely took it back with no further questioning.

The unit we ended up with was a top-o-the-line Sterns & Foster innerspring unit that acutally has a very thin layer of about 1 inch of the memory foam. The springs are very stiff for me and the "pillowtop" is soft for my wife. About two nights on this bed and my back was much better.

The foam mattress was working my back all night. For whatever reason, my back was trying to keep my spine aligned in spite of whatever the mattress was doing.

Trying it out in the store was very different from living with it. I will not recommend people to not buy this mattress, as I feel that it is personal preference. I will say that Tempurpedic may be the way to go for the first one, only because of the trial period involved if it does not work for you and they have a dealer network to support this (and maybe even trade it out if neccessary).

Matthew Gilchrest wrote: We had it for 5 days. My back was so bad by the end of the fifth night that I could barely walk.

The foam mattress was working my back all night. For whatever reason, my back was trying to keep my spine aligned in spite of whatever the mattress was doing.

very interesting. i'd love fo you ask mark , at memoryfoam.com, about that. very unlike any other experience ive heard.