Posted , 11 users are following.
8 weeks post op TKR and dread going go bed as hopeless sleep even with pain meds
Anybody else still have bad days at 8 weeks pls
0 likes, 30 replies
Posted , 11 users are following.
8 weeks post op TKR and dread going go bed as hopeless sleep even with pain meds
Anybody else still have bad days at 8 weeks pls
0 likes, 30 replies
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lighterson lorraine66629
Posted
tana4life lorraine66629
Posted
I am 10.5 weeks out and I had both knees done same time I find the more I do the more pain and swelling, and stiffness I have. But you just have to keep going remember to ice,elevate, and I added a heating pad. I asked my home health nurse about my sleepless nights I didn't have a full nights sleep for 2 months, she told me to add an OTC sleep aid she said I could after checking to make sure it went with my pain meds. Now I can sleep about 6 hours straight it feels wonderful. I am going to join the YMCA this week I hope being in the pool will help with swelling and stiffness. I will post here if this helps me stay strong and keep reading on the forum it a god send.
tana4life lorraine66629
Posted
I am 10.5 weeks out and I had both knees done same time I find the more I do the more pain and swelling, and stiffness I have. But you just have to keep going remember to ice,elevate, and I added a heating pad. I asked my home health nurse about my sleepless nights I didn't have a full nights sleep for 2 months, she told me to add an OTC sleep aid she said I could after checking to make sure it went with my pain meds. Now I can sleep about 6 hours straight it feels wonderful. I am going to join the YMCA this week I hope being in the pool will help with swelling and stiffness. I will post here if this helps me stay strong and keep reading on the forum it a god send.
susan27029 lorraine66629
Posted
i am nearly 12 months and remember only too well being awake most of the night. i had a routine at bedtime - side of bed - tablets, 2 bottles of water , digestive biscuits to take with tablets, magazine, ( iPad - for my sanity) this forum. Timer on my phone for tablets, television control, Football - for bed exercises as well as numerous trips to the bathroom ( drinking ). Flask with hot orange. And as I felt cold for about 8 weeks a hot water bottle. Radio also on earplug also helped.
i found after 6 weeks I was happy if I managed to get 2 hours continuous sleep, then as the weeks went on sleep increased as I managed to lay on my side and find more comfortable positions, along with getting fresh air walking.
Sleep will come, but your body is resting, so cat nap in the day if you can and don't feel pressured to sleep, your body will slowly find its way.
cheryl90571 lorraine66629
Posted
Oh YES! Sleep...that thing MOST manage to accomplish but MANY, including me, have found quite elusive!
I had about five years of terrible sleep prior to my two TKRs last year. Woke up every hour or so. Horrible!
After surgery things got much better, and I actually COULD sleep a couple hours at a time. Doesn't seem like much, but it was TWICE the amount of sleep I HAD been getting!
I found that nine weeks was a big turning point because I could manage to sleep on my side with my SURGICAL leg slung over my body. Then at about 12 weeks I could SLEEP on my stomach. Ahhhh!
Meanwhile, I found that napping was my best bet. I would move around, do my exercises, have some tea and then relax on the couch. Sleep would come, and I would feel much better. As I napped throughout the day and got stronger, the sleep finally would come at nighttime as well.
Moving around, stretching, and even walking around throughout the night (sometimes cleaning a cupboard!) all was helpful, I guess, to get me tired enough for real sleep to come.
I never took any sleep aides. I TRIED to just be patient. I tried to develop a natural pattern of sleeping when I was tired. If I wasn't tired I busied myself doing things until I WAS tired. That helped me get several hours of quality sleep which gradually increased over the months.
I'm about 10 months post op with #1 and about 6 months post op with #2.
Be patient. Sleep will come. Try to relax and not worry.
mary12001 cheryl90571
Posted
I haven't because the doctor refused to give me any on the grounds that taking co-codomol and sleeping piils is not a good idea.
I have done jobs in the night also like cleaning out my bedside cabinet.
cheryl90571 mary12001
Posted
I have always been a light sleeper. I have very sensitive hearing which will cause me to wake briefly if it starts to pelt rain outside or if the neighbor's dog barks or our heat pump turns on. We took care of my 99 then 100 year-old mom for two years, so I was constantly tuned to listen for her. I guess I never really give myself permission to get knocked out with sleeping aids because I am naturally an "on alert" type of person.
