I order a special memory foam pillow that had a special mold for the head. Slept on it one night and woke up twice gasping for air and my chest hurting where my heart is. I almost died twice and remembered it. I sent the pillow back.

I got a memory foam mattress topper. I aired it out but woke up sick to my stomach, felt horrible all day, and my lungs were tight. In fact, after a few days the are still tight. I'm taking it back. That company should be sued and I think all types of memory foams should be banned. Obviously a lot of people are ill from it. I can't believe what companies get away with.

Crap.
I bought pillows and mattress cover from memory foam few months ago.
Since then i noticed that my eyes were itchy and red every morning.
I took that mattress cover to another room few weeks ago - and all eye itchyness got away.
All that memory foam is going to trash now...

Thanks guys...

Yeah, I ordered a memory foam mattress topper from overstock.com. I aired it out for a week, then used it. My eyelids swelled up so much I could hardly see, and I had to go to a doctor. The mattress I sent back, at a cost of about $40 for return mail and restocking fee.

That's why I'll never go back to Overstock.com. Restocking fee? What a rip! If I'm shopping online, I need the option to return items I don't like without be charged to do so!

I guess I am a lucky one. I bought a memory foam topper from Overstock.com and have not had any problems with it-- and my wife has allergies to just about everything on the planet.
I bought a 2-inch thick topper with a rating of 5 which refers to the density/weight, it cost around $150. Most toppers have a rating of around 3, however, I don't know if that should make a difference or not.

We purchased a pillow top mattress. There is a very strong odor coming from it. It says made of 70% urethane foam. The first night we slept on it my husband woke up in the middle of the night coughing his head off and I woke with a migrane head ache. We took it off and aired it for a week. Put it back on and the same thing happened again. It has been almost 4 weeks now and it still smells. I called the store where I purchased it and the man said, "I have never heard of such a thing, this is a first." He said, "I have been in the mattress business for years and never heard of that. He even said, " I don't know why it's not bothering you then sitting in the hallway." I told him well my face is not laying right down on the mattress for 8 hrs. He told me to call the company. I told him no he could do that. So who knows. I may just be out some money on this one.

I also purchased a mattress pad (4 inches deep) from Overstock.com. Love the comfort and the contour pillows BUT I have been wracking my brain trying to figure out why I have been feeling so odd. I recently quit smoking and had used Chantix for that so at first I thought that might be causing my symptoms. It's been two months since I stopped the Chantix and five months since I quit smoking. I feel disoriented, confused, tired, depressed, anxious, have waves of dizziness and headache. I have all kinds of strange aches and pains (my hip, my elbow, my neck and chest. I am wondering if it's the memory foam as nothing else has changed except for the smoking. I have had two really strange episodes where I was hallucinating and had panic attacks. I am usually very healthy and happy with no problems.

I hope you went to see your doctor. Part of this was caused by the Chantix.

Used the mini mountain foam mattress and didn't encounter much problems. Polyureathene glue is a whole other issue altoghether. This is either an allergy or sensitivity problem. Mites used to be worse. Not much to say except to go natural and be naturally uncornfortable like before.

Him I bought an Isotonic 3 inch mattress topper. The box had a little flyer in it insturctin me to let the mattress breath for a few hours before use. To get rid of the 'fresh' smell. Ha, to get rid of the fresh smell,they think i'm an iditot? The smell is a far cry from fresh, it smells like toxic or chemicals with sugar added. When I apply extra heat to the topper, e.g. a laptop I can smell more gases evaporate. I smell something the mattress is releasing a substance into the air and I'm breathing it in. I don't know what I'm breathing in, this is very strange. The seller, bed bath and beyond did not provide literature about the toxic effects, or at least the awful and ominous smell. I've had the topper for a week, I leave my windows open with the heat on the ventilate the smell. the smell persists 1 week and counting...

Received Serta memory foam 2" topper from Overstock.com. As soon as I put it on the bed the smell was noticeable -- strong chemical odor that made my eyes burn. I put it outside for 2 nights and tried to "air it out." Put it back on the bed with a thick mattress pad over it, and my eyes were still red, itchy, watery. Too bad it's so toxic because it was like sleeping on a cloud! But I'd rather be alive than comfortable.

I recently purchased a 3" foam Serta mattress topper from Overstock. I let it air out and bought a cover for it from them. A few weeks later, I have itchy red and sometimes swollen eyes that seem worse in the morning. At first I thought it was pinkeye. I have never had allergies of any kind and do not have sensitive skin. Also, I feel dizzy when I wake up and have been having headaches which I rarely get. Now I am thinking it is the foam..and over 200. later. It is comfortable but not worth your health. After reading this, I will take it off and see what happens.

Since memorial day I have sporadically woken up with red puffy eyes which then return back to normal over time and are replaced with itchy, flaky skin. The rash like symptoms started primarily on my eyes then has traveled down my face and on my neck. I'm not sure if there is a direct correlation but we did buy a mattress bed from costco several months ago. We noticed a small smell initially but now it's not noticeable at all. Anyone else have these rash like symptoms?

Yes, I have had the exact same sypmtoms. Went to the dermatologist, told me it is contact dermatitis & gave me lotion and ointment for the dry peeling skin. I started to notice that my eyes were not swollen or puffy whenever I wasn't home. Haven't slept on my bed for 3 weeks & have removed it completely from the home for one week. Still tryng to get the smell out of the room (It wasn't strong but, I could smell the bitter-sweet smell others are describing - no one else who visited my home could smell it).

shotly after purchasing my memory foam pillow i noticed the skin on my face was itchy, dry and flakey. i've been to 2 different dermotologists and they both said i have contact dermatitis. i've been using expensive creams and taking oral antibiotics in an attempt to get rid of the condition. i recently went on a 10 day vacation and after 2 nights - the dermatitis cleared up. all my products were the same. the only difference was was that i was not using my memory foam pillow. i have to believe that my symptons are from the pillow. i love the pillow and have had great sleep with it but i can't live with itchy, dy skin and have to throw the pillow out ASAP!!

My friend's son and wife recently bought a memory foam mattress in Essex, UK. He, a healthy 34yr old, felt tired one day last month. The next day he was so tired he could hardly get up. The 3rd day his wife had to help him out of bed. He tried to grip a cup but dropped it. She took him straight to hospital and within a week he was on a life support machine. The medical team have tested for numerous causes but none have been found. Four weeks have gone by and he's in a coma and Drs have little hope of his survival. Two days ago his wife woke with severe headache. She was taken to hospital and they have found a brain bleed. Maybe none of his is connected, all I can do is search the web for clues.

For every post here about problems there are thousands of memory foam users like me who have experienced no problems what so ever. Just because you read about it on the internet does not make it so. If you have breathing and other problems, see an allergist.

and the statement there are thousands who don't have problems with the memory foam, where did you get the information? Do you actually have a memory foam bed? or you trying to downplay the upcoming lawsuit?

Yes but how many of these thousands of people are suffering from symptoms that they don't even know what is causing them? It could be that the toxic chemicals of memory foam are causing every one of those symptoms they are having.

You are being ignorant, the people that have symptoms from these memory pads are actually the lucky ones that have sicknesses that show up right away.
The unlucky people are the ones that have no immediate symptoms but end up with cancer or some other killer disease.
Believe me I know !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have owned a memory Foam mattress that I bought from Sam's club for well over a year now and I absolutely love it. I hate when I sleep on traditional mattresses. As for the smell I enjoy it, though after the first month I only notice smell when I take my sheets off to wash them.

Robert W, people with allergies can be allergic to organic elements or chemical elements. I happen to be allergic to both. Organic sensitivities, such as an allergy to pollen, can be treated so they do not bother you any more. It's because our bodies can deal with organic compounds and learn to desensitize to them. In that case, you are right. An allergist is the way to go. But allergies to chemicals are not curable. Our bodies cannot create resistance to chemical reactions. I will never be able to tollerate perfume, for example.

People who are chemically allergic know rather quickly when they are in the presence of chemicals that bother them. Their body reacts in ways that are particular to them. Robert W, to say that the problem does not exist because you do not experience it is wrong. It only means you are not having a reaction.

I too had terrible reactions to these foam mattresses. I tried several brands. So I finally settled for a thinner style air mattress. But after freezing one winter I had to alter it. I lightly stuffed the chambers with some polyester fiberfill and patched it with a bicycle patch kit. This creates warmth pockets where body heat can be trapped inside the inflated cells. Without it the mattress is very cold like an unheated waterbed, particularly in the winter.

If your children are on air mattresses and get sick in the winter, be aware it will stay the temperature of the air, or the bed frame or even the floor. Cold will come up through even piles of blankets beneath them. An air mattress is not like a regular bed that has lots of fabric to trap body heat. It is more like a cold waterbed. That is why I add a light stuffing of polyester fiberfill in the air chambers and patch it back up. Air mattresses are very comfortable to me. I get mine at Wal Mart. It is a Simmons brand. I also get the stuffing there too. Hope this helps someone.

hahah! I have no opinion re: memory foam as I don't own one, but your characterization of "types of allergies" is so ignorant it's funny. "Organics" by definition are "chemicals" - indeed they are one of the 2 main categories commonly used to classify chemicals: organic vs. inorganic. Organic simply means carbon-based, and SURPRISE the hydrocarbons that people are concerned about from foam mattresses are organic chemicals. Biological organic chemicals (like those found in pollen) are widely recognized as allergens, but synthetic organics (like chained and aromatic compounds associated with polymer manufacturing) can also be allergens. Depending on how your allergy presents, either can be treated. It just so happens we have centuries of medical knowledge to build upon for the biological allergens, and perhaps only 30-100 years for the synthetics. Just FYI...

This article is crap. Not because it disses foam mattresses, but because it is so unscientific. It's all anecdote from people specifically selected because they did not like their mattress for some reason.

"Now three months after removing the bed from our room we are still unable to even use our room." - Doesn't that suggest the mattress was NOT the problem?

"After two and a half years of owning this bed my husband and I both started having back, neck and shoulder pains." - If it took two and a half years to develop, why is she so sure the mattress is at fault?

"...back, neck and shoulder pains. Some mornings I would feel like my arms and shoulders were beaten up. It took hours for the pains to subside... ...I felt like I was tossing and turning all night and waking up exhausted... ...Those are allergy symptoms." - No those are NOT allergy symptoms!! (I can say this with some authority, as I happen to be a doctor). Maybe arthritis or PLMD or sleep apnea or something but DEFINITELY NOT allergies.

"Most autoimmune disorders (like arthritis, lupus, allergies asthma, and others) have been connected with or thought to be boosted by increased
exposure to petroleum. " - What a bunch of crap! Show me a peer-reviewed study that demonstrates this.

"We used to sleep on bed mattresses made of more or less natural untreated stuff." - I suppose the implication here is that "natural" materials are healthier. You ever slept on grass or straw? Don't let the bedbugs bite!

This article is a disservice to Softpedia readers. It makes dozens of false statements, draws rather absurd conclusions from heresay, and attempts to back up its conclusions with the opinions of unprofessional observers, selected specifically for the nature of that opinion. It is completely worthless!

The only thing worthless here, is your comment, to people's genuine experience. What an arrogant piece of work you are.

"the only thing worthless here is your comment to people's genuine experience"
Very defensive.

Well So many things in our homes are pretroleum based and treated with fire retardents to anti-bacterial agents. Carpets to Plasterboard funiture even Regular Mattresses are treated .Also our air-tight homes seal it all in. To say a Mermory Foam Bed has them primarity is just a bit of overkill. Though I am sure these beds are full of chemicals but so are our homes already even Cars. New Cars surely will do the same to sensitive people then....They too have FOAM SEATS. how much of the day do we drive sometimes not to mention all the vinyl around us in seating car and home. My favorite gliding chair has Foam in its seats with a vinyl softer then leather covering. It too should make these people sick? Im sure if sensitive and you smell the fumes its there. I still ordered a Memory foam Mattress and will AIR it out for sure. Give it a Try. purhaps if i want a bit more feeling of sealing the chemicals in I can get a wetness covering that would seem to be air tight also. but then it too might have pretroleum based chemicals. Surely at first..most things do...just a shower curtian stinks the liner expecially at first....it does air out dont it....Finally its been a Good many years Mermory Foam as been out and No country in the world found reason to....ban them and Nasa surely still uses products made of memory foam How much can beds and seating cost? to have nasa complain its too expensive...I mean really......

I am not complaining about health problems, but, my Simmons Beauty Rest stinks. I have not been selected to say this. It's a fact!

We purchased a thempur mattress second hand as it was with a twin sized bed with motor for raising and lowing the head/feet of the bed. My husband loves it to sleep on, but from the first entrance into the house I was attacked by fumes coming from the mattress. We thought perhaps the fumes would dissipate and no longer be a problem after it was installed, but it just remains. My husband sleeps with a CPAP/Oxygen forced system and he has a less sensitive nose, but the fumes are not only in my nose, but I can taste it in my mouth. It has not gotten better, but fills the room. In reading the other comments it appears there is no way to get rid of the caustic fumes. Is there any remedy besides getting rid of the mattress? Is there any way to rid the room/house of the fumes once the mattress is removed from the home?
kayzy12@hotmail.com is contact info if you have any solutions to offer.

If you would walk into our bedroom you would smell the odor too. It is very strong and very permeating. I assure you that this is no figment of my imagination or olfactory nerves. It is unbearable at times. Lying in a bed at the same level is even worse. If airing of it or using it for a short time would then soon allow the odor to dissipate, the odor would have been gone a long time ago as this is second hand.

Must be a foam manufacturer!

I have had a memory foam topper on my bed for about 10 years. I am now ready to go full memory foam mattress. THE BEST SLEEP EVER. I will never go back to a coil spring mattress for the rest of my life. This article stinks more than the comments about smelly foam mattresses.

You may have just created a whole new mattress that others would be very interested in purchasing.

I have a tempurpedic Kingsize bed. It was very expensive, I think I paid close to 3000.00 7 years ago. We first got the 8" and it was way too firm, so we took it back and got the 10" so it would be softer. But it's still firm. But it does NOT smell at all. My biggest problem is that it's firm and my shoulder hurt from laying on my side. and my low back hurts if I'm in bed long. But the smell, I can't say we've had that problem. If I knew of a bed that was healthy and good for my back and sholder I might sale this one and get a new bed. But I can also say I don't sleep good. But that may be hormone related. I'm 48, and things are changing. I would like some reseach that proves if this bed is not healthy, before I gave it up.

I am not a DR to know what my body tells me. Regardless of the comments made by one in Comment #13 by: trentreviso, Petrolleum products or bi-products aka Chemicals cause me Sinus problems. One such Petrolleum bi-product is SMOG. It closes my nasal passages to extremes of Like-cold symptoms. I compare my exposure to how bad it smells outside, So Cal Area, to other areas, Mountains, Country areas. I also note the duration of my time that day. When I spend my days inside a filtered AC area, I breath better. When I car comes by that is putting out more Smog than usually cause it is old and doesn't need a smog check, the oder within minutes causes my sinuses to react just as fast a person's reaction to an insect Sting.

The chemicals residules (perfume and smoke) left on peoples clothes causes the same problem, even days later.

When I drive from OC through LA, an hour or so, I get this nasty headache. Yes, anyone who has done extreme exercising outside, swimming or what not, will notice the HURT in the lungs after doing excessive breathing Of Smog in a short period. All of this, is a result of processed petrolleum products.

The fact that these people experience problems is showing that their body doesn't like being invaded by foreign substances.. These people posting their many problems all sound just like the women who had silicon implants that leaked into their bodies, and no DR's could diagnose the problems to what was exactly causing it.

Yet, when they removed the implants and replaced it with saline Implants, their Serious illnesses of many symptoms (like posted here on this page) all went away.

Acutally, this isn't a crock, I personally sleep on a foam topper, that I wasn't sleeping on before, and I get back and joint aches from time to time, Headaches, and my allergies have heightened to myself taking sinus meds everyday, all year long. I typically only suffer from allergies during the March and Sept, not every day..
Yeah, believe what you want MR Doctor Trentreviso, but tell me, are you saying that long exposure to breathing FUMES from any Petrolleum Products is something I shouldn't worry about? So basically, you are saying that if I put an open can of Toulene in my room next to my bed, it's perfectly harmless?

What more can I say, Don't see the DR on this page for your troubles, he may diagnose your virus condition as allergy, Or your broken arm as an Allergic reaction to a hard surface..

HELP... I need a mattress that doesn't possess a chemical smell!

I purchased two Simmons Beautryrest Balthazars mattresses, first one a pillow top, which I returned in 1 1/2 weeks due to the strong odor, and the other a plush, which I just received. Both have a sickening chemical odor eminating from them, so strong in fact it makes me feel nauseated, my eyes burn, and I can actually smell the fumes coming from my lungs after being in close contact for only a few hours. The plush mattress contains 85% urethene foam, was made only about a week or two ago, so perhaps the newness also adds to the chemical smell. Since I bought if from Sleepys, I am unable to return it, but can exchange it with substancial penalty of $249. their 'comfort exchange', for something else. One exchange per customer is their policy, but they have extended me another if I so desire due to the possiblilty of the problematic smell in Simmons Beautyrests.
My question: What brand of mattress DOES NOT USE URETHENE? What brand uses something to give a soft bed feel that won't give off this terrible chemical ( and possbily toxic) odor? I've taken to sleeping on the couch most nights so anyone with any ideas please feel free to let me know.
Also, if URETHENE goes under another name such as visco foam, smart latex etc., that would be knowledge we should all have.

I'm still mattress hunting, but am a whole lot poorer!! Seems I'm not alone.

Poly Urethane foam is in your sofa as well. some companies do better at processing the foam than others - giving it time to air out. Most of this article isn't entirely accurate. Try sleeping in your bedroom after you just paint it. Let it air out. Use a mattress protector.

If you are still looking try a Keetsa. You'll love it. No toxic smells at all! Check the web-site than find a show room. Good night.

For those of you who would like a scientific article that discusses the respiratory problems caused by mattresses, check out this abstract and review the literature further:

ABSTRACT. Groups of male Swiss-Webster mice breathed emissions of several brands of crib mattresses for two 1-hr periods. The authors used a computerized version of ASTM-E-981 test method to monitor respiratory frequency, pattern, and airflow velocity and to diagnose abnormalities when statistically significant changes appeared. The emissions of four mattresses caused various combinations of upper-airways irritation (i.e., sensory irritation), lower-airways irritation (pulmonary irritation), and decreases in mid-expiratory airflow velocity. At the peak effect, a traditional mattress (wire springs with fiber padding) caused sensory irritation in 57% of breaths, pulmonary irritation in 23% of breaths, and airflow decrease in 11% of breaths. All mattresses caused pulmonary irritation, as shown by 17-23% of breaths at peak. The largest airflow decrease (i.e., affecting 26% of the breaths) occurred with a polyurethane foam pad covered with vinyl. Sham exposures produced less than 6% sensory irritation, pulmonary irritation, or airflow limitation. Organic cotton padding caused very different effects, evidenced by increases in both respiratory rate and tidal volume. The authors used gas chromatography/mass spectrometry to identify respiratory irritants (e.g., styrene, isopropylbenzene, limonene) in the emissions of one of the polyurethane foam mattresses. Some mattresses emitted mixtures of volatile chemicals that had the potential to cause respiratory-tract irritation and decrease airflow velocity in mice.

From Archives of Environmental Health, 2000, Vol. 55, pp 38-43.

I am a nurse, studying for my master's in environmental health nursing. I'm concerned because I just bought a memory foam mattress and the fumes are foul. I've contacted the manufacturer and will continue to research this.

Take care.

please let me know the outcomes of your research .. i am 25 and my fiance is 33 .. i have a 6 month daughter and about 8 months ago we purchased a pillow top mattress with memory foam pillows. I was having a really hard time sleeping tossing and turning and having aches and pains all over my body ( i figured it was the pregnancy and that the bed was maybe too soft so we go a firmer bed) for months now I've had resless nights of tossing and turning and so has my fiance, I've been conjested beyond belief and have never suffered from any allergies in my life, getting headaches, back pain before I even get out of bed, pain in my legs and feet, fatigue and the list could go on, my fiance has had pains in his back, shoulders, tossing and turning at night, cough, breathing and conjestion problems too. He has more then once said to me "I don't know why I feel like this, I'm not getting that old this isn' t right, I must be crazy" We noticed a faint smell in the first few days of owning the mattress but now it doens't seem to smell at all. We we're in the process of getting our money back for our bed because it was "defective" as the company would say. WE had to rotate the mattress 3 times in the 8 months of owning it, our bodies and literally imprinted in the bed their are twon big grooves in the bed where our bodies lay. So before I found this info I figured that was why we we're having problems, until I tried to research it to find out more and found this, alot of the symptoms that people are talking about are exsactly like what we're experiencing. Please help and let me knw what you think, being in the medical field too I figured you might know a little bit more, I will keep my research going but am hoping to hear from you! Thanks

Hi,
I just bought a memory foam mattress for my daughter and now that I am reading this article, I am a little worried. Can you tell me more about what you found out with the manufacturer?

**********"My (...) still stinks after 2 years; I wake up groggy after sleeping on it, seem to need 9 hours of sleep and still don't feel rested, and have developed an auto immune disorder--Hashimoto's disease-- since purchasing."*********

This person is claiming their mattress gave them a thyroid disease???? I've had Hashimoto's disease. I've had my thyroid removed because of it. It's not caused by allergies or mattresses. sorry.

I bought a Tempur-pedic mattress. From the very first night I felt like I was being drugged, the sleep was not restful and I awoke more tired than when I went to bed. I began to have flu-like symptoms which got worse. Within two weeks I was so ill I almost couldn't go to work. I sneezed at work and got a nose bleed. Hadn't had one in years.

My symptoms were nausea, headache, mental confusion, lack of energy. I googled on toxic fumes and Tempur-pedic and a number of websites popped up with similar stories. Engineers in the field call it the "Chemical Flu." It is known, but the public doesn't know about it.

Some people, such as myself, react strongly to the VOC's emitted by these mattresses. I feel lucky that I reacted so quickly and returned it. With the mattress out of the house, I am getting better every day. However, I wonder about people who don't react so quickly. They may not be able to make the connection that the new mattress they bought is what is making them ill. Six months later, are they diagnosed with Fibromyalsia or Chronic Fatigue syndrome?

I am only posting this for one reason. Please be aware that that this type of mattress does emit toxic fumes. BE AWARE!

hi we have had a 4inch thick memory foam matress for about 12 months and although very comfy,my self and my partner have had strange health problems sincr purchasing it.first i couldent believe how bad the smell was we put it in the spare room for about a week and as the smell wasent getting any better decided to use it anyway.the smell wqs unbarable but we got use to it then it eventually went.then i woke up one morning and felt like i had a hangover and my eyes were nearly shut.my partner then developed blocked sinuses which he never had before.my eyes have continued to be puffy underneath and above my eyelids ive been several times to the doctor sand they dont know what it is ive even been to an eye specialist at the hospital tried loads of creams no good.aalso had loads of unexplained aches and pains for no reason it makes you wander if it is the matress.

Wow... Husband and I looked for mattresses for about two years.. EVERY time we went to a store, we tried laying on temperpedic.. the store sales people no matter where we were, thought we had been drinking, though, not. EVERY one of the tmpr beds we tried, we would get up move onto another, and feel dizy, we asked sales guy, "no" not heard of that, for a few more years, we continued to look, EVERYtime we felt this way but couldn't figure out why... never thought about this... after we left the stores, felt ok, after about 15 minutes.
We did settle on a foam mattress made by a local manuf. have not had any problems, though a real doozy to move. (why I am on here) its like a big marshmallow.. and I sooooo miss my marshmallow bed! we have not gotten sick actually felt better, we couldn't feel movement either, (why we couldn't find a bed other then the airbeds, and still could feel)...

ALL autoimmune disorders, which include Hashimoto's, require an environmental "trigger". Toxic gases would definitely be classified as a "trigger". Denial is a dangerous place to inhabit. Good luck - you're going to need it? :o(

I became Hypothyroid after sleeping on a flame resistant mattress, I also had many other health complications (like my husband). I did some research

This is not caused by your mattress. You need to get informed before you make comments like this.

I bought my memory foam matress from Jysk,it never had a smell but we also followed the reccomendations and bought a water proof allergen cover,a high quality one that zipped on and covered the matress completely.We had previously gone to a foam shop and they specifically said to not use a memory foam mattress without the cover as these beds are breeding grounds for dust mites and if you spill something it wont dry because the foam is so dense.However I wont be buying another one.While this mattress did relieve my leg and hip pain,it helped tremendously.The bed is extremely HOT. If you live in a nothern climate this is the bed for you.It holds heat like nothing else . My husband is having back problems because it doesnt provide enough support for him.I personally love my bed,when there isnt another person in it.When you stay in one spot you sink then its hard to get up.This bed should never be used for seniors.A 3 inch mattress topper,maybe...but this bed could kill a senior or anyone in a weakened condition,most just dont have the strength to turn over or get out of the dip that your body creates. This bed needs more support around it so it hold its form better so if someone could find an old water bed frame that might help it so theres less sinkage. My next bed will be a high quality conventional bed but it will have a memory foam topper with the allergy cover.I would never buy anything that was advertised from the TV .The bed does have its good points and its bad.Ours will be going in our camper.

I bought a memory foam topper, slept on it a few nights (one night for 11 hours as I couldn't seem to get enough!) then two weeks later developed nausea which would not cease. I immediately suspected the mattress topper as that was the only thing that had changed in my environment. I had used the cover that came with it, also, my daughter and son both have them and have experienced no problem, but it certainly isn't the same for me. So I removed it and will now see if that was the problem. Thanks to all the postings which led me to this conclusion.

I am suffering from the same thing. I only had the memory foam for 7 weeks and the last 6 weeks I have been so ill, from doctor to doctor. I am on my third week of antibiotics. My doctor had no answers. I think it is my mattress so I am going to my allergist this tuesday.

I bought memory foam mattress (and it wasn't cheap!) and shortly thereafter began having problems with breathing during sleep. I attributed it to sleep apnea. However, recently, all the sudden my challenges breathing became even WORSE! I woke up with severe headaches and a feeling upon awaking like I was suffocating; this is happening a good YEAR after having added the memory foam to my mattress top! I removed the memory foam and voila I am resting so much better now! Wow! In retrospect, I always suspected the memory foam, but was too lazy to remove it for lack of a place to store it; plus, it cost a pretty penny, and I figured if I just gave it some time, I'd adjust. Not so! The symptoms were definitely related to the memory foam and not to apnea; when I had apnea many years ago, I would feel exhausted at work. Not so with memory foam; I just had a severe headache and felt like I was being suffocated; a shower would make the symptoms go away. I am so thankful I removed the memory foam; I plan to throw it away this week, when time permits!

We bought a memory foam mattress pad from Costco and have been sleeping on it for four nights. I've had not only the most vivid dreams but also they've been generally disturbing in nature.

I was a bit wary of the mattress pad because several years ago I had bought a memory foam pillow. During the time I used it I developed some breathing issues. I don't remember the specific symptoms except that I felt like I had been swimming in an over chlorinated pool and would experience pain when taking deep breaths. The breathing problems went away after I discontinued use of the pillow.

I'm taking the foam mattress back. It's a shame because It is really comfortable and I can move around on it without disturbing my wife's sleep. By the way, she has also been experiencing sleeplessness and awoke early a few nights ago and could not get back to sleep.

..wow, this is really interesting and very alarming. 6 months ago, I purchased a memory foam mattress from an internet company. Yes, It smelled terrible when I took the plasic cover off, but i associated it with the same effect as new carpeting..
It felt great and I slept good but when I woke up I noticed flu like symtoms and my ears felt like I was getting an ear infection..
... fast forward 6 months. Now Im taking heart medication, and anxiety medication..
all of what I have read above, i have also experienced... Im not a chemist, but a basic understanding of chemical compounds would tell us that this product does in fact break down and is absorbed by the body. I will throw my mattress away and buy something more traditional...
I guess it all comes down to one thing.. MONEY.
"what can we sell to you today.". oh, side effects? Dont worry about that.. the doctor can sell you something for that as well....

Lol. =/ You are so dead on about the money thing.
And people always think (not just about memory foam mattresses) 'Oh, companies wouldn't sell something harmful to your health. There's no way they'd put something un-safe on the market'. Pssshhhh. Completely disregarding the fact that countless items and medications have been recalled and pretty much anyone in business could care less about your well-being, as long as they're making money. It amazes me how greedy human beings can be. And what's even more amazing is how ignorant and naive most people are. Sigh.


To stay on topic, about two weeks ago I bought a 4 inch memory foam topper from Wal-Mart and have been waking up feeling nauseous just about every day. Also been having mild head-aches. Which I very rarely ever got before sleeping on the memory foam. Hmmmmmm.


What I would like to know is... how are these toxic wads of chemical-drenched "foam" supposed to be safely disposed of? They're constantly giving off fumes and take forever to break down, right? Not that you really want that crap breaking down into the soil, getting into the water, etc...

I recently purchased a 2" Serta memory foam topper thru Overstock. After airing it out for two days I began sleeping on it. The first thing I noticed was an extremely odd taste in my mouth that lasted all day as well as an upset stomach and gas. I also noticed my eyes were red in the morning. The mattress was very hot during the night and I sleep with no heat on in my room. I called Serta and was told the oder would go away in time, but I feel certain I am breathing in some toxic gas that my body is trying to eliminate. I am going to try and return it to Overstock, even though they list these as "non retunable" items. This is not something I am willing to risk exposing myself to as it is obvious there are toxic consequences not to mention a sickening oder that just won't go away!

