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Appetite, diet and pain meds

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Weezy

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Yes I AM full of questions today...well, its one of those really really tired "down" days so I'm pretty much just sitting here thinking of all those questions!

Do the pain meds kill one's appetite? I'm not taking much, just one Darvocet in the morning and one Vicodin at night. On rare days I'll take a Darvocet in the afternooon. But I find myself not hungry yet craving protein...go figure!

When I fix something, it doesn't taste good so I don't eat much; or if I do eat, my stomach feels a bit queasy. About all that tastes good right now is yoghurt/fruit smoothies with protein powder thrown in.

Has anyone else gone through this craving/lack of appetite phase? How long does it last? Should I worry about eating enough protein?

Weezy
 
Weezy, I think it all balances out. The first few weeks I after surgery, I lost weight. I don't know if it was the pain meds or not. But foodaholic that I am I quickly rose to the occasion.
Rather than eating a big meal, try snacking more frequently.
 
Weezy, you are a marvel! I really, really like you. I DO go through exactly what you have described, but since I have been taking pain meds for such a long time (years and years because of serious back problems that are inoperable) I cannot blame the pain meds for my lack of appetite. I think, for me anyway, it is just the surgery that we have gone through plus, in my case, my losing so much weight prior to surgery and getting used to eating less. What I have found really, really satisfies my hunger without making me nauseous, is salads or ham sandwiches with lots of lettuce and tomato. My son fixes a mean ham sandwich and I tend to want them later in the evening. Today I ate a few small pancakes for breakfast with three larges glasses of oj and nothing else. For dinner tonight I am making salads with lots of green leaf lettuce and tomatoes topped with lots of white, water-packed tuna. I will probably want a sandwich later, who could resist. I find I drink a lot of iced tea, raspberry tea and oj throughout the day and night. Personally, I think I am eating too much but if I am hungry right now I will go ahead and eat and listen to my body as we have really gone through a difficult, long surgery and we need the extra calories to heal maybe. I don't know, but it just doesn't seem to be a good idea to diet right now.

I, too, have been having a down day, energy wise anyway. I tend to very seldom get down down, you know where I feel depressed. It seemed like I could have napped off and on all day long the past two days. I have a tendency to doze off when I am laying down icing my legs, which I do three or four times a day. That machine that I was sent home from the hospital with, actually I got two of them since I had both knees done, is the most wonderful idea anyone ever came up with. I hope, sincerely, everyone got one. You put ice and water in this little igloo like container and then ice cold water circulates through these pads that fit over my knees. I was shocked to when the nurses said that most of them got thrown away. They really work to help keep the swelling down in my legs when I am up on them for two long and after exercizing they are really great. Well, I have gone on WAY TOO LONG, so I am gonna close. Rowdy
 
For the first few weeks after my surgery, my appetite was off a bit. I had mild nausea at times and just was more tired than anything else. After about 4-6 weeks things started turning around. The tired part lasted until recently (I'm at almost 6 months). It improved over time, but I still want to nap some days. Healing takes a lot of energy out of you and we just feel like we aren't doing anything when we are resting, but our body is working overtime to heal.

Depression is really common, so tell your doctor if you need help. I got a prescription for it and it turned right around. Don't be embarrassed or shy about it. Feeling good is important to your recovery.

Eating healthy is always a good idea. Don't starve yourself, but eat reasonably and you'll be fine. Lots of water, too.

God bless,
Skeet
 
Wow Rowdy, are we on the same schedule?? I envy you your craving for salads--that seems quite healthy. I'm only craving some unhealthy things but making do with smoothies.

And I'm chuckling over the ham sandwiches--they SOUND great; however, the one I made yesterday just didn't work so the dogs got it. Maybe I need your son's recipe?

Ah well, this little blip in the road will pass, the sun will shine here again, and maybe tomorrow I'll have the energy to do more than vegetate in front of the TV with a trashy novel.

Weezy
 
Skeet--if you don't mind my asking, what made you decide that you were depressed and needed meds? That's one thing I'm worried about since so many people have told me to watch out for it, but in reality I'm not sure what I'm watching out for!

I'm trying to be patient with my "tireds" and it helps to know that others have had it too, but boy its frustrating!!!!!! I want to be out sewing or cleaning, but here I sit too tired to even want to knit!

