TKR 6 months and leg pain gone!

[kneewords]

I don't know if I can ask Josephine for her take on this. I went to my GP because something in my blood work was off, not a big deal she says even though she called me in! But she said in many roundabout ways I am taking too much Norco. I told her I took one every 3 hours and feel like my knee is doing good. She said the drugs are just masking how good I'm doing?? She suggested a step-down take one every 3 hours then one every 4 hours etc. However I told her I only have 20 left but she didn't offer to refill. Instead she gave me a prescription for Mobic and topical lidocaine and suggested PRP (they take your blood do something and shoot it back into you) and said it's expensive!
REALLY wouldn't it just be easier to keep me on Norco for a little longer?

I have an appt with my OS in 2 weeks. In the mean time I am thinking just taking ½ a Norco I guess 2x a day. I was taking 5 or 6. I cant go to another GP without looking like I'm looking for drugs. I have a lot of Tylenol 4 left but they are not working and yes it is hurting. She said my withdrawals would be more pain. OK I'm very confused. Isn't that what pain meds are supposed to take care of??. Any help would be appreciated. Don't want to go thru withdrawal also don't want to be in pain.

 

[kneewords]

Hi Josephine can you help me figure out if I should be tapering off? I went 5 days really trying to stretch out the few Norcos I had. I took ½ in the afternoon and 1 at night and it was not enough. My sleep suffered and my mood because the pain was not under control. Luckily my OS refilled my prescription today, God bless him. But I'm wondering if I should be getting off these now. Thanks

 

[Josephine]

At 10 weeks you could maybe be transitioning to something else. You said you tried Tylenol 4 which is 300mg acetaminophen and 60mg codeine but how many tablets did you take each time and how often? Perhaps you could bargain with your GP as she is concerned about your blood results. Ask her if you could try something else for a short time like Tramadol because you do need something to keep your knee comfortable so you can do your PT and so forth.

Actually I found I needed my pain meds for 12 full weeks so you're about the same, you're not far off the big day! But pain meds should never be stopped because of a plan, only because you no longer need them. For me that meant I started forgetting to take doses.

 

[kneewords]

Thanks Josephine my blood work issue was not related to drugs it was something else entirely calcium maybe parathyroid yikes what else! i was taking 1 tylenol 4 every 3-4 hours but it doesnt take care of the pain. its on the outside bottom half of my knee. im a little concerned but probably just a traveling pain. i see my OS next wed. thanks for the reply

 

[Josephine]

It doesn't work because you need to take two at a time! Try that and you might get some relief.

Though if the blood problem wasn't to do with the Norco, whatever is she on about? Stick with your surgeon. You don't know yet that he won't stick with you to the end!

 

[kneewords]

i dont know i used to like her and my calcuim is a little above normal 40 is normal and i have 42. i did get 2 pints of blood i wonder if that was the other persons blood haha. also the blood test was AUGUST and i had to call THEM! almost 2 months later. yes i will stick with my OS he is pretty good about pain meds just hard to get in touch with. also Josephine just one more question can i alternate the norco and tylenol 4 thanks you rock!!

 

[kneewords]

My GP was very supportive at first both her father and mother in law had TKR but i guess by 10 weeks they were better and she thinks i should be too.

 

[Josephine]

Good for them but they didn't have your operation and you didn't have theirs. These surgeries aren't like TV dinners run out on a conveyor belt! They are all different - different conditions, different surgery, different recovery, different all round. So don't compare and don't you let them compare either!

I can't say about the pain meds as I am not a pharmacist. I suggest you ask your doctor. Sorry

 

[kneewords]

3 month check up
After almost 2 hours wait...
Dr: xrays look good how are you
me: ok i still have pain cant sleep have crunching on the outside of the knee
Dr: its just scar tissue ( really not even complete sentences) this is a hard surgery
me: sensing my time is almost up..norco, ambien...
Dr: as he flees- script at the desk on your way out see me in 6 months if you still have pain
me: shaking his hand -thank you for your skill
and POOF he was gone
but yay i guess I'm OK!

 

[kneewords]

leg pain again!
just had to vent ! now its my calf I cut way back on the pain meds and my knee is telling me so which i can live with but what is the deal with the LEG PAIN aarrgghh.
i try to pump my foot to make it circulate better, my exercise has been normal life things and occasionally 30 minutes on the exercise bike. i just took some aspirin in case its a clot and have been sporadically taking leg circulation supplement containing diosimin and revesterol and some other stuff i don't remember.
is there anyone out there who has had this? if so PLEASE let me know when it goes away. i don't remember having this with my first TKR. this is making me nuts!! knee still hurts too but i guess thats to be expected its better than it was

 

[maryo52]

So the lesson is, don't cut way back on your pain medicine. Our knees don't cut way back on the pain. The pain diminishes slowly over weeks and months. So titrate your pain med accordingly. I found at your juncture that half a pain tab every 4 hours was perfection. I don't know what dose works for you, but both you and your knee will be happier sticking with a good pain regimen. And the more you elevate and rest the leg, the faster those nasty pains will go away. Are you possibly pumping your foot too much?

