Concern about knee surgery with RLS

oh my gosh Maree, its funny you have posted this as my father is the same but 78 and has had very little sleep all his life with restless legs and body etc. he is due in the next six weeks to have   knee surgeory also and this is a big worry of ours also. He is a shocker particulary at night and i feel his habit of moving and sitting at all sorts of positions is going to hinter his recovery. He is a real fidget in the tight so mum say s. Its a real worry isnt it

i would tell the hospital andthey may give a sleeping pill or something for tranquilistion for just after it or something,. they may do a few things differently and knock him out at night when its at his worst and concentrate on the day for stuff

Surely others have this situation a

 

I wish that I could help (or maybe not). My suggestion would be to possibly increase dosage to 3mg per day. Give 1mg every 8 hours. I am not sure if your doctor will do this though. The half life of Ropinerole is 6 hours, therefore, 1dose every 12hours should keep it at bay. Then, you may be able to get some extra just for maintenance.

You have a very interesting situation, I wish you the best and let me know how it all pans out.

God's peace, Glenn

Not sure if this will help but I have had 2 hip replacements and was worried that lack of mobility would make my RLS much worse. Strangely enough as I was on pain killers after my operations  I hardly had any symptoms of RLS. I now take 2 dihydocideine a day which keeps my symptoms under control.. if I don't take them I have to walk round or stand up because as soon as I sit down my legs go crazy. 

Marie......unless your Dad has a very addictive personality, request that at least some of his pain meds with surgery be of the opiod family (Percocet, Oxycodone, or any of their derivatives).  Yes, they can be addictive, but they also work like a charm on RLS.  In fact, your Dad just might get complete RLS relief during the time of his recovery.  Another thing - be sure to talk with the anesthesiologist about the fact that he has RLS; there are many anesthetics that RLS is less receptive to, and many that tend to acerbate the symptoms.  As an aside, being a man, he may also need to be browbeaten into taking his pain medicines as prescribed - lol - went through that with my late husband with his first knee surgery, but didn't have to say a word when the other knee was replaced.  Best of luck, and hope this helps.  (I have had RLS for 57 years, so kinda' knowledgeable!!)

Well, here I am to report back to how the RLS went during my husbands knee replacement surgery. Today we are 6 days out and this was the first day he had even an inkling of the RLS. He was prescribed ocycodone and has taken a total of 2.25mg ropinerole in 4 doses through the day. Usually he isn't regimented about his med schedule, but we just included them in with the other meds so he's been consistent. Maybe this will encourage him to do it once he's back to regular life.

He's a disappointed that he's not making better progress but has been assured he's totally normal. It's just hard! Thanks for all your suggestions and encouraging experiences.

Marie

 

Hi there, so glad the opp went well, and he wasnt tooooooooooo rigly afterwards . My dad still has not had his opp but is in the next two months i think, sooner rather than later, they are just fixing a shoulder of his that is playing up after a fall because he will need a good arm for support on crutches etc,. I shall take note of those medicines and give them to my dad tomorrow lol and tell him to keep them for doc reference etc,. Thanks and i am hoping the healing continues, slow at first probably then he wont know him self. take care of you too wont you