Hazardous Chemicals found in toxic Flame Redardants in your mattress:
•Boric Acid (reproductive and developmental toxin, used as a pesticide)
•Antimony (causes heart and lung damage, possible carcinogen)
•Decabromodiphenyl Oxide (causes hair and memory loss, possible carcinogen)
•Heart, lung and kidney damage

These highly toxic chemicals leech though pillow and mattress covers and are absorbed through the skin.





Exposure to these FRs has been linked to:
•Skin irritation
•Learning and memory deficit
•Cancers
•Heart, lung and kidney damage
•SIDS
•Birth defects


Chronic exposure to these chemicals causes them to accumulate in the body and present themselves in:
•the blood stream
•breast milk
•umbilical cord blood
Yes, your mattress can kill you

This article does not address the following facts:
1. That all memory foam mattress' and toppers have very unique recipes made from different manufactures and in different countries and different levels of chemicals for fire resistance, so there will be brands that are far more toxic than others.
2. As far mattress related pain, you simply can't expect to purchase a foam mattress or topper from Costco Wal-Mart or Jysk and expect it that it won't give you neck, back shoulder etc. As mattress from these places are cheap, don't contain the proper density of memory foam and break down after several months. Very few brands are of the actual quality needed to provide all the "hyped" benefits of memory.
3. The vast majority of of spring/coil mattress contain polyurethane foam, and while it is not made from all the same chemicals as visco-elastic polyurethane memory foam, it contains all the ones of major concern. This means any spring/coil mattress' with poly foam could be lethal as well, especially older ones where the foam is breaking down and coming apart.
4. Most moderately high end - to high end spring/coil mattress' and popular air mattress' like the sleep number contain poly memory foams and/or latex as well as poly foams. I have read just as many personal accounts about issues arising from latex as from issues arising from poly memory foam.
5. People often mistakenly refer to a memory foam mattress they purchased as being a "Tempurpedic" or the one that is "on tv" when in fact, it is a different brand or "knock off". Reports about these cheap alternatives make it seem as if all memory foam mattress' cause pain or become uncomfortable after a few months of ownership. Cheap alternatives also contain more toxic chemicals. Not to say that a real Tempurpedic doesn't also cause medical issues in people, but it is certainly is less likely to.
6. If polyeurethane foam and polyeurethane memory foam are really that toxic, the majority of people should be throwing out their mattress' and sleeping on the floor.

Is there any advice, given by the manufacturers of these mattresses, regarding the use of electric blankets?
JP

We bought a memory foam mattress and pillows about 18 months ago and found them very comfortable. As has been said in previous comments, there was some odour evident when removing the packaging but this did not last.

The most notiecable feature, apart from the comfort, is how hot it is. Certainly saves on heating.

I have sympathy for the analysis of Dr. Trentreviso because there is a lot of pseudo-science written here. However, since using the mattress and pillows, I have notice two things that are reflected in some comments on this site.

1) higher incidence of vivid dreams, that could be chemically induced
2) I wake in the morning with very dry and slightly swollen nasal passages with a tendency to mild nosebleeds that I have not experienced since I was a child (I am now 60). The dryness and swelling reduces after I get up and disappears after a couple of hours.

Although not life-threatening, I have been wondering if memory foam could be the cause of these changes. I notice that when I spend a couple of days in a hotel, my breathing is a bit better.

This led me to do a little research on the internet to see if these problems are common. It is difficult to find good coverage of the risks of memory foam as there is so much positive comment on its benefits.

I will continue to research this issue and monitor my own condition in differing circumstances before actually disposing of the mattress. I would, in any case, have to persuade my better half that my observations are correct before convincing her to do so :-)

If my viewpoint becomes clear on this I will return with another comment.

yes, we have the same symptoms and love sleepng on it but feel throat and nasal irritaion in the morning. I feel that it probably is toxic and don't trust our government regulations to protect us. If made in China who can say what the chemicals or harm are?

Have you researched and decided to keep or throw yours away?

Your thoughts and observations seemed quite similar to mine.

So I'm up in the middle of the night because I can't sleep because of a worsening, burning headache. This headache started 4 days ago after we bought a 3" memory foam topper from Kohl's. My wife has the headache also. The foam produces a sweet, toxic smell. It feels like a burning sensation. It seems to get worse as you sleep on the bed, as if 1) the body heat causes it to produce more fumes and 2) any rolling around squeezes out air from the foam cells.

One of the comments above is trying to slam this "article" as "crap". I'm a computer programmer and think I understand how to breakdown a problem "scientifically". There's obviously a problem with the bed producing fumes and those fumes causing headaches since we did not have the headaches before the bed, and since the bed's sweet fumy smell has permeated the room since we bought it. This is not a scientific experiment, this is a real personal experience.

As I said in an earlier post, this is common with cheap memory foam and imitating products. These incidences are far less common to completely non-existent with a true memory foam product such a Temperpedic.

well let me tell you that i don't think it matters the price ... if someone had a container of some toxic chemical .. would you just go up and sniff it and not think that this was unhealthy for you ... what have we learned over the years about chemicals in anything that companies put out there,,, eventually they will come out with results that it is unhealthy for you .. they're just waiting to make sure ... cause you know ,,, c an't loose out on sales or anything ... if you are not experiencing any symptoms or have no good advice then don't waste your time writting this is peoples health and concerns you are messing with ... you must be all doctors !

"if you are not experiencing any symptoms or have no good advice then don't waste your time writting this is peoples health and concerns you are messing with"

Cynthia: So you don't want to know anything about people who don't suffur from any symptoms, and your implying that advice that is anything but "this product is horrible for you" is worthless and people shouldn't post it?

Sounds like you really don't care about any side of this discussion except for your side. Now that is REALLY helpfull!

Aug 2006 I purchased a Viscoform 5200 mattress for my 16-year-old daughter to help with some upper back scoliosis.
Since then she has had the following symptoms:
Trouble staying awake
Drowsiness
Lethargy
Foggy head
Concentration problems
Heart palipitations
Anxiety attacks
Nightmares
Depression
Unquenchable thirst
Eye problems
Recent Miscarriage
Constant sore throats
Nauseau
No amount of testing or doctor has found a reason for her problems.
My daughter would feel better whenever we went away. She went away to stay with an aunt 3 weeks ago. ALL of her symptoms dissappeared. She gets up at 6:00 am every morning and is thriving.
My son came to visit and slept in her memory foam bed the last 2 nights. He could not wake up and has been feeling unusually groggy. He is not sleeping on that bed tonight.
We have a small dog who slept with my daughter. He would often throw up on her bed. He has not slept in the bed for 3 weeks and has not thrown up.
I am beginning to suspect the bed. We have ruled out anything else in the room as the cause - (prior to purchasing the bed my daughter and another girl staying with us slept in that room on coil mattresses without any problems).
If anyone has a similiar experience with a Viscoform 5200, I'd like to know. Thanks!

In Aug 2006 I too bought a Viscoform 5200 mattress for my also 16-year-old daughter to help with back problems. She had every one of the symptoms that your daughter had including a miscarriage at age 18. She rarely went to school as she was too sick. My son slept in the bed a few times and felt sick. I slept in it once and also felt unwell. My daughter slept with her little dog who would throw up on the bed. As soon as my daughter would stay somewhere else the symptoms would dissappear. I always suspected the mattress was the cause. Your post sounds like it is about our family.
I am finally removing the bed from the house.

I recently purchased a Simmons pillowtop and slept on it 2 nights. It had a strong chemical odor and after the first night I awoke with a headache. After the 2nd night I awoke feeling dizzy and ringing in my ears. That was it! I called the store and told them to pick it up and give me a full refund which they agreed to do. I have now researched this and feel lucky that I did not spend any more time on that mattress. The problem now is finding a new comfortable mattress that will be free of these toxic chemicals. I am appalled that the mattress companies continue to crank out these toxic and dangerous products that are poisoning us and that the stores continue to sell them with no warning to the customer. Most people do not know about the July1, 2007 U.S. requirements for fire retardants, 16 CFR Part 1633. Does anyone know of a store in the Minneapolis area that sells chemical free mattresses. I have read that this can only be done with a Dr's perscription. Is this true? KINGSDOWN claims their mattresses are chemical free but they say on their spec sheet that fibers are blended with silicate and kevlar thread and that this meets the new 2007 fire retardant regulation. Don't know if I trust this. I now want to know exactly what chemicals Simmons puts in their mattresses. I was told by the store I was the first complaint they had ever had. Hmmmmmmm.

yes we purchased a memory foam mattress because i have neck problems and my neck does feel better.. however my wife is getting very ill from it.. she swells up, talks hoarse and breathes hard.. dhe slept on the couch for 3 days and she was fine.. when she went back in the bed her symptoms returned.. can we put a plastic cover on this to stop this problem?

I want to sue this online retailer from where I bought this mattress from
http://www.healthyfoundations.com -Healthy Foundations

Any suggestions on how to go about doing this?

Please let me know and we can file a class action law suit over them.

Thanks!

I am thinking of buying a mattress from this company because they say their mattress's do not have a smell (or very little over a short time) and that they don't run hot. Why, may I ask, are you wanting to sue them. It may make a difference in me buying one.

Don't you love comments that have absolutely no details behind the complaint?! This is the only complaint about this company I can find on the entire web and it has no substance. The only thing I can do is ignore without further details.

I didn't buy the same type of mattress you did, but I definitely had the Heart palpitations and the Anxiety attacks. I just put my topper outside a few minutes ago, hopefully I will feel better soon. But I would definitely suggest that the problem is your daughters mattress

have had trmperpedic mattress for 5years. had no idea they were so bad for you. my husband and i have both develped problems similar to the ones you have stated. husband will never get rid of it. he loves it. now i understand why i hate it. at first it was great. now i can not sleep. wake up in pain. thought was having a heart attack even. since sleeping on the couch mostly for the last year or so feel better. noticed the smell at first but not any longer. i avoided finding out what it was made of and now am very sorry i did. that killer mattress cost us over a thousand dollars. plus husband smokes and falls asleep in bed almost nightly. no he will never stop. did not think about the fire danger when purchased mattress. he is not concered.

Liar, liar, pants on fire. Are you guys, commenting, going to try and extort money from the manufacturers? Good luck with that, lol.

I bought the New Sensations Memory foam........the smell of it was so bad..thought it might go away,so I tried it anyway.It was great,my neck problems I had for 10 years didn't bother me hardly at all anymore but after a week my muscles all through my body began to ache really bad especially in my legs,I thought I had the flu.....it kept getting worse,I went to the doctor thinking I must have a muscle disease,my blood work was fine,but I was getting sicker.After a month on the memory foam I felt like I was 80 years old and could hardly get out of bed,I never thought it would be the memory foam doing this to me but I thought I would try sleeping without it.After the first night without it I couldn't believe how much better I felt,after 3 days all my symptoms went away!My God,what are they allowed to sell out there! Most places except Walmart(which is where I bought it) are taking it off the shelf,now I know why.I believe all of these people on this site are telling it like it is,it surely is a killer mattress!!

I purchased a bedroom set for my 3 year old daughter and bought a memmory foam matress,a week latter she started to develope a real bad cough and runny nose,i took her to the docks and they said she had a bad cold i took her back a week later she wasnt getting better now she was getting high fevers at night.the docks said she had bronkitis and asthma gave her 3 different inhailers and 2 different medications.after sleepless nights and missing 3 weeks of work to take care of my daughter that had been sick for 3 months.i dicided to get rid of that bed 2 days later my daughter started to feel better that damn bed was killing my daughter .my son of 6 decided he wanted that bed since it was nice and cumfy.he got sick whith the same simtoms took him to the docks ,he got medication .thats when i figured it was the bed. took it out and guess what!he was better whithout taking meds.Lukilly we didnt suffer the same way that we did whith my daughter...seriouslly thoughts came to our minds that we might be losing our daughter .3 weeks now and my daughter looks like nothing was wrong whith her .not worth the risk.dont buy one u never now

which bed did you buy? I am looking at buying a memory foam bed, but these posts are making me think differently... There are several on the market and I have not heard of any posts about healthy foundations brand...

I would really like to see some actual research done on this subject. Obviously the caliber and IQ of some of the people reviewing this topic is not the highest.
ie- not knowing allergy symptoms, horrible...AWFUL spelling.
I am looking to buy a new mattress and was comparing "memory foam" to latex based. I wanted to see if there was an increased occurrence of people developing a latex allergy after sleeping on a latex based product. I am a nurse and I am aware of the increasing incidence of latex allergy due to exposure. That being said, we are sleeping on a 30 year old (probably older) inner-spring mattress and we NEED a new one. No that I don't believe that some people may experience some odd symptoms after being exposed to new chemicals- but this is just like eating at a restaurant you've never eaten at before. You may have an unknown allergy- you go to the restaurant and they include your allergen in their food. You have strange symptoms and may not know what they're from- but do you sue the restaurant? NO! There is no way the mattress manufacturers can know what EVERY single person is allergic to. I don't know any real statistics- but I'm willing to bet that for each one of you that has left a comment and complained on this site- there are hundreds to thousands of others that have no problems. If you want real answers- conduct your own scientific study and THEN you can "sue" the companies. Until then- go back to school and learn how to properly spell !! I wish I could sue every single person that has had on too much perfume that has walked by me- I'd be a BILLIONAIRE!

Wow - an RN - you must be a genius. Shame on you for insulting people less fortunate than yourself. Not everyone has had the privilege of your stellar college RN degree (guess you didn't quite make it to university to become an MD!)

I have been reading the comments on this site with great interest. We purchased a new mattress 4 weeks ago and as a part of the deal the sales person threw in a pair of memory foam pillows. My face has been breaking out in rashes of small red bumps since I started sleeping on the pillow and my scalp has been extremely itchy. I also have been nauseous and dizzy for weeks. I have been to the doctor's but they couldn't seem to identify what was triggering the allergic reaction - I am waiting for an immunologists appointment. The skin on my face is currently very red and blotchy with red hives and skin flaking off though the nausea and dizziness seem to have subsided. I usually sleep on 2 pillows and put the non-memory foam pillow on top as the smell of the memory foam was terrible but still seem to have the rash.

Today our mattress was delivered (not cheap as we paid 1300 GBP, approx 2200 USD) and the smell was very strong. As the rash is particularly bad today I suddenly connected the pillow to my recent skin condition and found a lot of information to support my EUREKA! moment. I am very concerned about the mattress now. After reading the various sites that address this issue tomorrow my husband and I will purchase a full plastic mattress cover in an attempt to zip in the toxins.

I'll submit another post to let you know if this has helped at all. I have removed the memory foam pillows from the bed.

To everyone who commented this is all just an attempt to get money out of the manufacturers. I accept that not every has the same allergies and am only concerned about a) receiving a full refund if the cover does not help and b) finding a mattress that will not cause this reaction.

As this seems to be a fairly widespread issue manufacturers should be forced to put a warning on the product. All snack packages come with warnings alerting people with food allergies if a product contains peanuts - why should this be any different!!

I am a Registered Respiratory Therapist, and having been through college. and in this field for 20 years, I can tell you that my symptoms are real. I have hardly ever had any allergies. And I only get sick about 2-3 times a year, with the usual springtime cold or winter flu which affects so many of us. There are so many out here that have an investment in this product, whether selling it on ebay or elsewhere that don't wish to have to lose the money they have been making from the sell of this product, not even caring whether it is a dangerously unhealthy product to have around. In other words they only care about themselves. To me it doesn't matter whether you can spell or not . You are a person, and deserve to speak your mind, and lovingly let the world know about the problems you are having with this or any product. I applaud all of you for coming to this formum and reviewing this visco elastic memory foam product for the benefit of us all.

Real intelligent. This is a serious health issue, and you come here to attack grammeR, and spelling?

If you are a nurse, I pray I never get stuck with you.

I was searching the web for ways to make my “Eco Friendly” memory foam mattress more tolerable. I honestly didn’t know very much about these mattresses. So, I did a little bit of home work and tried to find one that was hypoallergenic and eco friendly. The one I bought was said to eliminate the danger of off-gassing, etc. I’ve suffered for a long time now with allergies, sinus problems, and breathing issues. I was thrilled to find an American Made manufacturer that said it could eliminate my problems. However, after one night of sleeping on my mattress, I'm having a lot of problems with my eyes and throat burning. Granted, I've only had the mattress for less than a week and I have not given it very much time to air out. I was looking for advice on if a plastic cover would help when I ran across this site.

GlabRN - You're a rude woman. I think there is a large difference in perfume and the toxic chemicals found in most memory foam mattresses. The danger is real and it doesn’t take a degree to understand words like Formaldehyde and carcinogens. Perfume makes me sick too and yes it's annoying when people marinade in it. However, have a heart. I agree with P.Bayley’s comment. Shame on you for making fun of people less fortunate than you. Just because someone does not have the most eloquent writing skills doesn’t mean they are stupid. I wonder if your bedside manner is also less than desirable. May I suggest a suitable working location? How about a morgue? I bet there will be plenty of people that use to sleep on memory foam mattresses there.

We bought one of those memory foam mattresses, top of the line, but it smelled horrible. We put the air conditioner on, plus fans, but I woke up feeling like I had the flu. I had no idea it was the mattress causing those symptoms, so I kept sleeping on the mattress. The smell went away some, but the flu symptoms never did. I felt feverish, severe headache, aches all over my body, exhausted, foggy headed. It was awful! After that went on for several weeks, I tried to figure out why I wasn't getting well. A cold or flu goes away within 10 days max, but I wasn't getting any better. I was worried I'd end up with pneumonia. I realized that my symptoms started the day after we got the mattress, so I started sleeping on the couch in the living room. My symptoms went away the next day! Needless to say, we got rid of that mattress. It cost a fortune to ship it back, but it was worth. NEVER AGAIN! And here's another bit of information: lots of shoes have memory foam padding. Don't buy them unless you want headaches and a feeling of having the flu!!!

I experienced something similar to some of the experiences above.I was prescribed anti-biotic's for a mild flu that is now clear to me was caused by foam mattresses.

I got a new bed with a polyurethane foam pad and several months later it still smells too bad for me to sleep in. And I'm glad I didn't after reading all of these posts. I have CFIDS/ME and Multiple food, drug and chemical sensitivities and I surely don't want to aggravate my condition. I asked the people I bought this bed from if it had any chemicals that would bother me and they said no, but it has Polyurethane foam pad plainly written on the pad tag. I'm going to contact them about returning this horrible thing. So what kind of bed did everyone end up buying?

Well what can I say I have been feeling ill for over twelve months. I have had blood tests for hormone problems which have come back clear. Ihave been diagnosed with Arthritis in all my joints. I have been feeling low in mood and lack of energy and interest in all sorts of things I used to love like my Dancing and swimming. I have had a fuzzy head and memory problems and the most horrendous fatigue as if someone put a shot of morphine in me. Waking up feeling unrested like I had been battered. I have tryed to think back when I became ill and it looks like when I bought my pillows and matress off the internet last year . I Read this article on this site and I emmediately took my mattress topper and pillows off my bed 2 days ago. I have been feeling a lot better since I removed them I cant believe it. I feel like my old self again. I am going back to line dancing agaig which I had to give up because I felt so ill. This sort of thing should be exposed I have been ill for such a long time. Who can I report this kind of thing to? does anyone know? x

Well ten days on from my last blog on the 1st June and I am now definately convinced that my memoryy foam matress and pillows have been making me ill because of the chemicals. All my blood tests have now come back clear and my Doctor has advised me to contact Trade and Standards. I have gone back to line dancing and today I was able to walk up five flights of stairs at college without any trouble something which I couldn,t do two weeks ago and haven,t been able to do for about 3 years. I just can,t believe how well I feel both mentally and phyisically and know longer need to take 5htp a herbal antidepressant that I have been taking for about sixteen months for low moods. All my symptoms included fatigueness,depression,aches and pains all over in all my joints, breathlessness when carrying out any physical activity, waking up feeling as though I,d been battered, wieght gain, water retention with swollen fingers and feet, fuzzy head, memory proplems and just genrally feeling not well most of the time . Iam so glad that I found this site otherwise I would probably still be feeling ill. I have been researching the chemicals in these matresses and I have learnt that there is 64 chemicals in total. Two of them are Benzine and formalelhyde. I can,t pronounce the others but I have been informed these two chemicals are carcenogenic and were supposed to be banned? My mum and my Brother both had memory foam pillows and they have both experienced similar symptoms to mine. But since I told them about my discovery they have removed them from there bed and guess what? their symptoms have gone and they feel much better and brighter.

We bought a Tempur-Pedic king size memory foam bed, and I have been experiencing ALL the of the symptoms I've read here! Kidney pain, flu feelings, congestion, headaches, diarrhea, joint & muscle aches, allergy-like symptoms, nausea, horrible neck pain (I've recently found a small nodule on the left side of my neck) and just general fatigue and not feeling well. I have the bed and pillows....any idea if there has been a class action suit started by anyone? I'm only 38 years old, and I was in GREAT, nearly perfect health prior to the recent onslaught of these symptoms. I've been treated for bronchitis (which I've never had) and a bronchial infection, then was told my horrible stomach issues were due to antibiotics; however, I've been beyond the "infection" for over a month, and I'm still suffering all these symptoms. The worst is in the mornings...I gag and nearly throw up every morning and have terrible diarrhea which wakes me up every day, then I experience diarrhea at least 2-3 additional times within an hour of getting up. We financed this bed, and now I feel as though we should get rid of it!

Wow! I am soooo happy to know that I am NOT crazy. I am a very healthy 45 year old. One month ago I purchased a memory foam bed topper from Bed, Bath & Beyond. I always wanted to try one, but felt they were too expensive. Well, I caught one on sale and had a 20% coupon and tried it out. This topper came with a cover. I put it on. I really didn't notice a smell but the topper was very flat. I looked for instructions, but none. I put it on the bed assuming it would inflate and it did after about a week. The first night I slept on it was a dream. When I woke up however, I had hives all over my body. I thought I was allergic to something I ate and was tryingto figure out what it was. I thought it would go away but NO. A week later my partner was getting cold drenching sweats and I was vomitting all over the place. I noticed the hives would leave and come back. I didn' think it was the matress at all. 2 more weeks went by and I still had this ugly rash. The idea that it could be the mattress crossed my mind because the rash came the first night of use, but I dismissed it. Finally a month later, I took the topper off by instinct and guess what guys? After one night, my rash faded. We have to be so careful about what we expose our bodies to. Thank you everyone for your comments. And for those of you that think this is not true; walk a month in my shoes.

I purchased a memory foam mattress about 7 weeks ago; and I went through 2 in a 5 week period. I had the same symptoms I hade when I got sick from mold, not to mention that aweful smell never went away. I had headaches, dizzyness, that groggy sleepy feeling always, much more pain kept coming on my body as the days went by. Depression was really hard to fight. The company that made the mattress just told me to sleep in it as much as I could and things would eventually get better. I felt like each day I was progressively getting worse and I felt like I was really slowly dying.I have had a new matress for about a week and I am finally starting to get better.

I agree with everything that has been said about memory foam,I only bought two pillows but that was enough for me and my wife to start feeling ill every time we woke up,how come nothing has been done to stop these from selling and I see on the top of this very page are adverts urging you to buy memory foam at a greatly reduced price even a 60 day trail,I wonder why...

I HAVE HAD A MATTRESS TOPPER FOR THE PAST 6 YEARS. I ALWAYS THOUGHT IT TO BE COMFORTABLE BUT THERE ARE ISUES THAT IHAVE NOTICED AND DDIDN'T MAKE TOO MUCH OF. IT IS HOT, VERY HOT. I STARTED WAKING UP RECENTLY FROM SLEEPING ON A PILLOR MADE OF MEMORY FOAM, SOAK AND WET. I COULDN'T IMAGINE WHAT WAS WRONG WITH ME. THOUGHT IT WAS MY MEDICATION BUT REALIZED I HADN'T USED THE PILLOW IN A LONG WHITE AND WAS FINE. THE TOPPER AS WELL IS VERY HOT. ALTHOUGH IT MAY SEEM COMFORTABLE, I HAVE HAD MANY BODILY ACHES AND PAINS FOR THE PAST 5 OR 6 YEARS AND STARTED TAKING PAIN KILLERS THINKING IT IS MY BODY. AFTER READING ALL THESE COMMENTS, I AM STARTING TO BELIEVE THAT MY PROBLEMS HAVE BEEN COMING FROM THE MATTRESS TOPPER. I CAME ONLINE TO PURCHASE A NEW MATTRESS TOPPER TODAY AS MY CURRENT ONE HAS LOST ALOT OF VELOSITY. IN OTHER WORDS, IT IS NOT AS SUPPORTIVE AS I MIGHT LIKE. IT'S CORRECT WHEN THEY SAY THAT WHEN YOU ARE IN ONE SPOT, IT IS VERY DIFFICULT TO CHANGE POSITONS BECAUSE OF THE WAY THE MATTRESS MAKES YOU SINK IN. ALTHOUGH I HAVN'T NOTICED ANY ALLLERGY SYMPTOMS, I WILL NOT PURCHASE ANOTHER TOPPER UNTIL MORE RESEARCH IS DONE OR SOME REMEDY IS REACHED TO MAKE THESEE MATTRESSES HARMLESS./

Have had a bobopedic mattress for 10 months and have had breathing problems and non-stop coughing. Finally have deduced it is the mattress.
Will try to contact company and will update.

Two weeks ago bought a memory foam mattress, as others have described the chemical smell from them is very strong. Since having received it I have have suffered with swollen red itchy eyes, breathing problems and burnt facial skin. No denying mattress is comfortable but not worth the horrendous allergic symptoms! I am hoping they will will let me return it.

Bought two memory foam mattress pads from Target today for kid's beds. Both very excited even though the SMELL was awful. Laid out both pads in room in front of air conditioner trying to "air them out" for 6 hours before putting on beds.
My daughter woke up after three hours of sleeping on it (with sheet and quilted mattress pad) covered in itchy red hives. I've sprayed her with Benadryl spray and she took a Claritin. My son woke up just now with a severe sore throat.
Both kids are now sleeping in my bed and I've just stuffed those pads back into their cases to return to Target.
I've had a memory foam topper on my bed for four years. AND for the last four years, I've been to Dr after Dr for allergy symptoms--coughing, hoarseness, laryngitis, runny nose. I have never tested positive as allergic to anything-- it has been a major puzzle to my Drs.
I don't know if any of this is caused by memory foam or not. I do know that I am getting rid of my topper as well. A not-as-soft bed is a small price to pay for better health.

My 19 y/o D had a memory foam topper for the past 2 years, has had quite a run of health issues over the past two years, prior to this she had never had a complaint .
1.Hives
2.Congestion
3. Almost daily headaches
4.Back/kidney/lung pain
5.Food intolerances
6.Can no longer eat uncooked vegetables her throat gets itchy
7. Anaphylaxic reaction to bananas/cantelope/watermelon
8.Latex allergy
Can I say without a doubt it is the memory foam, no, as she got a new bed at the same time. I have slept in her bed and I also wake up with lung pain as if I can not take a deep breath because it hurts.

She will sleep in her old twin bed from her childhood and we will see if there is any improvement in her health.

I am not looking to sue anybody, but I purchased a couple of memory foam pillows and on the first night of using it, woke up with the worst headache and more tired than I went to bed. My wife had the same problem.

I will employ simple science (the kind that people should rely on!) and try sleeping without the pillows. If the problems go away, I shall give the pillows one more chance and if the problems re-occur, I will not use the pillows again.

Now call me a simpleton if you like, but are you "defenders" really saying that if a simple experiment like that shows that the pillows cause me and my wife headaches, that we should keep using them anyway just because there has been no complex scientific study and no published explanation about the effects I am seeing? Really?

Common sense (again, the kind you can trust) tells me not to put myself in situations where I don't like the outcome - scientifically proven or not!

I just don't want headaches. No law suits, no debates, no compensation, just a good nights sleep.

I just wanted to update everyone on my situation which I posted above. I successfully got a full refund from the seller as the mattress was described as hypoallergenic but I had suffered a major reaction. My symptoms arrived the day the mattress came and have now started, at last to go, now the mattress has been got rid off. I have had to open all the windows to air the house. Trading standards said that it was a common issue to do with outgasing of the chemicals! There are several other sites with similar postings and they include people who worked in the manufacturing process and some who have had their mattress analyzed, and they make for interesting reading. All I can say is when the mattress was here I was suffering from what felt like chemical burning to the eyes and breathing problems and now that its gone I am fine! If people want to be sure put the item in the shed and see whether your symptoms clear up.

I recently purchased a memory foam top cover 6', and did not notice a smell the first night. The second night my sheets smelt like paint thinner and I woke with a headache. I have only had the mattress for two days and think I may need to send it back!

I worked in the furniture industry for 12 years selling mattresses, purchased a high end pillow top memory foam mattress, after a couple of months I broke out into a severe rash, nothing like I had ever experienced. Terrified, I went to an allergist, he could not figure it out, but I did my own process of elimination and found that the hives were the worst the first thing in the morning. Eventhough you can not see the memory foam inside the mattress, it still envelopes your body every night exposing you to all certain chemicals. Memory foam is 100% petroleum (think about it, how unhealthy), the entire thing is a mountain of chemicals. I did a process of elimination and slept on the couch for a week, the hives started to go away, I sold my expensive mattress and bought one that has latex foam instead, latex is a natural rubber product but it is breathable and not chemical bases. I have been fine ever since. There should be toxicity warnings on these beds, from reading other emails here, a lot of people have experienced the same provlems, and remember when chemicals touch your skin, they are readily absorbed. Be very careful when purchasing memory foam if you have any allergies..

