I’m just five days out from thr surgery and wondered if anyone had tips for sleeping.
Posted , 10 users are following.
I’ve never been able to sleep on my back, but found that the first couple of nights I did alright. I decreased pain meds today and am having little pain during the day, but still a fair amount of swelling and numbness/tingling, which makes it hard to sleep. Anyone have tips? The back sleeping is impossible. Aside from the discomfort, I wind up with acid reflux as well.
2 likes, 23 replies
Ducksoup kim28696
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kim28696 Ducksoup
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ptolemy kim28696
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arlowood kim28696
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Hi Kim
THR back mid-November 2017. Like you I struggle with getting off to sleep while lying on my back. The advice from my surgeon and the physios was that I could side sleep if I wanted as long as I kept a pillow between my legs to prevent my legs crossing over. I started side sleeping on my non-operated side about a week after surgery. Still not quite lost the tenderness in my scar area so not able yet to sleep on the operated side.
I have also read as Ducksoup suggests that melatonin is a good option so that might be worth exploring.
As has been said many times - we are all different and heal at different rates so be patient and you'll come through it in time
kim28696 arlowood
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kenbooth kim28696
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Debina kim28696
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As for pain meds, I continued to take one at bedtime for about 4 weeks. That seemed to help me get to sleep. Good luck!
kim28696 Debina
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kenbooth kim28696
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kim28696 kenbooth
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diannesk kim28696
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I slept in a recliner for almost 2 weeks. I also have acid reflux (no meds, watch what I eat usually) so it was good for that. Made it a lot easier, too, to get up instead of having to lift the heavy leg, sit on edge of bed, and get up. Good idea, too, to put ice on the swelling area for about 20 minutes before you go to sleep. Pain meds can help, too, especially in early stages of recovery. Dosage for mine was "every 4 hours as needed" but I took them no more often than every 5-6 hours. Took one before going to bed which made a big difference. When I got off them at about 2+ weeks, I took Tylenol if needed.
Recovery takes time. Not everyone is the same with that.
kim28696 diannesk
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steven07363 kim28696
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I have had success rotating from my back to my good side. Try it!
Steve
kim28696 steven07363
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dee62352 kim28696
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kim28696 dee62352
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