Weezy
 
No problem with the question, Weezy. I was crying all the time for no real reason. I just felt blue and low most of the time. A perpetual feeling of sadness. I'm generally a very optimistic, perky person, so being low was hard for me. The crying jags seem to be something lots of us dealt with, but once I had my meds (citalopram 20 mg daily) they stopped. I would start crying shortly before I needed pain meds and/or shortly after taking them. My family pointed some of my symptoms out to me, others I saw myself. I also heard it is quite normal and common to undergo depression following a major surgery such as this, so I was ready for it and contacted my doctor. I also had trouble sleeping, but the meds didn't help that. No, needed another script for that - Trazadone. Started with 50 mg and then upped it to 100 mg when I just cannot relax enough to sleep (mind races with all the things I need to do, etc.).

Does that help?
 
Thanks, Skeet, that does help! I'm like you, normally upbeat, perky and cheerful...so this down feeling isn't normal.

I hadn't thought about including sleeping problems into the equation, so that's good info too. I've had sleeping problems FOR YEARS in the past, but for some odd reason those seem to have resolved when I married John and I still joke that I'm catching up on 20 years of poor sleep. I wasn't sleeping very well when I was still upstairs, but as soon as my bed was moved back downstairs and I was next to John, I started sleeping very well most nights. And no...its NOT because he's so boring that he puts me to sleep! :)

Things seem better today, so maybe I'm just in a normal slump. I hadn't slept well Wednesday night because I overdid it, was hurting pretty bad and hadn't taken meds soon enough so the pain cycle was well started and didn't break easily all night.

Weezy
 
Skeet -
I am glad to hear someone else's mind races constantly too. I had an extremely difficult 2 years since my last scope. Knee healed great for a while then both my mom and hubby's passed within a month's time - gt through till this fall when the job became overwhelming and then re-injured the knee - not once but several times - it doesn't take much if I wanted to stay active - By spring I was on a merry-go-round that I couldn't get off. Finally admitted I wasn't OK at the time. Talked with someone I trusted at work who said - girl - they have drugs that can help that. Drugs - not me - I thought. Saw this really great PA who works with a great dr. My anxiety levels were through the roof - it was no wonder I was ready to divorce my hubby and never slept. (Poor hubby was taking the brunt of everything). Tried this stuff lexapro - low dose - What a difference. I sleep now! I no longer rip off the hubby's head if he looks at me funny -and work- oh well - everything got done and no one was mad if it was 2 days late. I was a mess and didn't realize it.

I was worried about the lexapro with the upcoming surgery. Surgeon said it was fine and my knee issues have only added to my anxiety. Saw the PA yesterday (scheduled visit to monitor the lexapro)and discussed trying to wean off for the surgery. SHe was like no way- that's when you may need it the most because you will have all these things you think you should be doing and you won't be able to do them. I hate relying on others and this will be a problem for me. She was great - no contraindications so we have decided to proceed with the med through surgery and recovery - then if all is better - I will wean off later in the fall - Especially if my job is calmer this year.

Long story short - as we say where I work - SOMETIMES PHARMACOLOGICAL INTERVENTION IS THE BEST THING - both long term or even just the short term to get you through a rough time.

Good Luck - and ASK for help if you need it (or even if you don't think you do!)
Marianne
 
You guys almost make me feel guilty for not being depressed or worried if things don't get done today or even tomorrow. I have never been a crier, instead I get bitchy in a funny kind of way, what it amounts to is I just say whatever is on my mind and thanks be to God the people I love and who love me think it is funny or worse yet, cute, so then I know I need to reign it in a bit. I don't even feel guilty on days like the last two when all I have wanted to was nap. Reading other people's posts and Weezy's in particular I gather I am not the only one who is feeling like napping and who doesn't have a boatload of energy. I think, maybe, the reason I am not bothered by the whole thing is because for the last twenty years I have been in a constant state of redefining what I can do and reprioritizing the whole mess. Thank God, once again, my once overly neat husband has altered his need for order and been able to adjust to living in a less than perfect home. As long as I greet him with a smile and my make-up on his world is complete. Of course he does like to eat and since I do like to cook that may be one reason he has adjusted so well. I can remember a time, albeit many, many years ago, when I cleaned house, raised my kids and worked fulltime and had enerdy to burn, but I did have a live-in nanny[general helper to back me up but she had to be paid and I had to pay her so I still feel like I can take responsibility for the way things ran and looked. I hope all of you who are depressed get to feeling better though. I just don't think all of us are going to end up depressed I suppose, so try to remain sympathetic should I become depressed for the first time and need your support. Rowdy
 
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