9 weeks until my TKR

[in kneed]

I overdid it yesterday and today my knee is screaming! How am I going to make it 9 more weeks until my TKR?? This waiting is causing me so much anxiety!

 

[Celle]

Give your knee a rest for a few days. Try elevating and icing it, to help it calm down:
Ice to control pain and swelling
Elevation: the do's and dont's

 

[SusieShoes]

A little more than a year ago, that was me! My surgeon took away all my pain meds and my knees were screaming.

Celle's advice is good: elevate a lot to keep down any swelling... it really helps!

And ice is an underrated pain-killer. It really is. Before surgery when my knees were so painful, I would ice them for 40 minutes before I went on any errand. Grocery store. Pharmacy. Bank. Any errand, I iced in advance! It helped some. Not 100% pain relief, but any help is welcome.

 

[Jockette]

A little more than a year ago, that was me! My surgeon took away all my pain meds and my knees were screaming.

Why did your surgeon take away your pain meds?

 

[SusieShoes]

I was taking Aleve at the time. He told me to stop because naproxen/Aleve inhibits bone growth. He wanted it out of my system. He said to take Tylenol. Might as well have been taking Rice Krispies. Ice helped, though.

 

[lovetocookandsew]

@SusieShoes Rice Krispies indeed! I'm in the same boat, Tylenol does zip, zero, nada to relieve pain in this woman's body. Ice does help for a time, but the only thing that will really help is to get that mean ol' knee out of there and put in a nice new baby knee.

@in kneed I'm in almost the same boat as you-I have a month to go, and am just glad when I get through a day with only minor pain. Tomorrow I am flying about as far west from about as far east as you can in this country and am dreading the day. I'm going to make sure to take my Motrin (no grief about that from the anti-Ibuprofin crowd...lol. I know the down sides but have no other choice and no other way to survive the really bad days without screaming out in pain non-stop), take advantage of the wheelchair assists in NY and LA, and just hope for the best. I really do understand your feelings and frustration and know that we will get through it because we have to. Try to keep as busy as your knee will allow, and hopefully those kangaroos in your stomach will calm down and you will be able to lower your anxiety by getting super prepared for the surgery and recovery.

 

[Celle]

I'm in the same boat, Tylenol does zip, zero, nada to relieve pain in this woman's body. Ice does help for a time, but the only thing that will really help is to get that mean ol' knee out of there and put in a nice new baby knee.

It's quite common to find that Tylenol doesn't help before a TKR.
It often works afterwards, though, as long as you take the correct dose and take it regularly, to keep up the levels in your bloodstream.

The correct post-op therapeutic dose is 1,000 mg four time daily (4-6-hourly), to a total of 4,000 mg in 24 hours. You need to check all your other medications to make sure there is no Tylenol (Acetaminophen) in them. If there is, add that amount to your daily calculation and reduce one or two of you other Tylenol doses, so you stay within that safe limit of 4,000 mg in each 24 hours.

 

[lovetocookandsew]

@Celle Great advice! (for normal people). Unfortunately, I am abnormal and Tylenol never does anything-even by IV in the hospital. But if you've read any of my posts on my thread, you'll know that my dang body reacts horribly to medication-or it doesn't react at all; by which I mean it does nothing to relieve pain. There's no middle ground for me.....sigh. Thus the major dilemma going into the revision and why I've put it off so long.

 

[SusieShoes]

I did find Tylenol worked after surgery! I was really surprised. Tylenol had not even touched my pre-op pain. After surgery, though, when I stopped taking oxy, I found Tylenol very effective. I took it 1000mg every six hours at first, and tapered to nothing over the course of a few months.