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TKR Can't sleep at night after knee replacement

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Kauai.....could you please put a signature in your profile so that we will more easily know when your surgery was? It really helps!!!

I suggest you try icing the back of your knee at night when you're sleeping. It will help along with the Percoset.
 
Kauai.....could you please put a signature in your profile so that we will more easily know when your surgery was? It really helps!!!

I suggest you try icing the back of your knee at night when you're sleeping. It will help along with the Percoset.
 
Go up to the top of the page and mouse hover over your username. You will see a drop-down menu for a whole BUNCH of neat things you can do.
 
kauai said:
Hello again. My regular doctor finally prescribed Percocet, which I pick up tomorrow. Hopefully this will help for night sleeping. My physical therapy is going well - painful - but well. The issue is the back and side of my knee aches a LOT while attempting to sleep; it usually happens when the leg is in the same position for a while. Stretching it out wakes me up even more, but I have to do that or pace to get the pain down.... Sigh.

It's all good, but this is the first week back full-time to work, so a lack of sleep isn't helping much...
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Yes, with being back to work especially I think it's perfectly normal to need pain meds at night. I'm so glad your doc gave you something. Also needing to shift around b/c you get uncomfortable is pretty normal too. But it *does* get better.
 
Keeper, how long were you out of work? They got me gong back on Dec 25th , I'm worried a little because my job requires me to get up and down a lot. I'm a medical asst I bring back patient's for the doctors. I did my first leg lifts today. I hope I will be ready.
 
Gran17 said:
Weezy are you having surgery on the 16th???? Wow..thanks for the post. I try no to worry too much about but I do wonder. Maybe having RA makes a difference...I am going to take it easy, do a few stretches and see. I see Os on 19th...he was talking about MUA....That scares me...I 'm not as down today as yesterday..sometimes I have a pity party. But hey....we deserve it..ths is not exactly a fun ride,is it.....let us know if you are having surgery.....have a blessed day!!!!!!
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Hi Gran....yup, both hips are being replaced tomorrow (10/16). Yippeeee! Tired of the pain and not sleeping because of it.

Re pain meds and sleep: I've done lots of studying into sleep patterns and issues in the past two years since being diagnosed with severe sleep apnea. I also monitor my sleep with a little "toy" called a Zeo Sleep monitor. For me, pain meds disrupt my sleep patterns even though they relieve the pain. I have little to no deep or REM sleep when I take narcotic pain meds, so for the past many months, I've chosen not to take pain meds because overall my sleep was worse with them than without them.

However, that being said, I WILL take narcotic pain meds after surgery because I think all bets are off re sleep cycles after surgery anyway. Pain relief is more important than sleep cycles. I won't start worrying about getting my sleep back to normal until well after surgery when I no longer need pain control.

Of course, this is only my experience and may not apply to anyone else! I have lifelong sleep issues so may be more sensitive to the impact of pain meds.

Weezy
 
Weezy, good luck with your hip replacements. This is the first I heard that they will do both at once. Is your surgeon doing the anterior approach? I hope so, much easier for recovery is what I have been told. I had my right one done that way, but of course I have nothing to compare it to. All I know is I don't even know that it isn't my own hip. Love it. good luck to you tomorrow.
 
Debbie, we have heaps of members in the Hip Recovery forum sporting the Bilateral THRs prefix. And for what it's worth, as far back as 1975, I worked with a surgeon who did at least 6 BTHRs a week! Nothing new under the sun, eh?
 
Thanks for yhe info Weezy...I have always had sleep problems too and was taking sleep meds before the surgery..
Bless you heart..you are brave..i will be praying for you tomorrow..God bless you.....I wish you a speedy recovery ans I will pray for you...best wishes.... :angel:
 
Hi kauai
I am 4+ weeks BTKR and also find it hard to get a good nights sleep. What I have been able to do is sleep on my front and just have one leg moved off to the side. Since doing this I seem to be able to sleep up to 4 hours at a time. I dont take any pain meds other than Extra Strength Tylenol (1500mg). about 20 minutes before I go to sleep. I hope the meds are helping you get some sleep I know how hard it is to function when sleep deprived.
 
Well, I have noticed that I am waking up with my leg being in an odd position..before I stayed in the same position all nite...I dont like that xuz I notice more pain in the morning.. i sleep on my back. somtimes I try to lay on side with pillow between my knee,but I cant srat long before it hurts.. Not a strong pain but a naggy feel metal type..Does that make sense???...I was doing better ,the this last week its been kinda rough.. Mite be coming from the little weekend trip last week....kneees knees, who needs them?????
 
Redbird said:
Keeper, how long were you out of work?
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I was able to do twelve weeks b/c I'm a college teacher and was able to time it for when I was off contract for the summer. Also no pay check. Ha! I can tell you a day on my feet and I was crashing and icing. But week by week it was better.
Getting up and down may be a good thing, redbird, b/c you get stiff either standing or sitting too long. depending on how much up and down I guess...
 
My fmla paperwork was approved for 12 weeks so I'm going to take them. Just learned today that I do not have short term disability I thought I had it oh well! My husband is going to be disappointed but there's nothing I can do now. Open enrollment is coming up in November maybe my other knee can wait until next year? Yikes!
 
So glad I found this thread! I'm 3.5 wks post TKR and the inability to sleep is driving me crazy! I started working from home after 1.5 wks, but the lack of decent sleep means I'm exhausted by 3:00 pm. I have been able to work full days, but it's a real PITA to get started and then I'm so tired in the afternoon. Ugh! I don't like taking the meds anymore (Norco) and even when I do, I can't sleep more than 3 hours anyway. At least glad to know I'm not alone.
 
Redbird said:
My fmla paperwork was approved for 12 weeks so I'm going to take them. Just learned today that I do not have short term disability I thought I had it oh well! My husband is going to be disappointed but there's nothing I can do now. Open enrollment is coming up in November maybe my other knee can wait until next year? Yikes!
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I am liking the twelve weeks! I went back to the classroom at eight weeks and that was much too early.

I also had a difficult time sleeping---i would wander around the house---instead of looking for one honest man, I was looking for one good night's sleep! I went from my bed to the guest bed to the couch to the futon and, finally, I threw the futon mattress to the floor and would crash there about 3:30 -4:30. It was probably the most frustrating aspect of my BTKR---and I ended up with Ambien---ten nights with that and my sleep schedule was solid and I did not look back!
 
I'm a bit nervous about what my range of motion should be at 7 weeks. I have 112 degrees, and it seems low - anyone out there with advice? I've been doing exercises religiously, PT, etc - I'm a bit concerned.
 
Hi there!! Well we all heal at different times. You can continue to get increased ROM for a year. Are you icing, elevating, and taking your meds? If the knee feels stiff, that is internal swelling, and it can affect ROM. You have 100 degrees of ROM, and more will come in time. Not to worry dear heart. Gentle, easy heel slides will get you there. You are still early in the healing process. This recovery takes 12 months, some even longer. It is a marathon, not a sprint. I think you are just fine at 112 for the amount of weeks out you are. It will get better!!
 
kauai said:
I'm a bit nervous about what my range of motion should be at 7 weeks.
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There is no 'should be'. At 7 weeks you've barely started and things can go up and down every day. If you are having steady progress you are already ahead of many people.

As long as your exercises and PT don't hurt, you are on track.
 
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