TKR

i noticed with restless leg syndrome it was when I hadn't drunk enough water during the day

It's a terribly difficult time, sorry you're struggling. I think the restless leg syndrome is incredibly common with knee replacement patients. Elevating your leg when sleeping may help and also having had plenty of exercise throughout the day so your muscles are tired. Hope things improve.

Ten weeks is very early in a typically one-year recovery. What were your expectations? If you thought this would be a simple op and everything would be back to normal by now, then that expectation would most likely be at the core of your agitation. Another cause is that people expect to be "further along" than they currently are. I hit my personal "brick wall" at 5 weeks. I was a trainwreck.

The key to all this is to give up all timetables and expectations. It's a marathon, not a sprint. The main factor is that the knee controls the recovery, not you. That's why you have to listen to the knee and not push it further than it's ready to go at any given time. The progress is slow and steady over the course of that year. The first 12 weeks are the worst in terms of pain and movement as you break down all the scar tissue and regain a 0 / +120 ROM. Then you have to rebuild all the atrophied muscles to take the pressure off the healing knee. Most people start "feeling like their old selves" around 9 months and then dance at their one year ann-knee-versary party. The moral of the story is to be very Zen in your recovery: "The knee will be better when it is better." Time, work and patience are your tools.

The RLS is interesting as I have had to deal with it for decades. No one knows the cause and there is no cure. For you, it might be a temporary state but there's no guarantee. I went through a whole list of meds before settling on a simple 1 mg of Xanax at bedtime which controls the tremor and gets me to sleep. Another possibility is 10-20 mg Amitriptyline which works well also. I tried all the other drugs, hot/cold, TENS units, creams and lotions, etc. to no avail. Your doc will have to treat that. I doubt you'll ever find any scientific literature linking it to a knee replacement.

This knee surgery is sure a struggle, but if you do all the pt and home exercises it will help! I also have RLS and even before surgery, walk it out!! also IBUPROFEN seems to help me. Remember one day at a time just concentrate on pain management and doing what you need to do, walk helps,lots of water, keep positive!! I'm also 9 weeks and can't sleep at night I have a numb foot and nerve pain so were trying to figure that out, it's good to vent to other people too!

Try some topical magnesium will help the restless leg and maybe even the anxiety ! You should be starting to feel better soon , maybe see if panadol okay for pain and start cutting out the oxynorm they could be causing agitation , but cut them out slowly not like I did and got withdrawal symptoms, good luck you will find things will improve , get out and walk or do some water exercises

yes thats normal until you build up your Quad muscles its gonna be that way therapy should take care of that but for now do alot of icing and elevate your leg also do your exercises at home you will start to feel better

hi x im also ten weeks post op Tkr and im off all painkillers apart from paracetomol occasionaly x i usually walk if my leg is hurting as i find it helps with the stiffness x hope u are ok x

This is really early days and people recover so differently.

Are you having physiotherapy?

Hang in there and do not give up.

Take care and keep in touch

Sarah xxx

thanks everybody for your advice and support