We bought our memory foam mattress from Costco about a 2 weeks ago.... we thought it would be a cheaper alternative to purchasing a new mattress set. I aired the mattress out for an entire day and also sprayed the thing with an odor neutralizing product. The smell is so...chemical! After a few days of super comfortable sleep, my wife and I realized we were not feeling rejuvenated. We felt like we had severe sinus allergies, accompanied by headache. Both of us ended up with a severe cough and dry scratchy throat (we NEVER get sick). Not only has our quality of life been compromised, but we are afraid that our mattress under the foam is permeated with the chemical vapors. I am going to Costco tomorrow to return the memory foam. I am also going to threaten law suit if they do not pull it off the shelves!

We also bought our mattress set from Costco at the end of Aug 2009. We aired it out for a couple of days then began to sleep on it. Mattress top was memory foam and it had a bad smell. Once we started to sleep on it I experienced profound and debilitating fatigue... but I didn't put it together that the new mattress was the reason for a month. Ended up with two visits to the doctor, blood tests that all came out normal. and continuing fatigue. It was all I could do to sit on the sofa during the day and maybe take a shower. Complete exhaustion, and it appeared to be unexplainable. Until a friend asked about the mattress and did some sleuthing online. Once we found some info on the chemicals used in it, we removed the new mattress, replaced our old mattress and within 48 hours I began to feel like myself again. The only piece of good news in all this is that Costco will take the mattress back without question. But, I lost a full month of life and activity, was out two co-pays for doctor visits and felt like crap for so long I was getting depressed. And, the mattress never bothered my husband at all!

We received a memory foam topper for Christmas last year. Within a week of using it, I started feeling sick. I was diagnosed with a bad sinus infection but then ended up with a swollen thyroid. I was then diagnosed with hyperthyroidism. This is unusual and something that usually runs in families. There is no history of this in my family.

I kept looking back to try and figure out what was making me feel sick. I felt miserable and lifeless. Each night when I went to bed, I hated the smell of the mattress topper. Finally, I took all the sheets and mattress cover off of the bed and sprayed it well with Febreeze and left the windows open and the fan running on a cold January day. This helped with the odor and my thyroid problem went away. I thought that maybe this had caused my problem and when going to this website today I think I was right.

Is there a memory pillow or mattress that isn't full of chemicals? a natural alternative without the toxins?

I bought a memory foam mattress not long ago; since then I have been feeling terrible. I have been to many doctors and have not been able to get any releif from the nausea and head aches I have had since had this mattress has entered my life. I have had this mattress tested for chemicals and the results came back in low concentration since time as passed and the mattress has somewhat aired out. I was wondering if anyone has had any success in calling the mattress companies bluff?

I too took 9 or ten weeks to find out that the mattress was the cause of my dizziness, tinnitusd, nausea, tremors, etc. After brain scans, GI series, diabetic evaluations and aa multitude of other tessts came back noemal, I was fortunate that some concernrd people shared their stories on the internet. After being told my one month warranty had expired, regardless of my illness from the toxins in the mattress, I retained an attorney, who dropped the case once the mattress was found (5 months after purchase) to have minimal levels of toxins, at least in their opinion. At this time the mattress had been in storage for 3 months or so. I have been referred to another attorney via my detox doctor, and although I'm getting over the nausea slowly, it has left me potentially w/ MCS (multiple chemical sesnitivity). I now have gone green with organic foods, natural cleaning products, and body care products when I am bold enough to use them. I can't believe a class action hasn't brought these companies down. If someone wants to smoke in bed, let THEM purchase the mattress; why do the rest of us have to suffer for that? Any suggestions or comments are welcome. I want my money back and then some...

I have a new egg crate foam topping for my mattress. Got it at Boscov's Department Store for $90. It is the worst smelling egg crate foam topping I ever smelled ....or owned.

This one is made by The Carpenter Company (www.sleepbetter.org). It was aired out for 8 hours in a well ventilated space, per the instructions on the insert within the packaging. I have other health problems and I'm not sure which of them have been worsened by this chemical odor. I do however had new health problems which started right after putting this vile smelling thing on my bed.

The Carpenter Company refers to odor as a "newness scent". It advises people in the insert "Although unlikely, some people may find themselves hyper-sensitive to the newness scent in which case you may want to discontinue use and return the product to your retailer".

During the past two weeks I found that when I am walking at a normal pace with people on a sidewalk my lungs start to burn. I have to slow down. I've always been a walker. This symptom came out of nowhere.

My eyes which are generally sensitive to shampoo from years of glaucoma drops. After I shampoo in the morning I am use to them being somewhat inflammed for a while. Now they are blood red for three to four hours. I had no idea why.

This afternoon the burning in my lungs and my nose started and I was sitting at my computer. I work from home. My friend said it sounds like asthma. I looked up asthma and found a comment about noxious odors from egg crates, and mattresses, etc. Everything clicked at that moment.

I'm with it all day except for brief trips to a post-office or bank...etc. This smell is probably permeating every room in my one floor condo.

The only change in my household recently was this product was put on my bed.

I remembered the packaging insert. Had not thrown it away. Something about it being called a "newness scent" made me suspicous on some level.

I believe I am right about it being this egg crate foam product and hope the burning sensation in my lungs and my nose leave soon after I discontine using it.

I read with interest some other problems with these foam crates products for their beds and the problems people have with the mattresses like Tempera-Pedic. I had almost ordered one of those matteresses; so glad I did not.

Ann

I've been sleeping on a Memory Foam mattress for nearly 3 years, although the mattress does not make me feel as ill as some of the comments mentioned, it has effected my life in a huge way, my excema has flared up, sleepless nights, scratching myself stupid, burning face, waking up sweating and i'm not sure how related it is, but my throat just will not stop producing phlegm. Only until this morning while searching for my allergy's have i found posts about similar memory foam related illnesses.

My itching has effected me for over 3 years, same as when i got the bed, my throat well over two years, i'm going to start sleeping on our non-memory foam sofabed, see how i get on. it was an expensive mattress and would be a shame to get rid of it, but health is more important.

Just wondering if you found relief after changing your mattress?

I've been using a memory foam pillow for 3 months now - since then I've had facial exzema around the eyes. Now just bought a new mattress that has polyuethane foam (memory foam) on the surface-padding on both sides. Shop had no idea that the mattress had such foam in it - saying it was only on their more expensive lines.

I need a new mattress. I need something supportive yet soft enough to be easy on pressure points. I used a memory foam pillow and got one of the worst migraines of my life. I was sick for five days. I've reviewed a lot of sites, and am still confused. Please if anyone has a recommendation on a brand, let me know. Thanks!

When they tell you to leave it air for a day or two, you should be suspicious. If it was a couple of days matter they would have done it themselves right after manufacturing. The thing is, the matress needs air refreshing all time, not only once, and that means it will always be dangerous!

At first I found the mattress to be very comfortable, but it took me months to notice that, even though I felt sleepy when I went to bed, as soon as I lay down I would feel wide awake ! Also, my occasional sleep apnea became an everynight nightmare! I was afraid to go to sleep at night because it was so severe. Though it took me a long time to consider that the mattress was what was making it so much worse. It was definitely the mattress, because I rarely have the problem while sleeping on another mattress. I will not go near this bed, even though it is comfortable..

Amazing that you never see these posts until you buy the matrress, equally amazing that there is no health warning or adverse publicity. We purchased a visco elastic mattress 3 weeks ago and similar symtoms to those above, feels like you have flu when you wake up, also started getting ezcema (never had it before) Will now try to sell but feel a little uncomfortable passing the problem on. These mattresses dont smell - they stink and the evidence from these posts seem to paint a pretty consistant picture. AVOID

Strange. I owned a Sensus topper for years and loved it. Never had a problem other than getting hot because they retain heat. It went out after about 5 years and I was getting the runaround about their warranty so I started looking for another mattress.

I bought a 12" Sensations (?) mattress from Wal-Mart and, in spite of airing it out forever including an entire weekend with windows open and the fans on it, I could never get rid of that annoying stink. I did experience some of the issues people were talking about too such as restlessness, occasional headaches and an inability to sleep comfortably. Sometimes I'd sleep 12 hours and didn't feel like I got any sleep. I just chalked it up to the bed being new and having to adjust to it.

Finally, I couldn't take the stink any longer and returned it then purchased another one from foambymail. Yeah it has some stink but it reduced after about a month. There's a slight amount of that polyurethane smell when I press my nose against it and after about a week I can see the smell seeps into the pillow if I don't air it out. STILL I don't run into the problems I had with the Wal-Mart mattress. I love sleeping on it.

One difference between the Sensus and Foambymail as opposed to the Wal-Mart is the Wal-Mart mattress is made in China whereas the others I sleep fine on are made in the US.

My 30 yr. old son just told me that he has been using a memory foam pillow for a year. His wife first noticed that it was discoloring his pillow case and then recently, he rolled over in bed and his wedding ring scraped against the wall. The paint scraped right off the wall where his pillow rests. They looked and the paint was all soft and discolored in that area, but not where his wife's cotton pillow rests. I also recently came across a book "Cot Death", where a researcher in New Zealand has linked SIDS (crib deaths) to the chemicals sprayed on baby mattresses. Way to go, FDA- protect the manufacturers and not the citizens of the US!

im 18 just got a memory foam matress ..i now have to drop my classes because i missed out on the test days from being sick. this thing sucks ..anyone know if the symptoms go away??

I bought a memory foam on tv from one of those well known shopping channgels and it was rather pricey and I had no problem with it. I willed it to a friend when I bought a new mattress of a different size.

Then I bought another one off the interenet and it was a name brand and I got sick from it.

My question is, why are these allowed to be sold in the US if they are making people sick.

I felt as if I was poisoned, vomiting uncontrollalby, headache (and I never get headaches) nausea. I thought I was dying.

Then I realized I had smelled the foam topper I bought a week or so earlier andcould that be the cause so I pulled it off an put it in the sun porch, washed all the linens on my bed and am letting my mattress air out because it has a slight odor now.

I slept in the living room last night and immediately felt better in the morning, like a new person.

Buyers beware.

hello i have been experiencing the same symptoms. very alarming. have been to numerous drs as well as emergency rooms. along with other ailments i am having severe food intolerances and hives which have increased to anaphalactic symptoms. i couldnt figure it out considering i have eaten these foods all my life without complication as well as an allergist confirming zero food allergies. I have the tempurpedic grand bed. Its all memory foam including memory foam pillows. i have been through hell the last year and i have had the mattress a year. the food problems have been very difficult and perplexing. brought me to tears while reading your symptoms . please email me koryn5@hotmail.com.
thank u

11/17/09. We bought a memory foam topper and slept on it last night. I woke up 8 times due to the smell. This morning I had phlegm and was coughing. Very odd. My pjs, the bed sheets and comforter all absorbed this strange odor. We aired the matress outside today for 8 hours and the odor is still present. The topper is in the box and ready to be shipped back. for a full refund. My back didn't hurt but I couldn't sleep cuz the odor kept waking me up.

my husband and i got a memorie foam topper for our bed we have had it only abot 10 days . I have been sick for about the last 8 days. I ache all over feel sick dizzy light headed and could not figure out why. I am returning the topper today and am praying that this will go away. I have never had this bad of body ache... don't get one..

I bought a 4" memory foam topper for my campervan 4 days ago. After opening it the smell was so chemically overwhelming so I aired it out in a huge industrial size dryer for several hours before putting in the van. The dryer drastically reduced the odor, so I put the waterproof cover on it & in the van it went. The first night i had to force myself to sleep, trying to ignore the smell but honestly the comfort of that mat was incredible, so it really wasn't that difficult to slumber off.

On the 2nd full night of sleeping on the topper, i woke at 3am to a sharp & massive pain in my chest.
I could hardly breathe & it hurt tremendously, an 8 on a scale of 10. After about an hour or so, the pain started to diminish. The following day i felt as though i had been beaten up in my torso, the ribs, the back, the kidneys & especially the chest. It's been 2 1/2 days now since the pain attack but my body is still aching, the breathing has improved but it still hurts to take a full inhalation.

Being 33 in good health & weight, low cholesterol, no family history of heart disease. no personal history of anything like this before & the way in which the symptoms are now diminishing & expressing them self. So it might be related to the topper or maybe not. I'll remove the topper & follow up. Plus i'm going to get a series of tests done to eliminate other conditions.

I recommend anyone who considers the memory foam chemicals to be a culprit in creating or inducing bad health to immediately remove it & see what results.

I ordered a 2" Visco Memory Foam Topper for my bed and it came 2 days ago. When I first placed it on my bed that same night the smell like Paint Thinner was so overwhelming I could not take it. There was no instruction accompaning the thing so I took it off my bed and laid it on the floor in another room. Then I logged on the INTERNET and WOW what I discovered about the Visco Memory Foam Topper and Mattresses was FRIGHTENING.
I called FINGERHUT which is where I ordered the Foam and asked about the SMELL & What to do about it. The Rep. told me to AIR it out a couple of days or spray it with something to get rid of the ODOR. I said are you kidding me. WHY should I have ato do all that to sleep on something that goes on my BED. I told him that I have enough health challenges and that I'M GOING TO SEND IT BACK RIGHT AWAY AND WANT A REUND. He said fine as long as I send it back before 30 DAYS. I don't mind paying for Postage and Insurance for sending it back because my HEALTH is more important, plus I had one KIDNEY removed last year due to cancer. I will do my research before I get another mattress. I just can't believe that companies will sell anything that is DETRIMENTAL TO YOUR HEALTH. but then again they SELL CONTAMINATED FOOD,,,,DON'T THEY!

I have a memory foam bed AND pillow and I have no problems with it, I got it from sleep country and my brother and parents both have one from sleep country and they have no problems.

I bought a Perfect Comfort mattress topper (egg crate style) about two months ago and had no problem until a month later when I started to wake up with stuffy ears that would sometimes improve over the course of the day but never go away completely. After two weeks of this irritation I went to urgent care to see if they could figure out my problem. I was prescribed a steroid nasal decongestant, which helped to alleviate the problem. I was happy to slowly wean myself off the nasal spray but now I had loud ringing in my ears for nearly the entire day! I also had a few bouts of dizziness thrown in for good measure. After two more weeks of THIS misery, I went to an ENT clinic. My hearing checked out fine, but the ringing persisted. The following morning, both of my ears were VERY stuffy, and I was almost at wit's end because at this point I was completely miserable and depressed.

It finally dawned on me that it had to be something in the bedroom because the mornings were always the worst part of the day. It HAD to be the mattress topper. So I took it off the bed, aired out the mattress, and washed all the bedding. Almost immediately my health and disposition improved. Three days later the ringing in my ears has nearly vanished. I'm feeling more upbeat and I'm optimistic this problem completely clears up within a few more days.

It's astounding that some commenters with claims of higher education try to write off the opinions of others based on ability to spell or "evident" IQ. This shows to me that not all those who became nurses and doctors have learned the concept of simple respect and fair treatment.

Dear readers, do not let anyone tell you not to listen to your body. It took 4 doctors to properly diagnose me, and 5 more (!) to prescribe the right treatment. Two years later, my life has been restored. Never let someone who appears to have more credibility make you give up your search for better health.

As for the memory foam being toxic: second night in a row I experience what western medicine refers to as "sleep apnea" (reason I’m on this site). My memory foam pillows are three months old. I have also had itchy eyes and flu-like symptoms for over 2 months. I think I'll exercise precautionary principle and throw them out. My health is worth it.

Do I need scientific studies – most often conducted on mice – to confirm my position? It would be interesting to see the results of such a study, but as far as I’m concerned, the effects of memory foam have already been tested on humans (such as me and all those who commented above). Relying on mice data instead would be a questionable move (unless it is for the purpose of establishing limits and guidelines, rather than a personal purpose).

Just bought a Visco Mattress Topper and at first thought is smelled odd. The paperwork stated the odors would dissipate within 24 hours. Well, we are on week 2 and it still smells. I can't sleep on it but my Husband still does. My body actually absorbs the chemicals from the topper and I can smell it on my skin the next morning. We will be returning it as soon as possible. Thanks for this site and providing some honest insight.

I just purchased an Isotonic memory foam pillow yesterday. I had never heard of any problems like this. I noticed the paper saying to air it out due to some people having a sensitivity to the foam, but I was stubborn, thinking I've never had a reaction to anything. I'd been wanting a pillow like this for a long time so I went ahead and used it. I went to sleep at 11:30, completely healthy. I tossed and turned and began having a wet cough. I finally woke up completely just before 3 AM. I realized I had pain in my chest and was having difficulty breathing. The memory of the paper instructions came to me so I quickly left the room, took my old pillow and tried to sleep on the couch. I could not sleep because I was having an asthma attack (the fourth or fifth of my life--the last time was over 15 years ago.) This morning I've been coughing up phlegm and my chest still feels tight. I've never gotten this sick this fast. It definitely seems that this is a reaction to the horrible chemicals in that pillow. I know I should have aired it out, but would that have made much of a difference if I had such a severe reaction to it? It probably still would have bothered me.
My husband has already boxed it back up and he will exchange it for a contour pillow without memory foam.
In a nutshell, sleeping on a new pillow for 3 hours led to an asthma attack, tight chest, and a throat full of phlegm. Pleasant.

People- do not buy memory foam mattress toppers-they are horrible. I bought it a few days ago from Bed bath and beyond [visco-tech 3 '']and I slept on it yesterday for the first time and the last time in my life. I could not sleep-I was turning and tossing, my body was boiling, the smell was horrible. I woke up at 6 with the headache, sore throat, stuffy nose, dizziness; I started coughing and a lot of mucus started to come out from my lungs. My bedroom smelt horrible like a mattress. I knew right away what the problem was. I took the mattress and returned to the store at 10am. and got my money and a good sleep back. After reading all the reviews I am surprised that people need to sleep on this horrible products-memory foam toppers and pillows-a couple of months or weeks to realize that they are dangerous for your health. But I've got latex foam pillow a couple of years ago and I've never had any problems [I love my pillow]

Put some hard SCIENCE with the testimonies and then your site will really be valuable to all of us

A friend gave me one of these memory mattresses (Health Care Mattress) for Christmas. I didn't want it, but they delivered it last night. It was comfortable, but every time I moved it released a smell like 1000 magic markers. I woke up, or this morning after not sleeping much, I have headaches, burning lungs, congestion, and fog in the brain. Its going in the trash if the furniture store won't take it back. Thanks for people posting their stories.

I tried a memory foam mattress topper from prominent online seller. It had hundreds of rave reviews from customers, and only a handful of customers who didn't like it. I paid $40 for it. It arrived with a strong odor, so I aired it for five days to get rid of the smell. It still smelled, but not too badly after that. I put it on the mattress. I could not get comfortable on it, so I thought I'd take it off right away and try again another night when I could sleep in and not worry about getting to sleep. I tried it again a couple of days later. I started to drift off to sleep within half an hour. But I felt a weird, disembodied feeling that made me feel panicked. When I fully woke up, I realized I wasn't breathing well due to my nasal passages being stopped up. I hadn't felt that feeling in a long time. I also had a headache. I took the mattress pad off and went to sleep without it, feeling better after it was removed. It also was starting to make my back and legs hurt from the softness of it. The next day, my face was swollen, particularly my chin, lower lips, and eyelids. My eyelids felt itchy and burned. My face also had red streaks. I've had allergies off and on in the past, and my symptoms definitely had the hallmarks of an allergic reaction. I put the mattress pad in the trash. Hated doing that with a nearly-new item I paid $40 for, but I figured it was worth the peace of mind. I wouldn't give it to anyone else, either. The product may not trigger reactions in people who don't have allergies or other sensitivies. But if you have a history of things like hay fever and hives, this product might be something that will bring out those symptoms. I also don't think the pad was very comfortable, as it caused some aches while laying on it.

Does anyone know anything about the "natural, eco-friendly" mattresses by Aerus? They say they replace "some" of the bad ingredients.
I have had mysterious asthma, mostly occurring at night, and come to think of it, it started when I got the mattress toppers. My doctor was shocked. Before I got the memory foam, I had nothing wrong with my lungs. I have several layers, some from Target and Lowe's that probably have more bad ingredients than the Aerus ones.

We purchased this brand, Aereus from Sam's online almost 2 years ago and it was described as 'eco friendly'. The mattress has had a strong chemical odor that simply would not go away. The strength of the odor would come and go. It got to the point where it was emitting out into the rest of our house. For the last 2 years I have struggled with a hormone imbalance, anxiety, depression and at times insomnia. My husband has also suffered health issues as well. We strongly advise no one to purchase one of these memory foam mattresses.

Why settle for the manufacturers replacing just "some" of the bad ingredients? If something is poisonous or harmful, do you want to take chances by using even just a little of it?

I bought the matress topper a week ago took it out of the box aired it out, and a week later it still smells to strong to sleep on. I had one before for about a year and i don't remember having it being this bad.

I completely agree will all disapproving comments about memory foam matress toppers. My husband and I also noticed immediately the terrible side effects (headache, insomnia, sore throat). We both sleep usually very well and never (NEVER- I repeat again for those manifacturers on this website) had any problems before. We removed the matress pad, had to wash throughly everything in the bedroom and aerate for a week before we could see significant difference. I'm surpised that after so may bad reviews the manufacturing of this product is not prohibited. IT SHOULD BE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!!!

I want to be next to get my 2 cents in. I have good and bad to say about Memory Foam mattresses and I, too suffer from chemical allergies. This has been my experience:

I first had an encounter with my mother's Ortho brand memory 8" foam mattress. It is 6 years old. It was wonderful and I immediately wanted one. Her's was comfortable and the next morning, I woke up feeling energized and thought, "What an amazing night's sleep!"

After a 1 month long "nightmare" of trying to purchase a mattress that was not overpriced, not too soft, too hard, too smelly and dealing with a company that has no return policy, only exchanges, we settled on a memory foam/latex topper. It is currently on its second week of airing out in the guest bedroom with a fan blowing above it and a window fan blowing the smell outside, after my first and only 20 minutes on it began my allergic coughing spell with swollen and irritated sinuses showing up the morning after. I have been sleeping in my living room for two nights until I get my own bedroom aired out and clothes washed from the residual chemical infiltration of the bed linens and room. It is frustrating to spend 400 dollars and now after reading all this, I am wondering if I'll ever be able to sleep on it.

Thank you all for sharing. It is really helpful. If anyone can offer some hope for me, please let me know. Thank you.
Dannysgranny

I bought what was supposed to be an "green" foam matress from Ecomfort. I was told by the salesperson that it was made up of 40% natural plant oils. It didn't seem to matter. The mattress stinks and has caused me to have major respiratory issues - sore throat, runny nose, and now a sinus infection. I would definetly NOT buy a memory foam matress ever again. It is currently in the garage because The Bed Store is telling me they won't take it back. I think we need to set up a class action lawsuit against these manufacturers. Anyone interested?

Well I bought a foam pad of polyurethane, the first night was smelling but already after the second night the smell was gone.

I sleep much better since I put it.

There is no smell at moment I bought it to wall mart here in Toronto I do not remember the branch but I remember that was written on the box that contained green the for eliminate the odour and the bacteria .....bho I think is just marketing infact the pad is green ....hihihihi

I bought two memory foam pillows about 3 weeks ago, but my husband complained about the smell from the first time we used them. We have not had any severe allergic symptoms but something creepy started to happen recently. I have always used the same pillow covers for years now and I have never had a problem with them, but ever since I put the foam pillows inside I noticed that the pillow covers's pigmentation are starting to bleed. I've found stains on the wall from were the pillows constantly rub against and just recently I noticed that it was leaving the same marks on other pillows in my bed. Yet when I rub the pillows with my hands I don't see any colour bleeding happening, its looks like the stains happen over a period of a couple days or so. Has any one experienced this before? Is it the chemicals reacting with the pillow covers's material? I think I should just get rid of them, because who knows what they are doing to my skin while I sleep.

My husband and I recently bought an American Pedic mattress. The first couple of nights were pretty good although i felt like i had a sinus infection coming on. By night 3 I would lay down on the bed and within 5 minutes or so my nose would stop up and itch, my face itched and my throat felt so tight that I could not swallow and my skin was really broke out. Still, seeing as we are not rich people and really wanted this mattress, that we spent our entire tax refund check on this year, I wanted to give it a fair shot. Each day I would change something about the bed, washed the sheets, took the heated mattress cover off, anything I could think of and I still could not sleep in our bed. After 7 days of no sleep and the worst cold/sinus infection I've ever had we called the people we bought from and asked them to come pick it up. I will never buy a memory foam mattress again.

I wish I had read your web page two weeks ago, maybe then I wouldn't be suffering. Here's my story: two weeks ago I bought a new innerspring mattress set, one with 'memory foam." (Rightly named, I won't forget it or it's problems). We had a terrible sweet chemical smell permeate our home. I called the seller, I was told it had to "air out" for a week. Two days later I was sick. tongue burning, mouth sore, blisters in roof of mouth, nauseated, dry, irritated eyes, terribly sinuses but the worse was the weakness and the feeling so weird. I demanded they come and remove the mattress but still I had to wait 7 full days. They brought another out from the manufacturer, it didn't seem to smell but after 2 days the smell was back but not as bad. We closed the door to the room, opened both windows, ran 2 fans blowing on it and one in the window as an exhaust. During this week I had to live with windows open with temps in the 30s and 40s. I know my heat bill will be sky-high. Last night I had another bout and this morning my husband, who is disabled asked a neighbor to help him remove it. It now sits on my back porch. I want it out of my yard and out of my life but we're snowed in and have to wait until the roads thaw. I have lost most of my smell and taste, my lips and tongue burn, I'm weak and shaking. I can't stand chemicals of any kind, not even dishwashing detergent since this monster's been in my house. Does anyone know how to remove the smell and residue from my house? I air it as much as possible, sometimes one room at a time as it's winter and it's cold. Thanks for any advice you can offer.

I bought a memory foam mattress and two memory foam pillows from American Furniture Warehouse about 5-6 months ago. I awoke with a very sore neck after the first night's sleep, but just chalked it up to not being used to the pillow. After a week of sleeping on the pillow my neck was extremely stiff and sore on one side so I ditched the memory foam pillow for my old one. The neck pain eased up some, but never left. Now, after six months, I sleep for about 10 hours a night (7-8 was normal) and wake up feeling drained and tired with burning eyes and pain all over my head, like that caused by a bad sinus infection. Almost every joint hurts and the pain in my neck and kidney area is almost unbearable. I've also experienced recurring sore throats, cough, stuffy nose, nose bleeds and more. I didn't even think about these problems being related to the bed until my husband mentioned his memory foam pillow was hurting his neck. I found this site after googling the effects of memory foam out-gassing and am very glad I did. We are getting rid of every memory foam product in our home and will be sure to buy an organic mattress the next go round as it sounds like they may be the only "safe" option. I hope the out-gassing has not caused any permanent damage.

I purchased a Tempurpedic mattress and have not been able to sleep on it for months. I was told initially that the smell would go away in 3 to 4 weeks. After 5 months, I returned it for another after being told that I had a "defective" model. I am now on my 2nd mattress and am sleeping in my den on an air matress while it "airs out". I suspect that the persistent cough and stuffed nose I have had for the past 6 months is related to my Tempurpedic mattress as when I travel on business for a week at at time my coughing slows down and breating improves only to regress when I return home. This product is AWFUL and I would STRONGLY SUGGEST that if you are considering buying one that you should NOT DO SO.

I have owned my Temper pedic mattress and pillows for 5 years now and have never had any sort of allergy or pain issue. I totally LOVE my bed and will purchase more in the future. I would recommend Temper pedic to EVERYONE. I can not speak for other brand names of memory foam beds.

We bought a new Simmons Beautyrest BlackLine mattress which was delivered a couple of days ago.... it's madewith a combination of foams including memory foam and did not have any smell or odor. I slept well but my husband felt it was a little too firm so we went to Costco this morning to buy a memory foam topper.... We opened it up and spread it out on the living room floor to expand out to full size.... but it stinks so badly that I went online and found some green web site which describe the way this foam "outgasses" toxic fumes - then I found this website... and so freaked out by the many scary feedbacks and experiences with this material that I am heading right back to the store to return it and get this vile item out of my house quick - I don't want it to even touch my new mattress or enter our bedroom - I am airing out the living room right at the moment... Why are these things still on the market???!!

I live with the naivete assumption that if I go into a dept store and purchase a mattress pad that it will not make me violently ill from outgassing problems. There is some assumption that the US govt would protect me from dangerous chemicals that can be produced with these foam mattresses. All these assumptions were wrong.

I bought a sprinter van that I plan on traveling with my son 3-6 months a year with and sold the seats out of it. I planned on building several sofas and on these sofas I would make my own mattress pads that would fold into beds. I started researching it on the Internet and everything I found said memory foam or at least 2" of memory foam on the top layer is the way to go. There was a few people that complained of the smell but other than that I did not see a lot of negative press. There was no shortage of places to buy it so I bought my first pad at Target. My son was really excited about it so I decided to let him have the first bed to test on his bed. He loved it and said it was amazingly comfortable. I generally never buy anything at Walmart as I would be ashamed of the social stigma of being caught shopping there, but online Walmart had memory foam mattresses for a fraction of the cost of anywhere else. They were about 1/2 the price of the 2nd cheapest place which was Target. I bought 3 different mattress pads for a total of over $500. They smelled a little funky but I honestly didn't think much of it. I put the 6" pad on my mattress and had the best night of sleep ever. I was sold, I went out and bought memory foam pillows for me and orion, I even invested in the "Green" brand that were 2x as much because I thought maybe they wouldn't have the PBTE (flame retardant neurotoxin) that I am always paranoid about.

