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THR 6 months post-op, still can’t walk unaided without limp'

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@Cynthia777, unfortunately, not. Still wheezing. I've been on CPAP for a week now, and last night I changed it to Auto with a range of 7 - 12 on the recommendation of people on the apnea forum. Results are very similar, although the pressure went up to almost 12, when before it was set to never move from 8. This is such an education! Will stay with this for another week and see where it takes me. Will see my pulmonologist/sleep doctor in 2 weeks about the wheezing. Sounds from your thread like you are thriving, and I am so glad to hear that!
 
Hi @Krista just popped in to see how you're doing??? Hope you've got your machine adjusted and you've been having some good sleeps??? Time is getting closer for your surgery. Hope you are ok. :sneaker:
 
Had a major set-back, @Simplieme, thanks for asking. I was on the machine for two weeks, and had wheezing every day, getting worse and worse until I just couldn't face the therapy anymore. Went to pulmonologist and he told me to lay off the machine until breathing gets normal, and I'm on a steroid inhaler. Feeling much better already after two days on the medication. I am researching this situation, posting about it on the apnea board. Hope when I go back on that this won't happen again. Otherwise, I am great! Harvesting lots of different lovely greens from the veggie garden and making spectacular salads.

Seven weeks and two days until surgery. Feels like forever.
 
@Krista oh the clock is ticking!! So sorry to hear about your setback.. I hope it can be remided really soon. Hugs to you my friend.
There's nothing quite like a salad fresh from the garden is there? My husband was a farmer, and now he grows vegetables in the garden, but he hasn't quite got the hang of scaling back from a farm. We end up with so much produce, I swear our friends hide in case we given even more veggies!!
 
My hubbie is the same, @Simplieme! Growing up his family had a farm that they went to on the weekends, and, boy, does he have a green thumb. He always grows tons more than we can eat. My sister moved in next door, and I thought maybe we have a chance between the three of us. But, no, he just planted lots more veggies in her back yard. Last year the amount of different kinds of squash was just overwhelming. Delicious, but ridiculous! Right now we could bury ourselves in basil leaves. But he enjoys doing it so much, and we are eating lots of healthy and tasty greens.
 
Oh Krista, I'm so sorry! I sure hope you can get this figured out. Have you come across others on the apnea forum who have had a similar problem with the wheezing? Could it be a coincidence and maybe you would have encountered the wheezing even without the machine? Just what you didn't need! :-(
 
@Cynthia777, I have posted several times about it on the apnea forum, and have been reading on other forums, and just today got a reply that I think is super-helpful. It turns out that humidity that is too high can trigger asthma episodes, just like humidity that is too low. Optimum range is 35 - 50% humidity, and I was getting more than that from the machine. So my plan is to get healthy, and then to try the machine again, this time with humidity on manual so I can set a lower setting. Perhaps using that strategy won't trigger these symptoms in future.

No, it couldn't have been a coincidence, because I have not wheezed, even once, in over two years. Even when I was so sick with the sinusitis last February, and I was coughing and really ill with respiratory symptoms, I never wheezed once, and chest was completely clear of worrying sounds. And this started on the morning after the first CPAP use.

So glad that I maybe have an answer! Once again, self-diagnosis, and only help from doctor is to treat symptoms. Am so grateful we have online forums and Dr. Google to consult.
 
Oh good @Krista! I've just been bummed for you because you've been through so much already. It's high time you have things go smoothly for you. You have no idea how much your positive attitude has been such an inspiration for me! xoxo
 
I hope you can get the humidity setting figured out so that you don't suffer with wheezing again!


RTHR 1/15/2016. Posterior approach. Due to AVN. LTHR on May 26, 2016.
 
Surgery might seem a long way away but at least if gives you the chance to sort out the sleeping problems. It's a long wait but you'll get through it and it will all be worth it.
 
Thanks, @jomarie58! My lungs are feeling much better now, but not all the way better. Will hold off on using the PAP machine for awhile still, and then will start experimenting with humidity that won't trigger the asthma. It's a high humidity outside today, with lower temperatures, but I plan to keep the AC on in the house to keep the humidity down in here. Don't like doing that, but I know it will help my lungs.

@Zelda, I appreciate the encouragement. It seems like forever since I started with the new surgeons for a second opinion, Feb. 1. Last night, for the first time since my THR last July, I shed a few tears. I am so tired of the pain and the disability. Can't even imagine not having to use walking aids. Can't imagine being able to bend low without pain and "catching" of something in my hip. Can't imagine sleeping comfortably and not waking up multiple times, or being able to go from a sit to a stand without significant pain. I want to harvest all the delicious vegetables in our garden without worrying that I'll fall over.

I am living a full life, and do many activities and have fun with my loved-ones. But there is so much more I want to do, places I want to go. I appreciate all the support I am getting here on BS very, very much. Thanks to you all!
 
Krista,
Stopping by to see how you are doing? I hope your hip pain has settled, sending positive thoughts your way for your upcoming surgery.
Sorry to hear you are having problems with your APAP. Asthma is confounding at times. Turning the humidifier off is always an option. Have your lungs settled down?
Seems it is always something,
 
Thanks for your concern, @Pumpkln. I am kind of a mess. Hip/thigh pain/disability remains constant. Lungs have not settled. Have been using steroid inhaler for 2 weeks and taken oral steroids for a week, and lungs still twitchy, wheezing, although somewhat better. I've made the decision not to use the PAP machine until well after surgery, as with 5 weeks to go, I cannot afford to have compromised lungs. Research that I've done shows that humidity below 35% and above 50% can trigger asthma symptoms even in people with mild asthma, like me. So when I do go back to PAP therapy eventually, I cannot go without humidity at all, and my pulmonologist agrees. Will research what settings to use to try to avoid this happening again. I hadn't wheezed since early in 2014 before this.

And then I hurt my lower back ten days ago, to the point that I was having very painful spasms multiple times per day. I'm on a strong nsaid (which certainly does not take care of all of the pain), and unable to sleep in my bed. Can't sleep on my back because of the apneas, and when I try my side, I get pain and the spasms. So I am getting some sleep in my completely electric recliner, maybe 5 - 6 hours a night with much interrupted sleep. Just not having any good luck these days, although I am carrying on with most normal activities in spite of it all, with difficulty.
 
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