TKR Cflower's recovery

[Cflower]

I was reading someone else's post and hijacked a chart diagram. I still have problems with tightness. If Josephine sees this I would like a response from her. My left knee is 20 months out my right knee is 17 months after my replacements. I have been feeling stiffness on both knees and are A-R1234 and sometimes tightness R1(L)def and R(L)4 def on the chart jisephine posted. I feel like this tightness will never go away. I thought I would be 100 % by a year. I can ride a bike with no problem. I can do water aerobics I can go up and down stairs. I have none of the pain or crunching I did before the replacement. I cannot of course touch my heels to my butt. I use a stretching strap and can pull it back. All this tightness doesn't hurt it's just plain annoying because it's not normal and I can never get it out of my head 24/7. Is there ANYONE who has similar feeling. Dr says everything looks perfectly normal in X-rays. Sometimes my husband says I walk stiff legged and I think this is when the tight band feeling starts. My 88 years old mother in law is ready to have her second knee done and she will probably do much better than I have. She did her first need about 15 years ago and had no problems like I've had with the tight feeling.

 

[RunA42K]

Hi Cflower, it's good to see you back but sorry that you are having some problems. @Josephine should read it if she is tagged, so I just did that for you. A lot has happened to me since I saw you last. Surgery in August to remove scar tissue, then a revision in December. I am 6 weeks post op today. I wrote you a note on Words With Friends because I didn't know how to reach you.

All I can say is if you are not satisfied with the answers you are getting from your doctor, keep asking or get a second opinion. I kept asking my doctor about my pain and stiffness for a year and a half. He didn't take me seriously and I finally saw someone else. I have a great doctor in the Texas Medical Center now and my revision recovery is 100 times better than my first TKR.

 

[Cflower]

I am grateful for the surgery because I do not have the bone-on-bone thing going on or the grinding. And like I said what I'm experiencing isn't painful compared to what the knees were before surgery. I just feel like I have a garter, duct tape, someone's hands strangling my leg al the time. My doctor couldn't really say what's going on but did say it could be scar tissue that could be broken up and is just the healing process. But i'm going into 2 years now. He also said riding the bike 5 minutes a day would be better than one long ride a week. I have decided to drop down to water aerobics just once a week and try and get in gym 3 times a week. I think I can a lot more bending there than in the pool and as soon as it warms up outside I can easily do 15-30 minutes a day on my new bike. Bonnie, did you actually have your knee taken out and a new one put in for the revision or did they just remove scar tissue. I really do not want more surgery.

 

[RunA42K]

@Cflower I had two surgeries since we talked last 2.5 years post op from TKR my knee was full of scar tissue. My doctor would not entertain the idea of scar tissue so I found a new doctor. Doctor did surgery August 21, said he'd never seen anything like it. It was in every section of my knee and wrapping around tendons. I had pain and loss of ROM. Couldn't pedal a bike anymore could not go up and down stairs, I was limping all the time. That surgery did not solve my problems although the pain was better. So yes, on December 2, they actually took out my Smith and Nephew Legion knee and replaced it with a Stryker Triathlon Revision system knee. I am doing much be petter than I ever dreamed.I

 

[Cflower]

Does anyone take Zetia for cholesterol? I took a statin drug for a few years prior to having knee replacements. They started causing terrible leg cramps which I thought was due to the bad knees. I now know that statins are bad drugs and can cause permanent muscle damage. Last January I started taking Zetia. My left knee was then 6 months old and the right knee three months old. So, I've been taking this for a year now and just now put two and two together that my calf cramps and muscle pain can now be from the Zetia. I have research it and seems like a lot of people have calf problems with this drug. I just recently got the doctor to change Zetia because I was going to have a $350 copay which I didn't want. I now have decided to throw all cholesterol medicine away. I'll take my chances and try to lower it with exercise and eating better. At this point, I'd rather live 5 years less than have constant muscle cramps. I guess I will know in a few days if if the calf discomfort improves. I know the tighten, rubber band feeling isn't the zetia but I think it definitely explains the calf muscle problems since I had it with the statins too. I doubt even at two year mark June 27 that the tight band feeling goes away. I feel like it is here to stay.

 

[Pumpkin]

I would imagine without the calf pain you will exercise more. Seems exercise is more important than taking a medication that causes pain, and you to exercise less.
Hoping the tight band feeling goes away when you quit the Zetia.