Before I start this explanation let me tell you that I am extremely healthy. I rarely get sick and tend to exercise 3-4 hours a day, I eat no sugar or high fructose corn syrup or meats and try to buy organic foods when they are available.

The next morning I woke up with a sore throat I and I was tired, I figured I was fighting something off but just took some echinecia and went on with my day. In the evening I felt fine. The next morning I felt very tired and my muscles were very sore and my throat was so sore I could not swallow. I started gargling with salt water, mouthwash, but nothing seemed to help. I considered taking antibiotic but I didn't feel sick, I just felt all the symptoms of being sick. The more tired I got the longer I wanted to sleep in bed. The longer I slept in bed the worse the symptoms got. For the next 2 days I slept over 12 hours a night, often waking up and feeling terrible. I would be nauseous, have diarrhea and a wicked bad sore throat. The thing that shocked me was that I never felt my immune system kick in. I never had a runny nose or a fever or sneezed or even coughed. Because I felt worse at night and better during the day I suspected that something was terribly wrong. I have never had any illness that felt better in the day and worse at night, its always the other way around. I stopped working and was rescheduling appointments with friends and dinners because I felt too bad to go out. On about the 6th night it was the worst. I woke up in the middle of the night dizzy and nauseous and with an incredibly sore throat. I stumbled into the bathroom to throw up and gradually started feeling a little better. The thought kept going through my head "If I'm going to feel like this for the rest of my life I don't want to live anymore". It was horrible. I finally laid down to go back to bed and I put my head on the pillow, inhaled deeply and I felt the burning in my lungs. Suddenly I realized it had to be the pillow or the mattress that was doing this to me. I swapped pillows and opened the window and turned on the fan so it blew in my face and was able to get back to sleep. The next day I did an Internet search on "Memory foam outgassing" and I was shocked that there was hundreds of people that seemed to have the same problems that I did.

The creation of foam mattresses is a chemical process where you mix 2 different petro chemicals and they expand and make the foam. The foam itself is not the actual problem, its the unreacted chemicals that create the issues. Any chemical process you have you are never going to be able to get a 100% reaction rate. My guess is that the large chains cut costs even more by making the process as quick as possible without any outgassing time after the foam construction. The biggest kicker is that the US govt has no restrictions on the outgassing of petrochemicals from these memory foams even though there are more than 5 different chemicals used to make them that are known to be extremely toxic. I wrapped up all my mattresses and took them back to the stores over the next several days. I found myself incredibly angry. Its like going to McDonalds and ordering a hamburger knowing that McDonald's food is bad for you only to find that the burger was full of rat poison. Even after 3 days of being off the mattresses I can still feel the toxins in my body, my muscles are sore, I have been having uncontrollable sneezing fits and my nose is running like a faucet. My body is doing everything it can to expell these toxins, but it is a long slow process.

I feel violated, every time I walk into my bedroom I feel sick, it has been airing out for 2 days and it's snowing out. I have the windows open and the fans blowing. I have been sleeping in my van because the leftover fumes in the house are still irritating me. I wonder how much longer this will last and how many other people will suffer like this. The saddest part is I think about how I compromised my son's safety by purchasing a cheap comfort product. Never again will I make a mistake like that.

I can't believe that American companies can create this chemical outgassing poisonous mattresses and get away with it. Where is the govt? Where are the lawyers. I will never buy a petrochemical foam pad again and I certainly will never shop at Walmart again. Granted they were the most comfortable sleeping mattresses I had ever slept on but comfort at what cost?

So what's the best mattress to choose if you don't want any of these problems? I'm having similar isseus from a memory foam pillow & mattress. If all mainstream mattresses have toxic outgassing what's left to sleep on?

I just read every review here and it appears that all of these problems are related to a few manufacturers:

- Tempur-Pedic
- The Carpenter Co (Who makes Isotonic and the products at Macy's & Bed Bath Beyond)
- Sleep Innovations (Who makes the product at Costco and Overstock)

My wife & I are newly pregnant and we wanted to get a bed that was safe for our use, so we found this place a few weeks ago. We researched alot online and found a place that actually has some answers about these problems: Google "CertiPUR" and you'll find their website: W W W Certipur dot us

On their products page, there is a listing for each of the Foamers (the people who make this stuff) who have had their products randomly tested for purity free from the following chemicals:

CertiPUR-US approved foams are:
Emissions tested
Content tested
Low emission (VOCs) for indoor air quality
Made without prohibited phthalates
Made without ozone depleters (no CFCs)
Made without mercury, lead or heavy metals
Made without formaldehyde
Made without methylene chloride
Made without PBDEs
Durability and performance tested

I would suggest people research their manufacturer's directly. Interestingly, neither TempurPedic, Sleep Innovations nor Carpenter Co have any of their Memory foams (Visco-foams) tested on that site. You can find the maker of these product by reading either the warranty statement or law tag on any of the boxes these come in, and research it before you open it. It's easy to return while still in box; trouble after!

We ultimately purchased our product at Sam's club because the manufacturer has CertiPUR listed on the website and we found them at the store when we wrote a list of those listed and went shopping looking for one specifically. They're the only one we found actually who is in retail that we could see and was listed. None of the people at JC Penney's, Macy's, Kohl's or Overstock seem to join this program for some reason, and review after review here come from people buying from these 3 bad companies.

Our topper by the way is awesome. It didn't have much of a chemical smell, smelled more like a fabrise actually and after a month and washing the cover twice, we don't smell anything at all. What's best, it was cheaper than the other products at Bed Bath and beyond. I think we paid $90 for our Full size and the queen was under $100. Maybe the branded versions of these products that are in most stores are the real problem, and we should instead support those companies responsible enough to have their products tested to European standards for purity!

hope that helps someone

@Jason Biggs......Thank you for your valuable comment. My wife is pregnant and we are looking for a new mattress. I am afraid of buying tempurpedic even though we would like to get one. Can you please share which mattress u bought in Sam's Club and how is your experience so far.

Hi,

We bought Celeste Memory Foam mattress from Costco last month and pretty much experienced the same symptoms that everyone else has mentioned on this board. It is very disgusting that I couldn't find this board before the purchase its not that I did not look for reviews...but all the reviews I googled for celeste returned very few reviews of that brand and which did not mention any such issues...since Costco only has private labeled manufacturing from this company called "South Bay International" or Sleep Science. I called the company and was told that nobody has reported such issue before. thats kind of weird but was expected as they are not going to admit problems with their products. The 2nd bed I had bought for our other room is NovaForm Grand Comfort also from Costco and same symptoms...this is very scary and needs a major investigations by US Health department and needs to be brought into public....are there not any lawyers or media people who bought these or are reading this forums, who could do something about this?

Just bought three different memory foam toppers and have no problems with them.
What i did ? Buy them from an european manufacturer, not importer
Don't buy from China and dont import them - never trust them - sorry to say that - so many people died from china s***

I bought a U.S.-made memory foam mattress, and within 2 days it was making me very sick. Don't think that it's just the products from China.

we bought two memory foam pillows from costco. I started having allergy issues that i have never had in my life...Accidentally stopped using them al together and Now recovering from swollen throat and bloody mucus..I even thought it was cancer when I first saw bloody mucus. Dr told me it was sinus inflammation and nothing to worry..But I was clueless to what might have caused it...changed air filters at home and water filters, now that I read this post it all makes sense..

update: We stopped using both the mattresses and amazingly the bloddy mucus / nose problem is going away...still have sinus issues though....both the mattresses are going back to Costco.... if anyone is interested... https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/
personally, I think this calls for a lawsuit

My husband's new pillow had a terrible odor - and it was made of POLYURETHANE FOAM. I have a brain tumor (dz 2/95), had 3 brain operations, radiation, and 4 sessions of chemo over the years, and I'll be d----ed if a toxic pillow will be the cause of meeting my maker!!! We returned it the next day.

Are these companies trying to kill us or what?

Soo, if a mattress makes you question, you all should get the documentary, Food Inc, (netflix) and the others in that same list about our food supply! It was quite disturbing!

Four years ago we bought a Tempur pedic adjustable. We absolutley love it.

Sleep Innovations IS on that website as one of the Good foams, yet look at all of the people with issues using their products.

I purchased an expensive visco elastic pillow which was really quite comfortable to sleep on. It was enjoyable to finally have a full nights sleep. However in the morning I woke up with a headache, and felt like I hadn't slept all night long, even though I knew I had. I felt groggy all day, trying to drink lots if coffee to stay awake. I also had a horrible nightmare during that night, but then I do have them at times. But the one thing that really bothered me was my right eye. I had slept all night long on my right side, and now the sight from my right eye was very blurry, so blurry in fact , I thought I was going to have to call off from work. The second day the same blurriness was there but less than the day before. I had woken finding myself sleeping on my back. And there was a horrible itching in my back, that was ony relieved with a brisk scatching with my bath brush. I have always gotten high marks at work, and have always been an extremely cautiuous person. So I felt it stange that I was making stupid mistakes at work, an even stranger that I left my car running with my keys in the car, and had left the car running for about 10 minutes when I returned to the car and found it unlocked with the keys in the car, and it running. I have also noticed episodes of anxiety. I know this is a stressful world right now, but these anxiety episodes would hit me quickly and last for a short time, then go away. I don't have any allergies. I took both the memory foam pillow off my bed and the memory foam topper I had purchased several years ago which still have this sweet sickening smell to it. I also had two other memory foam pillows I had purchased several years ago, and took them off my bed as well. I am going to see if there is any difference in not having any memory foam products on my bed, vs. having them on there.

Because there has been comments as to whether these claims are being investigated, here is a report by chemtox.com:

New Mattress / Bed Illness Report Page
Reports of health problems linked to chemicals in new mattresses.
Unlike mattresses of 40+ years ago, mattresses today are manufactured with increased amounts of petroleum based compounds in the form of foams, plastics, and a variety of volatile chemicals (including controversial flame retardants). Research and personal accounts suggest people can become ill by the repeated and continuous exposure to these low level chemicals during the sleep process. This is especially true for people who have lower levels of liver detoxification enzymes known as cytochrome P-450 (thereby allowing chemicals to build up in their blood to higher than normal levels). Health effects caused by petroleum chemical exposure can weaken or damage the immune and nervous system. Autoimmune disorders have also been linked with exposure to petroleum-based chemicals and have been found to be the underlying etiology of many common health problems today (soft tissue damage, organ damage, arthritis, etc). The reports below are from individuals who emailed us to report health problems that appeared after purchasing a new conventiional chemically-processed bed. The large number of reports below, along with the immediate improvements in health problems after removing the beds in many circumstances would suggest that more research is needed in the area of commercial bed toxicology and health improvements after switching to natural and organic based beds, mattresses, sheets, pillows, etc.

I had a similar experience to what others are reporting after purchasing a Stearns and Foster mattress in the estate line, no pillow top. Upon opening the plastic that sweet but toxic smell permeated the room. I figured it just needed some time to air out and it would go away. Upon sleeping on it for several hours that night, I experienced extreme heat from the mattress, disturbingly violent dreams, dry mouth and nasal passages, sore throat and a headache, and broke out in a rash (big red splotches all over my skin) that went away after moving to a different room to sleep. After that initial night, I was convinced it was the mattress that had created my symptoms, so I called the store and they told me they believed it was defective and would exchange it. I had the exchange a week later and smelled that mattress while it was still on the truck and it had the exact same smell so I sent it back too. It appears that the only way to go now is to buy an organic mattress since all of the major manufacturers appear to be using chemicals to meet the flame retardant standards in place as of 2007, although the Consumer Protection Agency states that chemicals are not necessary to meet the standards (they are just cheaper). If anyone with similar chemical sensitivities has found other mattresses that do not smell of chemicals I would be interested to hear what brand or model they are.

BOUGHT THE THREE INCH FOAM TOPPER FROM COSTCO. LET IT AIR OUT FOR 4 DAYS & EXPAND TO MAX.
IT SMELLED SO BAD-THE ODOR COULD KNOCK YOU OUT. I HAD TO BRING IT BACK. BE SURE YOU CAN TOLERATE THE FUMES BEFORE YOU PURCHASE THIS ITEM. IT IS A BIG HASSLE TO RETURN BECAUSE IT WON'T GO BACK INTO THE BOX.
COSTCO WAS GOOD ABOUT IT BUT NEVER EVER COULD I HAVE SLEPT ON IT. THE FUMES CAME OUT OF THE BEDROOM WHERE IT WAS PLACED TO EXPAND. IT MADE ME NAUSEA-HEADACHE SINUS THE WORKS.
I DON'T KNOW IF IT IS POLY URETHANE OR WHAT BUT I FEEL UNSAFE.

Ok...I normally don't particiapate in these but there has to be some truth to what is being said here. Many are not affected as severely by memory foam or the use of polyurethane materials while others have serious health problems. It is also known that many chemicals are potentially responsible for these problems. I am one of those who has battled with allergies for years. I took shots for probably 7 years. My problems seemed to get worse as I got older(now 56) My big problem was congested head. I would wake up after a nights sleep and not feel rested. About 4 years ago my wife bought a memory foam mattress. It wasn't long until my sleep was almost impossible. In 2 to 3 hours I was wide awake and couldn't breathe through my nose. Unfortunately, I sleep with my mouth closed. Before long I stopped sleeping in my own bed and slept on an air mattress. I slept fine there. I would go back to my bed and immediately have problems sleeping though the night. We finally figured out that the memory foam purchase was when the problems got more severe.
Eventually we purchased an organic Savvy Rest mattress. I ama able to sleep again.....thanks Savvy Rest

My eyes are burning for hours every time I use my temperpedic travel pillow. My kidneys hurt a lot, and I get headaches everyday when around my mattress.

Actually my gut tells me my memoryfoam mattress from an off label brand is not the problem.

I have deduced that Temperpedic travel pillow is evil and is making my eyes hurt so bad I cant even see until the burning stops every morning after 30-40 eye rinses, and still my eyelids swell.

I could give a *** about a lawsuit, and take comfort wishing my worst pain from this foam onto all of the doubters, and haters here, that attack spelling, intelligence, lawsuits etc.

This is a serious health issue, and anybody that says I am lying about it, say it to my swollen face.

If a lawsuit happens, I would be satisfied if all employed executives from these companies would be forced to use this product for as long as I have. That and remove from market.

So to all u disbelievers, email me, and I will give u my pillow to try out. for free.

did you try opening the window? And/or have air moving in your room? Almost any plastic is going to gas off, and many woods do too. A house of no windows built of cedar would give you the same problems, and your new mattress, probably made of polyester, nylon, or polypropylene, can do the same.

Over here, we bought cheapo Wal-Mart memory foam mattresses, apply 1 cotton bedsheet and sleep with the window open. We and our babies do not have any problems, nor to we detect aromatic hydrocarbons.

I got a queen sized memory foam mattress from Overstock for my motorhome last summer. It stunk terribly when I first got it, but I had to leave it to "air out" in the motorhome because it was just too big to move around after I unrolled it. A few weeks later the smell had completely dissipated, and I then went on a three month long trip where I slept on the mattress every night and spent the vast majority of my time in the small enclosed space of the motorhome.

Over that three month period I experienced absolutely no adverse effects. In fact, when I got home and went back to sleeping on my old inner spring mattress I had to laugh that the mattress in my motorhome is so much more comfortable than the one in my house.

I purchased a memory foam matteress 1 year ago...because I always woke up in pain even on an orthopiedic matteress.

I am not a very well person anyways and some of the symptoms on this thread I already suffer with..

I have asthema, I have a low tolerance to toxins and if I have medication 95% of the time I suffer the bad side affects.

However, my asthema is NOT affected, I sleep better and wake without the pains I suffered on my other matteress (I have tried out a few matteress's and not cheap ones either)

Yes there was a smell, quite strong at first, but not noticable now, I allowed the matteress to lay for 4 days without touching it, just flipping it every day to allow expansion otherwise it doesn't expand properlly and retains the smell (my sister has same one and she slept on hers the 2nd night, hers still has a bit of a smell, but she's as healthy as an ox)

I think with everything, you can blame something because it's different or new.

I am sure that if danger was the case in these MF matteresses then they would not be allowed to be sold... Heck they even make them for babys cribs....

So until PROOF comes out that they are not as dangerous as some are claiming, people should not be scaremongereing...

What a bunch of bull. These people are not scaremongering, they are just describing their symptoms.

Purchased a memory foam pillow one week ago. Never noticed an unusual odour about it. In only one week, pain that I had in my fingers in the morning has gone. I thought it was an arthritic condition that was developing, but now am wondering if it my neck needed better support while sleeping.I quite like my new pillow.

I also received prelude foam mattress approximately a month ago. I have had breathing problems to the point that I can't even fall asleep in bed. My fian'ce has also had the same symtons. The smell is unbearable to the point that we can't leave the bedroom door opened during the day. At night when we try to go to bed we have to leave the door opened but it gets worse while you are laying on the mattress from your body heat. I am now using an inhaler everyday and leave it by the bedstand so it's close by. I called the company ELS and the manager Steffany Humpfrey told me she vacuum packed it herself and it was fine. Now you tell me since when does a manager pack and ship anything other than their paychecks. She was rude and told me to talk to my insurance company to see if they would replace the mattress. I am in the same situation as anyone else, but if I do have to broadcast this I will to save mine and others from the illness these foam products are creating.

What's happening today is arguably the most egregiously callous form of gov't intrusion into people's lives, affecting the safety and welfare of the people they're supposed to protect.
Precipitated by big mattress and chemical companies to eliminate competition from the little mattress companies and to sell massive amounts of chemicals, the ISPA, which is the trade association dedicated to protecting and enhancing the growth, profitability and stature of the mattress manufacturing industry, and I believe representing the chemical companies, through successful lobbying of the CPSC , the independent agency of the United States government created in 1972 through the Consumer Product Safety Act to protect "against unreasonable risks of injuries associated with consumer products." in the name of consumer safety to save about 300 lives a year in home fires. has enacted into law 16 CFR 1633 flammability standards effective as of July 2007, that requires all mattresses manufactured in or imported to the USA to comply with its rediculous standard of not burning when a flame thrower tries to ignite it for a full minute. Can you just imagine the kind of chemicals, or euphemistically "inherently fire resistant fibers" being dumped into our beds that we are exposed to, to comply with this scheme. It is a total outrage! Get informed and pass the word people.

I've used a memory foam topper and pillow for 2 years, and never had any problems. After sleeping on a normal bed for a while, I bought a memory foam pillow from wal-mart.. the canopy hypoallergenic kind (wonder why it's hypoallergenic??), and haven't had any problems with it either.

The first pillow and topper I bought was purchased at Jusco in Japan. I don't remember the brand.

I purchased a memory foam mattress can not begin to describe the difficulty I've had since. In short, the mattress showed up in January and as expected, smelled very strongly of chemicals - that smell never fully went away over the 3.5 months we hand it. I would wake up with headaches and soaking wet, even though it was in the 60's in the room. I ended up with a strange rash all over my torso and then started noticing my hands were swelling and becoming stiff. Over the next 4 weeks, all of my hand, leg, ankle, shoulder and foot joints swelled and became arthritic and I developed a hyperthyroid condition, causing me to lose 20 lbs inside of 4 months. I ended up seeing 6 doctors over 5 months and having $2000 in blood work and to this day, nobody can pin down what is happening. It all started 2 weeks after the mattress arrived. The retailer was good enough to take the mattress back and refund most of our money. The only thing that seems to make the symptoms go away is steroid treatment. Can I 100% pin this problem on the mattress? No - hence no law suit. Are my doctors suspicious that the mattress played some role in this? Oh yes. So now we have a guy in his 30's with known chemical sensitivies but was otherwise 100% healthy who is in and out of work due to pain and migraines. I sleep on a Serta coil spring mattress now. I have no idea what the future will hold due to all this.

I bought a memory foam mattress a week ago. It really smelled but the store said it was their all natural cedar oil and green tea extracts not the result of chemical off gassing. The first night I woke up with a headache and tinnitus. The next 2 nights I slept in the basement and felt fine. The 4th night the smell had dissipated a little so I tried it again and had the same headache, sinus and ear problem. The problems would resolve themselves during the day so I knew it was not allergies. I am returning the mattress - despite the financial loss as I believe it is responsible for causing my ailments.

My morning body aches (back-kidney, legs, arms) began with the purchase of a latex mattress (Nature's Rest) with memory foam in the layering. I related my aches to my mattress when I visited away from home and would wake up WITHOUT body aches and pains. I'm of the opinion that the memory foam along with the latex makeup of these types of mattress are toxic. THERE SHOULD BE WARNING LABELS on MEMORY FOAM's POTENTIAL HEALTH HAZARDS and also WHEN MEMORY FOAM IS MADE INTO MATTRESSES. I discarded my expensive latex/memory foam mattress and purchased an inner spring coil mattress and purchased a separate bed topper (by Hollander) made of cotton blend material...that way I have some assurance there is no memory foam in the construction.

Funny how you get to find out about these problems. In short I bought a 'Memory Foam' mattress from a large company called 'Dreams' here in the UK about 3 weeks, who said that it was their company policy that customers could test their mattresses, and bring them back if you didn't get on with them. Not entirely true, as you can't return them per se, and can only take them back for something of the same value or greater. Like most other people on this site seem to find, the comfort level is good for neck & back problems, but rather sweaty for me most of the time.

Then last week I started feeling out of sorts, something like the start of flu (again as mentioned elsewhere here) and the muscles on the back of my legs, arms & back (nearest the foam I guess) started to feel trembly 30 minutes after getting up in the morning, and remained that way for most of the day, with things improving towards the end of the day. I was begining to think I was go down with some underlying disease, and them remembered about Sick Building Syndrome, where foams, glues, etc give rise to illness.

So, last night I put the old mattress, which I had retained, on top of the new foam one, and today, no trembling, and I feel a whole sight better. Tonight the foam mattress will not be there, and I'll be looking for another, which will no doubt cost me more, but what price your health?

I purchased a serta 3" memory foam topper from overstock.com, which came with 2 memory foam pillows. Shortly after putting the topper on, after airing for a few days, I experienced breathing difficulties, sneezing, runny nose, congestion, red and itchy eyes and now a rash. Goodbye topper and pillows, which is so disappointing as they were wonderfully comfortable, although very hot. Wish there had been more information as to possible effects available, seems wrong that no-one knows about the different reactions that one can have to the foam.

About one year ago after buying a new Sterns & Foster Memory Foam bed I started to get asthmatic bronchitis all the time in the middle of summer. I was also constantly dizzy and had a swollen lymph node under my left arm. They told me it was the infection from the bronchitis that caused the swollen lymph node.

Throughout the year my health got worse, I had a sleeping disorder and wake up scared with heart palpitations. The longer I spent in bed the weaker and sicker I felt. I went to the emergency room a couple of times because I would have panic attacks and thought I was dying. They would tell me there was nothing wrong with me, yet I often felt so ill, I felt like I was going to die. This later led to depression. I went to various doctors, had my heart checked out, was tested for just about everything from diabetes, to lyme disease, but still blood tests revealed nothing. I asked to be tested for toxic poisoning, but no doctor would listen or even knew how to test the blood for toxins. Unbelievable, but true. I then developed neurological problems, had twitching eyes and terrible brain fog which felt like my brain was shutting down. Went to see Dr. Arthur Kobrine a renowned Washington, DC neurologist/neuriosurgeon and I told him that I suspected my bed was poisoning me. He spent five minutes speaking to me before declaring me cuckoo. He said to a friend who was also in the room with us, in front of me, no less than six time, that quote: "Women of her age go crazy." He was referring to menopause. (which turned out to be negative). I left Dr. Kobrine's office in tears. I could not believe he was so unprofessional and disgusting. I was feeling even more depressed and sick after this visit. I started to think that I would have to die before I would be taken serious. After the doctors comments, I continued to sleep on the bed. I then went to an allergist next and tested for allergies to trees and dust mites. I was told that is what was making me so ill all along, so they put me on medication and I spent $12,000 on having carpet removed from my house and wooden flooring put, down, I bought leather sofas to replace material sofas. Apparently, dustmites live in carpets and material sofas, etc. I also bought new anti-dustmite bedding including mattress and box spring encasement. However, my symptoms were getting worse. My asthma became more chronic and I was having fairly frequent asthma attacks, which were pretty scary. I am originally from London and I my mother begged me to come home for a vacation. I left for London, and to my great surprise, within a few hours of being there, started to feel better -- all of my symptoms of asthma, fatigue, dizziness, nausea, etc. disappeared. I found this very strange. I returned to DC a week later, and as soon as I went to bed the first night of being back, I started feeling terrible again, coughing and feeling short of breath, and feeling weak and sick. The following night I felt worse and woke up half hour after going to sleep gasping for air. I was having another asthma attack. I couldn't breathe and went to the emergency room. They gave me medication through a nebulizer. I was discharged at 4:30am, then I packed my suitcase and went to Grand Cayman for the second half of my vacation. When I arrived in Grand Cayman,(like London) the symptoms disappeared again. I had a week to think about everything that had happened and I realized that my illness started only after I purchased the new bed and my symptoms disappeared when I went away and was not sleeping in this bed. I e-mailed a friend and asked them to remove the bed from my condo while I was away and to open all of the windows. Since I returned the bed has gone and I have been sleeping in the living room on my sofa bed. I have felt well ever since, after one year of experiencing a frustrating, debilitating, depressing illness. My bedroom is quarantined off -- I cannot go back in there, because I believe there are still toxins in the air in the room. I have two HEPA systems running, but still start to feel a little weird when I go in there. Hopefully in time, after leaving the windows open for a month or two, the toxins will clear from the air in my bedroom and I can buy a new, all natural, non-memory foam, non toxic bed.

re.comment 128
i am so sorry that you had to go through this. many doctors need to be educated and have their minds opened. i have certainly run into drs. like that, and i promised myself that if a dr. ever treated me like that again, i definitely wouldn't pay his bill.

re:comment 121 howard is absolutely right. 16 cfr 1633 has to repealed. it is a law that i doubt if even one citizen wanted passed. it has impacted all of our lives negatively. we need to lobby for this law's repeal. just so you all know, there is a loophole in the law that with a doctor's prescription, one can get a bed without fire retardant or other toxic chemicals. the problem is, even with an rx, these are very hard to find because it is the law that mattresses meet these ridiculous levels of fire retardancy.

I was in such pain sleeping on an overly hard mattress before my Tempur mattress that its arrival was just a relief! (I already had chronic muscle pain). Yes it off-gassed, and that was very unpleasant. But I remember a flat-mates cheapo mattress off-gassing a few years back and that smell was much worse and never ended, so as some have written, this problem applies to many modern mattresses.

From 2005-7 my partner and I had a VI-SPRING innerspring matteress and I have to say it was like sleeping on a cloud (I had soft tensioning.. it got a little softer, and medium would have been fine too). This is a handmade, traditional mattress stuffed with 'traditional'fillers like cotton, lambswool, horsehair, cashmere, all sorts. VERY expensive (from memory, £4,000 for a superking) but... we slept really well. He got it when we split up and I'm back on the Tempur! The worst thing about it as far as I'm concerned is as I'm a back-sleeper I don't change position and wake up drenched with sweat in the summer months. Yuck.
I suspect I've had less health problems I only sleep on my back so don't ever breath into the mattress (and I never had a tempur pillow).

I HATE scare-mongering stories but have to say I appreciate this information. Sure it's unscientific but who on earth is going to fund research into this? And what are its chances of getting peer-reviewed? Lets be real here. For many things, anecdotal evidence is all we have for quite a while - so good to pay attention to others' experiences, and your own body.

I would encourage anyone hesitating to go for a really good quality innerspring matterss with natural fillings. Just don't expect it to come cheap....

(also forget the myth that hard beds are best for bad backs - if you have pressure points you need a soft feel to a matteress to relieve them, and a high quality mattress will never leave you feeling unsupported)

What about iso cool pillows? Do they contain the same ingredients as the memory foam?

POLYURETHANE CONTOURED PILLOW CAUSED ME A 3 YEAR MISERY MYSTERY

I wrote this in the hope to save others my misery. For 3 years I've suffered grogginess and fuzzy head getting up every morning. I also developed snoring and breathing difficulties which seems to ease if the window was open at night. My wife always insisted we have the windows open, even in winter. She felt the bedroom was always "stuffy" (none of the other rooms are like this). We had the room checked with a humidity meter, nothing unusual, but we could swear the room was super dry compared to other rooms.

Worst was the agonising "hangover" type headaches and nausea, suffered once a month to once a fortnight. The headaches began upon waking, and lasted till about 1-5pm during the day, with an urge to get "out of the house" and collapse on a park bench somewhere in the breeze. It was impossible to eat and no pain killer could ease the feeling until it passed of its own accord.

The pain felt like it was within the top jaw teeth, up to top of my head but various dentists could not find a fault. My wife just got on with life by going swimming and visiting the steam room as often as she could to clear her head in the morning. The GP diagnosed me with sinus problems. A strong 10 day course of Antibiotics later and I STILL suffered a massive headache attack. Other than this I was the perfect picture of diet, exercise and health, just past 30 years old and do not drink.

