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Sleep ... Or not much of it!

Posted , 10 users are following.

31pebworth
31pebworth

I know sleep problems are a problem for many people .... I am only 11 days post op. The awful bruising is getting better, the heat is marginally better at times, the tightness is slightly better in the thigh .. I can press it a little now  but of course the tightness around the knee is there all the time, sometimes bad enough and sometimes excruciating!  I am persevering with the exercises ... Leg lift very good, heel slides pretty good but not quite level with the other knee yet. I try to do it in two stages .. Take it slowly as far as I ca, wait a half a minute with the knee where I got it to and the try for a couple more degrees . Weight bearing and walking generally fine and stairs tiring but fine.

SLEEP ... On average I wake three times between first falling asleep and 4am ... It is now 03.30 and this is the third wake up since 11.00. For the first time tonight I woke with a really viscous headache as well .. Am taking OxyContin 5mg am, Panadol 4 times a day, OxyContin 5mg nightly which doctor upped to 10mg at night to see of that helped sleeping. I also have OxyNorm for breakthrough. Tonight I haven't taken the OxyNorm because of the bad headache .. Thought it might make it worse ... I walk around the bedroom when I  wake up, ice the knee, gently massage the bits I can and pray for the extreme tenderness down my shin to start improving. Last night (Wednesday night ) in sheer misery and frustration magazines got hurled across the Roo. And tears of self pity were shed and my poor husband who is fantastic to me got the worst of it!

During the day I shower etc, walk around whichever room I am in, eat downstairs, watch some tv downstairs in the evening with leg raised but during the day I only want to be on the bed as it is the best place to stretch out comfortably and also do the heel slides etc. I got a wheelchair from the Red Cross and as yesterday was so lovely, got dressed and my husband took me out for a breath of air. Disaster.  Leg down hurt the knee where it went over the seat edge and up in front of me in the raised foot plate jarred my back too much ... More pain and misery.

 As in previous postings my other big problem is that I had a three level lumbar fusion only seven months ago and the op and being on my back ( cannot lay on my side because of knee 'heaviness' ) sitting with my leg elevated even about 6 or 7 inches puts a lot of pressure on my back and I have had horrible nerve flare up and next Friday will go back on for my back surgeon to give me another nerve block which I pray helps as the back pain is nasty. I also have a lot of hip pain I haven't had before and I use the heat pad against it for a bit of comfort.

One online YouTube ortho, film suggested heated towel before exercises followed by ice afterwards ... Anybody doing that? Does it help get a bit more movement?

I would like to know what medication routine is working for a few other people .. Perhaps ditching the OxyContin under supervision and going for something else .. I am badly allergic to Oramorph so cannot take that .

Any sleep suggestions gratefully relieved ....

1 like, 17 replies

17 Replies

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  • Tucks
    Tucks 31pebworth

    Posted

    Hi sleeping tablet he has given me is Zoldepine tucks 
  • grace47953
    grace47953 31pebworth

    Posted

    Hi

    My name is Grace and I read your mail and repplies with very mixed feelings. The postings bring back the memories, most of them not all pleasant, some make me just envieous, people doing soo well.  One forgets haw bad it was inthose days.  One night I wanted call ambulance, the pain was so bad!!!

     I am 5 months post op.  I am definitely improving, the leg is getting stronger. Please hang on there, it will get better. I still have stiffness in the knee, wake up every 3-4 hours, but my sleep is deeper.  In he morning getting out of bed, I hardly can walk (it due mostly to my unooperated knee)

    Knee gets swollen and hot.  It depend what I am putting my poor knee through.  I have a big garden and do the work myself. I live alone, so I need to go on the ladders etc

    The road to recovery is different for everyone. Today in hospital I met a lady who in hospital, after operation was not in pain, had better bend than me and walked better. I really envied her. Today I saw that my bend is better, I walk 100% better, no crutches (she is still on crutches, she is in pain, has one leg shorter). I could go on the bike,  spinning fast, the exercises were much easier for me than for her.

    So please do not worry, it seems that besides sleep you are doing very well.  The better days will definitely come.  You feel pain more because you are working on your knee, moving etc, but you will get rewarded later by complete recovery.

    This morning I managed to kneel on the floor  !!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Amazing.

    But my bend could be better (100 degrees) and alking downstairs it is not that good. 

    But I am sure it will get better.

    In my case tramadol used to knock me out, and also for about 3 weeks I got sleeping pills from my doctor.

    I will have the other knee replaced , probably early next year.  I am not looking forward to the operation but I know  that it is worth doing, becasue even with one bad knee I walk better than before.

    So hang on there, good times will come.

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