Tackling the sleeping problem after TKR..Can't sleep at all!!

TKR is a tricky issue when sleep is a issue. I would always take sleep rx meds melotonin and use music to trans out. Ear phones with what ever music helps as well as mindfullness!

keep ice on knee propped my knee up on pillows and keep above heart. This was only temporary I knee but at the time it's so frustrating. 

Try ray not to nap during the day. 

 

I sleep on my side with a thin cool pillow between my legs u should be able to settle this way, just try until u find a position. Akso use a heated wheat bag on tender aching body just keep it away from the knee. Try reading till u feel sleepy it helps to distract you. Hope some of it helps.  Merry Christmas 

Hi TKR,

?I made my bed, my office, my sleeping room and my moaning room and one of two rooms that I did my exercises in. Yes lack of sleep is a bummer .....no mistake. 

?Now, I too have a heart condition - Atrial fibrillation, a heart arrythmia - and am on a party bag of drugs ...... including warfarin ! Yes I am limited to pain relief medications that I can take - actually, I can only take one - its prescription strength Cocodomol .......... Cocodomol 30/500. I found I had to take the maximum dose to bring the pain under control. Also, as soon as the dressing was off and I'd been cleared of any infection I consulted my sports injury therapist and got her to massage the lower and upper leg ....... AND ........the incision line. the reason for the latter was to prevent scar tissue from forming within the knee.

?I most lay in bed with thick pillows and had my leg raised, I also iced my incision area too. I never slept for weeks but often dosed. Eventually, thanks to the Cocodomol I got the pain under control and then made more progress with my exercises.

?Hope this helps. 

?John

 

Many of us have experienced awful lack of sleep. I just got rest ehever I could. Tramadol helped. Aromatherapy helped. However it took 4-6 weeks to have one full restful night. Go with it and know it's temporary. Merry Christmas.

I spent my first 7 or 8 weeks not sleeping. Just now getting back to normal, at least 5 nights out of 7.

Ive replied to the other post too, at 4 weeks I was using a CPM machine to try and increase ROM and I still managed to sleep with that thing going on. I used to just catch sleep whenever I could. If I was tired during the day I would have a nap. I'm now taking amitriptyline at night for nerve pain as this was something I got at about 9 weeks and a bit of low mood started creeping in too so it has helped with that. I'm sure there is a sedative out there that you can take when you have even if you heart conditions just ask your doctor. Sleep is important. I now sleep on my side with a pillow between my legs some sleep on the side of their good leg but I find the other way more comfortable for me.

I had the same problem lack of sleep,causing almost depression symptoms I suffered for weeks,I tried over the counter sleep remedies with no effect.Then I made the best decision I have ever made I went to see my GP and got prescription sleeping pills to help me over a few weeks,I took one pill every other night to make the last longer and they were a god send when I finished them I didn’t miss them at all I still slept well,it just got me through a difficult recovery period.so go get some.

Hi Everyone,

Thanks you very much for your replies. Its pretty ironic isn't it. Sleep is so vital to healing and its the one thing many of us after TKR cannot do. But it does give me hope to hear there is light at the end of the tunnel   A very Merry Christmas!!

See if some of this helps...

https://patient.info/forums/discuss/trouble-sleeping-post-tkr--539591

 

Hi, one of the positions I found almost pain free in bed was to sit up in bed, legs out in front of me and bend at the waist as far forward as I could get, it was bliss!  Can't sleep like that but it was pain free for a few minutes.   But definitely try sleeping sat upright, well, propped up I mean.  Try anything, it's been 19 months since my Tkr and now have almost forgotten what it was like.    Now my hip is playing up. ??