A few weeks ago my wife and I both experienced a particularly bad "hangover" type nausea and headache that lasted from awaking through till about 5pm, despite a relaxing early night before.

We finally concluded it wasn't just “me” and must be the bedroom. We recalled how we never suffered these pains when we went on holiday or stayed away. We carefully checked the bedroom for mould, humidity problems etc. all which came out clean. It had to be something wrong with the bed.

We moved to the spare room and shut the door on the master bedroom.

I immediately started waking up a whole hour earlier every day with no grogginess or headaches and my wife says she feels great too with no fuzziness. With time away from the master bedroom, when we walk in we can easily detect something nasty, stuffy and suffocating.

On reading this and other websites on the dangers of Memory Foam I found our pillows were made of chemical Polyurethane Foam.

I believe we have been poisoned by Polyurethane Foam (memory foam) Contoured pillows purchased from Boots 3 years ago. The dates line up with when my symptoms first began. I know the date of my first headache because it was such a vividly painful and unusual feeling - like a terrible hangover but without drinking. Nothing else has changed in that room that could have any significance in 7 years. I even checked the carpet underlay was not made of PU.

Not sure on the bed/mattress but were not taking any chances. Before we go near that room again were buying a new regular spring mattress, pine base, cotton bed protector, new bedding and natural cotton pillows.

How many thousands (or maybe millions) of people are suffering terrible pain due to this material???

We have had an Angel bed made in the USA which is a memory foam. There is no odor with this bed after it's been out of the plastic wrap it came in. It is extremely comfortable. We have had it over a year and have noticed zero side effects. There are memory foams which are made in China that I would never trust. Shop with care.

I was planning to purchase one of these in the UK (probably from Dreams). I am a fibromyalgia sufferer and was hoping to rid myself of the symptoms that these people now seem to be getting from their beds.

This seems like a lot of suffering people - mostly, I notice. from the States. But - could it be a drop in the ocean compared to the number of memory foam users who have no issues at all with the bed? I would have expected this to have come to light somewhat sooner than it has.

It is possible that these people were already sensitive to petro-chemicals etc. and so were bound to suffer with allergies and asthma when exposed.

I am not aware of being sensitive to anything, so I hope I may be one of the lucky ones, but the mention of being hot - I have this tendency - I will be very careful and not in a hurry to purchase.

Glad to have been forewarned anyway.

I am so TICKED OFF! i just started your back pain program, got the back2life machine AND bought a memory foam topper which is very comfortable to me. But just notice last nite i have blisters in eyes and come to think of it, my husband felt sick yesterday, while i also havebeen waking up coughing.
The memory foam GOES OUT THE WINDOW! i am so glad you sent this newspiece! Thank you! We've had it ONE WEEK.

That's odd how you mentioned taking heart medications. About 4 years ago I purchased a pillow and mattress topper made with memory foam. The pillow and topper were both really comfortable. Well, the next day I noticed a slight rash on my fingers (right hand) and a small amount on my right side of my face. At that time I normally slept on my right side with my right hand on the pillow. I thought it was no big deal, so I dismissed it and slept on it again. Next day the rash spread from my fingers to the top of my hand, and the small amount on my right face spread as well. I told my husband that I suspected the memory form products I purchased. Out of frustration and anger I threw them both in the trash, thinking it was the end of it and that the rash would soon disappear. Wrong! After a few weeks the rash spread to 80% of my body. I couldn't afford to see a dermatologist because we had no health insurance. Instead I went to my primary and he guessed it was eczema, so he gave me steroids and that didn't work. However, while he was listening to my heart, he told me that I had a heart murmur and that many people get those, which was not usually serious. Well, a couple of years later, my rash started clearing, but in a very slow pace due to my high fiber diet. Anyway, one day I was laughing at something I saw and began to cough uncontrollably. Every day, for a week, I had this coughing problem which I couldn't get rid of. Then out of nowhere I developed shortness of breath and my feet started swelling up and further to my legs and stomach. We went to the ER and found out I had congestive heart failure. I was totally shocked because I don't smoke, very rarely drink. don't do drugs and live on a healthy diet. My cholesterol level was excellent and my blood work was normal, except for my potassium since it's heart related. Doctors have no idea how a healthy person got CHF. He said that it's possibe I got it through an upper respiratory virus, like a cold or flu, but I never had the flu in my life, and the last time I had a cold was a little over 30 years ago. Till this day doctors cannot pinpoint how I got this disease. I am guessing that it was the toxic chemicals in the pillow and mattress topper. Now I am taking heart medications and upset about the whole thing. I was a very health person until I purchased that stupid memory foam trash. I wouldn't recommend memory foam to my worst enemy.

This article was written Jan 2008 and talks about the negative. If you have a bad back what will be good to buy, not too expensive and won't kill you. It's okay to hear about what doesn't work but likes be positive and I need to know what works.

my daughter as been ill for a couple of weeks and we didnt no what to do she was feeling sick headaches stomach pains body aching so i took a look on the internet and came across this about memory foam mattress. i told her to take it off last night and today she feels fine so it is true they make you ill

Having suffered a bad bout of sciatica, brought on by a herniated disc, I decided that my bed was not helping, so I invested in a Memory Foam Topper. My back did not improve, but at first I quite liked the extra heat generated by the mattress (as I sleep alone).

However, I very soon noticed that I was experiencing very vivid dreams, although I can't say they were nightmares.

By chance I was chatting to a neighbour, and the topic of beds came up. He said he used to have a Memory Foam mattress, but that he had nightmares whenever he slept on it, so he had had to get rid of it. Suddenly it struck me that this substance must also have been the cause of my strange dreams!

Seems far-fetched, but having read the comments on this site, I can see that these mattresses were indeed the cause. I have now bought a completely new bed, with no Memory Foam involved, and I am back to normal.

How bizarre!

After 18 months of blurred vision, MRI's MRA's, many UAB specialist, breathing treatments in the emergency room, inhalers, drugs and other stuff. Took the memory foam mattress topper off the bed and all has gone away

I purchased a memorey foam mattress in Feb. 2010. I have done everything to get rid
of the sickening order to no avail. Two zippered plastic covers and aired it out constantly.
It seemed to help and I thought I had the problem solved, but slowly it is returning.
The company is refunding my money with no problem. I don't know if I should buy
another one (different brand) or not. Now that I have read all these complaints it is a
little scarey. I am so dissapointed because it is so comfortable and I have back problems.

Okay, before you all freak out, here's what I have to ask the author: Where is your work cited? Where is your back up information for us readers to go see for ourselves? From reading this, you seem to know what you are talking about but there are no proven facts, you did not provide proven facts about the mattress causing these problems. Also, for you people having allergic reactions- did it occur to you that maybe you guys are actually allergic to some of the things in the mattress?

I have a memory foam mattress because my husband needs a bed to support his bad back from carrying all of his gear in war. We have not had any of these problems and we have had the mattress for about 3 months. Some of you guys are saying you slept on it the first night, idiots, the instructions said to air it out BEFORE you sleep on it. AIR IT OUT FOR UP TO 3 DAYS! Sleeping on it the first night is asking to get chemicals into your body! (Maybe that is why you are sick.)

Also, some of you guys read this and automatically think: "That's why I can't breathe!" Did you check your air vents? Is your carpet old? There are numerous of reasons why people have breathing problems and if you are, go see a doctor and get blood drawn to see what you're allergic to before assuming it's your bed. If you threw it out and felt better the next day, you're allergic to something in the mattress.

Like I said, I have one of those mattresses and we're not experiencing bad symptoms. Every now and then my back will ache because I have a knot from leaning over the sink while washing dishes or on my hands and knees scrubbing, not because of the mattress. My husband actually has less back pain. Also, do ACTUAL research before assuming it's your bed. This site is not considered actual research since the author did not place up a work cited or statistics.

Last year Jan 2009; we bought a Serta Memory Form mattress set. As soon as we removed the wrapping; could smell a terrible odor. We left the mattress in a different room with the door closed so it could air out. I cleaned the carpet several times and the smell in the room never lifted. I finally started washing the walls; and the odor lessen. Nov 2009 we began sleeping on the new mattress; and that's when our troubles began. I wasn't feeling well; like getting a cold that never went away; then I started having throat problems; that kept getting worse. My throat was very dry and raw; hard to swallow; and when I coughed; sounded like a seal. I had trouble sleeping; couldn't lay down; always wake up within an hour or so coughing loudly. My energy level was extremely low. By March, 2010 I was coughing so hard; I started throwing up; and then my husband started having loud coughing issues like mine. The only thing we could think of that had changed before we got sick was sleeping on that new mattress. I lifted up the top mattress from the box spring and sure enough I could still smell an odor. Our mattress also was uncomfortable to sleep on; there was a hugh lump in the middle of the bed; so you felt like you were sleeping at an angle. We tried to air the mattress set out again; leaving the window open and keeping the door closed; but the odor was still there. I got the mattress wrappings and I had to wear a face mask while I put the mattress set back in them; and kept the bedroom door closed until we were able to return them back to the store where we purchased them from. Our mattress came with a 2 year warranty from the store. The mfg warranty on the mattress was around 5 years. We needed another mattress; so we looked online and found "SleepTrain" they don't put chemicals in any of their mattresses. We went to their store; smelled their mattresses; and no odor. In the future we will only buy from them. It has taken several months for my energy level to improve. I am very thankful I am still alive and breathing.

At Walmart I purchased "Citrus Magic" pet odor eliminator; and sprayed every inch of carpet of the rooms where this mattress had been; and that got rid of the odor. Nothing else I have done previously had worked.

http://www.sleeptrain.com/
Question: I have heard there are new regulations on mattresses being fire resistant, what are they?
Answer: Beginning July 1st, 2007 all mattresses manufactured must meet the new Federal Government Law on F.R., "Flammability Regulations." This law requires that every mattress have a label that states the mattress set meets the federal standard. This regulation requires that mattresses be significantly more resistant to an open flame than previously outlined in individual state rulings. All Sleep Train mattresses now meet these new flammability regulations, and are doing so with the use of fire resistant fiber barriers, not with the use of hazardous chemicals.



Here's some information about what causes the chemical odor. According to this website:
http://blog.pennlive.com/mattress/2007/04/new_mattress_odor.html

"All new mattresses have something of an odor that usually goes away in a couple of days or so. The odor comes from a flame retardant chemical used in the making of polyurethane. (There by law since the early '70s). Usually, the foam is cured before going to the various mattress companies. Sometimes, a roll will go out without being properly cured and the odor is much stronger and doesn't go away. If this is the case, you don't want it replaced with a mattress from stock, as the ones in stock could all have the problem if made from the same roll. You would need to have one ordered from the factory for you. In doing it this way, the chances of getting a second like that is highly remote."

I found out I had sleep apnea so I decided to purchase a matteress topper and pillow from JC Penny(the sleep doctor brand)since then I've had tissue pain in my feet and been feeling tired, dizzy a sense of not feeling well. I've felt like I was slowly dying. After two months I realized it was the memory foam. I've just got rid of it two days ago and I feel like I'm coming out of a coma. I will never purchase a memory foam of anything. I wish the media would cover this more. This is as bad as the tabacco companies.

I am trying to piece together when I started getting wrist pain. Well, hot damn! it began after I got my memory foam mattress. I went to a health spa and there was a memory foam topper. Even then when I got up from a nap, I felt I was glowing with aches and pains. Didn't connect the two and went out and bought one for my bed. Eighteen months later I am going mad with the pain in both wrists and wondering if it got worse I would need someone for my personal care. No way. I will remove the mattress and wait to feel better. I am not a suing person but would gladly go to court and point the finger if this works out.

thanks for the "heads-up"! I was considering buying memory foam due to joint issues...now I will stay away from them!

We brought a memory mattress about 2 months ago, i have not had a decents nights sleep in it at all.
Im getting severe migraines, ache all over and feel so low on energy, its beginning to depress me - now i know the reason could be the mattress! im off to the shop tomorrow to buy a new one (not memory foam!)

I bought a memory foam pillow, and got sore throat in the morning and a headache all day, feel like getting the flu. I will send the pillow back. thanks for your article, now I know I was right.

I am a senior citizen who needed a mattress desparetly, I went to Sleepy's (mattress store) about a week ago and bought a foam mattress. The smell is so bad I cannot sleep, I am also sick to my stomach all day every day. I bought it on clearance they said because I did, I could not return it, and I signed the receipt that I knew I couldn't return it so I guess I can't . But you know what when I was looking at the mattress display ( on the show room floor) I couldn't smell anything. So as far as I am concerned the mattress on display (which was the mattress I wanted to buy) is not the same mattress they gave me, because this one stinks and the one I viewed did not. I am going to call around some news channels and try and get some help getting my money back......If I do get any help I will come back to this site and post another comment so I can maybe help some other poor sucker who fell for the scheme to get rid of crappy mattress...Thanks for listening, Barb

Barb- Let me know how you make out with news stations. I am going to try same thing. I don't know how they can get away with this. My house may be contaminated forever and I may lose the room I sleep in because of Select Comfort and I was told I can't get money back either. Please e-mail me at: pattyk7@verizon.net

I am not a nurse. I am a research librarian. I bought a new Simmons mattress over 2 months ago and after sleeping on it for only a few nights had extreme facial numbness and cognitive issues. I have not read of many people reporting facial numbness. I also couldn't get what felt like a greasy film off my hands, gradually got a metallic taste in my mouth, hair didn't feel clean and could feel feel residue in my cats fur.

What I was experiencing scared me terribly as otherwise I am in good health. Ever since, I have been doing a lot of research on the flame retardant regulation that they passed in 2007. And for the first time in my life, I wrote my representatives and asked them to support a new bill that has been introduced (and I am hoping will get passed) that will update our current Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976.

If you'd like to educate yourself more or more importantly write to your representatives to support this new bill, please visit the Environmental Working Group website:

http://action.ewg.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=1903

Further reading materials: http://www.ewg.org/kid-safe-chemicals-act-blog/kid-safe-chemicals-act/

And I should add that I am not in any way affiliated with this organization. I merely came across their website and signed up for their newsletters to keep myself updated on this issue.

By the way, I got rid of my mattress 3 weeks ago after trying several methods (airing it outside, zippered mattress cover, air purifier) none of which worked. I still get reactions in certain areas of the house but I am hoping it eventually goes away.

I bought my memory foam mattress to help with back pain and fibromyalgia. I have wondered for monthes why I am constantly nausiated and now I can't see right. I have also had lots of allergies and pain all over. I don't know what to do cause I saved money for years to buy one of these beds. I'm very upset cause I'm disabled and can't afford to do anything about this situation. Can someone please help ???

I agree with everything everyone is saying. I am so I'll from my memory foam bed that I am taking it out of my room first thing in the morning. The symptoms I have had include everything from nausea, vomiting, headaches, rash,welts on my arms, arithmias, flu like symptoms, pain in my joints, and the list goes on.... I have never felt so sick in my life. Please google Erin Brockovich and leave her your stories, so that maybe, if she gets enough of them, she can get us all help.

I have decided to take the memory foam mattress out of my room. Since I slept at a friends house last night and stayed out of my room today, I have felt better. I'm going to call the manufacturer and see if I can return the bed. If not, I will be out of over 1,300.00 dollars. I can't believe that with all these comments there is no class action lawsuit. Maybe everyone on here should email Erin Brockovich. Maybe she can help us all.

I have slept on a Tempur-Pedic mattress for several years and have no problems with my health. I guess I am part of the 90 percent not affected by the hydrocarbons.

Don't kid yourself, just because you don't 'feel' the problems, the deadly work of those same chemicals are doing their ugly damage only later to show themselves. You just happen to not be as sensitive to the symptoms. To the rest of us our symptoms are warning signs to rid ourselves of the causing agent - namely the mattress pad. This reply serves as 'your' warning. Regards.

I detect alot on unscientific bs going on on this thread. People are complaining about the smell??? Yes, these mattresses are supposed to smell for a while, that's they way they are designed, get over it. People complained because they had flu like symptoms... Catching a cold at the same time as you get a mattress does not mean that the mattress made you sick! People complaining about itchy skin... Could be the chemicals you're washing your sheet in... you do use a sheet, dont you???? It seems like alot of people are attributing alot of different symptoms to their mattresses. Technically some people will be allergic, that's perfectly normal, some people are allergic to nuts etc. so being allergic to a certain type of mattress is not unexpected. Most of the symptoms people have been reporting here can be explained naturally, others I would suggest are caused by the placebo effect. More scientific research is necessary.

Johnsie mate, you have no idea what you are talking about. Placebo effect!
I had never heard of these problems until I spent 4 weeks sleeping on one of these horrific, poisonous things, suffered greatly and then read all of these comments on here. Placebo effect, what rubbish, and an insult to the many suffering out there.

I bought a Serta Eurotop mattress

All of you people who are relating your experiences with these different or same products on the market, please do not be put off by these other people who bag it, as you are the ones that are suffering the affects, i too am intolerant to perfumes riddled with ingredients that are cancer causing and these chemicals that are in the cheap china imports that are causing health problems. even doctors do not have all the answers to these health problems, i spent many hours in hospital and numerious blood tests taken due to chemical reactions from perfumes. tonight as i type i am having a reaction from toxic fumes coming from a mouse i bought at aldi from china, i have bad headaches tears depression like feelings and just plain sickish, so it will be going back to the shop tomorrow neadless to say. to all you well people out there who do not (as of yet) suffer these symptoms, good luck to you if you escape any ill affects of these deadly chemicals, but please try to have compassion for those whose body has had enough of an overload that it makes them sick, i was healthy once too. Kat

I bought a sleep number memory foam mattress and starting having itching and a rash. I wake every morning with a headache. We went on vacation for a month in our motor home and no headaches or problems. The first night back home, I work with with a headache. If I sleep in the guest bedroom, I do not have the problems. I am sure it is my "most expensive bed."

Can exposure to extreme heat for a prolonged period activate the chemicals involved in the manufacturing these temper pedic mattress?

Sweet and short,I bought a double foam topper,tryed it one night,hated it the smell was worse than dreadful,I would not use one of those if you paid me a lot of money,and the negative points in my opinion are true.

Bernie gifted and always learning !!!

Sweet and short,bougt one ,had it one day thought the smell was worse than terrable,would not use one for any amount of money,.

Ben gifted and learning !!!

When I went to the Philippines recently, I came across sales promotion of memory pillow made in China in conjunction of their 25th anniversary celebration (SM Malls). According to the cashier, they were asked to push for the product as a 'project' for only PHP300 per piece. I was attracted to it since I bought 2 memory pillows before this with the price of almost 3 times higher. Back to my home country last Sunday, I opened up the new memory pillow with the intention of giving it to my youngest son who is still not using a memory pillow. I realized that the smell was so strong that I decided to put it aside first before using it. In a rush I put it on top of the double deck bed thinking that I'll keep it in a proper place later after taking my shower. During this moment, my son was sleepy that he climbed on top of the bed and sleep beside the new memory pillow. My son used to be very healthy, brilliant, active in sport and considered well built at his age. To the shock of my life, for the first time I saw my son is having seizure and having difficulty to breather. In fact he turned blue and stop breathing. I panicked and my eldest daughter start to cry seeing our beloved little hero might be gone. My wife reminded me to perform CPR and after doing it he started to breath again. We thank God for that. We sent him to see pediatric doctors and no conclusive diagnose yet at the moment. Of course they cannot relate it to the pillow. After 1 week he is doing fine and it draws the whole family close as we pray for him every night so that Jesus will heal him. Besides that he is also taking Ling-Zhi (oriental herbs). Anything can happen we are not blaming anyone but I definitely will not allow my son to be near to the memory pillow ever again.

God bless all of you and I believe Jesus healed yesterday, still heal today and ever after.

Izzy, I had the exact same experience after purchasing a Tempur foam mattress. Severe Rhumatoid Arthritis type pain and flu like symtoms but all tests came back negative. It went through absolute misery for over a year but never made the connection. I practically lived on pain killers and spent a fortune on medical expenses. Almost lost my job and was close to suicide. Then during some renovations I had to sleep downstairs in the spare room. Amazingly 95%of the pain dissapeared within a week. After 2 weeks all sytoms had dissapeared and have not taken or needed so much as an aspirin ever since. To test I slept on the Tempur mattress again. Symptoms returned within 3 days. Sleep on different mattress for 2 weeks is an easy test that will prove if it is the mattress causing your health problems. If your symtoms start to dissapear after sleeping on a different mattress then take the Tempur to the nearest garbage disposal depot imediatly.

Hi,
This is very scary, my husband and I bought a temperpeudic 4 years ago, I have always been xtremely healthy and very active, 2 years ago i was very ill, Drs could not find out what I had, my ANA were so off , my imune system was weakening per day, started with dizzines, sorethroat, nausea, every joint in my body aching, pain in my shoulders travel from right to left, still does, got better on my own after being ill for 7 months, but still wake up with shoulder pain, specialist says there is no bone injury, sometimes so tired, a lot of this symptoms that are mention I do still have, they tested me for Lupus, lymphoma, Arthritis but all results were negative, I am so afraid now after looking into this web that I am being poisoned by my bed, also I will mention that my husband has asthma, is there anything we can do to avoid being taken by this companies that sell their products and are allowed by the goverment? but also I would like to really be sure that my mattress is causing all of this ailments, is there a test? or something that can prove that this mattress materials can cause harm to our health? let me know

Trust yourself. Trust the articles written on this website. Trust your symptoms. Isn't that enough? Don't gamble with your health anymore. . . . Strong words of advice from someone who cares about other people's health.

At my boarding school I had a matress topper a memory foam one and I had a severe cough and chest pain for 6 months and was on anti biotics and a lot of different medcines but it just wouldn't go away. When I left that school and I was at home on a normal matress my cough slowly went. Tonight I decided to put my memory foam on my bed and my cough came back immediatley and it is very bad. I don't know for sure if it's to do with it though.

Hi,
I bought a memory foam mattress just 3 days ago and it is already in the bag for return. After sleeping on it for just 1 night, I awoke with severe sinus congestion which also caused hearing problems. This cleared after an hour of fresh air outside. Most people here agree that these mattresses are comfortable but mine was not. I tossed and turned most of the night and never felt comfortable. Maybe I was just trying to escape the fumes as they were also dreadful. Both my wife and I woke feeling more tired than when we went to bed. Also, it is harder to turn in these mattresses so each time either of us turned over we disturbed the other. I have a 60 day return policy with mine and this has already been arranged although they will not take the pillows back and I have to pay for colection. A £170 mistake in total! Just wish I had found this article before I ordered. Only good point is that despite all the tossing and turning, my wife said her aching shoulder felt a little better. Went back to my old mattress last night and had my normal nights sleep. Some here have mentioned that USA or European foam may be of a higher quality, well mine was European and I only lasted 1 night on it! Wherever these are made, if they are polyeurothane they will off-gas for a period. This could be days, months or years. As for the doctors that have made their comments here, I have not had any useful advice from any doctor in the last 49 years so do I trust their comments? Not really. (My appologies to any doctors in the tiny minority that are nutritionally aware).

Hi all

I bought a memory pillow a couple of weeks ago and I start realizing that my ears hurt when I get up in the morning. I ascribe it to the pillow for the following reasons.

When I am lying on either side of my body on the bed, the viscoelastic adapts itself to the surface of my head. Such is the adaptation that it prevents the air from coming in and out of my ears. This acts as a "suction cup" so that the pressure outside my eardrum increases or decreases suddenly when I lean my head on the pillow or when I raise it.

I feel pain especially when I raise my head quickly. Thus, I try to do it slowly, but when I am sleeping I turn over naturally so I can't do so. I wanted to take the pillow back a few days after buying it, but the staff in the shop told me that you can't take back a pillow. Now, I don't know if this can have bad effects on my hearing so I decided to buy another. I lost 45€.

I wonder if someone else has experienced the same problem.

cheers

This is a fascinating discussion. I have had a memory foam (visco-elastic) topper on my bed for about four years and love it.

Last week I purchased a memory foam contour pillow from a bargain shop and the next morning woke up with the worst sore throat I've ever had, and a fluey, achy body. The following day I developed swelling and intense itchiness to my face and neck, itchy eyes and a runny nose, all of which have lasted four days. I have been wondering what on earth caused me to have such a violent allergic reaction and only connected it to the pillow today.

I haven't noticed a smell from either mattress or pillow. I wonder if they are composed of the same material? Both were purchased in Australia, I presume the pillow was made in China but I don't know about the mattress.

I would be interested to know if there are different compounds which are all tagged 'memory foam'. I'm pretty sure in Australia 'memory foam' refers to viscoelastic foam. There is also a type called 'viscoflex' which is similar but softer.

Anyway I will stop using the pillow and see if my symptoms improve.

Thank you for posting the information on the memory foam mattress. My husband and I purchased one three years ago. I slept on it for 2 nights and the next morning the room starting spinning and I felt like I was going to die. My sinuses were infected and I developed a strange cough, etc., of course he didn't believe me. So I moved the mattress to the other bedroom. I didn't know the mattress contained latex, as I am allergic to latex. The mattess also has(thats right 3 years later) a smell. I tried everything to get the smell out of the mattress, nothing worked. The room it's in now smells like the mattress. Wow, you know that saying if it's too good to be true....it is.... I will be forwarding this article to my unbelieving husband. Once again, thank you..... It's ashame you posted this in 2008 and I am now seeing in in 2010. Mrs. P.

all the money all the promises and I read the article and it all seems so true, skin problems, sore muscles and lung problems and groggy?
I bought my all singing dancing bed to ease my oesteoporosis/arthritis and feel worse after a year of sleeping on my memory foam mattress.
It was the posting where 'I felt beaten up' which has made me decide to give the mattress away and buy a COTTON one, after all all my bedding is cotton so...thanx for the info...:-) london uk

I purchased the memory foam mattress six years ago and my life has been * on earth. After sleeping on the bed three nights I began wheezing , next my throat began to swell and I could not breathe. We called the company and was told to take the cover off and wash in hot water, hang in the sun to dry. We did this, it did not help. We tried again, but dried indoors to avoid outside allergens. Next I lost my voice, went to several doctors, taking a lot of drugs. After three months, my voice returned but I started coughing, to the point of throwing up. This went on for over a year . I had two surgeries for acid reflux, which I did not have, but the cough persisted, especially at night. After six years of misery and doctors, tests and drugs, I cried out to God to either help me or take my life. I could not take anymore. The word came to me "it's the bed" I got rid of the bed ! I'm well.

Dimple, I am so glad that you listened to the voice that told you "It's the bed!" I hope your health is still improving.

Bingo. Just read about myself here. I too have had the best sleep I've had in years since purchasing my memory foam mattress 3 months ago. However the strong pungent smell, burning eyes, swelling lips, burning throat, skin rash and itching, just to name a few, were simply unbearable. My daughter helped me remove the mattress out of doors. There was a sticky residue left on our hands which was almost impossible to remove. The odor still remains (over 2 weeks now), and now after reading this blog the memory foam pillows are now out the door. I just hope I didn't create any permanent health issues in the 3 months I rested on it. Why doesn't the goverment protect us from these known deadly chemicals is beyond my understanding. Take my advice, get rid of your memory foam.

At the advice of my chiropractor, I purchased a memory foam pillow which I slept on for over a year. During that time my neck pain improved, and I never associated any side effects with the pillow. In the spring of 2010, I decided to purchase a tempurpedic bed as well, figuring it would help improve the rest of my back, hip and neck problems. Yes, there was the typical "odor" problems, which the salesperson warned me about when I first purchased it, and as time went on, the smell did begin to dissipate. Either that, or I just became accustomed to it. Soon after, I began to experience fatigue, headaches, and a sense of being off balance or dizzy. I saw my doctor, who simply seemed to think I needed to lose a few pounds and lower my cholesterol. When things got worse a month later, he sent me to an ear, nose, and throat specialist, assuming my balance problem might be an inner ear condition. When the ENT found no problems, he then referred me to a neurologist, who also found nothing on the MRI that was done. After 6 months, I participated in a health screening at work, which uncovered a problem with elevated white counts and low platelets in my blood tests. I was referred to a hemotologist and oncologist who was able to diagnose me with AML, or Acute Myelomonocitic Leukemia, simply from the symptoms I described; fatigue, dizziness, and what I thought were allergy symptoms but turned out to be symptomatic of leukemia instead. I have never had any serious health issues in my entire life and this took me completely out of the blue. When I started researching the causes of leukemia, one of which was exposure to benzene, the pieces started to fall into place. I saw online stories of people who had all the same symptoms that I had when they purchased their tempurpedic bed, and I also saw where there had been lab tests done that determined the "off-gassing" of these bed produced several carcinogens, including benzene. I never thought of the bed being the source of my problems, since I had slept on a tempurpedic pillow for a year before that with little side effects. I guess when I went from exposing just my face to wrapping my entire body in the material, things apparently changed. I immediately threw the bed and pillows in the trash, even though I was still paying them off, because I knew I would not have any peace of mind if they were still in my house, nor could I in good conscience sell them or give them to someone else. Now after 2 rounds of chemo, I would not recommend that anyone ever buy a polyurethane or memory foam mattress, regardless of the physical comfort it may give at first. The toxicity of these things need to be questioned more and the EPA should be investigating the manufacturing procedures for these products. I find it impossible to believe that none of the manufacturers will release the chemical components used in their products if the EPA is required to look at the exposure levels of everything else manufactured in the USA. I know my case is more extreme than that of others, but it seems that some people have a much quicker reaction to this exposure than others, or that it may take several years of exposure before it has any effect on someone. But take it from me, after 4 weeks in the hospital, and with more hospital stays to come, not to mention my very life on the line, I will never sleep on a toxic bed again and will be much more aware before making similar purchases in the future.