Pain waking a person up is ANNOYING! Getting physically hooked on medication or even psychologically hooked on pain killers scares me. I got off the Hydrocodone from my second surgery after two weeks and the Oxycodone from my first surgery after I came home from the hospital a few days after my surgery. Both medications made me feel loopy. I decided Tylenol would work until I was done with my blood thinner shots. After those were done I just took Ibuprofen.
It is a very personal decision. My husband has pheriphial neuropathy due to his diabetes and finds Bayer PM helps him sleep better at night. He didn't take it when I came home from the hospital and would need his help sometimes at first. I appreciated that! I was glad when I could get around well enough to not need help at night and he could get back to getting relief from the Bayer PM.
There are many things to think about and many decisions to make!
I hope you will find what helps YOU very soon!
jenni86878 lorraine66629
Posted
I feel for you I'm too 8 weeks post op and not sleeping at all well ! No matter what time I go to bed I wake up after 1 - 2 hrs in agony
When I've had physio It seems to be even worse that night inspite of taking pain meds how are you managing to cope with it all?
lorraine66629 jenni86878
Posted
I not coping well especially on physio days
Feel extremely depressed a lot as just want my old life back!
Take care now
L
mary12001 jenni86878
Posted
I'm 7 weeks post op but I'm in such a mess. It's a beautiful Saturday afternoon outside and I'm confined to these surreal four walls moaning and groaning with pain not only in my knee but now in my lower right back which feels like my kidneys are probably reacting to the monstrous load of pain killers I've been taking since around 11pm Saturday 13th February. I wonder what kind of surgeon axes the knee of a poor morsel like me at 9pm on a Saturday night?? Shouldn't he be at home with his wife and family?Not creating mayhem in a poor woman's life. At least with the osteoarthritis I could manage the pain but this has me screaming like Bertha in Jane Eyre.
Do I succumb to the morphine or the mad house??
mary12001 lorraine66629
Posted
Waking constantly throuhgout the night. falling asleep in the day but can't lie down because the pain or the uncomfortable feeling kicks in.
Its a hidden pain syndrome because nobody else can understand it except people on this forum.
Even the man upstaird who told me his wife had both knees done (sadly passed away now) said she didnt have any pain.
I dont believe that for one minutes and i think maybe she probably had either a washout or half knees done.
Theres no way you can escape the pain i m sure.
blingbling33146 lorraine66629
Posted
tana4life blingbling33146
Posted
As someone who had both knees done the end of Jan. I am 11 weeks post- op there is no way in hell anyone went to work in 2 weeks. I was in great shape did zumba 5 days a week and waited tables 9 shifts a week. I have done my therapy and been trying my best. I am still in pain and stiff as a board in the mornings so I call rubbish on all those super souls who tell us all those impressive stories of their recovery. Keep it dialed here for truth it has helped me so much.
mary12001 tana4life
Posted
I'm in such a mess. It's a beautiful Saturday afternoon outside and I'm confined to these surreal four walls moaning and groaning with pain not only in my knee but now in my lower right back which feels like my kidneys are probably reacting to the monstrous load of pain killers I've been taking since around 11pm Saturday 13th February. I wonder what kind of surgeon axes the knee of a poor morsel like me at 9pm on a Saturday night?? Shouldn't he be at home with his wife and family?Not creating mayhem in a poor woman's life. At least with the osteoarthritis I could manage the pain but this has me screaming like Bertha in Jane Eyre.
Do I succumb to the morphine or the mad house??
blingbling33146 tana4life
Posted
tana4life blingbling33146
Posted
I am nowhere ready to go back to work having had both knees done I am not really even been released by my doctor. I don't think I could even a single shift , my doctor doesn't want me on a wet, greasy kitchen floor. But maybe soon
blingbling33146 tana4life
Posted
mary12001 blingbling33146
Posted
Thank God I only had one done
X
lorraine66629 blingbling33146
Posted
Gosh I feel for you going back to work
I had op first week in February and my knee is killing me by the end of the day from just normal house duties!
I find as j get tired it is hard to not limp
Not sure how to overcome this
L
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