I've changed your thread title for you.
I'm mentally having difficulty adjusting to knee. Has anyone else experienced this? 9 weeks post-op and the knee feels so foreign to me. I'm having difficulty trusting it. Any tightness or pulling sends me into a panic. I have been so protective of my knee for years against pain and instability that I have the same reaction to my new knee. This seems to me like a bad rabbit hole to go down. Any advice?
Some people do have trouble for a while accepting the new knee as part of themselves.
The feeling will fade gradually, as you learn to trust your new knee.
It's still early days and you've had years of protecting your old, arthritic knee. That's a habit you will gradually learn to forget. Right now, you still feel as if you need to protect your new knee - and, indeed, you do need to protect if from people bumping into it. But, you will gradually come to realise that your new knee is strong and reliable. It's actually pretty tough. Even if you fall and land on it, it's unlikely to be damaged. You'll get bruising of your soft tissues, but the knee implant itself will be unharmed.
Your new knee is gradually going to stop hurting - unlike the old knee that hurt more and more each day.
Believe it or not, there will come a day when you actually forget about The Knee. Your life will no longer revolve around "Can my knee handle this?" You'll just get on with the life you've wanted for years.
I've had both my knees replaced and they feel so much a part of me thta I get quite a surprise when I see those big bits of hardware on an X-Ray.
Also a question about pain meds. I'm currently taking 2 -3 50 mg of tramadol a day, is this enough? Would more help me with the discomfort of the knee. Are discomfort and pain the same thing.
Discomfort is being uncomfortable. As it gets worse, it becomes pain.
I think you'll find that transitioning to Tylenol 1,000 mg four times a day could help. You can safely take it with Tramadol, and it enhances the effect of Tramadol. You may even be able to wean off the Tramadol onto just Tylenol.
Check the other medications you're taking, to make sure there is no Tylenol/Acetaminophen in them. If there is, cut back one of your doses of Tylenol, so you stay within the safe limits of 4,000 mg in 24 hours.
You didn't fill in where you live when you enrolled, so I don't know which country you're from. I've assumed you live in the US and so I've called the medication Tylenol. Its other names are Paracetamol and Acetaminophen.