I bought a memory foam mattress in Sept 2010. After 3 days I developed hives. Dec 28,2010 I became very sick and have now been diagnosed will Leukima ALL. I am almost positive this is from the mattress. Do you know of any Class Action Lawsuit? I now have to go thru chemo and am very sick.

Mike, I am very sorry to hear your story. I hope that your health is improving.

I TO DEVELOPED LEUKEMIA ALL AFTER PURCHASING A MEMORY FOAM MATRESS. I DEVELOPED HIVES A FEW DAYS AFTER SLEEPING ON THE MATRESS. AFTER 2 WEEKS AND HIVES ALL OVER MY BODY,I GOT RID OF THE MATRESS. HIVES ARE A PRECUSSOR TO LEUKEMIA.
PLEASE IF ANYONE KNOWS OF A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT PLEASE LET ME KNOW.

I have a question for those who have said they had these problems with Tempurpedic mattresses. Was your mattress actually the Termpurpedic brand? Or was it memory foam that you are simply calling tempurpedic because that is the most commonly known brand? One of the commenters here claimed that many people mistakenly label all memory foam beds as tempurpedic. It makes me wonder if it is just the cheaper memory foams that cause these problems. I live in the U.S. and just bought a Tempurpedic (brand) mattress (before discovering this website..) and now I am very concerned about the health risks.

Mine was an actual Tempurpedic brand mattress.

Mine was a genuine Tempur brand it it ruined my health. (and almost my life) If you just bought one I would strongly advise you to return it to the store and look for a natural latex or organic mattress.

Just bought a memory latex topper this weekend. I beg people not to get one. I have experienced problems with the smell and myself and my husband have a strange feeling in the chest and a strange taste. I am so relieved to read these comments. I have complained to the store but was told no other problems have occurred.

I just bought a Sleep Innovation memory foam pad from Costco this Saturday for my 12 year old son. He woke up on Sunday morning feeling nauseous and depressed. By Monday the school nurse called me to say my son wanted to go home because he feels depressed. This has been going on all week. My son is usually a very happy kid. Now that I've read this article, I am going to return the pad to Costco and see what happens.

Scarlet, I am so happy that you saw the connection between your son's depression and the mattress. . . . Just think if you had not!

I bought my foam mattress about five years ago. I opened the box and let it "tox" out for a few days. I got two "free" foam pillows with the mattress.

I was very concerned (before buying the product) about the chemicals used in the manufacturing process. I have allergies to certain things just like others, and I know that some are more sensitive to some things than others.

Other than the smell for a few days, I don't recall any "ill" effects. The bed provided great back support, and I am satisfied with the product.

Unfortunately, in the fourth year, my wife decided she wanted to use an electric blanket to warm up the bed before going to sleep. If you read the instructions that come with the mattress, it clearly states not to use an electric heating pad or blanket because it cause the foam to deteriorate--it does!

So I just ordered a Serta 4" topper to replace the top 4" of the foam mattress. This was cheaper than buying a whole new mattress. (The top layer peals off, and you can just replace the top 4" of mattress.)

By the way, my mattress is one of the generic ones, not the Tempurpedic. If was less than half the price, and was made in the USA.

I will post again, after I get the new topper, and use it.

sometimes it make me wonder why other countries mostly Western Countries (Asia) till now do not use regular or memory foam mattress??? and they end up living longer...,, I also had some issues but with adjustments seems to be doing well now but why are all these extra purchases necessary??? more spending...just a thought.

We just bought a new mattress. It cost over $1000. The first week was great, since then I have not had a full night of sleep. I wake up around 3 or 4 am every night, tossing and turning, trying to yank myself out of the hold the mattress has on me. I am constantly sore from sleeping on this mattress. Are there ANY mattresses out there NOT made with memory foam at this point? We didn't want one of those, but got it anyway...

Last year, my husband and I decided to purchase a memory foam mattress from a store here, in Rio de Janeiro, because we heard it was not only very confortable, but it lasted longer than the other types. But, as soon as it got delivered here at home and I removed the plastic around it
a strong smell was all over the place. So I went to the internet to find out more about what the mattress was made out of and I was very surprised to read some of your version of the harmful events you went through because of nights spent on the mattress. I soon had it returned to the store, but I'm concerned about those who are still going to acquire the memory foam and don't know about the poison they're taking home. Also, where can people throw it out? It seems to be very harmful to nature, as well.

I have read with interest all these comments and I too have experienced severe side affects from sleeping on a visco elastic memory foam mattress. Has anyone been successful in bringing a prosecution against a supplier or manufacturer of these mattresses? As a test case I have asked the Furniture Ombudsman to investigate my complaint. It is interesting to note that Dreams in their description of their memory foam mattress state that the mattress is not anti-allergy and yet this description is not labelled as such on the product. Surely, even as a legal requirement under the heading of "Health

Question? where do you get a bed without foam in it. The mattress dealers tell me almost all mattresses are made with some type of foam now.
This will be my third mattress in three months do to many of the symtoms you all are referring to. Please advise me at Arniemusic@aol.com
Thank you, Arnie

i purchaxed a silemtnight memory foam matteress from makro on 9/11.2010. from then on i thought i had the flu or something as i have been so ill from day one but never put it down to the mattress untill today after reading articles on this site. I have been suffering from puffy eyes, flem and blood discharge from the back of my throat, severley swollen sore throat.feeling sick, tired and most noticably severe headaches. the headache i had last night was so severe that i thought somebody had put an axe in my head. this is what made me research matters on the internet and ime so glad i have. i will not be sleeping on the matteress tonight and i will be contacting makro tomorrow to see if i can get a refund, Even if i dont get a refund the mattress will be going on the tip because the £225 i paid for it is not worth the risk to my health. thanks for all the experiances that are listed.

I don't know where you live but after going through memory foam hell (headaches, red itchy watery eyes, suspicion that I had CA, breast enlargement and general malaise) we got a custom mattress at Gardner Mattress in MA (they also have a store in NH). You can get the mattress w/o any foam in it. It is wonderful (particularly paired with a case study bed).

I came across this site by researching foam pillows that Dr. Oz (t.v. show) mentioned were toxic. He said we should throw out any polyurethane foam pillows made before 2005 and suggested a polyester fiber pillow or a feather pillow. I have a foam pillow but, checked and it's made from all new material consisting of 100% latex foam rubber. I love my pillow and was relieved it was made of different material. I still searched the web for info on my pillow and found all positive info......the material is natural, healthy and one of the best pillows on the market. I decided I would buy my kids each one as well. I typed in polyurethane foam out of curiosity and found this site and now I'm very concerned !!! My pillow may not be an issue (?) but.....I have a temperpedic bed that I purchased in 1997. I can't remember if it had a bad smell or anything, my hubby and I were so happy to have a good bed!! (newlyweds with a very old hand-me- down) I began having medical problems sometime after and over the years I have seen so......many docs and I still have no answers. I became tired, grumpy etc. Then I became pregnat.....I went into labor at 26 wks and my daughter was born 2 pounds 15 oz (she has serious health complications as a result and cerebral palsy) My health history since.....I had to have surgery for abnormal bleeding b/c I continued to bleed for 3 yrs (just enough to be inconvenient not serious) Doc's had me take every test, birth control pills, depo shots etc. they had no answers and were just as confused. I have high blood pressure now and hypothyroid and over the years my medical problems are getting worse. I've been diagnosed with fibromyalsa (sp?), on allergy meds but was tested for allergies and didn't have any. I'm on stimulants b/c I began having symptoms of narcolepsy(sp?) but, all the sleep studies showed little evidence yet... I've almost fell asleep while driving :-0 , an MRI showed my spine pockets (?) have signs of premature aging (body of a 60 yr old) the doc said, I was 40!! I'm 44 now and I have so many unresolved issues and the doc's are at a loss. When I'm discussing all my symptoms (have everything listed on this site, just about) the doc's look at me like I'm nuts and I feel like it too! Every test is normal and I'm so busy caring for my kids I don't have time for doc visits and tests, etc. I don't know if my bed is killing me but...something is and I'm scared to death b/c my kids need me. My daughter is in a wheelchair and very dependant. I know I have to do something...I just don't know what. I'm going to research my bed and the material etc. I only read a small portion of the comments on this site but.... enough that I have some research to do!!!

The health problems associated with these mattrass and memory foam toppers are profound. I experienced many of the same symptoms reported here, but here is what I did. I went ti the dollar store and bought 4 plastic table cloth. I then sewed two of them together, I layed two plastic table cloth under the topper and place two above, then wrap it over completely. Both the oder and my symptoms went away.

I slept on mattress topper one night -- feel dizzy unwell and have a headache. This SUCKS, because for the first time in years my body (structurally) feels SO much better and younger (no aches and pains from the springs in the mattress) it is the first time my body has felt 'structurally" (i.e. nerves, muscles, joints, bones) in years --- and yet, I have a headache, feel unwell in general, slightly nauseous. (i bought the topper one year and 1/2 ago and left it in garage; opened the topper up about 2 weeks ago and left it in another room to "gas out"... it still smells, not too strong, but I have the symptoms listed above)...

My thought tonight is, because I REALLY want to sleep on this for my 'structural' body (back, legs, etc), is that I might try to sleep w/ an allergy mask on my face!! (NOT KIDDING!)...

hope that works/ helps.

Is there any other remedy --- such as a strong "hypoallergenic" cover for the topper?

Any other ideas out there

('cause the 'structural' body needs the pain relief!!)

Thanks!

K.

I have been sick for nearly 6 years now with constant vertigo (losing complete control of my body), dizziness, migraines, fatigue and frustration that no one can figure out what is wrong. I was running 3-6 miles several times a week, working full time and socializing often, as well as traveling freely. I have been to Johns Hopkins, Mayo Clinic and dozens doctors trying to figure out what has caused this sudden demise in my health. Now I can rarely leave my apartment, let alone exercise. My work has suffered tremendously and I almost never see my friends. I've asked every doctor about my memory foam bed (I've had a Tempurpedic and now a Bragada) and none of them know anything about any issues. This is the only real difference that occurred in my life before these symptoms began. Doctors have now found brain seizures from an EEG and I'm on more medicine that I want, yet it doesn't seem to help. Does anyone else have these problems and have you found them to be related to the mattress?

i have the same problems and didn't know why. omg!

I bought a new memory foam mattress a week ago for my daughter. the smell has been awful and after a week of airing it I rang the customer support to say that this was not acceptable as my daughter cannot even sleep in the room because of the smell. they said it takes 2 to 3 weeks for the smell to go; which she said was due to the chemicals sprayed on the mattress as a fire retardant. After reading all these comments it will be returned!

Why are so many of these comments so extreme? Such as comment #10 "He tried to grip a cup but dropped it. She took him straight to hospital and within a week he was on a life support machine." I recently started getting breakouts of hives about once a day mainly on my back and spreading up to my neck and down to my buttocks. I would start itching severely while trying to fall asleep. Also I was sneezing about 15 times a day! I did not think that it would be my foam mattress topper because I had two sheets over it. I had been sleeping on it for about 2 weeks. Since I have removed it, I have not been sneezing like crazy everyday, and so far I have not been having any breakouts of hives. I did not air it out at first though, going straight from the bag to the mattress. I bought it from Wal-Mart. Maybe I will try to sleep on it again after "airing it out", but I am reluctant to do so.

Thanks for sharing I was wondering if the smell could be toxic to me after sleeping on it one night. I liked the feel of it but the smell was bothering me. Gwendolyn

I own a firm foam type mattress that is quite thick it was top quality when I bought it 20 years ago and I'm still having great rest on it. I flip it over regularly but I know I should purchase another one. Is it unhealthy to have a mattress this long? It seems to still be in good shape except I can now tell that the support is starting to wear slightly. I could go on sleeping on it but my major concern is health where dust mites and things like that are concerned. I vacuum it occasionally and it has no bad odor of any kind...still some things may not be visible. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks.

I had the same problem with sleep # bed. pattyk7@verizon.net - please contact me.

I recently purchased a high-end memory foam matress, as others the 1st night was a little smelly but the sleep was great. then I started feeling body aches, slight headaches and the dreams. I thought at first it was just me. I have to admit, the sleep itself is great. I sleep all night. But, the dreams I can do without. Honestly, I didn't know at first what memory foam was made with until today, my ignorance yes. But once I read the other blogs, one mentioned bright colors, it rung a bell. Mine are also very bright and vivid, like what people say the drug ESTACY does to you. but after awhile of dreaming the nightmares come, not even about one specific thing. Just all very bright and vivid...

I just bought last night a temper bed.. to be delivered in 2 days.. good deal until i found this website.. my girlfriend is pregnant and I'm not going to risk anything because of that kind of bed.. I hope i can cancel it out..
thank you for this article.

I've just spent last night using a memory foam pillow, I had a really good nights sleep but was so disturbed by the smell that I took it out of the bedroom this morning. so I asked the question 'How toxic is polyrethane?' am shocked to find this website has so many entries, as my husband suffers from asthma I don't think I will be using it tonight.

We just got a sleep # bed which has an awful odor and is causing us vertigo, migraines and sinus blockage/infection. They won't give us money back and we've been trying to air out for 3.5 weeks now. We are thinking about going to the news stations and expose this on TV if smell does not go away soon. Can't use room and must go in with mask.

For 3 weeks I thought I battling a cold, but it just didn't seem like a cold. Every morning I woke with a sore throat, puffy eyes, insomnia and have had to get up to use the bathroom a couple times every night (unusual for me) I got a 3 part memory foam mattress for Overstock. com 2 months ago. The out-gassing still stinks and I have not felt healthy and strong in a month.

my wife and i purchased tepurpedic pillows which at first seemed to be the best investment. Then over time the"support" caused back, neck and shoulder issues. my wife went to 3 specialists about upper back pain. i went to physical therapy(6 months) for pain in my shoulders, mysteriously when i stopped using the pillow, my pain was gone in a week, and my wife had similar results after stopping use of tempurpedic pillow

DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT LOADED WITH 100 % POLYURETHANE - THAT IS EXTREMELY TOXIC CHEMICAL ! IT WILL KILL YOU AND YOUR LOVED ONES! NEVER TRUST THE MANUFACTURER AND PROTECT YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS BY SPREADING THE WORD AROUND!

DO NOT BUY FOAM PILLOWS, OR FOAM MATTRESS:

Chemicals and VOC's in Mattresses
So is memory foam toxic? Health agencies deem exposure to some of the chemicals found in mattresses safe in small quantities.


Toxins can now be found in nearly all common household products; from carpets to microwaves, paints, couches, mattresses and baby cribs to children's clothing. Many of these toxins accumulate in the body and are never expelled.

Reactions to mattress component off-gassing and those chemical odors is very real.

I,too, also was inticed to buy a memory foam mattress because of the advertising. I have had the mattress for a month and the smell seems to have increased in its intensity and I wake up with allergic reactions. This article reinforces what I feared and I am angered to have been mislead and my health compromised by purchasing a deadly chemically created mattress. This information needs to be advertised before more people are taken financially and most importantly having your health compromised.
Sincerely, P.B.

P.S. Have any legal ramifications been set in action to correct this gross abuse of the American consumers?

bought a visco polyurethane topper for our king size bed 2 yrs. ago. after a long while i noticed i was choking and unable to breath at night. so bad i went to sleep study to evaluate the problem. slept like a baby at the sleep study. when i got home i canned the mattress; best thing i ever did. i had no idea the mattress was slowly killing me.

I am glad I found this information.
We put on the foam pad about eleven
days ago. On the 3rd day I came down with what I thought was a horrible cold. However, I slept in another room
because of the "cold" and in 3 days I
had no sign of a cold. Again slept on
the pad and woke up with very swollen lips. Most of that cleared up
and today woke up with acted like exema (sp?) and have itched all day. We have taken the pad off the bed and retuning it tomorrow

Bought a Simmons Beautyrest that is covered with Kevlar fabric. I wake up with burning legs every night and I feel it is affecting my eyes, which is the worst thing to experience.
The store that I bought it from said I could exchange for another mattress for $100 but they don't have any natural fiber mattresses. Some other mattresses have boric acid in them and throw off a toxic dust. What am I supposed to do? Criminal if I have to lose the money.

I have always had bad headaches, for the past 3 years they have got worse and to the point where I am capable of nothing at all - just laying in bed - Christmas 2010 I laid in bed all day - although I had planned a day with my grandchildren. I have been to all specialists, had many many blood tests - everything comes up normal. I decided to try and work it out myself - there had to be a cause of these headaches - I would go to bed feeling fine - I would wake up dry retching and with an extremely bad pounding headache I couldn't speak - to cut this short 4 nights ago I decided to sleep in another room - I thought maybe there was mould in the ceiling in my bedroom, although I couldn't see any mould - i thought there is something in here causing these headaches - well for the past 3 mornings I have woken up feeling better and better every morning. I decided to check out on the internet the "memory foam" pillows which we purchased approximately 3 years ago (when my symptoms worsened) - I am positive and confident that the memory foam pillows are the cause of my headaches - I suffer from headaches at least 3 days out of 7 per week and all my doctors wanted to do was give me medication to take it was - not find out the cause - I believe I have. There are probably people out there who can withstand the poison that this foam emits - but I am sure that they are the blame for a lot of illness around today. I am really shocked these pillows cost us $160 aussie dollars each - there should be some warning on them. Somehow or another words needs to get out there about the dangers of this foam!

How can this be sold out there? My son who bought one this was the best after laying on getting one myself we also started to get these symtons....dreams, sore throat, ears bothering me, my husband also getting sick with symtons time to get rid of this topper!

Just amazes me - truely - unless someone dies my guess is nothing will be done - I have been seriously feeling ill for 3 years - a bit slow on the uptake to work it out though. I missed out on a lot of important family events, and missed out on a lot of work. Maybe it is worthwhile writing to Slater and Gordon... maybe, anyone interested let me know.

Approximately 2 years ago I purchased a 3" memory foam mattress topper from Target for our new, but overly-firm mattress in our guest room. I remember it smelled bad at first, but the smell faded and it made the bed comfortable for sleeping. Our occasional guests would compliment us on how comfortable the bed was.

I have allergy-induced asthma, which has been under control for the past several years by taking allergy shots to boost my immune system. HOWEVER, approx 2 months ago, in an attempt to plump-up our older spring mattress in our master bedroom, I took the memory foam topper off the guest bed and put it on our our bed. It was SO comfortable, and my husband and I both agreed we wanted to keep it there.

I am not 100% certain of the timing, but I believe it was about a week or so after placing the foam on our bed, my allergies/asthma started to seriously flair. Each night, within 5 minutes of my lying down to go to sleep, I began to violently cough and my lungs would feel like they were closing off -- akin to the worst asthma "attacks" I have ever had. Eventually the asthma attack would subside, and I'd settle into a comfortable sleep. However, each morning I would awaken with terrible phlegm in my throat and chest, and I would have to hit my Albuterol inhaler just to be able to breathe. It continued to get worse with each passing day. I knew I was having an allergic reaction to SOMETHING, I just didn't know what. I thought it was dust. I bought a new hepa-filter vacuum cleaner and cleaned my bedroom top to bottom. I laundered all my linens and did everything I could think of to feel better -- to no avail.

Still not thinking of the mattress topper, and thinking nothing new had occurred in my life to trigger my recent bouts of asthma, I met with my allergist about a week ago. He was puzzled and concerned by my decline in my pulmonary function (breathing measurements). He asked if I had been sick recently. I hadn't -- other than coughing all the time and feeling congested in my lungs. As a base to diagnosis, my allergist ran new allergy tests to the things I had been allergic to all along to see if I would react differently. The results came back that I had IMPROVED my immunities (which is common after shots) to things like pet dander, dust mites, molds, grasses and pollens. My doctor was totally flummoxed. He prescribed some new asthma medicine to try (a two-week trial which I have not yet begun!), and scheduled a follow-up appointment to meet again in a month.

Still, my asthma has been getting worse by the day. This morning I awakened with serious wheezing and coughing and as I write this I am unable to clear my lungs of phlegm, even though I've taken more "hits" of my Albuterol inhaler than I have ever needed before. I have been wracking my brain trying to think of what has changed in my life, and suddenly realized I had started sleeping on the memory foam mattress topper just about the time my allergies began to flair!

A quick Google search produced this site, and after reading most of the posted comments, I think I may have found my problem. All the comments here may not be clinically recorded, and may be only anecdotal evidence, BUT it certainly makes sense to me that sleeping on a chemically-compounded foam that compresses and expels chemicals into the air I breathe while sleeping could absolutely be making me sick! I will be removing the mattress topper tonight!

This is a good article, that the smell of memory foam can bother some people, and for those people who spend a third of their life on it, that's a problem to their well-being. Hell my grandmother used to get similarly nauseous and headaches from Coast soap. Some foods make me want to vomit. The point is, people are different in what they are allergic to, what smells make them feel ill, etc. If it's a bed where you have to smell it for half the day, you don't want to be within a mile of it. But it doesn't make it that there should be a law. You identify a health reaction to memory foam, you get rid of the problem and avoid it. Imagine if people allergic to peanut butter ran around like the sky is falling for everybody. Cliquish, cult-like hysterics against a certain product in that it makes some people feel queasy, or that the Chinese are behind it, etc., is * . Assuming the EPA researchers or whoever haven't considered health risks for e-v-e-r-y-o-n-e from this material is bordering on really, really, really * , and is at least really, really * .

On December 23, 2011 I bought a new serta mattress ,60% polyurathane foam. I got sick soon after with bronchitis then sinusitis that would not go away after 2 rounds of antibiotics. I then got ringing in the ears and dizziness that went into severe vertigo.I began to research a nd found out the health risks with the treated foam. I did not know there was a law in 2007 to put fire retardant chemicals in all bedding. We got out of the room and slept in another room and in 2 days my symptoms left. we are now searching for an organic mattress.

Sounds Like you people belong with the "I'm full of Crap Club".

I purchased a memory foam matteress last year shortly after I developed lumps on my arm and buttocks. these lumps turn into holes which ive had some surgically removed. Ive just descovered that the lumps on my buttocks have now turned into painful holes. the biopsies haven't come up with anything abnormal has anyone else suffered with this problem.

I just threw a memory foam pillow in the trash because I had increasingly more severe migraine headaches, bone aches, stiffness and general malaise for the week I had the pillow. The rapid decline in health was alarming. Feeling a bit better each day since I got rid of the pillow.

Hi, I posted something back in August 2010. I'm a librarian, and have since done *way* too much research on this topic. I got rid of the bed that I had reactions from in August but my symptoms still hung on. I saw at least 5 doctors who were all very interested in what had happened to me (partly because they were due to buy a new bed themselves) but had no guidance for me. The last doctor I saw was a specialist in occupational

BTW, here is the organic futon that I plan to buy after I pay taxes.

http://www.zafu.net/futon.html

P.S. Requires a doctor's note in the US to get a bed without flame retardant.

I got cut off in my posting below but basically I wanted to advise folks who have remaining symptoms to do all they can to rid the toxins from their body. A naturopath has helped me

7 days after I bought a Laguna Polyurethane mattress, I tried to take it back, I told them it had a strong chemical smell and I could not breath well, lot of caughing, flu like symptoms, sweeting, lathargic. They informed me they could not take it back, becaused it was now considered used, and all mattresses have polyurethane. It is still in my bedroom, I will be getting rid of it. I covered it in plastic and put a blanket on top of that, tried it a few more weeks, now I am having problems for the first time in my life with my nose severely swelling all the way up into my right eye. I started sleeping on the couch and my nose is almost back to normal. I would not even want to sell or give it away. That would be wrong to subject someone else to something so horrible. I do not want a used mattress, but I am finding myself looking for one.

This site has been extremely helpful. I am sorry that there have been so many illnesses from the memory foam.

Here is my story:
My husband and I bought a 13" king "off brand" memory foam mattress about 5 weeks ago. A couple of days later, I started not feeling well...heart palpitations, fatigued, weakness.
I thought I was coming down with something.

Well, things got progressively worse.
Within 10 days(because I try to ignore things and keep going) I ended up in Urgent Care.

First, they thought it might have been a med I was taking, but I had been taking it for yrs.
Next day back to Urgent Care, I couldn't breathe hardly at all. Severe tightness in my chest. They did an x ray and thought I had pneumonia.
Two weeks of antibiotics and still the same symptoms persisted.

Three weeks into this I ended up in the ER. Dr. said it may be an allergy.
I had been to 7 dr's in 3 weeks, none of which could give me a definitive answer. Three ekg's, heart monitor, normal and bloodwork came back fine.

Not one Dr had asked me if anything in my household has changed, they just couldn't figure it out. My HUSBAND looked at the timeline of when all of this began and it started to make more sense. I have Never been this sick for this long in my 51 yrs of life and Not know what it is.

I also had a left nodule in my neck pain me so badly I couldn't turn my head for two Weeks. I have lost weight. I have had migraines. I haven't slept on the bed for two nights now and we are exchanging for a traditional bed with no memory foam.

I am still sick. Maybe a touch better, but 24 hrs/day I can't breathe right and I am Extremely weak in my knees.
I do hope I get better and there isn't going to be permanent damage. The way I feel now, I'm not so sure. :(

I bought a memory foam pad 2 months ago, and have been sick ever since. At first I thought it was just a cold. But it just won't go away. I realized the correlation a couple days ago. Not sure if it is the reason, but we will see. After reading these comments it seems like I have a lot of the same symptoms. Dizziness, sore throat, coughing, bad dreams, memory loss. I think it is also making my dog sick. He is constantly scratching amd has a rash. I removed the pad a couple days ago, we will see if there is any improvement.

Sorry you had a bad experience. I love mine and only paid about $200 for it from Walmart.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/10-Memory-Foam-Mattress-With-Bonus-Contour-Pillow/10910453

Also; I use a mattress cover and that might help too.

I am so glad I found this site! I have been SO sick for 2 weeks now. Nausea, vomiting, dizziness, loss of balance, ear problems, weak, etc. My doctor has been so confused and can't find anything visibly wrong. Then this morning my husband woke up and was complaining about his ear feeling weird. Right then I thought it's gotta be the mattress. Makes sense because our 2 month old has been sleeping in bed with us and has been super fussy too. Anyway- I found this site and I am 100% certain that the memory foam mattress and pillows is the cause of this. Sucks because we just bought them 1 month ago and we spent a lot of money on them. I am just happy to finally know the cause so I can start feeling better. No more memory foam for us!

The product is disgusting.. the smell is toxic and the symptom obvious. My question is....what in Gods name is this product doing on the market? whats more I still cant understand where all the comfort of the foam mattress is supposed to be, personally it did my neck and shoulders in. Not worth a single penny in my mind.

Coming across this site is really scary, Ive been on my memory foam topper for about a year now, and after reading this I now realize why out of nowhere I started having heart problems, Like a very scary type of irregular/Missing beats heartbeat...Ive always been an athlete and in great health and out of nowhere almost the exact same time my wife and I bought this topper I started having these issues, they still go on till this day and I would have never imagined it was caused by this product I bought that's supposed to HELP your health not KILL you! The more I sit here and think about it the more angry I get from this...I don't know if their are any class action suits or any kind of action being taken over this, But Im sure a decent group of lawyers could make these companies pay for this horrible chemical going into all the products and hurting/leading to killing people! Now that I have read this page I will stop sleeping on the bed for a week and hope that my heart issue goes away...But even then...Ive been sleeping on this thing long enough to where there may be permanent damage by now....

This is messed up in so many ways.

If anyone with legal advice or involved in class action suits regarding this...Plz email me @ gl0ckster@yahoo.com

thanks for your time and comments!

I have to admit, I'm a bit confused. I bought a memory foam mattress in 2004. I already had fibromyalgia, Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, Asthma, allergies, and migraines. The thing that made me consider switching was that I was waking up with bruises all over my hips and legs from sleeping on an inner-spring mattress. I don't recall there being a bad smell, and I'm extremely sensitive to smells because of the headaches. I have tremendous back pain and some nights the bed helps, some nights nothing helps. I can't say I've seen the pain get worse because of the bed, nor can I say it's better. My asthma and allergies have not gotten any worse, in fact I've been able to get off my asthma medication.

I do have to say that I bought a memory foam pillow to try because someone mentioned that my use of pillows could be contributing to my headaches. The pillow did smell, like petreuluem if I recall. After sleeping on it several nights, I noticed a rash, terrible itching, and burning at the back of my neck at my hair line. Above my ears, the buildup of irritated skin that would bleed when I'd scratch at it. I can no longer use the pillow, but continue to have no problems with my bed.

