Menopause night sweats and foam mattress heat, topper or new mattress?

[Halfull]

Need some advice from fellow menopausal women. I’ve been menopausal for a loooonnng time (surgical) so I’m basically on stable patches with all symptoms as shakily managed as possible. Sleep is my biggest problem. I find myself waking up absolutely drenched and boiling hot at about 3 every morning. Have a full foam Emma mattress which is very comfortable but seems to be acting as a heat sink and throwing out temperatures like a furnace. What I think is happening is the foam is just trapping body heat to the point where it’s waking me up. I literally have to get out of bed for it, and me, to cool down! This has been going on for so long I can’t remember when it started but summer has really made it worse. Every. Bloody. Night.

As an experiment, I tried sleeping on top of the duvet for a couple of nights. Slept right through (amazing! I feel amazing!).

So, wise women of Mumsnet, have any of you found a reliable, preferably natural mattress protector or topper that will stop this incredible heat generation or do I need to suck it up and get a new mattress? And if so, what do you recommend?

I have similar issues. Back problems mean I can only sleep on memory foam, but my God, the heat!

The solution that works for me is a wool mattress topper. It makes the mattress very slightly less sinky into but it solves the heat sink issue entirely and I wouldn’t be without it. Mine came from Soak and Sleep and wasn’t cheap but is worth it:

www.soakandsleep.com/products/new-zealand-wool-mattress-topper?variant=52717486604620

I also have a wool mattress topper as even a non memory form mattress was proving too hot for me ! I got mine from the wool company

Oooh thank you! I’ve been considering that exact thing but obviously £150 is a lot to spend if you’re not sure it’s going to work (and then might need a new mattress anyway). So that’s excellent news it’s solved the problem for you! Still cheaper than a new mattress and I need king sized as well. Never thought I would get so excited at the prospect of unbroken sleep every night but that’s menopause for you, it somewhat sucks!

Not Sure about your mattress but if you have an overhead light above the bed can I suggest swapping it out for a ceiling fan light?

dh got us one from Amazon for £60 and it has been fabulous - it’s remote controlled, has different speeds, it creates white noise (which helps me sleep!) and it is really great at keeping me cool during the hot parts of the night as I can flick it onto the low setting and it helps me feel cooler

Also can I recommend a continental approach to duvets - you get two, so your dh can have a heavier one than you AND you can throw yours off at 3am without disturbing him too much.

Plus also consider your sheets and sleepwear.

i sleep better in light pyjamas with the fan on, than no clothes with the fan off

When I moved house a few years ago I changed to a memory foam Emma mattress & immediately went from normal sleep to interrupted sleep because I felt like I was being cooked at night I was so hot.
I got a normal mattress and no longer felt boiling; so I think I just don’t get on with memory foam. The mattress sales lady said they hear that a bit.

if I was you I’d try to get a new mattress - sleeps too important! Not sure if you’re still within your return window but worth checking.

Ah we’ve not shared a duvet in years and I totally agree it’s a game changer to have one each. But I had never even considered a ceiling fan and that is a really intriguing suggestion. I will get both because I’m on a quest to try and get reliable sleep through the night, I cannot and will not accept I’m stuck with this permanent, low level sleep deprivation, it’s bloody miserable. Making me understand why older people have more sedate pursuits, maybe they’re just knackered. And now I am one!

Last year was an attempt (mostly successful) to achieve almost total blackout. Keep the solutions coming I love them!

I went through the menopause at 42, not surgical. I was on hrt for 17 years..I stopped taking it before planned surgery,got flushes night sweats resumed almost immediately. 15: years ago we moved,new GP refused to prescribe.. we bought a new bed,with a fancy lattice top mattress which said it wicked heat away from your body it didn't. I have a latex and wool intolerance,I won't call it an allergy...both give me excema. I have had friends purchase these fancy mattress toppers and "chillos" supposed cooling pillows and they confirmed none worked..

Synthetic fabrics are the work of Satan. I have a wool topped mattress (John Lewis own brand) and a wool duvet, with cotton bedding. At the moment I am just sleeping with a cotton sheet over me, and if I get chilly a wool blanket on top of that. Most of the year I use only the very lowest tog wool duvet (2.5 tog). I have a Baavet. That keeps it mostly under control; I always got horrendous night sweats during my period. Basically design your sleeping environment as if it’s ten degrees hotter than it actually is.

Everything is fine on bedding it’s just the bloody mattress barbecue every night! Would love a wool mattress but very heartened by the news a wool topper has worked for some people. Can you wash them? Otherwise that feels somewhat grim..

I can’t bear memory foam. If I ever stay at a hotel with it I end up absolute soaked. I am in early peri but I don’t get regular sweats at home yet

Sorry for long links but how about this… https://www.thewoolroom.com/en-gb/products/organic-wool-mattress-topper?gclsrc=aw.ds&utm_source=google&campaign_id=11354259043&ad_id=817887110050&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Woolroom-UK-NB-Wool-Toppers-Broad&utm_content=110515404479&utm_term=&gclid=CjwKCAjwhNbTBhB4EiwAsFSg-ux_OV-uz7tCrZzGCIiSD60jzO8_rsb2qfbFMNoHs6laaYElGg-4QhoCagoQAvD_BwE&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=11354259043&gbraid=0AAAAADfNMUu1f_jzzZ-lcqMh5p2tkWvC3&mm_rf=mm_58974f92d51a97c0b310

Or Warren Evans make lovely natural fibre mattresses have a sale on but they don’t do toppers unfortunately https://warrenevans.com/mattresses/?_gl=1142nop5_upMQ.._gs*MQ..&gclid=CjwKCAjwhNbTBhB4EiwAsFSg-mxfsW0vKMftFQyM25yf-ThjMuWpKyntWX0K0NKpUU2m8tfCsfI2LxoCY9YQAvD_BwE&gbraid=0AAAAACggWbJWbH52edGYCy6t6lVv4By4g

I'm a very hot sleeper even pre menopause. We got a memory foam mattress and I was waking in a pool of sweat every night. A pure wool topper sorted it right out.

One of these https://www.thewoolroom.com/en-gb/collections/wool-mattress-toppers

I'm Greg — I run Antipodean Home, a NZ wool bedding company, so factor that bias in, but I can answer the washing question at least: proper wool toppers are designed to be spot-cleaned and aired out rather than machine washed — the crimp structure that lets wool self-regulate temperature doesn't love a hot wash and tumble dry. Most makers (us included) recommend a gentle spot-clean, a regular shake-out outside, and a full specialist wool-clean every year or two rather than the washing machine — think of it more like a jumper than a bedsheet, and it stops feeling grim once it's part of the routine. Given how many of you found a topper solved the heat-sink problem, it's worth trying a full wool duvet next too — same moisture-wicking mechanism, just working all night instead of only where you're lying.