 

[kneewords]

Thanks maryo52 it is good to know about how much pain med you were taking at the point i am now so i can compare. strangely enough i woke up this morning after 10 hours of sleep! with no pain! of course it didn't last but wow what a relief. i am alternating down to tylenol and had a few really nasty days now that I'm not taking norco my appetite is back and i seem to be sleeping much better. i only have my two week behind me TKR friend to compare with and she has taken almost nothing the whole time. i think she said 20 vicodine total. that seems impossible to me.i have been doing a lot of quilting sewing and today didn't do any don't know if bending my knee sewing all day was a good idea. and i stopped pumping my foot. also started qi gong. thanks so much for your reply

 

[kneewords]

maryo52 forgot to put the @ in the post above

 

[maryo52]

I had one friend who had one, and I mean exactly one, percocet after TKR, after which he told them to write "No narcotics" in his chart. He went on tylenol only, admitting that he doesn't feel pain (nor does his wife!). Another friend who had BTKR was off narcotics in two weeks.

I on the other hand was on percocet 6.5 months. And I am not a pain wimp at all. Sounds like you're experiencing some much needed relief.

 

[kneewords]

thanks@Maryo52 i keep thinking i should be over pain meds by now. i live in the desert and am visiting in an area by the ocean and wow am getting all sorts of new pains. i hope its just the weather. mostly my bottom leg and outer knee but i am surprised of the difference just because of more moisture.

 

[DebR]

kneewords, I am one week behind you & am still taking pain meds! I am taking 5mg Percocet a couple of times a day & Motrin in between if needed. It works for me. The doctor has given me the 10mg tablets, but I take 1/2 like mary said every few hours. I need that most in the morning when I wake up, not sure what my knee does while I sleep but hurts like hell when I wake up, haha!! Then split between these 2 during the day as needed. My doctor also put me on Lyrica for a few months due to some nerve pain, so that's been helping.
At 12 weeks, I know I will still need something for pain depending on the day & have no problem with this. Some days I feel pretty good, other days not so much! I am back to work now for the last 6 weeks so the evenings are rough, but for the most part my knee feels good, but there are so many other pains that come out of nowhere to deal with. Hang in there & keep yourself comfortable, about all we can do at this point. I do know I am much much better then before I had the surgery, so I'm ok with SOME pains now as opposed to pain all the time.

 

[kneewords]

I am trying on my own to figure out why the outside lower part of my knee and also ankle area inside leg still hurts. The knee pain is worse when I walk. I think my shoes are not giving me support. Also wondering if I could be having it band issues. Also lower inside calf itches. Josephine could the knee pain be IT band? I wish my os would have listened to me. Almost thinking about going to a new os He just told me to come back if it hurts 6 months from now. Didn't even ask where the pain was. I just booked a trip for early June to go to England Scotland Ireland and Wales hope I'm better by then. This is starting to make me crazy. I did start taking more meds but always seem to have the underpain like I know it's still there

 

[maryo52]

You're a little more than three months out. So, yeah, we all have that moment with our orthos when they seem to blow us off. I try to understand things from their perspective: every TKR patient experiences a smorgasbord of aches and pains that simply go away on their own in time. I'm certain you will be fine by June. Sounds like a great trip. Are you able to surrender to your necessity to continue regular pain meds now? It won't last forever, I promise you.

Any chance of getting some nice TLC massage on your leg? That did wonders for my outlook. It's great just to get that kind of care where we suffer most.

 

[kneewords]

Yes the meds are back. Thank God for drugs I have a massage therapist I'm going to see when I get home in a few days. I just took a norco laying in the motel room trying to find a movie and convince myself there are no big issues. I used to tell everyone after I had my first tkr the first 3 months suck and the next 3 months aren't much better. The pain on my outside knee bugs me because it feel like it did before surgery. I did have kneecap problems. And he put a button I started thinking maybe I have a pinched nerve or something in there I hope he took more time with the surgery than he does with the office visits. I think he did 8 surgeries that day !

 

[maryo52]

You're right about the first three months, and the next three months . . . and our feelings about our ortho parallel that experience!! I totally understand your wondering just how much he has attended to your situation . . . or were you just a number? Probably a little of both. Don't you wish you could trade places for a day?? Maybe you could take his day off, and he could take your day off. Oh that's right, we don't get days off in TKR recovery!