FoaM mattress topper arrived/any others

[Sophia3]

Ok, I got this thing that is supposed to help with sleep and fibro/aches. Does anybody here have one. Not the mattress but "foam topper."

I was warned about the odor but WHEWY!! It burns my throat and it isn't the foam, it's the flame retardant chemicals. A few years ago I got a new mattress straight from the factory and it had the same smell. That was 10 years ago and I AM SO SENSITIVE to smells. I MUST have been a dog in another life.

We have it airing out in a small room off the garage and I hope the door to the outside a few times a day but it is in the 20's here!! My sister put hers on after 12 hours of ougassing. It will take at least a week before I can tolerate SLEEPING ON THIS THING.

1. Does anybody have worsening of symptoms by chemical smells? Yes, correct?

2. If you have one of these, how long did you let it outgass? Why do they make things for 'healthier sleep' smell so disgusting. It makes no sense. They need to outlaw the chemicals on bedding.

3. Also, now that I have it, my fear is I will BURN UP in the summer since it 'retains heat.' Anybody had one of these live in home where you have to be thrifty on AC bills. Utitility bills are skyrocketing around here and I can't imagine the hot humid nights on this thing. (Now I think of that aspect)

Anybody with experience with this thing? I am so prone to waking up and getting tachy from heat when sleeping anyway.

Sorry for all the questions.

On a good note, I got the good thickness of 3 inch and 4lb weight and got the King sized. I will trim it down to make a pillow for head and between knees when knees are achy. It was the same size for twin or king so oversizing was a no brainer for my Queen bed.

[Wufflebear]

I have not had a problem w/ foam toppers but mine is just a generic one from walmart. I DO however have problems in rental cars....That rental car smell....I always feel sick in them.

I used to sleep on an inflatable mattress and that is horrid in hot climates. I put a blanket under the sheet and it helped.

[michiganjan]

I have been multiply chemical sensitive for many years and I can't say for sure if my chemical sensitivities makes my POTS worse or not. However, they do seem to go together, in that I got sick with both the chemical sensitivities and the POTS at the same time, following a virus.

And I know other people with POTS that are also chemically sensitive.

It may or may not be the flame retardents making you sick. The smell of the foam is enough all by itself. There are two kinds of foam used in mattresses, memory foam and the other kind. You don't say if your topper is memory foam. Either kind of foam can smell and make you sick.

My last new mattress needed a few months to air out. I would like a new mattress, now, too and I have looked into it quite throughly. All the spring mattresses use foam padding. Janice's is a catalogue that sells mattresses with springs and all the padding is cotton or wool and the wool is naturally flame retardant. However the mattresses are very expensive. Like around $1,000 and that may not include the box springs!

Another problem with foam is that it will break down and then lose the properties you bought it for. What about a sheepskin type thing as a topper instead like the Cuddle Ewe?

I once bought a new couch that never did outgas enough for me. The fabric had a rubberized backing of some kind. I ended up selling it for 1/2 of what I paid for it . . . I was tired of having it in the garage and hauling it out in the sun everyday for several months. Finally had my old couch recovered with a tolerable fabric.

[Sophia3]

Jan

It is a memory foam. I lay down on my sisters bed and i could not smell it through the mattress pad and sheets. I did bend over to smell the foam and it had a hint of odor but she had had hers a few weeks at that point.

So the memory foam smell does go away eventually. I just finally moved some furniture of mine into the house where I have been living with a generous friend. My back could use the foam tonight!!

But the smell will have to go....I know it will but Shazaam. Gotta have patience.

I don't like the smell of rental cars either and some are more gross than others. I tell them not to use deoderizer but they must use disgusting soaps.

So, I am really worried about the foam being "hot" in the summer...but hope the mattress cover helps. Also wondering if my sheets will fit!! If they do not, I still have a set of king sheets here to use and I can just tuck in the extra amount on one side of the bed I don't use.

Gosh, I thought of so many details like the outgassing but just now wondered about the heat issue in summer.

Yes, those organic beds can be VERY PRICE. It's pitiful they make laws to SPRAY CHEMICALS on bedding to "protect us". Well, I don't smoke nor do I smoke in bed. But we all know most fires folks die from smoke inhalation and toxix fumes. So unless you are rich, we can't afford to by 'chemical free' bedding.

