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a few questions:

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HippyJill

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Hi! I'm new to boneSmart and am so grateful I found you. I am 29 years old and will have a THR this summer.

I have hip dysplasia (mostly in right hip) and I often feel nauseous and light headed. I feel that my blood circulation is out of wack and my right leg tingles now and then. When the arthritis flares up, and the hip gets really hot, I get especially light headed, nauseous, and my blood pressure goes down. I have had blood work down and the levels are great and there's no indication of another problem. My internist told me that the nausea is probably from pain and that my limp (my leg is externally rotated) could be causing the dizziness? I can't help but wonder if it is related to blood flow instead.

Does anyone know? Has this happened to anyone else? For those of you who have had hip replacement, did your overall health improve after having it done?
 
Welcome Jill! While I cannot comment on the specifics (Jo??), I can say that overall, I have felt better since my THR. I think that ongoing pain effects all of us differently, but of course negatively. My problems, in addition to the painful hip, were related to my stomach and digestive system. As one who never has these problems, I was worried about some horrible illness and had many tests last spring before my surgery--all came up negative, thankfully. Looking back, am almost certain that the heavy doses of ibuprophen were causing the pain. Also, the stress and anxiety I had related to getting to the decision, finally, about having my hip fixed, was effecting my overall well being.
Now all is so much better. You will find many friends on this site--and some around your age too.

Laurie, RTHR, 8.26.08
 
Hi Jill! Welcome to the message board! I will let Jo (our nurse) comment on your specific questions.

Just want to let you know I am a young one too -27 and just had a RTHR on 3/17/09. I am just 4 weeks out at this point and am doing great.

WELCOME!
 
Welcome, Jill! I had RTHR 10 weeks ago today. Something Laurie mentioned made me wonder - are you taking large doses of pain killers that may be causing the nausea? I also had tingling and numbness in my right leg before I even knew my hip was bad. It was caused by a compressed nerve at about L4 in my lower back. I had surgery for that and it fixed that problem, but it was when I kept hurting that they discovered my hip was bad (also caused by hip dysplasia at birth). My story - don't know if helps or not, but I'm sure Jo will have some answers!

Karen
 
Welcome, Jill! I had AVN which is a thing of the past since my surgery on 11/07/08! Welcome!!!! :)
 
Welcome to the forum, Jill. So glad you joined us. I'm from the knee side and our forum nurse, Josephine, should be checking in soon and providing her medical opinion. She is our resident expert in such matters! But Karen and Laurie could have a point if you are taking large doses of pain medication.....what are you on?

Hip replacement surgery has dramatically changed the lives of many of our forum members and given them their mobility back. Hopefully this will be the case following your surgery. Forum members here are always available to provide whatever support you need as you wait for the Big Day and afterwards in recovery.
 
Thank You! Thank You everyone for your quick responses!

I am amazed by the great support here.

No, I'm not on any regular pain killers. I take IBuprofen occasionally, but have tried to steer clear as much as possible. To be honest, I've had family members become addicted to pain killers so I'm a bit paranoid of them. I had a cortisone shot in January, which helped for maybe 3-4 weeks max. During that time the nausea and dizziness decreased significantly and I almost felt completely like myself again. I do exercises daily to strengthen the muscles, do yoga, and swim, which don't take away the pain, but allow me to get by without a regular need for pain killers. I also supplement my diet with fish oil, turmeric, and glucosamine. I don't know how much/if these things help, but I'm getting by for now.

I couldn't be more grateful for this forum. It's great to meet "Hippies" of all ages!!
 
Ahhhh, Jill. I would say that, since you experienced some improvement in the nausea and dizziness when you had a cortisone shot, your doctor may be right on that it is a result of the pain you are experiencing. I hope all this resolves itself once you have a new hip this summer! Hang in there, hon....it will get better!!
 
Hello, Jill. I'm sorry to hear that you are facing a hip replacement at such a young age but it happens!

