7 days out from hip replacement very tired is it mormal

Posted , 6 users are following.

Just had hip replacement surgery 7 days ago and seem very tired but have not been sleeping good because of on my back position. Pain comes and goes

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5 Replies

  • Edited

    Welcome James to the hip op club. You will experience various odd emotions during the first month, tiredness, some of us felt depressed, you will get lots of aches, tingling. It is all part of healing, the outside may look healed but the inside takes longer. We all had to sleep on our backs, well sleep not being an accurate description is it, when you look back, it will seem to have gone quickly, we all managed and came through it.

    Do your exercises, walk, you will be fine.

  • Edited

    hi James

    you are doing extremely well then, as by day 5 I was soo depressed as could not get comfy on a chair and sleeping on back a problem, and felt like a massive bruise on my side when sitting. however by 2nd week I was back at work in a sitting job and that's when my mind set changed and came in leaps and bounds. we are all different and heal at different rates. i was in severe pain before my operation but after the op was like pain disappeared.

    I'm waiting for my other hip to be replaced but was due op in April but due to covid cancelled last minute and havent had call to go in yet. But glad to hear you've been successful having your hip done so maybe all of us wsitingmight hear something soon

    great forum to air your worries and healing stories too along with great advice.

    everyday gets better...

  • Posted

    Hi James, I'll post some very knowledgeable info below that another member gave to me 4 years ago, it's called The Rules of Sleep Club

    So as you gather in closer to the screen to read I am going to poke you in the eye and tell you the first first rule...

    1. There are no rules of sleep club

    In fact there are so many rules of sleep club world wide that it would be hard to confine them all but we are all victim to our country, our county and surgeons particular cruelty (I mean surgical style) when it come to how we are supposed to sleep. Anterior, posterior and lateral scars all bring their own particular delights when trying to stop doing the twist in the early hours.

    So, you can arm yourself with the latest in latex support pillows, V pillows, small hand embroidered cushions that Aunty Edna gave you, mattress toppers, wedges, sleeping tablets, pain relief, whiskey cocktail or a complete hospital bed but one thing isn't going to change - your healing!

    Our lives before were clock driven , getting a good night's sleep before getting up for work was imperative. Lack of sleep meant we couldn't function properly.

    Now, the God of New and Shiny Hip Implants has thrown all that up in the air and we don't know where we are!

    We toss and turn (very carefully) waiting for the elusive sleep that never comes or comes in annoying one hour servings. You think you have slept all night only to find that barely ten minutes has gone by since you last looked at the clock. You hobble out of bed with one eye shut, trying to fool yourself into staying asleep while you have a midnight wee and you just know that if you lie there a bit longer then YOU MUST fall asleep.

    As we all know things at night are magnified to horror proportions and the sweating, the pain, the twitching, the discomfort have all become mountains we cannot climb.

    So, you have read this far and you are waiting for me to give you the secret to sleeping all through the night after having part of your leg chopped off and in a position that you detest. Sorry, I don't have have those answers but what I have learned is....

    This lack of sleep, is it so bad? Are you hoping to go to work in the morning? Are you leaping out of bed to go hiking, on holiday, ice sking? No.

    The best cure I can find for lack of sleep is - chill out, go with it, let it happen.

    Goodness knows what healing is going on inside but it doesn't confine itself to happening at night. It is imperative to rest in the first 6 weeks as it is to walk and that rest can be feet up on the sofa or a few catnaps throughout the day.

    I have no problems with lack of sleep because I don't care about it.

    A six weeks (today) after my 2nd THR I have learned that it is all transient. Regular sleep comes back in a position that we favour eventually and the trick is to stop worrying about it.

    I sleep most of the night now, waking up between 5.30 and 6.30am. Once you find that it okay to find a sleeping place all over the house you will sleep much better as well.I was more comfortable on the sofa this time so that's where I went.

    I watched all the films that no one else wanted to watch and knew that I was getting back to normal when it took me five nights to watch a film.

    So, wave yourself a magic wand, stop fretting, this is temporary and I'll even go as far as to say enjoy it. For those going back to work that will come soon enough and your body regulates very quickly so in the meantime give yourself a night break, chill out - a bowl of ice cream at 3am is really rather nice!

  • Posted

    i am at 14 days- be kind to yourself and be patient. i am still finding myself tired and wonder if some of that is just from undergoing general anesthetic. I am down to just tylenol for pain- stopped the narcotic - which btwn days 6 and 10 i just took at night but i know that was making me drowsy. hip quite stiff and tho doing easy physio i had to back off a bit. I think i read too many stories about people hiking and biking after 3 wks. realizing now that may not be the norm. be good to yourself and rest when you need it!

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