14 weeks and knee wakes me up 3 times a night
Posted , 4 users are following.
I didn't experience this with my first TKR. I wake with the knee very stiff and bent like a chicken wing. The shins and front of my leg are aching. I massage the leg and push it straight. The massage helps but when i stand on the leg I have to push the leg straight and its hard to walk until ive done about 10 steps. I have to keep my cane by the bed to accomplish this.I' m very unsteady for about the first 6 steps. i usually take over the counter pain meds for this. I had thought it would get better in time but it doesnt seem to be easing off.
Anyone else experienced this?
0 likes, 12 replies
melissa34582 jean02698
Posted
Hi Jean,
I am 10 weeks post op TKR with similar issues. I can't sleep at night with out sleeping pills due to pain. My knee is stiff and bends at night. My knee seems good after I exercise it and its at 0 and 120. As soon as I go to bed the pain flares up and like you woken up from pain plus stiff and bent. I had my other knee replaced a couple months before this last one and I didn't have these issues this late in the game either. I'm not sure why but I just exercise it alot, ice it and follow-up with my surgeon. Good luck!!
Melissa
jean02698 melissa34582
Posted
Hi Melissa,
i take Benadryl when i go to bed as a sleeping aid but also for allergies. However i still wake after 2 or 3 hours. Luckily I'm tired and can go back to sleep but I am up 3 times a night. I was hoping it would ease off in time. Sorry to hear you are having the same problem. I see my surgeon in 4 weeks.I am exercising at the gym ...no problem. While i watch TV I stretch hoping it may help with nights.
melissa34582 jean02698
Posted
Hi again. My doc put me on Ambian for sleep, it knocks me out till about 3-4am. Unfortunately, I am unable to sleep past 4am and I used to be a really good sleeper. Now I'm up and down during the night without sleepaid.
I am starting the gym myself on Monday. I miss the bike at physical therapy plus I feel the gym will benefit me with other strengthening equipment. What equipment do you use at the gym that has helped the knee??
jean02698 melissa34582
Posted
Hi...at the gym I use the reclining bike for 15 to 20 mins. i am now doing levels 1 to 3. Today i did 30 min. I use the leg press machine 3 sets of 15 at 50 pounds. I use the balls to do crunches and lots of stretching. i also do back and upper body weights. Im usually at the gym for 50mins 3 times a week. i always walk much better after the bike.
I dont like working out but always feel much better after the exercise and my limp improves. i stopped taking my cane into the gym as people kept saying i wasnt getting better. Once i left my cane in the car people would say i was improving....
fedupgirl jean02698
Posted
Hi Jean, i am about 14 weeks too and went for a post op examination on Friday. I too am experiencing stiffness and pain in calfs. I was told this is normal and will pass as the leg strengthens. Could take a few months, best thing to do keep taking pain meds and plod on. My consultant said it would be better in six months. I find doing the leg stretching exercises help.
jean02698 fedupgirl
Posted
Hi Fedupgirl...I am ok during the days. Its the nights that get me down.I wake 3 times a night. I stretch the leg, message and try to stand on the leg. I have to keep pushing the leg straight and its hard to stand. I hobble for at least 4 steps till i can properly put weight on the leg. Good to hear from people with similar problems. I do lots of stretching ...it really helps. Before this site i felt my progress was abnormally slow....and that there was something wrong with the knee. im a little more patient now with my progress.
thanks for your response
Jean
fedupgirl jean02698
Posted
Hi again Jean i know what you mean, before i joined this site, i was a proper fedupgirl, joining this site also helped me, dont worry about your progress as i have learned from people on here it varies. I used to get quite down and upset but i now feel as though it will get better. My worst times are in the morning and if i wake up in the night, i too have terrible stiffness and my first steps are also quite difficult but it gets easier as i get down stairs. My consultant assures me that this will pass in a few months. Hang in there Jean, hear to being normal again ha.
CHICO_MARX jean02698
Posted
I've read over 5,000 posts on here in almost 3 years. It seems to be quite common that knee #2 is frequently not like knee #1, for better or worse. For your current situation, you might want to hang this on your fridge...
Reality
jean02698 CHICO_MARX
Posted
Very true Chico...there is also 11 years in between the first and 2nd and im sure age makes a difference. This knee had much more damage than the first and the surgeon had to do extra to get the knee cap from not floating over to the side. ill be interested to see at my next visit if the knee cap has stayed put or floated back to the side of my knee.Before surgery my knee was very swollen...huge...to my disappointment its still very large.
CHICO_MARX jean02698
Posted
Ouch... Knee cap too...plus the time difference. I've got a metal hip and now the knee (almost 3 years) plus two spine fusions. 4 1/2 pounds of metal. I'm the TSA's worst nightmare at the airport!!! I had 4 knee scopes in my 50's and the TKR at 68 plus many other surgeries big and small. The knee was the absolute worst. I thought, like the others, I'd just skate through it. WRONG!!! Toughest rehab of all time. Not easy for a Sicilian from Brooklyn who lived "the New York Minute". I learned all about time, work and patience...big time.
jean02698 CHICO_MARX
Posted
Chico...I too set the bells off at the airport with a shoulder replacement and the knee. i had been told the shoulder was worse than the knee but i sailed through it. I have had many surgeries and I have always been the star patient thats why this surgery has thrown me for a loop. I'm pleased i found this site and people to chat with who understand what I am going through. It has helped me through the experience.
CHICO_MARX jean02698
Posted
I rehabbed my new hip six days a week, 5 hours a day in a therapy pool, gym and track. Complete rehab in SIX WEEKS!!! I would overcome a huge fusion in FOUR...so many others. That's why I completely underestimated the knee. Absolutely knocked me down. Plus I got sciatica 5 weeks post op (one month chiropractor fix) but them my rehab was shut down when I developed spinal stenosis at 8 months. Then I needed another spinal laminectomy 9 months after that. Just one thing after another.
Saved for two years and now this incredible hydrotherapy spa is a true lifesaver. Twenty minutes every night. This is NOT a party tub...two person pure hydrotherapy. Totally recommended...