I wish they would let you sign a paper releasing liability stuff and say leave OFF the chemical retardant.

In MY case Jan this foam topper smells just like the regular mattress I got years ago...heck, it must be more like 12 years ago. But the 'smell reminder' came right back. They do spray the junk on this foam and it may either air out sooner or take longer. Thanks for the feedback.

[Evie]

Yes i am sensitive to chemicals, i think i am getting better but when i smell them i still run away as a instinct. I am too scared to see if i react or not. At least you know that the smell goes away after a few weeks, good luck with it!

[morgan617]

I got one and it smelled for about a day and hasn't bothered me since. It's a memory one too. I really like it. morgan p.s. smells generally bother me a lot too

[JaneEyre9]

I'm chemically sensitive as well. I had a hard time with the "new car smell" and since i used to commute, I had to get a car that had been used for a long time. Also our new condo and bedding gave me a hard time for many months until it aired out.

I guess all you can do is let the foam air out until it is comfortable for you. That's the real standard. Sometimes it's a week, other times it never gets to a level where i can tolerate it. Hopefully your foam will air out quickly!

kristen

[Sophia3]

Thanks for the replies. The smell has dissapated greatly so far. You used to smell it before you opened the door to the small room it is in!!!

Now, you open the door and still smell it though not as strongly. After 48 hrs. It was such a PUNGENT OVERWHELMING ODOR I thought, 'what the heck did I buy?'

So I hope after another 4 or 5 days, it may be bed-nose friendly.

I am not only sensitive to smells but have the BEST NOSE of anybody I know. It's a curse sometimes.

I smell things long before others....and with ears, I hear things long before others but that's another topic!!

Edited February 8, 2006 by Sophia3

[Gena]

Thought you might be interested in this link about the toxicity of mattresses.

http://www.chem-tox.com/guest/guestbook.html

Pretty scary testimonies!

Of course not everyone is so sensitive or has problems, but I am definitely one of those people who are sensitive to all chemicals.

Hope you do okay with the mattress.

gena

[Guest Julia59]

I'm pretty sure I have chemical sensitivities---but have never been tested.

I used to work in a uniform rental/laundry--one of the largest privetely owned uniform rental companies in the US. I got sick in 1990with CFS type symptoms---and tachycardia---I was but on beta blockers and the fatigue part passed, but I had to remain on beta blockers. The company was ordered by the EPA to launder shop towels in the Cleveland facility, as Toledo did not have the right facilities to get rid of the toxins that came in on the shop towels properly. They also had to pay a hefty fine.

The most heinous smelling chemicals would come through the ventilation system into the front office where I worked along with four other girls. There was always a turnover in the office and many quit because they expected a lot of work for a low salary. I hung in there---and became a manager later. The toxic smells started creeping back in the late 90s---98-99 and 2000---I think they were sneaking the towels through at night----because the smell of the ink solvents and ink toxins were thick in the morning. I was exposed to many different chemicals----and i'll probably never get down to the bottom of it. Attorneys don't like to touch environmental issues.

Anyway I left the company in 2000 because they demoted me---and replaced me as the office manager, just a weeks after I found out I had lead poisoning----late March I found out about the lead levels---and by April I was gone---they knew I wouldn't take the demotion for less the half the salary----but I made the general manager sign a "lay off" pink slip to ensure unemployment benefits----as a quit employee I would not qualify---I told them I don't play those games, and I knew they wanted me to quit so I wouldn't qualify.

I can't walk by anything that has a strong chemical smell---i.e.--< gasoline, oil, cleaning fluids, those horrible nail salons in the mall----ect-----> sends my body screaming---in ANS fall out. I probably would not be able to tolerate the mattress topper. There are a lot of them, or full mattresses that don't have the strong odor----but they are so expensive. I can't sleep in our bed with my husband because I toss and turn and keep him awake, and he has to get up early. But I can sleep with him when he doesn't have to get up early.

I know I had mild ANS dysfunction earlier in my life----but I think the exposure to all those toxic fumes over a 10 year period finally triggered more major symptoms.

I'm always on a sort of soap box about environmental issues---in relation to ANS dysfunction---as our warning button---"the sympathetic nervous system" is part of the ANS. My warning button goes off anytime i'm around any chemical type smells......... Sorry for the long posting.......

Julie :0)