Has anyone else felt like memory foam was trying to kill them?

[Carrie12345]

We've been in desperate need of new pillows and I was longing to try memory foam, so I grabbed two on sale.  I have a history of asthma symptoms when ill, but I haven't been sick in quite some time.  The first night with these pillows, I started to feel like my lungs were congested and probably spent a good half hour making myself cough to try to clear up.  Eventually, I woke up enough to realize I wasn't congested at all, my lungs just weren't doing their job well!

 

I got some fresh air and an inhaler puff while trying to google at 2 in the morning and decided to toss the pillow off my bed.  I managed to sleep relatively well after that, felt kind of crummy all day, and was back to normal 24 hours later.

 

Dh didn't have any issue at all (but took his off the bed for me) and the kids (who have memory foam mattresses) took them from us without any issue.

 

I guess my dream memory foam mattress is out of the question.  Anyone have good recommendations for a similarly comfy pillow that won't murder me in the middle of the night?

[Jean in Newcastle]

Off gassing from memory foam, especially at first, can be a problem. 

[SparklyUnicorn]

We have a latex mattress.  I wonder if they make latex pillows. 

 

We had a memory foam bed topper many years ago. That thing had a weird smell for geesh months. 

 

 

[Lady Florida.]

We have a foam topped mattress and I use a memory foam pillow, both with no problems. It's probably the gas being released, as a pp said. However...

 

Before I got my current pillow I tried a different memory foam one, a more expensive one in fact. Two nights in a row I was dreaming that I couldn't breathe, that I was struggling to take breaths. It was the kind of dream that borders on being a nightmare and that you remember long after you wake up. The second night it actually woke me up, and the pillow was up around my face covering my nose and mouth. It wasn't a dream! I really was struggling to breathe. Fortunately we have guest pillows, so I grabbed one to use the rest of the night, and promptly returned that pillow the next day. I did a bit more research before buying a memory foam pillow that wouldn't try to kill me in my sleep.

Edited February 1, 2016 by Lady Florida

[prairiewindmomma]

I let my pillow from Costco off-gas for a week in another room, and then began using it. I've had no problems since then.

[Spryte]

Yes. We can't use memory foam here.

[Guest]

Memory foam pillows squick me out because I feel like it's going t swallow my head. But that's not really what you asked lol.

 

When I got a foam mattress pad I had to let it air out for two weeks! The smell was unbearable to me before that, and I still wished I'd let it go another week. Then I wrapped it completely (top and bottom) in waterproof covers, put a soft topper thingie on top of that, and then finally the sheets. In an ideal world I could have a big, thick, wool pad or something but foam is what is available. The stuff in those things is gross! It does dissipate, but geez louise until it does!

[Spryte]

Memory foam pillows squick me out because I feel like it's going t swallow my head. But that's not really what you asked lol.

 

When I got a foam mattress pad I had to let it air out for two weeks! The smell was unbearable to me before that, and I still wished I'd let it go another week. Then I wrapped it completely (top and bottom) in waterproof covers, put a soft topper thingie on top of that, and then finally the sheets. In an ideal world I could have a big, thick, wool pad or something but foam is what is available. The stuff in those things is gross! It does dissipate, but geez louise until it does!

 

We have this.  From White Lotus mattresses.  It's not all it's cracked up to be.  There's no outgassing, which is great.  But it's like sleeping on a rock.  Really.  I'm desperate for a new mattress, but we are stuck with buying special mattresses with no fire retardants, etc, due to allergy/asthma issues.  They are so expensive!  So we are dealing with our rock, and waking up feeling bruised every morning.  So, yeh, don't feel left out on the thick wool pad.  I'd kill for a foam mattress about now!  

[Lolly]

Try a latex foam pillow. It is my favorite for my head. For hugging, I like down pillows...

[Guest]

Any of the foams make me feel claustrophobic. In your case it sounds like offgassing and a few weeks of airing out should help :)

[redsquirrel]

Ack!  DH and I are contemplating buying memory foam pillows. We have no experience with memory foam, but we really, really need new pillows.  I am sensitive so such things as off gassing.  Oh dear.

 

One thing I had heard was that memory foam is hypo-allergenic. Is that true?  I have a terrible dust mite allergy so down pillows are right out. I know I have a mite cover on my current pillow, but it's pretty old.

 

 

Swallowing your head!?  I wish I could try it out before committing. We are having to buy via amazon, so it's an expensive crap shoot.  

[fraidycat]

We have this. From White Lotus mattresses. It's not all it's cracked up to be. There's no outgassing, which is great. But it's like sleeping on a rock. Really. I'm desperate for a new mattress, but we are stuck with buying special mattresses with no fire retardants, etc, due to allergy/asthma issues. They are so expensive! So we are dealing with our rock, and waking up feeling bruised every morning. So, yeh, don't feel left out on the thick wool pad. I'd kill for a foam mattress about now!

Savvy Rest mattress. It's what I'm laying on at this very moment. It's not cheap, but it's customizable so you can have your organic matttress and sleep on it, too! Maybe you can get just a topper to save some money.

Edited February 1, 2016 by fraidycat

[Spryte]

Savvy Rest mattress. It's what I'm laying on at this very moment. It's not cheap, but it's customizable so you can have your organic matttress and sleep on it, too! Maybe you can get just a topper to save some money.

Ooooooh. Thank you!!!!

[Carol in Cal.]

We bought a brand new mattress about a year ago, and we had no idea how to do it.  I'm allergic to wool, so was afraid of the wool topping on some of the newer ones.  We tried to use Consumer Reports but never seemed to be able to find the exact mattresses they evaluated anywhere.  We know that mattresses often feel worse later on than when you first lie down on them, so we were nervous about picking by going to a store and laying around, LOL.

 

So DH had a brilliant idea.  We had stayed at a timeshare condo in the Lake Tahoe area that had really comfortable beds that we liked all week.  So we called and asked what mattresses they used and where to get one, and we ordered from where they said.  We have been VERY happy, except that we assumed that mattresses are of standard depth, and it turned out that the new ones were much thicker than the old standards.  We had to get a bucky board type box spring substitute to bring the height down to where it was reasonable-looking with our beautiful old antique maple bed.  So that's our scientific approach, LOL, but it did work out really well, and we will do it again the next time we are in the market for a new mattress.

[Carol in Cal.]

PS:  BTW, if those foam mattresses really wrap around your face like that, it's important not to cosleep in them with a newborn who might not be able to raise her head enough to keep breathing.  Same as with a waterbed.