I am so relieved that I found this site. My husband and I purchased a TOP of the line Tempur-pedic mattress at the end of Dec,2010.
It had a horrible smell and we were told to air the mattress and the pillows for a "couple of days". It took 5 days before we could even go into the bedroom. The chemical smell was horrible and made my nose and my eyes burn, even after 5 days. Almost immediately I began having headaches, sore throat, hip pain and lethargy. Had sinus x-rays, teeth repair and even a brain ct. Only thing that showed up was sinus problems with some scaring to my sinus membranes, along with some infection..I am currently being treated with antibiotics, allergy medicine and headache pain medicine, to no avail. I dont think I have ever felt this bad (with all these ailments) ever in my life. Also, after sleeping on the mattress for 2 nights, I woke up and could not move my right arm. After 2 months, my arm continues to be painful to move. But the worst has been the headache around the clock...
I will be going to the store tomorrow where I purchased the mattress and demand the mattress be removed and demand all the $$$$ already paid on this $7,000.00 horrible, health hazard. (3-9-11)

Same story as others. I'm on my 3rd mattress now. My Simmons 1990 vintage mattress was great for years and wore out. So I shopped and got a SpringAir. It was comfortable, but in the morning, my lungs would burn. closing the door to the room trapped the odor and I could barely breathe in that room. horrible. I had it exchanged for another SpringAir, same problem. 2 years later, it is barely barable and in my spare room. I'd like to get it out of the house, but...I tried a memory foam mattress. It had an oder as well, and wasn't comfortable. So I got an organic mattress from LifeKind. I could actually take a deep breath on that mattress, it was amazing. Problem is, it wasn't comfortable and hurt my back. So tried all kinds of toppers and they had oders as well. finally got a natural latex topper, which has some odor but is bareable. whole thing isn't comfortable though. We need to undo this law that requires flame retardents, that is backwards. what a mess, someone has really messed up this industry. problem is, it probably looks like growth to the industry as they sell mattresses, but reality is, they are wasting resources.

That is a very interesting topic, I have never thought of some of these things. I imagine waterbeds are an equally skeptical topic due to the fact that everyone's spine is different so just like here, everyone must be treated differently.

Hello, we are about to buy a mattress, it is a Simmons Anniversary Beautyrest. It is a pocketed spring mattress, but does have a layer of memory foam, either visco-elastic or nxg memory foam somewhere underneath the top layer. Is this small amount of memory foam still a concern? Anyone else have a simmons spring mattress and having issues?

we bought a simmons nxg foam-top mattress a few weeks ago... it was delivered to our home and after four hours of smelling a strong odor, we realized it was the mattress; it gave us serious sinus headaches and an achy feeling in our lungs, and an all-over sick feeling; talked to the saleslady at carson's and she had the mattress set picked up and then delivered another set... same problem. the stink fills the room so we have to keep the bedroom door closed with the windows open and the fan blowing... the fumes are still giving me a headache and I am looking forward to carson's taking this mattress away as well. this mattress issue has me very concerned about getting to the truth about what is causing the fumes in the first place, and why we should even have to "air" out the mattress before using it. i'm not hyper-sensitive to odors, as the carson's "bed-sniffer" suggested... there's something fishy about this whole thing, and it's NOT the fish!

Kathy, I just read your comment and am very concerned. We just ordered a Simmons Finlanwood Plush Pillow Top Mattress that felt like heaven on earth the other day (It has one layer of NXG Memory Foam in it). It has a pocketed coil system, but does have a layer of memory foam around it. Is this what you meant? Is yours a pure NXG Memory Foam mattress or does it just have just the one layer of NXG Memory Foam? I am worried that it will make me sick too as I am sensitive to off gassing. I figured with just a layer I would be OK. Can you elaborate if yours is just a layer of memory foam or a complete NXG Memory Foam Mattress? Thank you in advance. :)

I bought a Temperpedic bed 2 years ago, and had to quickly exchange to a Latex bed because of itchy eyes, swollen face, hands, rashes etc. 2 years later, the latex bed has given in with lumps and saggy center despite high cost close to $2,000. I am shopping for a new bed again, and just found out that the new GREEN soy foam gives me allergy as well!! Please help in finding a bed! I have back conditions so prefer supportive bed without coil. But what are the other alternatives than foam and latex??? Please email orienzk@gmail.com. Thanks!

A lot of mattresses that are "eco friendly" only use a small portion of soy in the final product. Some as low as 5% (http://www.myluxurymattress.com/blog/green-mattress).

My cousin has had a foot thick memory foam mattress for at least 6 years and as far as I know hasn't had any problems. Maybe it's the quality of memory foam people are buying? My older sister several of the pillows (she's been using them for about a year) and she always goes for top quality in everything over price.

I've borrowed my sisters pillows and didn't notice anything and I've had a fold out bed with and inch or two of memory foam above regular foam since 2006 with zero problems.

I'm still in the research stage, but it seems to me that memory foam effects some people but not everyone. The best bet is to find a mattress with responsibly made material and a good return policy in case I or my husband turn out to be one of those "some people".

Kathy, I just read your comment and am very concerned. We just ordered a Simmons Finlanwood Plush Pillow Top Mattress that felt like heaven on earth the other day (It has one layer of NXG Memory Foam in it). It has a pocketed coil system, but does have a layer of memory foam around it. Is this what you meant? Is yours a pure NXG Memory Foam mattress or does it just have just the one layer of NXG Memory Foam? I am worried that it will make me sick too as I am sensitive to off gassing. I figured with just a layer I would be OK. Can you elaborate if yours is just a layer of memory foam or a complete NXG Memory Foam Mattress? Thank you in advance. :)

I bought a Sleep Innovations pillow at Kohls and have been sick - dizziness, nausea, headaches, tired, lethargic, feeling like I'm a hundred years old- since January - almost 3 months now - and I bought the pillow shortly before that. It just occurred to me it may be the pillow. I am removing it and hope to feel better. I think that is what is causing my illness as I am generally healthy otherwise, and never remember feeling this sick for this long. I keep telling my husband something is seriously wrong with me, and with any luck removing the pillow will do the trick. Lord I hope so because I can't take feeling like this. I also had a strong chemical feeling in my head the other day and thought it felt like I had been swimming in chlorine. After reading comments that other have felt this too, I am convinced it's my pillow and don't understand how a company can make a product for your head that is filled with so many chemicals.

I have a memory foam mattress....the only memory i'll ever have on that is throwing it out....

I bought a mattress pad with my bed in 2007. Hardly ever using the bed I was surprised to see a stain on mattress when cleaning. I returned to store and was given a replacement 8 days ago. I have had a headache, like never before, everyday since. I returned to store today and was told air pad before putting on bed which I had already done. Now am told to wash to decrease smell. Not only do I have a terrible headache for over a week, my left eye has hemmoraged. That has yet to be determined if cause is from headache. Also coughed all night with runny nose, no rest.

we purchased a memory foam mattress about 6 weeks ago. my husband has started to develop migraines, a bad cough and tight chest, and excessive night sweats like a bucket of water had been thrown over him ! the smell of the mattress has subsided a lot but you can still smell it on stuff even after washing etc. Our doctor is taking some bloods to test in case it's something else but we're starting to think it's linked with the new mattress especially after reading sites like this. my own health is not feeling on top form at th moment but I cannot pinpoint anything specifically. Overall neither of us are poorly people generally and always recover quickly from the odd sniffle but this is wrecking us fast !
Rachel - West Yorkshire, UK

I've had a memory foam mattress for 4 years now and have never had a single issue. I sleep great and wake up refreshed every day. Some people have a latex allergy so its conceivable that some people will have sensitivity to these types of mattresses but I don't think that means they are generally toxic or deadly. If you find that you sleep on the mattress and feel poorly and then try a different bed and feel better then I guess its not for you and you should change to a different option. But it doesn't mean that they are "deadly" for everyone. And generalizing that anything derived from hydrocarbons is deadly and must be avoided will leave you living in a non-plastic bubble.

You have been lucky. I am not surprised of all the negative comments I am reading here on this site. Mattresses that you buy out there on the market are ALL made with lots of toxic chemicals. Everyone can be affected by toxic chemicals it just depends how well your immune system does or does not it and for how long for before the body has had enough. I am a qualified detoxification therapist and I am also a sleep consultant. I show and tell people how to get a 'healthy' sleep that is 'non-toxic' and with many other health benefits. If anyone is interested in knowing more about this you are welcome to email me directly on: hibiscus@gil.com.au

I bought a canopy memory foam topper at the infamous walmart about three months ago. the smell of glue has never gone away for a moment and i have begun to have trouble breathing during this time. i just now (May 1) discovered this article and alas the topper is going bye bye today! this makes me sad because on overstock.com they advertise a non memory foam, foam mattress. upon inquiring it seems it's a polyurethane product. HELP.... we need a mattress without chemicals!

that would be a straw mattress.

We too are having major problems with our Select Comfort sleep number bed. We got it in mid Nov. 2010. Within a few days I began having a very sore throat

Wow i was going to buy one of those but I'm not now!!!

Some people just won't be happy until all economic activity ceases

we just purchased a very wxoensive tempurpedic and awok with sore throat and irregular heart beat, calle dthe store they said let it air our and walk on it , i did but to no avail, the store said i can return it and we are going to after reading all the bad on it
thanks for your input also

Hi, we just got a memory foam mattress two weeks ago. There was no noticeable odor, but after two days of sleeping on the mattress, I developed hives. Every morning now, shortly after rising, I develop hives on various parts of my body--this includes raised bumps that look like mosquito bites and large welts. I also have had the red itchy eyes a couple times. After deep cleaning EVERYTHING in the whole apartment, the sheets, blankets, mattress pad, etc., and after some detective work, I realized that the only thing that has changed in this time is the purchase of the bed. I plan to replace this bed immediately before worse symptoms develop. I urge everyone not to take risks with their long-term health. Thanks for your website.

I have itchy bumps every morning after sleeping on my memory foam, pillow top mattress. I am now so sensitive to polyurethane and polyester that I am even allergic to my church with the synthetic seats and new carpeting. Can't sit on my car seats or foam furniture, can't wear clothing with any amount of synthetics. My back was so rashy that an allergist couldn't perform a patch test. A few days ago I ordered an all natural latex, fire retardant free mattress from Olejo. Until it arrives, i am sleeping in another room with considerable relief.
In my case, i have had this mattress a few years. Symptoms have been collecting gradually as the toxins were accumulating, but about 4 months ago, they went right off the edge. Four months of hives and coughing is way too many. We all need to spread the word in order to halt the sales of these toxic mattresses. This is similar to the dental patients becoming aware that their "silver" amalgam fillings were 50% mercury and demanding alternatives. The ADA hung on to there "safe safe safe" claims for awhile but the old amalgam is hopefully, now history. Fear of litigation delays quick changes but we can hasten the demise of these mattresses and pillows by telling others.

I bough a memory foam bed 3 years ago for the spare room,i have slept on it numerous times and i developed a body odour and the bedroom had a really bad smell about it.The smell got so bad that all my clothes in my wardrobe smelled.I had a complex because i could smell the odour on me and i imagined that everyone else could smell it too.I started to get depressed about how awful i smelled,even after been showered,it seemed the odour was under my skin.The smell seeped out of that bedroom and affected all of the upstairs,i felt so dirty and embarrassed.I did think for awhile that it could be the bed causing it but my husband said i was being stupid,even though he had smelt the odour.I looked on the internet on what could be causing me to smell so bad and i even went to see my GP whom i think thought me crazy.After a few months i moved into another bedroom and another non foam bed,alas,i do not have that horrid sickly smell anymore.I am so glad i have found this site,my husband maybe wont think i am going mad now.

Say it isn't so! Surely, fellow human beings wouldn't lie to us, just to sell a hunk of foam for $2500? This is the biggest scam since fluoridated water.

And if you're drinking alcohol in bed (as popularized in their commercials), perhaps your mattress isn't your biggest problem.

PS: NASA also developed the $1,700,000,000 bottle rocket, but just because they developed it, doesn't necessarily mean its a good thing (just ask Christa McAuliffe's students). Not even the noble duct tape has paid off. With a budget of over a Trillion dollars since 1960 ($3000 per person), I could just replace whatever I would have fixed with it.

Other benefits from our Trillion dollars...
1) We now know that Jupiter has 63 moons, instead of the 4 I can see with my $15 pair of 10x binoculars. The first 4 are a giveaway to lure you in, then they stick you on the rest of the set... similar to how Franklin Mint collectibles work (and always remember, past performance is no guarantee of future results).
2) There are many more stars than can be seen with the naked eye. Hopefully, many of them support life that we can exploit to help pay for some of NASA's budget.
3) Over 90% of the universe's mass is unaccounted for (dark matter). Just like the unaccounted funds in most of our programs (i.e., social security), their whereabouts will likely never be known (but a $120,000/yr politician in a $10M home is a wee bit suspicious).
4) A Gama Ray Burst (GRB) can strip off our atmosphere and fry us all to a crisp without warning. That memory foam mattress suddenly don't seem that all important now.
5) At 1/6 gravity, the Moon would be a great place for a fat camp.
6) In space, no one can hear you scream! (no no... that was Alien, not NASA).

Thank goodness I found this site. I think I am now on my way to solving my health problems. Hooray!

Why did I never hear about this? I just bought 2 serta memory foam pillows. The smell is sickening. I can compare it to sticking my head into a can of paint. This is a pillow.. the thing I squish my head in to and drool on at night. How can people put up with the smell (*especially stomach sleepers like myself). I wish I did my homework. These $40 pillows are going right in the trash...

Hello:

Yes, I have 5 bulged discs in my spine which were giving me considerable pain. About the time I started getting adjustments to help correct my back, my nephew bought me a memory foam mattress topper to help with my back recovery. From that time until my writing this I have been going downhill in my health. Specifically, the skin on my back and abdomen has become so sensitive that I can't touch it without terrible pain. Now the pain has traveled to the upper and outside of my thighs and upper buttocks. The pain had become intolerable. I wake up in the morning, if I've slept at all, exhausted. When starting to move around I become very dizzy to the point of almost passing out. I almost went to a surgeon for a full workup to see if I needed gallbladder surgery or a possible abdominal epsgastric hernia because my skin was hurting so bad. Amazingly, I had no rash, just excruciating pain to the touch. My wife suggested that I was having an autoimmune reaction of somekind, since we sleep in separate beds, and even suggested that my condition, which has been getting worse on a daily basis, was being caused by the foam topper.

At times the pain has been so bad that I actually scream in agony. TODAY, just before this post, that foam topper has been removed. Today, I am also starting a green detox program and infrared sauna sessions to assist in getting the pollution out of my system.

Everyone should pay attention to changes in how they feel after purchasing and using one of these toppers and if they notice a marked difference in how they are feeling, get rid of the thing!

I have been sick for a whole year and a half almost. I just came to realize that I bought a memory foam topper around this time, 6 months later a new bed as well that I use the topper on.
I spent 3 days out of town, feeling just great..even though I was on antibiotics for the 4th time this year( It is May!). The minute I got home.... started feeling sick again. I am getting rid of this thing right now... I almost bought a new one too since I have had this one a while. Will let you know if it helps!

Death by Bedbugs or Chemicals - Hmmm

I purchased a memory foam pillow and developed enlarged lymph nodes in the back of my head and neck along with a rash. My symptoms went away but my husband started using the pillow thinking it was safe. He developed brain cancer in Jan 2011 and died April 2011 He slept on this pillow for about ten months. Take this as a warning!!!

omg i am shocked. i have just bought a memory foam topper for my bed, as soon as i unpacked it, i smelt that smell. it was flat and i was told it would get to its height in 24 hrs. if i send it back they are charging me £50 for collecting it by courier. i am a pensioner and cant afford that amount, its disgraceful. any ideas?

I purchased a Dorma latex mattress during October 2009. One night during Feburary 2010, the heat in my bedroom was left up to high for a short period. The next day I could smell and sense a toxic odor. I thought it was the hard wood floor that had been resurfaced a few months earlier. When I finally got around to taking a smell of the latex mattress, I knew immediately where the odor was coming from. I moved it out into the cold for 3 days to air out. The odor appeared to go away. However the odor would return again and again. I sprayed it with febreeze, I constantly burned candles. The dam thing made me so sick, headaches, burning and bleeding nose, naseau and a forever smell in my clothes, furniture and throughout my house. On June 30, 2011, I took a big knife to that monster and cut it up. I placed it outside for the garbage truck. When I stabbed that monster it reaked with petroleum like toxic fumes. It reminds one of filling your car with gas. To think I was I rested my head on this thing night after night and filled my lungs with gas. Take my advice and stay away from latex mattresses, remember you have no idea who are making postive statements about latex mattresses. You can bet they are in it for the money. Think of your health. I complained to Dorma- they never answered my complaint.

What type of mattress did you buy instead. We are trying to return ours and get another one? Did you go with coil?

I have been living a nightmare !! I have been sleeping on an Intex air mattress as I am a nanny and move alot....my things are in storage in Arkansas so I was content to use an air mattress. I was ill in the winter....it subsided and I bought a new air mattress and the illness has been for 3 full months. Headaches, burning skin on arms, legs, head, neck and face, insomnia, stomach cramping, rapid heartbeat, anxiety, blurred vision, irritability, confusion etc... I knew that sleep was making it worse ! I sleep on this air mattress and the room I rent is kept shut all day long. The "landlord" does not want to turn on AC in the house so most days the heat is unbearable... estimating temps in room at 85-90*. Each morning I was worse. It came like a lightning bolt !! It was the toxic fumes from the vinyl air mattress !!! I have an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic as I am concerned what long term exposure will or will not do to me. I have a friend donating a real mattress.. but have to use an ozone machine in the room first to CLEAR the environment. Wish me luck !! And would anyone please let me know if they have had similar experiences ?? I vow to fight the companies that make the products that we use in good faith......that are slowly and unknowingly harming us !!

Good luck to everyone !!

is there any mattress topper that will help with these issues i just got a memory foam mattress not knowing any of this i did some research and found none of these complaints
any suggestions as im not sure i can return it?

hi i purchased the soren memory foam and have been ill ever since sleeping on it been to the doctors as had breathing difficulty ,rashes, aches etc...i have never had an allergy to anything before..am now 3 days off work and on cortiscosteriods...

Hi I keep waking up with night sweats and am wondering if it is not caused by my foam mattress? It has been suggested that I cover it up with a pure wool topper or pad to prevent this reaction..I would like your opinion before investing that kind of money. Also what would be the best mattress to buy if I decide to unload the foam one?

Same story with me.

Bought memory foam pillow 5 years ago. Since then I developed some very irritating nose dripping and itchy eyes. For two years I somethimes have inexplicit problems with breathing at night, like there was no air in my, otherwise, aired badroom??!?

I bought a memory foam topper and the first week I awoke with a HUGE * that wouldn't go down, my balls got HUGE as felt super heavy as I had to drag them across the floor each time I got up. This made me goto the washroom to beat my junk until I expelled the build up in my nuts. I ruined our whole bathroom because of the mess I made each * and the smell was horrid. The carpet now has a trail leading to our washroom, my strotum is now scarred and not so elactistic as it used to be. When I got back to bed each night my wife's knockers were massive as well and I spent the rest of the night sucking those dry so we both got no sleep. My * hurts, my balls hurt, my head hurts, my wife's boobies sag now and its to late because the damage has been done! Your ALL a friggin JOKE. Talk about very well written replies. Nobody goes into the detail of each sickness as all you liers did. You all sound so phoney its seriously not funny.

We purchased a memory foam mattress 2 months ago. The odor was horrible and smelled toxic. Macy's said that was normal suggested we air it out for a few weeks. Seriously? A few weeks? We decided to try it rather than go to the trouble to replace it. Huge mistake. Although the odor has lessened, it still smells and I've been sick ever since we got it. Headache, sore throat, respiratory infection, sinus infections, several antibiotics. We've had enough and are throwing it away tomorrow. I can't believe that no one has raised the alarm about the potential harm this product may be causing.

Everyone talks about how they got rid of the mattress problem by getting rid of the bed or toppers but then what? Did ya sleep on the floor? Come on, what bed should I buy to help!

Yes - So what am I supposed to sleep on, a pile of straw? A bunch of people complaining isn't offering a solution. Now what.

Funny how a basic understanding of organic chemistry reveals just how retarded many people on the internet are.

a mattress is not going to kill you.. that is the dumbest thing i have ever heard

I started sleepng regulary on a memory foam topper (high end $300.00) & pillow 6 nights ago. The 1st morning I woke up with the Hives. I though it was from a bee sting. Despite antihistimines, steroids, vinigar baths.....the rash was getting worse , swelling of ears, lips, eyes, & one morning I fell unconsious to the floor. I did not associate these symptons with the topper, as my son was using that bed for several months & once a week or so I would sleep on it. Tonight I will sleep in a different room.....hopefully finding this site & reading all the comments posted here have helped me to solve this mystery.

I purchased a new bed 5 weeks ago. I should have been smarter, because 5-6 years ago my son had severe medical problems until we removed his memory foam topper made of polyurethane.. I wasn't, didn't read the label, this is a name brand mattress from a nat'l furniture store. BIG mistake! I brought the bed home and within a week I was being wakened by my heart palpitating and racing. Two to three times a night this happened. I removed the new mattress pad which I discovered had polyurethane in it, and had a few good nights sleep. It got worse from there I hooked up a heart monitor and my heart would nearly jump out of my chest beating 97-99 BPM. I was about to see a heart specialist when bells went off. I looked at the contents of this mattress and there is was... polyurethane. Now I am stuck with a NEW mattress that I can't use, and must find another that doesn't contain this deadly product, and which I cannot afford. I have gotten no satisfaction from the Sealy Mfg, who said, "It's not out fault you're allergic to it." and the store i bought it from, who says" No returns".
Polyurethane can be deadly, and costly. How many people have gone to the heart specialist, maybe gotten a pace maker or medication because of the mattress they're sleeping on?

Article has only 3 references, all of them less than trustworthy. If this is a real issue, where are the REFERENCES?

I lost everything. I bought a latex mattress, had my floors refinished with Eon 70 and had Airkrete insulation blown in all in the same month. I got all of the symptoms every one said within a week. I chalked it up to so many things. Menopause, stress, etc etc. It was not until I was so bad I could barely move, that I went to MD. Lupus she said. This did not seem right to me. I prayed and prayed to know what was wrong with me. I moved out of the house as each time I went in I felt horrid. After 6 weeks all my symptoms went away. After 4 months all my bloodwork was back to normal NO LUPUS. I lost my house and all possessions as allergys are not covered by insurance as lost. And, all my soft possessions as they were leeched into by the allergans. But, I gained my health which is priceless. I never knew which of the 3 things or all or in combo caused this. But, once I left I was fine. Each time I went back, I was ill. No one else in the house but me and the dog.

I have had absolutely no physical problems with my foam mattress topper but the smell is another story.It stinks and the smell never gets better as they said it would.I want to throw it out but my mattress is so firm I have to have something on it. Help.

I am a chronic pain patient, due to accidents, injuries, and other abuses to my body. Obviously, these have caused some arthritis and the pain associated with this, however, reading some of the posts here, I am not so certain that some of my problems might not be from our memory foam mattress. Will pass on any information, should I be fortunate enough to receive it.
Thank you.

Some friends gave me this mattress topper called "Ultimate Sleep Experience". That translates into "Last Sleep".
I slept on it one night and noticed soon that it burned my nose and eyes and I felt it going searing into the lungs.
I am 84 and very conscious of toxins and allergens so I put it outside to gas out.
It still smells so I came to read this site and now I must get rid of it.
But how do we get rid of it? the landfill is toxic too?
I have enough problems and dont need any more.
How can I find out if my new bed mattress contains any amount of this material?
It is an Englander from 2010 and has been causing backache and inability to stay asleep. but I am not aware of a smell on it and I have a sensitive smeller. It is a pillowtop which is too squishy. although it is called firm. The information about mattresses seems to be encrypted and quite unavailable to the public. And mattress factories just put some public name on it when they all come from the same place. Any information on this, anyone?
Thanks for any help.

Try a New World water bed (Cloverdale CA). I have chemical sensitivity but these beds are great. You will be warm in winter and cool in summer and you can use your regular sheets as the bed has its own airframe. I am a satisfied customer since 1977.

This just goes to show someday every one is going to look at poly-ethel/hydrocarbon based products almost the same as we do now on lead and asbestos based products(just as the romans, greeks etc did with lead pipes,pots,pewter,etc)humans keep trying to improve things when most of them have already functioned satisfactory for thousands of years,our food sources are inside plastic everything now days and the food in them is superficial farmers spray thier crops with a diluted "agent- orange"(a.k.a.roundup from what i have learned i could be wrong) sometimes to speed up the ripening process on the tail end of the some crops growth span.At the rate we keep thies practices up our species may never make it off the planet(not that it matters,but why not just enjoy the good things that don't harm us) I feel we really need to cut back on how much we come in contact with some of thies materials.
I thank all of you for your comments that are going to save me and others from a pain full and extremely risky experience of buying any of thies products.

I purchased (at great expense) a new mattress which included a "memoryfoam" pillow top. I found it so hot to sleep on that even in the height of winter I would wake up (at least 4 times a night) so hot and have to get out of bed and cool down. Having spent so much money on the mattress I could not bear to completely discard it so we have turned the mattress over and are sleeping on the under side that has no pillow top. I cannot afford to buy another mattress and the whole situation is less than satisfactory. Although not particularly comfortable sleeping on the wrong side of the mattress, at least I am not waking up every couple of hours feeling like I'm on fire.

Our new memoy-foam, very expensive, supposed to be hypoallergenic mattress poisoned us in half an hour.Nausia, dizyness, headache, difficulty to breath.I am a medical doctor living in Switzerland.Immediatelly throw the mattress in the balcony.Since we didnt keep the old matress we had to sleep on the sofa.Next day the salesman told us that that `it smells new' and nobody else complained like us before.We havent yet pay and noway that I will buy that mattress.But I will ask the company what kind of chemical we were exposed to.Iam an allergic person, had to take ventolin to be able to respire.I could have a more severe crise and die.I really want to know who is poisining us, with whatAnd we pay them thousands for this.

My question is why the hell has this stuff not been banned in USA until now ? I wasted my whole day cleaning up my bedroom after I got this 100$ memory foam from Wlamart. The fumes have ruined my comforter and even the rug on which the thing was kept. If there is a signature campaign to get these banned let me know

I'm so glad I found this page, I bought a Memory foam mattress from Bid tv, paid around £280 (told my husband it was much cheaper) but upon receiving it, had been so disapointed. At first I tried to ignore the smell that smelt like an over powering anti-biotic pong, my husband complained about it but I was determined to see the positive side in my purchase & tried to ignore the smell, then about 2 weeks after my husband complained about his back feeling like his back was beaten with a baseball bat, I thought he was just being negative about the whole Memory foam mattress I had bought without his say so, then I started to notice I was getting headaches every morning & then really bad nightmares, when I'd wake up I sometimes woke up to a hissing sound like gas escaping from the Mattress, when I had nightmares & heard the hissing sound - I thought I was dying at one point & woke to find myself crying, then my husband refused to sleep on the bed & would only sleep in the spare bedroom, then about a month after having the bed I woke up crippled, I was walking like John Wayne but with my back bent over & had to put my hand on back to ease when straightening up, I was aching & it felt like a motorcycle went across my back, after 3 nights of this, I had to tell my husband he was right there was something wrong with the Mattress & that's when we both chucked the Mattress & got another one (which wasn't Memory foam). Am really gutted, as bought a Memory foam topper about 10 years ago & gave it to a friend who no longer has it now but it was brilliant & never had a problem with it at all, so never thought I'd have a problem buying Memory foam again, unfortunately the warranty went on the Mattress so couldn't return it. You live & learn.

I have had many of the mentioned problems headache nausea and only had the topper and pillow for 3days i took it back and feel pretty good now

I, too, have had a horrible experience with a memory foam mattress. I thought that after the initial stench faded, it would be alright but a year down the line and my immune system is destroyed, I am sick all the time and now my knees are both ballooned up and swollen due to my lymph system being compromised. I was healthy all summer long and I was AWAY for three months, on a non memory foam mattress. I came back to the UK and stayed with friends...fine. Moved back into my flat and that bed and within a week had upper respiratory infection, shortness of breath, kidney and back pain and swollen knees. WASTE OF MONEY AND LIFE.

I have suffered hives and breathing issues for 6 years and have been told that I have allergies. in the past two years with the severve night sweats I was told at 45 it is peri menopausal. I travel a lot in the winter and realized I am feeling well out side of my house. I just had mold testing done and it came back negative and was told to get tested to dust mites. I did and have an allergy. I then decided to trow away all my pillows and start fresh. As I was removing the pillows from there covers I stared at the two neoprene pillow, and a light went off. I got a polyurethane bed 7 years ago! the hives,lung issues,lethargy,and night sweats began! Not one doctor every asked about my bed I seep in everyday!!!
Suffering in New Jersey

I bought a new mattress for my son and we were all sick within days. I am still sick, and the smell remains even though the mattress has gone. I had a toxicologist in and the smell is from formaldehyde that they use in the glues. It was measured at above safety levels. The first week my children all had hives and vomited when they work up. I still have breathing difficulties. Something needs to be done. Its criminal.

I have lost nearly half of my hair in the last 3 months. Also, I am experiencing a rash with lumps/whiteheads on my scalp, and a greasy acne complexion (which I've not had since my teenage years) I have gone over this with my Dr. and have changed some med and was prescribed some special shampoo. All to no avail. This morning I realized I started sleeping on my memory foam pillow approx. 3 months ago! Could that be what has cause all of this?