About these symtpoms - you're not taking any meds so it's not that. Do you feel like you're anxious - as in unduly anxious - about this surgery? Lightheadedness and nausea are symptoms of anxiety as is a low blood pressure. Are you checking your blood pressure? If so, what is the reading when this happens?

You mentioned about relatives having a problem with pain killers in the past - do you think you are anxious about coping with the pain without them after the op? I don't mean to imply this is all psychological - anxiety is real as the folk on here will tell you I know all too well. But it cannot be brushed off either.

You seem as if you are taking sensible precautions and have had relevant tests to rule out any hidden conditions that might be repsonsible. So what do you think? Might I be anywhere near the mark?
 
Better days are coming Jill! We are all a testimony to that:-) The road may be a little long and a bit bumpy along the way but it is all worth it in the end. Thankfully you found this forum - the wonderful "company" of your fellow hippie brothers and sisters will make the ride SO MUCH easier. I don't know what I would have done without them, AND OUR MOTHER HEN, JO!!
 
Hi Jill,
Another dysplasia hippie here – there sure are a few of us around :) I am 46 and had a left total hip replacement seven months ago. It is wonderful surgery , I should have done it a few years ago.

My right hip is now quite painful and I expect to have a right THR in the next year or so. I took ibuprophen pills that my doctor prescribed for the first time a few days ago, and had a day and a half of nausea – I would rather put up with the pain!

I hope all goes well with your journey – I think afterwards you will be amazed at the difference after having lived with pain for so long.
Regards,
Monica
 
Josephine,
I have to admit, I think I am naturally inclined to be anxious. That is probably a big part of it. I am excited to have my THR this summer though. I completely trust my surgeon and feel like I need to get on with my life.
I tried to do a bit of research online and found that an inflamed organ (the example I saw was the pancreas) can lower blood pressure. I also read abstracts from a few studies done that showed that blood volume to various parts of the body was lowered in patients with rheumatoid arthritis as compared with healthy people. I don't know that either of this applies to me because I don't have an inflamed pancreas or rheumatoid arthritis, just one heck of an inflamed hip!
Anyway, I'll stop rambling now. Thank you to everyone for your support. Finding this group has given me a spring to my step (figuratively, of course :D)!
 
Hi Hippy-Jill (soon to be Happy-Jill)

Yes I can vouch for an overall health improvement since my LTHR 5 weeks ago. My sciatica went away too, (and my neuropathy and myopathy did too, but that might be from being off aspartame for 4 months, according to Dr Betty Martini ex FDA doc)

As my physical therapy gets more intense, waking up muscles that have been asleep for 5 years.....I feel 10-years younger! I look forward to PT and try to push myself further each time.
I was one of those people who always put my needs last, but after this surgery, I learned that sometimes I have to put my needs first. So the benefits of having a THR, come from all different places......physical and psychological......and they continue to make you feel better as you recover.

When the chronic pain is finally gone, the dark clouds that followed you are gone too, and the psychological changes lead you to better overall health.

BTW, what does "externally rotated" mean exactly?

Hop
 
External rotation of the hip is when laying on the back, the knee is flexed up and then allowed to drop outwards. If the knee was allowed to drop in the opposite way over the straight leg, that would be internal rotation.

Sometimes, because of a birth defect, the upper end of the femur has not developed in the correct angle to the lower end resulting in the foot in pointing outwards like so



This is often corrected by surgery when the patient is about 4-6 years old.
 
O would think ot means OUCH, Hop! At least there's a way to help young patients and spare them years of agonizing pain! :)
 
Wow!
If they fix the external rotation and the painful joint itself in one surgery, that could be one major life-changing experience!
 
Oh no! They're two different ops. One's done on the hip (or course0 and but the rotation is corrected mid-shaft.
 
Oops! What I should have said instead of "external rotation" is that the leg below my bad hip turns outward. My physical therapist used the phrase "external rotation." I'm sure I'm not alone in having a leg turn outward before THR.

The issue of my leg turning outward began about 18 months ago and has progressively gotten worse. It is not an issue related to the length of my femur bone, which would require an additional surgery. Whew! I'm grateful for that!
 
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