i know this won't be an option for you because your bed is so big.

but...when i had to replace my mattress i got a tempur pedic. i was having so much back pain that i didn't care that it was more $$$$. i love mine. they have different firmnesses. it really did help very much with my overall pain.

you don't have to turn it either. it's very heavy. a bit hard for me to just change my sheets because i have to lift it a bit.

Hi Kitty,

and everyone else that has posted on this thread.

Recently I woke one morning with PAIN in my right hip. How does one injury their hip while sleeping??? I sleep on my stomach and have my entire life. I will occasionally roll onto my side for a short time on rare occasion but my stomach is my basic sleep position.

I get too long winded in my posts so I will skip the trip to the doc, and just tell you that after a month or two, my hip is now back to normal.

Since this happened while I was IN BED sleeping, I began to wonder if it was my mattress. It FEELS comfortable but it does have a bit of age on it, actually a lot. It also LOOKS brand new as I have always used fitted bed pads on it.

I began to search online for a new mattress. (I have a fairly new box springs.) It is a double bed or full size and I sleep alone.

All the new mattresses have a high profile (8 inches high or higher) and I am short. I don't want a mattress that will make it difficult for me to get in and out of the bed. My feet touch the floor with the mattress I have now and it is the perfect height for getting in and out of the bed. I also have a lot of sheet sets that will not fit a higher profile mattress and I don't want to have to buy new sheets. If I had wanted to do that, I would have gotten a new queen size when I bought my new box springs.

I looked into the mattress toppers while I was doing my online search for mattresses. I tend to get hot easily during the night and have night sweats so a foam topper will not work for me. I see you can get a combo gel/foam topper that allows heat transfer and keeps one cooler during the night.

I am also thinking about just getting a cheap egg crate to try first, just to see if that will help before going to the expense of something more, like a topper or a new mattress.

I "think" my mattress may be creating pressure points and that is what happened to my hip. Not sure but I don't want to go through another two months of hip pain if it is my mattress.

I just don't want my bed to be too high from ANY addition or replacement to keep my feet from touching the floor and making it too difficult to get in and out of the bed. I don't want to have to use a step stool.

My next door neighbor had a bed that would take a ladder for me to get in or out of it.

I plan to go "shop" and try out some at mattress stores this week if I am up to it.

I would welcome any comments from others.

How is your topper working for you, Kitty?

It's working OK......just OK. It's a little bit too high to be comfortable. I just bought a step stool with a handle so we'll see how that works. I do think a new mattress is in my future.

I think the sheets I have on the bed now cause a lot of the issues I'm having. They're kind of slick and I get no "traction" when I try to turn over or even scoot up or down.

Who would have ever thought just trying to get some sleep would become such an issue?

Hi Kitty and everyone else that posted on this thread,

I got out a yardstick and a tape measure today and did some measuring to see what I have and know what to look for in my shopping trip when I make it.

Total height of everything, from floor to highest point of mattress at corner is 21 and a half inches. YES, low, but just the perfect height for me.

I also placed the yardstick in various places on the mattress and it does have some sags so I guess I really need to look for a new mattress. I used the yardstick like a level. I really hope I can find one that is not too high.

I measured the mattress itself at the corner and it is 8 and a half inches high so I think I will be OK with a new mattress of equal height or maybe just an inch or two higher.

I am really afraid that a mattress that is more than 10 inches will be too high.

Thanks for everyone's help. I will keep you posted on what I find and what action I take.

Since my mattress does have a few small sags, I think a topper will not resolve any problems that I may be having with my old mattress. I guess I will have to go with a new mattress.