Well I am sure glad I foud this site ( I think) Sad thing is, I have been sleeping on my memory foam topper for about 8 years now. Reason I never connected my symptoms to the memory foam is, shortly before I bought it, I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, and I assumed that my symptoms were from that (And some probably are)
Because It is so difficult for me to wake up in the mornings and I wake so stiff and sore, I went out today and bought two 1 inch memory foam toppers to go on top of the 2 inch one I have been using for years now. I am not sure what made me go online and research these, maybe because I was sceptical that I bought them at walmart for $19.99 each! Not only will I be returning them to walmart, but I will be removing the one I have had on my bed all these years. My bed is hard, so I am dreading sleeping on it as is, but I suppose my entire bed is so contaminated now too. I also have the problem with my wardrobe stinking, now I know, this was driving me crazy for years.
I also feel like I am 100 years old, am always sore and in pain and always very fatigued. I do believe I have fibromyagia as I had some of the symptoms long before I got the memory foam, however, because I have been feeling worse lately, I have been retiring to my bed about 8pm, to watch tv or go on the laptop. Hence the reason my symptoms have increased since I started doing that. It's bittersweet, finding this site. If I get rid of the bed, and my symptoms improve, I will be so incredibly relieved. On the other hand, I will be incredibly angry that the sale of this topper stripped me of almost 10 years of any chance of QOL.
You bet a law suit should be filed, and to think of how many of these are selling at $19.99 at walmart, thats ONE store in one town in Canada. I hope it is not too late after all these years to be hopeful that maybe my quality of life may improve after getting a new bed. I may also look into a detoxicifation of my body. Lets hope finding this site was a blessing in disguise and it's great that many of you clued in after only a few nights. Wish me well :)

i bought a sleep number mattress and then put a memory foam topper on it .if i stay in my bed the whole night i can barely walk in the am so i usually switch to my recliner. just recently wondered about the foam. i am allergic to latex too but it's supposed to be latex free.could this cause my pain?

I think the fire retardants used may be of some problem. I have a topper that never smelt but pillows that did. Now I have a full mattress that won't expand! It doesn't smell much though. I have to agree with the doc here, not all these symptoms surely can be linked to the actual foam.

Bought a mattress topper from Kohls. The oder was so bad (it smelled like rat poison) I had to return it after only one night. Now the whole room and even the hall stinks. Everything in the room had to be disposed of.

I think you are full of * ! I have a cloud supream! And no symptoms of anything ; love it !

Hi We purchased a memory foam mattress the middle of March. It was fantastic for my back. My wife said to me many times what is wrong with you. i felt tired and all the time. just below my rib cage i had pains all the time aching feeling. from September i noticed itching in my private parts when i went to bed. and i started with my asthma which i am able to control with excercise. but i wasnt able to do nothing with it. so i decided to pop down the GP for a topup with inhaler and steriods. i started to breath and i notice a stabbing pain. i had to go the hospital and they did a xray, at first they said it was clear. 3 weeks later i had call off the GP saying i had to go see the lung specialist. He said i had 90% sure i had Sarcoidosis. So i decided to get shut of the mattress and guess what my asthma cleared up within two days. but i am now scared because i have a ct scan to check if anything is else i wrong.. systoms i've had. joint ache muscle and itchyness around my chest and eyes feel like * in them. i am looking to see lawyer about what has happened to me. You think the bed should of said its not suitable for Asthmatics. cheers all

Back at home me and my parents have a Memory Foam Mattress. I use a Memory Foam Topper at University. We have used these mattresses for over 3 years now and experienced no problems.

HOWEVER, there is a TV Programme called "Watch-Dog" within the United Kingdom. They reported a couple of years ago that some sofas where leaving people with red blisters all over there back and legs. They found it was due to a spray that stop the sofas from going mouldy. Maybe some mattresses are also sprayed with this chemical. All sofas with this chemical have now been removed from UK stores. Maybe there is a link?

I believe however I haven't had any problems because the UK has strict Product Safety laws which makes all products sold on the high-street go through strict product testing. Obviously some pass the testing, when they are not suitable and most cases are reported to the manufacturers or to the stores that sold the products (e.g. the sofa issue) thus publishing a product recall. If you buy mattresses over the Internet however, UK safety procedures may not be adhered to unless it is from a reputable UK company. If anybody in the UK has experienced any problems with mattresses, call Trading Standards and they may be able to help.

I bought a memory foam pillow, I too noticed the bad smell but thought this would subside if I aired it as I have read that this helps in the reviews on the sites that sell them, it was a micro fibre pillow with memory foam insert and the smell was so strong that I had to flip it so the insert wasn't on the side closest to my face, that said, I still woke up the next morning with a very spotty rash down the whole side of my face that was in contact with the pillow, I have also been feeling nauseous since I bought it but didn't associate this with the pillow, I considered just washing it until I read this article but now I will definitely be returning it!

1. So what's the recommended course of action on mattress purchase?
2. I had an IKEA Sultan bed in Prag, and I always felt that I slept well. My current mattress is killing me, that I wake with aches and pains. I was preparing to buy the IKEA Sultan mattress again, came to research polyurethane and found your article. Really appreciate the warning, yet wondering what course of action people should take to buy mattresses.

i had a Memory Foam pillow, i used it for 5 months , every morning i woke up with burring red eyes , i did not know what it was at the time , every morring i feelt sad and really bad that i could not stop my eyes from been red and began to be very depressed , after 4 moths i developed a bad disease, i have since found out that the compounds used to make memory foam are not stable enough in this form and these products will emit poisonous fumes for you to breath while your sleep. tell everyone you love tell the hole world these products are not safe !!!!

Bought a Memory foam pillow at a store "sale"
Aired it overnight.
Used it for the past two nights. Soft enough, for sure.
Experienced very disturbed sleep, breathless at times. Headache after the first night's use. Rare for me to experience headaches.
Also felt woozy.
Noticed the very bad chemical smell.
On arising today I went straight to do a web search about this.
Were there others with the same experience? This is the first web site I found.
I had no preconceptions about this product but at the least feel ripped off. It should come with far more warning than a vague "air me".
This ain't "new" smell.

As someone who has been to hell and back over this, I hope my post might help someone out there who feels that they are out of options. If you do not have $4000 or more for a good organic NON-REFUNDABLE bed (or you are worried about having an allergy to the Latex or wool that is present in most organic beds), there were only two things that helped me. I researched organic beds like crazy after I received my new Simmons Luxury Beautyrest, which burned my eyes and made my bedroom smell like bleach. I was horrified by the cost of Organic Mattresses, the fact that most contained Latex, which I am allergic to, that most contain wool, which is a known allergen, and none are refundable (and many of the dealers told me that some cannot tolerate the intense rubber smell of the Latex). Too many warning signs for me! I felt like I was going around in circles. I could return the mattress and get my money back, but what would go in it's place? I would still be stuck having to find a new mattress and Organic mattresses were outrageously priced with no returns allowed! Finally someone who really knows her stuff said that my only hope was to wrap my new toxic (but incredibly comfortable) mattress in activated charcoal blankets followed by two queen (size of my bed) fitted sheets followed by a very thick mattress pad, and then put on my regular bedding as usual. Charcoal blankets are used by the military to help knock out the toxins from their beds and their environment. Unfortunately nobody makes a mattress encasement made of carbon or activated charcoal, but this is what is used in it's place. They are not cheap either, but they cut down the fumes and odor. The second part of the equation is also very important, I had to invest in an air cleaner that is actually made to eliminate fumes and gasses (VOC's). There are many out there at various allergy stores online, but these particular types remove the gasses and fumes from the air in your room.

All of this was aggravating and expensive, but it was still cheaper than buying a non-refundable Organic mattress that I may or may not end up being allergic to. There is one pure organic cotton and innerspring mattress out there, but they admitted that it was a very firm mattress and not suitable for anyone with aches, pains, or Fibromyalgia. The new air cleaner (and again it has to be one that specifically says it removes VOC's) along with the mattress being wrapped in carbon (activated charcoal blankets), made a huge difference (you can google and find them). I can still smell the bleach, but it's not nearly as strong, and finally somewhat bearable for me. It is disgusting that we must go through all of this insanity to simply buy a mattress that is not going to to make us ill! Boric acid, arsenic, and Formaldehyde have no place in our mattresses on the off chance that we night have a freak accident one day and have our beds catch fire! Crazy! It also infuriates me that Simmons has the choice of using natural wool, Baking Soda, or Hydrating silica in place of all these dangerous chemicals, and the family based traditional company chooses to poison us instead! It's outrageous! Memory foam is incredibly dangerous, but add these flame-retardants to the equation, and you are truly sleeping in a toxic dump. I can’t believe the FDA hasn't stepped in! These are our beds for crying out loud (not a place we have casual contact with)!

I bought a top of the line temperpedic mattress and had started to experience flu like symptoms. I got frequent infections, sinus, ear, bladder and asthma symtoms. It took me 3 months to figure out it was the mattress. My lungs still don't feel the same 1 year later. I had five visits to the doctor in 3 months and they couldn't figure it out. How does someone 45 just develop asthma. I was so glad I googled the mattress conntection to health issues. I called the company to complain and they said they never heard of illnesses created from their product. Many people do ok on these mattresses but for those whom get ill it would be better to know up front that it is possible.

It's unfortunate that there have been all of these problems with memory foam - yet over the past few years the mattress/bedding industry has relentlessly shifted toward this material as the prominent, most prevalent type of mattress topper and mattress on the market. Just look at the selections of mattress toppers on Amazon - it seems that conventional polyurethane foam is being phased out in favor of the more troublesome memory foam. It seems that - once again - industry is forcing so-called "progress" upon us - a progress that is not necessarily needed or wanted, and a "progress" that is actually harmful.

It seems that regular polyurethane foam - if it is of the right firmness and quality - provides sufficient comfort to many people - so why is it getting more difficult to find exclusively-polyurethane foam products? Why is the market being taken over by memory foam products - when regular polyurethane foam could get the job done in many/most cases?

Neither type of foam is exactly healthy - but it seems that polyurethane foam is by far the lesser of the evils. Many/most polyurethane foams aren't as dense as memory foams - hence they don't have as large of a quantity of chemicals to outgas. Also, the lower density means that these foams sleep cooler - the cooler a material can be kept, the slower the rate of offgassing will be. Also, you don't "sink into" polyurethane foam the way you do memory foam - another property that adds up to less exposure/vulnerability to the chemicals. And polyurethane foam might not be comprised of as many harmful chemicals - it's a simpler material, not as "high tech".

It seems that the vast majority of these complaints are about memory foam mattresses or mattresses/toppers that have memory foam as a component. There are relatively few complaints about polyurethane foam. It seems likely that at least some of these complaints may have been avoided if the consumer had more options in the way of conventional foam - some of these complaints are likely from people who simply bought what was available to them (which is - in more and more cases - exclusively memory foam).

The mattress industry is rotten. More and more people are getting sick from memory foam - yet it continues to bring an increasing number of memory foam products to market, while abandoning conventional foam. Conventional foam is not without its problems - but it seems that there were/are fewer problems with it than with memory foam.

Truth be told - neither type of foam is healthy. You would think that someone would have figured out a way to stabilize the foam so that it doesn't expose us to these health-destroying chemicals. Could it be that they deliberately keep these foams unstable so that they will eventually soften/break down within a certain time-frame, so we will be forced to buy again? Is it a deliberate profit-maximizing move, at the expense of our health?

Btw, I recently had a horrible experience with a blended-Talalay latex mattress. (Blended-Talalay latex mattresses are comprised of at least 50% synthetic materials - these synthetics are petroleum-derived.) The problems were so severe that I had to return it. Basically, my symptoms were similar to what so many people have already described - my body severely reacted to the volatile compounds permeating from the mattress.

I worry that I have suffered long-term damage, or have come down with a serious ailment - as a result of my exposure to this mattress.

I fell for the marketing hype that this mattress was a healthy alternative to conventional polyurethane foams and viscoelastic memory foams - I found out the hard way that it was an empty promise.

It could be that a 100% natural latex mattress - or, better yet - a 100% natural Dunlop latex mattress (Dunlop might be a more stable type of latex than Talalay) - would have been less bothersome. Then again, all types of latex are unstable and are in a constant, insidious "breaking down" process practically from the moment they are manufactured. This breaking-down process constantly releases volatile compounds. Even the "natural" hydrocarbons released by 100% natural latex might be bothersome for some people - and even 100% natural latex has fire-retardants and binders in it that might be more bothersome than the latex itself.

Too bad I had to learn all of this the hard way - after I had bought the blended-Talalay mattress and started experiencing problems. The mattress companies certainly aren't forthcoming about all of this.

If you buy a latex mattress - please go for a 100% natural one, and just be aware that the hype about latex being "innocuous" might not match your reality. And a Dunlop latex mattress might very well be a better option - from a stability-offgassing standpoint - over Talalay.

And to deal with offgassing from all of these mattresses - a 6 mil food-grade polyethylene sheet is touted by some to be a healthy plastic that will protect you from the volatile compounds. You put the polyethylene sheet over the mattress, and it offers a barrier across which the fumes/compounds cannot escape. There are at least one or two places on the web that are selling these sheets as "No-Chem" mattress wraps. Last I checked, a site called "YourGuideToGreen" is selling them. I haven't had a chance to extensively test these mattress wraps, but it seems to me that they could offer at least a partial solution to the offgassing problem.

I was amazed to come across this website as well. Our family bought a Sealy memory foam mattress and pillows in Oct '11 with the hopes of improving our sleep. The mattress and pillows had a very strong chemical smell. My husband liked the mattress but wasn't going to jeopordize our health. When we bought the products I started having flu-like symptoms, headaches, sinus pressure, sore throat, earaches, itchy scalp, skin break-out, fatigue, trouble breathing and chest and back pain. We returned our bed for a latex bed with bamboo lining and Sealy latex pillows. The Sealy latex pillows have a strong sweet smell. After many doctor bills I was put on anti-biotics, Flonase and an inhaler. My son has had some similar symptoms and also had to go to the doctor. He has been put on Singulair and Flonase as well. The inhaler seems to be helping as well as sleeping without the pillows. I had a lot of pain in the back as well and the only way I found comfort prior to the inhaler was by using IcyHot patches. When I sleep on the pillows I have chest tightness, coughing at night, shortness of breath, tired, upset, moody, trouble sleeping, rapid breathing, feeling of anxiety, difficulty concentrating and sighing which our symptoms of asthma. We are in the process of trying to find a recourse. I am very frustrated after spending thousands of dollars for the bed and pillows and doctor bills to have my family suffer for months without anywhere to turn for advice. I am posting on here in hopes to find a recourse or class action law suit.

I saw this story because I have been in contact with Memory Foam and wanted to know if others had had a bad reaction. Firstly, I have been unable to have a good night's sleep because I kept waking up sweating and terribly hot. After a few weels I decided to ask the store to change it, but had to wait for several days for the new mattress (no Memory Foam) to come. in order to have a bed to sleep on, I put my old mattress which was still in the garage on top of the MF mattress (which was too heavy for me to move) and have been sleeping on top of that (like the Princess and the Pea.) . Still I had trouble sleeping, haven't been feeling well all week, and today my arms have been hot and red marks showing on them (like an allergy). I was fortunate enough what with the holidays to have some anti-histamine tablets, so this has cooled down a bit now, but I am really scared to sleep anywhere near that mattress. How can these things be on the market?

Just to say that last night we moved my old mattress to the lounge, and I actually slept through the night. Wot a blessing! But in thinking about this whole thing, I realised that the 'pinkeye' I developed, and the cystitis I went to the Doc about and took antibiotics for had only occured after I got my Memory Foam mattress. Reading about all the allergies and illnesses people have mentioned here is like playing 'Snap!' At this point I haven't mentioned the prominent store I bought it from, but perhaps one should take it up with the powers that be!

I think you are right on! I have three parrots that live indoors and they have special respiratory issues as well as my own allergies. While I loved the feel of a T....bed mattres on my back that had several back surgeries I knew that I could never own one due to all of the toxicities in it. I finally found an organic type one (yeah). They do not offer a return policy because they will not spray it down with for formaldehyde and restock it and try to sell it again if it doesn't work for you. The great thing about this mattress is that the people who work in these stores only sell this type of mattress so they know them well and will spend some good quality time with their customer. Well worth the research, time, money and health. The mattress begins with a K. Sleep well.

I have scoliosis. The first night on the topper my back got a knot in it so hard that it took two days to relax it. The next night my back tensed up again. I sink down into it and roll towards the middle and cannot lay flat on it. My husband likes it and loves a soft bed. I am considering getting a piece of wood cut to go under it and one cut to go under my mattress for my side. If that doesn't help then I may ask my husband to cut it in two.

My wife and I bought two memory foam mattresses from Walmart. After sleeping on it for just one night my wife was so weak she could hardly move. She is very fit and healthy but the off-gassing from this mattress reduced her to a pathetic wreak in one night. Walmart grudgingly accepted the return. It was Made in China !! One night without this awful odor ,on our old mattress and she has almost recovered.

* , just bought a memory foam topper because I have terrible back problems. I was so excited. But upon opening the directions about outgassing....I found this article and it went right back in the box. I hope I can find a suitable, organic alternative because I was desperate for a great nights sleep, although not at the expense of my long term health.

I purchased a memory foam topper from Kohl's (cannot check the brand right now), and think it is the cause of all of my recent health problems. The smell was dreadful and nearly incapacitating, but like an idiot, I just waited for it to dissipate. I also use the "free" memory foam pillow that came as a mail-in rebate when the topper was purchased, and I use another memory foam pillow between my knees to sleep due to back issues. About 6 months, ago I developed severe insomnia, soaking night sweats, tingling / crawling sensations and pain in my hands, feet, and severe pain in my calves as well as charlie horses AND shortness of breath and heart palpitations. Now, I am suffering from an undiagnosed eye ailment. I wake up (if I sleep at all) every 1.5 hours and my eyes are a mess. I get chronic ringing in my ears, floaters in my eyes, and frequent headaches. I had a COMPLETE physical done including every blood test under the sun. I also had cervical, lumbar, and brain MRI's and needle EMG testing done as the symptoms mimic MS among other diseases such as Lyme. My blood work came back perfectly (even had a Sed Rate Test and vitamin B levels checked) - my cholesterol is fine and my blood pressure is fine. My neurologist cannot find a thing wrong with me! He has referred me now to a rheumatologist whom I have not seen yet. I believe I have developed Multiple Chemical Sensitivity due to the chemicals in the topper and pillows. Jewelry that I was always able to wear causes me to break out, I have developed a SEVERE sensitivity to cigarette smoke, the underwires in my bra causes a painful burning rash under my breasts. Even the metal on the small shopping baskets causes my hands to burn and itch. I had an awful reaction to the dye my optomologist used in my eyes (never did before), and to the drops he gave me to use (that had preservatives). Due to pain and lack of sleep coupled with numerous other stress factors in our lives right now, I am on the verge of a breakdown. I am exhausted every day, I have absolutely NO libido, my eyes are killing me and my legs and feet feel like they are "alive" and in pain 100% of the time. I have been racking my brain for months about what I may have changed in my life 6 months ago, and just tonight I realized that it has got to be my memory foam topper and pillows, and started to research it; only to find out that I am certainly not alone. My life has been dreadful lately, and I am hoping the effects can be permanently reversed by ditching my topper and pillows (sadly, they are comfortable). Also, my dog developed a cough, wheezing and bloody stools about 3 months after I bought the topper and he slept in our bedroom alot. He died shortly thereafter - coincidence? I think not, as the chemicals have been proven to cause lymphoma in dogs and mice. The manufacturer's should pay dearly for ruining my life, and consumers need to be warned!

We bought out tempur mattress in November. It was delivered on the 18th nov. without even realising or linking my symptoms to the mattress I began to get sick. First I felt tho I was suffering with sinusitis as my head felt blocked so the doctor gave me antibiotics which did nothing to help over the next week my balance deteriated and I found it hard to walk in a straight line, this left me feeling very confused and almost like I was in a dream like state. I would have conversations with people but struggle to consentrate on what we were talking about. (this was very upsetting). Then I began to get a extremely tight chest and almost felt panicked. All these symptoms where getting worst and when I visited the doc for the second time just to be told I had a chest infection and Possiably an ear infection I began to get very down as it felt more servere than that. The dizzyness by this point was causing me a huge problem and I was struggling to get through day to day jobs. When I visited the doctor for the third time in December I was taken more seriously as by now I was also feeling sick all the time and my mood was getting very low, I couldn't be bothered to do anything and had no motivation for anything. At this point the doctors took blood tests for all sorts of scary illnesses ( very scary time for me).
One night after I had spent the evening googling the Internet trying to find out what could be wrong it dawned on me. The mattress!!!! I read this page and realised it must be the mattress as the symptoms are so similar to others on here. The next day I got my test results back from blood tests and it was all clear so it had to be the mattress. We immediately got it out the house and got a new sprung mattress, day by day I have been feeling better and better. It's been a week now since it has gone and the dizzyness has finally gone. I feel like me again. I reacted badly to this mattress but my partner who sleeps in same bed didn't have any reaction. I hope this helps the next person reading who may be experiencing the awful reaction to memory foam.

I I recently purchased an ortho dedic memory foam mattress at Sears.
I noticed that it I was certified by certipur. The second night I woke with .hives. After 1 week the hives were severe, followed by nausua and headaches.
I learned that certipur is a code name for 3a of the largest polluters. I removed the flame retardant cover thag Im not suppose to remove. I am hoping this helps. The mattress is quite comfortable.

Unfortunately, I hear stories like these weekly. There are healthy options!!! Please research VI-SPRING. The beds are all natural… no latex OR foam. Each bed is handmade and environment friendly, and because the materials come from Mother Nature and actually breathe, there’s a lifetime guarantee. Hearing stories like these make me sad knowing that people don't seem to know there is an affordable alternative.

It’s worth researching your options when it comes to choosing a bed. We literally spend a quarter of our lives face to face with our mattress.

Are the futon matresses and stuff also unhealthy to sleep on or have chemically toxic issues?

It depends. Some futons are made with latex or memory foam, which have strong off gassing. If you need to buy a futon, look for something all wool and cotton. No latex, no foam.

Some people have unfortunate reactions to fire retardant chemicals too. The only material (in the US) that a bed can be made with that is 100% free of fire retardants is WOOL. Wool has an ignition temperature of about 600° so it doesn't require it. All other materials need some type of fire retardant to pass the fire code. Some companies are more relaxed than others depending on where they source their fabric and how desperate they are to cut costs. If a material has been heavily soaked in fire retardant, it will have a chemical smell.

I have a temperpedic and have NEVER had any problems...sleep wonderfully too

I reported afew in December how i felt about these memory foam mattress. i bought one in march 2011. within 4 months my body was so tired after each day. three hours a day felt like a marathon. Here are symptoms. joints knees, ankle ache. itchyness around chest and goin. just under the right rib pain. eyes red all the time. couldnt go to sleep till late in the morning. 1 am usually.felt like i was having pain around heart tightness. rash on nose. but most of all the asthma. I've had astham since i was 5 years old and it didnt affect me much at all.It came back so much i had go to the GP for medication.The medication helped me to breath better.I was sent for an xray.The xray highlighted my lymph nodes expanded.This would stop me breathing.The specialist was worried so much.I had to go for a urgent CT scan. When the lymph node was mentioned, i came accross this website.Thank you for your website help.I discarded the Mattress. I phoned the company up were i bought the mattress from and they said they would analise the bed for allergies. They responded to say no allergies could be found towards asthma.Conclusion. The mattress went out of my home around 7 weeks now. Within 7 days i didnt need to take any medication for my Asthma. My CT scan i had from head to my wasit.The lymph nodes in my lungs have also gone down. The specialist thinks it could of been sarcoidosis.obliviously i am allergic to these beds. i would would mention to all your friends about these mattress epecially young children who have Asthma. Ive been detoxing with lemons drinks for about two weeks now which as helped enormously . I hope this helps.cheer Bobby

My neck fells like a have serious headache down there I woke in the middle of the night in pain I was sleeping on a memory foam pillow .

We bought a foam mattress from Living Spaces in Burbank, CA. After a few months, the bed seemed to sag. We turned it and it got worse. We finally took the cover off to discover it was completely saturated with black mold. The company refuses any responsibility and we were told they would remove it and refund our money. I asked him if he knew the consequences of sleeping on mold and he did not. We both have headaches, respiritory problems and back and shoulder pain. If you have one of these mattresses, please check it out. So deadly!

1/25/2012 I am 75 years old and have been in the foam business for over 46 years. Polyurethane foam did not exist prior to 1959. I entered the field in 1964. What you read here comes from a person who knows little about foam products. He or she fails to adequately identify the numerous types of foam and the fact that polyurethane mattresses have been in use for over fifty years. Our building is filled with polyurethane foam including piles of scrap over six feet high. I have been handling and cutting foam for 46 years and I have no symtoms of any effect. I have for 46 years slept on a polyurethane mattress. Polyurethane mattresses are open cell construction and if there is any gas left it is easily neutralized by ventilation. Polyurethane insulation is a closed cell foam and there is a possibility of outgasing. It is rigid and cannot be used for mattresses. We are in the process of suing a physician for indicating to a patient to return their recently purchased mattresses because of outgasing. You do have free speech but the basic legal principle is that you can say anything it must however, be the truth otherwise it is litigatible. Tom Morse, Green Mountain Foam Products, Underhill, Vt. 05489 The writer of this article should be sued by the mattress trade.

nd were nice but I'm concerned about the hazzard that they may cause. I called a news room today to voice my concern. By your info. I see im not alone.

I am so grateful that people take the time to write about their experiences on here. I started to experience some of the symptoms described. I was trying to think of anything different in the last few weeks that could possibly explain the way I was feeling. So I googled about the Novafoam mattress pillowtop because I had concerns about the chemical smell, and the fact that it has chemicals inside. And I was stunned by the extent of symptoms and illnesses people have gotten after putting one in their bedroom. I am chemical sensitive to start with, and have asthma. I really should have researched and read testimonies such as this BEFORE buying one. I did notice the smell the first few nights, but it says on the box that will go away after a few days. One morning I awoke with a rash on my face and forehead. It was very itchy and red. And that is not something that happens to me unless I am having an allergic reaction. My upper back itched as well, but had no rash. I thought it may have been a reaction to a new medication. But weeks later, after stopping the medicine, I still had the rash. Also my eyes burned as if irritated, and felt very dry, even tho I use moisturizing eye drops daily. I got no relief, and felt this every day. Also I started to get very depressed and sad for no reason. Something didn't feel right. I definately didn't feel like myself, but wasn't able to put my finger on why. Then I started to get very sleepy and lethargic. No matter how much sleep I got, I still was left feeling that way. And if I sat down, I would fall alseep. If I sat down 5 times, I would fall asleep 5 times. I had no energy to do much of anything. I knew something was very wrong. All of my symptoms could have been caused by chemicals in the mattress. Had I known then what I know now, I would never have let my husband purchase something that could be so detrimental to our health, and cause very serious health issues. Many thanks for this story, because it really made me aware of just how hazardous these mattresses can be. I am going to see if the store will take it back. If not, it will be be trashed. It isn't worth the risk. I will keep a window cracked for a while to get rid of any gases still in the area also.

I bought memory foam mattress from http://www.memoryfoamwarehouse.co.uk/, I air it for 18 days, but smell still bad, my lungs got tight, I feel tired and cannot breath in the room. I'd rather be alive than "comfortable" on the toxic mattress...

The technology has changed and evolved over the years. There is a lot of material on visco-elastic foam and it's hard to sort through self-pushed blogs promoting own company vs true opinion of someone who actually used/bought memory foam mattress. It takes time but it's possible. And one thing I realized is that foam manufactured domestically seem to get higher reviews, by far fewer complaints and seem much safer to health. On some websites people go back to provide updates several months after to give any additional assessment. I don't have a reason to distrust those reviews because I know I left reviews myself on various sites, such as amazon, after buying different products. By the way, check out CertiPur site to see which manufacturers sell healthier foam mattresses.

ok first off let me say this.... no way in hell will i sacrifice my health for a better nights rest. i got my memory foam off ebay from "dream by design" $215 dollars for a 4 inch topper. delivered straight to my door. so i cut the package open, first thing i notice is the strong "wet paint" like smell but i didnt think anything of it. so i set up my new comfy bed... and yes it was extremely comfortable. and after cleaning my room all day i stop to relax and eat dinner. i go back into my room where i had left the window open all day, but the odor is just as strong if not stronger than before. i actually start getting pressure in my sinus because the odor is so repulsive so i go online and do a little info hunting to see what the source of this smell is. only to find out that this piece of * is made with toxic chemicals. and yes they are toxic. if your body reacts negatively to something like an odor that means its not supposed to be in your system. im also very OCD when it comes to chemicals, i dont like soaps and anti bacterials and i cant stand the smell of candles or air freshners. so when i read that its made from petroleum and polymer based chemicals of course im gonna be pretty * * . what a scam this garbage is. defintiely not worth it. id rather pile 5 layers of sleeping bags on my bed before i sleep with toxic chemicals entrenching into my body, or let alone my son... who sleeps on my bed. another thing that pisses me off is there was no warning in the packaging about the fumes. if i could find the corporate bastards behind this id put a .45 caliber round right through their * skulls. these money making scumbags dont take peoples health into consideration when making these harmfull products. ITS ALL ABOUT THE MONEY. ill be returning my topper first thing in the morning. oh an get this... 15% restocking fee and i have to pay for the shipping. suck my * * * you should be paying me an inconvenience fee and my next doctors appointment fee. i cant wait till you guys get a lawsuit against you.

Hi,
I have a similar mattress and used it since 2006. I had no issue. The mattress had a bad smell for a while but now is fine. Very comfortable. We use two pillows as well.