The recommendation of buying a mattress that you can flip over is on top of my list.....I do that every six months...flip over, or just reverse foot/head....last mattress lasted yrs....bought a number one..DH wanted..he loved it, I hated it....now have just a "plain ole" Matt. No fancy pillow top, foam top...and I sleep very well

I have had a Sleep Number for about 3 years now and love it. I know, they are expensive. But the feature that lets you change the firmness by a remote is wonderful. DH and I are not small people and our mattresses tend to look like a W very quickly. Our mattress before this had the individual coils, BIG MISTAKE! They need to be tied together to not compress permanently. But yes, there was no jiggling the other person when we moved. Go to the sleep number store without your credit card and test them.

WE had a firm (try like sleeping on a rock firm) mattress that was making my bones hurt and had difficulty getting to sleep and then staying asleep. We tried out the Sleep Number bed, bought one, and oh, the delight of a night's sleep. My husband uses a way higher number (firmer) than I. They are pricey, but if you can talk to the manager, sometimes you can buy a model that's being discontinued. Good luck in your quest. The docs that recommend a firm mattress may not be at the stage where bones can hurt and interrupt sleeping.
We didn't buy the 'special' bedsheets, etc, but found ones that work fine at a local discount store.

Two of my sisters and one brother have back trouble and arthritis, so they all bought temperpedic mattresses, not all at the same time. Every one of them absolutely LOVE theirs and would not be without. My GF bought a mattress for her KS bed in her guest room from Overstock.com. It feels just like a temperpedic. When I stay with her, I sleep on it. It is wonderful!! I sleep better than ever on it. And....she only paid about $300-$400 for it!!

We highly recommend a sleep number mattress. It won't work on your box springs but metal frames are not expensive. We were surprised to see that our sleep numbers were so different. We have been married 53 years and this is the best mattress we have found.

My son had a brand that is similar to sleep by number and they love it. I bought a memory foam one and within a month I felt like I was sleeping in dip. they reccommended I bring it back, later I was notified they could not do anything about it and I needed to take it back. So I put in in my guestroom. It is fine but not to use on a regular basis. The same thing happened to a gal I clean house for. Their problem was they waited to report this for at least 2-3 years. What the companies do is measure - it has to be a 2 inch dip before anything is done about it. These people buy LOTS of stuff from this store and still nothing was done. You can see the deep dips even with the bed made up. Neither of these people are too heavy.

Thank you all so much! I've been doing research all afternoon and am leaning toward a sleep number but have a lot more to check on. From what I've read I think a single chamber full or twin might be better than a dual chamber. If anyone else has pros or cons about the sleep number beds or other, please chime in! I'm beginning to feel a bit more hopeful!
Polly

Some of the firm mattresses are like sleeping on sheet rock or plywood. Do test and ask about a return policy.

I love my sleep number bed. I had it over 12 years and I'm still comfortable. I had back surgery in 2007 and when I sleep on other beds, I'm not as comfortable. Try one out. The new ones look even better.

I tried a sleep # after I had knee replacement and I didn't like it...I couldn't find a good number....but then perhaps it was because of the pain and not the bed.

I read and think it is a smart idea. To buy a regular mattress without a pillow top and then buy a pillow top for it then when you wear out the topper you can replace just that. We are also in the market for a bed...so thank you for asking this question.

Also my daughter had the memory foam for about 10 years and they hate it! Her husband thinks it is giving him migraines. They are buying the sleep number - so I think I will wait for their review.