My new knee..full replacement.x

Posted , 13 users are following.

i am on day 6 and I am struggling to get the correct pain relief. Today 6 days after my op I am in Agony, I feel sad as I was able to do my exercises up until day 5 but the pain is preventing me from do anything but rest.   Is this quite normal....my leg feels like I've pulled all my muscles and an elephant is sitting on my knee, even my ankle hurts. 

I have been prescribed 10mg of morphine 2 daily am & pm and tramadol in between..not touching the pain today at all.

i have taken myself up stairs to rest as I feel grumpy..my poor family.

 

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  • Posted

    Hi Audrey. Hydromorphone might help you. It is 8 times stronger than morphine. My pain medication was incompatible too. The hospital and pain nurse need to get you stabilised. Similar happened to me. You must insist that you need help. No one should suffer like you are.
    • Posted

      Thankyou Lyn...they have prescribed 30mg of morphine 2 daily.....the doctor said...we need to reduce your meds.....I'm shocked especially as I'm only on day 6....thankyou Lyn I appreciate your advice, my husband says he is going to contact the hospital...take care.x.x.x

  • Posted

    Good morning!

    Yes you need to get a handle on the pain so you can move forward !

    That will help with your physical therapy.

    When you are hurting , listen to your body and rest! You need to rest to heal.

    You will have your good days and bad days!

    I was taking Percocet 4 times a day. Everyone is different, you need to find the right pain med for you.

    You may have to be firm with your doctor, they are not always right, and it's your body and you know how you feel!

    I am in my 6 month after Tkr and I still have bad days but many more good ones!!

    This is a journey, not for the faint of heart😄

    This forum has helped me get through many days and nights!

    Happy thoughts coming your way !!

    • Posted

      Thankyou June.....I thought I was being a bit of a tit..but I do cope well with pain but this was us unbearable. I am enjoying this forum also and feeling part of a TKR family...king regards audrey.x
  • Posted

    Hi Audrey. I think you should be complaining loudly. You should not be suffering without a way to ease the pain. Having said that, this journey has been really hard. Some days, all of my muscles hurt. Some days the pain in my calf is more than the pain in my knee! I'm in week 8 and I take 1 hydrocodone 10-325 at night and one before physical therapy. I cry easily. Can't sleep. Worry about lack of progress. All of these issues are discussed on this forum. Great people here. Ready to reassure us that all of our journeys are unique and complicated but, mainly, they are TEMPORARY!!!! Good luck to you.

    • Posted

      It feels like I've pulled every muscle possible in my leg.....I think I need to shout louder also...thankyou for your reassuring advice ...Audrey.x.x.x

       

  • Posted

    Are you in UK?

    Does hospital have a discharge help line you can use?

    When anaesthesia from op dies down pain does increase.

    Are you taking full quota of pain medication? GP advice probably a good idea.

    You don't mention anti inflammatories, seek professional advice. Medication is very impirtant to get sorted!

    • Posted

      Thankyou Jenny...my meds have been very poor...but hopefully will get a good balance so I am more comfortable and able to sleep...xxx
  • Posted

    I found days 5-10 very rough, home from hospital day 5  had an extra day with mild cellulitis and only sent out with tramadol and paracetamol and suffered a great deal of neuro pain. My doctors did  not want to  prescribe strong meds either. I got amitriptyline but it made BP drop too much.

    It does  all  improve though with time. The lack of good pain control did slow down my recovery as you are finding, it holds up progress with PT. Hope you manage to get some  meds  that help soon.

  • Posted

    I may be luckiest person alive! I'm in Midwest USA. Yes I have that same feeling from day 1 to 14. Feeling heaviness and in pain even after physio. Your Dr is wrong to take you off of pain meds and anti inflammatory meds. I am now going in to 10th week and feeling a little bit better and lesser pain. Those first two weeks I was on 10-325 mg Norco, 10 mg Percocet, and 5 mg valium. Along with anti inflammatory meloxicam 10mgs and anti nausea. Right now I'm only taking methocarbamol muscle relaxer and anti inflammatory as I am still going to physio and to do my own stretching the scarring in the knee to prevent scars from forming. Tell your Dr he or she is wrong. The reason you must stay on those meds at the beginning is to prevent infections. Praying for you.

  • Posted

    You are very, very early in the process and this is a process. Unfortunately it isn't lineal its more of a roller coaster ride.

    To start with, take meds as prescribed not when you are engulfed in pain. Hydrade well...a dehydrated body cannot and will not heal properly. You have been through trauma like you have probably never been through before. Rest every chance you get and by rest that means sleep. Any time of the day or night. Rest is as or more important than exercise at this time although you must do the gentle leg slides and let lifts. You are not going to heal in a week or a month so don't push yourself so hard. Many Drs are technical when it comes to whacking, chopping, chilling and putting you back together but fall short when it comes to being honest about the recovery. There are the text book cases and reality. Most of us are faced with reality. Scroll till you find Chico Marx's dissertations on expectations. Its a lesson in life. I won't bore you with the details but I've had 11 surgeries and 5 complete rehab on re same leg. Started at 65 and now I'm 80 and still fighting it. Be kind to yourself as you got a ways to go. Its a slow process and suddenly you will tell yourself it was all worth it but ......you wish you hadn't be so naive at the beginning. Stay with this forum. Everyone has been through it and knows what you are experiencing.

    BTW...there are people from around the globe on here so anytime day or night there will be someone to talk to. I'm in the middle of the US and its mid morning here

  • Posted

    Hi Audrey -- you are feeling more pain on the 6 day than before because everything that they gave you for the surgery has worn out. Most continue with the pain killers until you start feeling better. Call surgeon and explain that the morphine is not helping you for the pain. I had the same problem. Hydromorphone 4 mg helped me better. My pain was so bad that they kept me 3 months with pain killers, 650 Tylenol and an anti-inflammatory when my stomach can tolerated. It was the worse pain I had in my life. However, I did not know anout the forum and all the people that participate and give you good advice. However, is up to your doctor to help you control your pain. Just call him and don't give up - it will get better. If your knee is swollen exercise will hurt more. Please ice your knee constantly. Good luck. Keep us posted. J-13270

  • Posted

    This will get you started...

    https://patient.info/forums/discuss/the-tkr-experience-or-wish-i-had-another-kidney-stone--524499

    Yeah...all normal.  Work with your doc to get the proper pain relief regimen.  Trial and error.  There will never be zero pain but the good part is that the worst of this only lasts about 30 days...then it starts getting better.  The whole recovery takes a year.  Expect nothing else...be grateful if it's quicker for you.

    Click my picture on the left and then click "See All Discussions".  Some good stuff out there to help you.  Welcome to the club, "Kneebie"...

  • Posted

    Omg Audrey... I started reading this and thought did I write something?  Yesterday I was 8 days post op.  Meds in hospital were great.. They always said stay ahead of the pain.  Then they sent me home with Oxycodone that completely stopped any relief at al...all I could do was ice and cry and your description of the pain is exactly what I felt.  I finally got into my family doc yesterday and he changed my meds immediately to HydroMorphone... In 24 hours I feel almost no pain and can finally do my exercises again... And I haven't cried in 24 hours either!!!  Please please get your meds changed...I can't tell you how completely different I feel in 24 hours...  Good luck Audrey... Keep us posted.

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