On Sleep

Sleep is a wonderful thing. In honor of sleep, and despite an increasingly tight budget here in Shadowland, DH and I sprung for a really expensive new mattress about a month ago.  Top of the line Beauty Rest Black.  The Helena.  The one with the really thick cushy pillow top.  And magic springs that do not transfer your sleeping partner's nocturnal shiftings over to you, (key for me). It was so expensive that it came with a sixty day "comfort guarantee."  That meant that at any time up to 59 days after we bought it, I could call in, say I didn't like it, and they'd come fetch it (and likely exchange it for something else, since we'd let them haul away the old, tired, long-past-need-of-a-new-mattress mattress set.)  At the same time, I finally caved on the issue of pillows as well.  Instead of continuing to buy the cheap pillows I found on sale at places like Linens'N'Things, Bed Bath and Beyond and even Target, I sprung for pillows just like the pillows you sleep on in those moderately expensive hotels, like DoubleTree.  In fact these are the pillows you get in DoubleTree! 

DH loved the new "bed" and the new pillows.  I did too, mostly, but found that every single day I woke with a headache.

I tried antihistamines and pseudoephedrine, pretending that it was seasonal allergies.
I woke with a headache.

I tried (sadly) swapping out the lovely new down pillows for the old non-down ones. I woke with a headache.

I tried cleaning the air filter on our furnace (whew, was that ever ugly!  I was a tad late on that effort). I woke with a headache.

I tried wallowing in the hot tub to be sure I was allll relaxed before bed. I woke with a headache.

I tried pre-emptive ibuprophen.

I still woke with a headache.

Every day.

For a month.

Last week I gave up, and called the store from which we bought the mattress set.  Yesterday, they came and took away the Helena.  And in it's place they left an allegedly lesser mattress set.   When I made the bed, I restored my yummy down pillows to their appropriate place too. (Just to mix it up).

This morning, I woke without a headache.  Either it's the magic combination of pork chops, spinach, and baked onions that I had for dinner, the extra dose of Claritin that I took before bed, or it's the reduction in soft cushiness of the pillow top.  I choose to believe that it's the bed.  The one that is "not as good".  The one that saved me a couple hundred dollars in the end.

So... what  do they know, the bed people, about the best mattress?  Clearly, not quite enough.

I end with a quote that seems totally appropriate here.  It's one that I stole (blatantly) from The Purloined Letter (and yes, I am enjoying the irony there, of stealing form that which was... well... purloined):

"Do not accept anything simply because it has been said by your teacher, or because it has been written in your sacred book, or because it has been believed by many, or because it has been handed down by your ancestors. Accept and live only according to what will enable you to see truth face to face."

--Buddha, as quoted in Peace Is Every Step by Thich Nhat Hanh

Comments

[Jessie]

I totally know how you feel! Those lovely, comfy, soft mattresses are a dream, until I wake up and have a very achy back. Glad you found something that works!

[Helen]

What a good thing you could send it back. I'd still be slightly inclined to suspect some chemical which the fabric or the mattress was treated with, but you know your headaches. Thank goodness it wasn't the down pillows. I have one of those very thick Australian fleece underblankets and I always feel mildly resentful when I'm away from home and am expected to sleep without it.

[The Purloined Letter]

Isn't it a great quote? I'm glad other people are finding it as meaningful as I do. (And purloining from me is always appropriate--but especially when it really isn't mine to begin with! Use it in good health.)