 

[Cflower]

From what I have read online at other sites, some people have it for a long time. My brain just can't get use to it. I think about it 24/7 and the fact that it's not a normal feeling. Joints fine, no more bone on bone but I really don't know if this is better or not because I complain all the time. I think I need to get busy doing other things to take my mind off it. I do a craft circle once a week, bunco once a month, water aerobics twice a week (but dropping to once a week) and will start trying to get to gym 2-3 times a week and as soon as it turns nice outside will get on my new bike at least 15 minutes a day (doctor said to do 5 minutes on a bike a day instead of one long ride and it would help more). Seems like the busier I stay, the less I notice it.

 

[Josephine]

My left knee is 20 months out my right knee is 17 months after my replacements. I have been feeling stiffness on both knees. I took a statin drug for a few years prior to having knee replacements. They started causing terrible leg cramps which I thought was due to the bad knees.

There is a very good chance that this is nothing to do with your knees per se but more to do with the statins. I was put on statins a year or so back and ended up with such awful joint pains I could barely get out of bed in the mornings. So I stopped taking them and lo and behold, the pain all went away! I've had a few 'discussions' (for which read heated!) with my GP about going on them simply because of my age and the fact that I am diabetic. Never mind that my cholesterol is perfectly normal. I still refuse to take something that makes me feel so ill and destroys my quality of life. I'm not suggesting you dio likewise but think about it. Maybe it's even worth stopping them for a couple of weeks as a trial.

 

[Cflower]

I'm done with all types of cholesterol medicine. I took my last zetia yesterday and will not take the new one the doctor prescribe. I wl never take them again no matter what my numbers are. I will post again in a few days As to whether leg cramps are better.

 

[DogLoverx3]

Good luck Cflower. I hope this helps!

 

[Cflower]

I've been reading so much about Zetia and other cholesterol medicines and muscle problems. I'm wondering how many of us with tight band feeling and cramps are taking these drugs?

 

[DogLoverx3]

Hi Cflower. I don't take Zetia but I'm pretty confident in saying that the 'tight band' thing is a part of recovery for everyone. Some days the 'bands' are tighter than others, but from reading posts, and my own experience, pretty much everyone has that awesome (read: not so awesome) sensation. Maybe the cramps though......

 

[tek'smom]

I fall into the group of people who cannot take statins. The feeling, for me, wasn't limited to knees and quads. It was all over--spine, shoulders, lats, hands, fingers, feet. It wasn't until I started feeling that my brain was affected that a neighbor asked me if I was taking statins. There are NOT enough alerts about the warning signs.

 

[Cflower]

I know everyone has their own post for recovery but is their a way to look up a problem or concern without reading through pages of someone's recovery. Is everyone just allowed one thread? I would still like to look to see how long people have that tight band feeling and also my 88 year old mother in law just had a knee replacement a week ago. She had her temperature spike to 103 twice and now on released back to rehab. I really want to be able to look up certain problems and just didn't know if there's an area I have been missing other than recovery threads

 

[DogLoverx3]

Hi Cflower. The tight band thing is different for every person but I'm sure equally as annoying. Not sure about searching the threads for certain topics but if you go the library (the tab towards the top of the page), there are wonderful articles and advice on a million topics. I know there's one on the 'tight band' feeling as well.

 

[Cflower]

Thanks I will look. I just knew by looking at any thread or mine no one would know a new question was being asked. When everyone's
Threads start "on the other side" and it's all their
Experiences with a new knee it's hard to find an answer to a problem. I will definitely go to library

 

[kneeper]

There's also a search feature where you can plug in terms at the top of the page, under the sponsor banner.

 

[RunA42K]

Hi @Cflower! My tight band feeling on my first TKR NEVER went away...2 years and 8 months. It felt more like a metal clamp was tightly attached around my knee. Now, my Revision at just 10 weeks post op I can say that I have NO tight band feeling. No two knees are the same and my two certainly were not.

As for the fever, my first TKR I had fever which spiked to 103 up to about 10 days post op. When the massive swelling started settling down, so did the fever. I didn't have fever with the Revision.

 

[Cflower]

Update on knees. LTKR done June 27, 2012 and RTKR done Oct. 1, 2012. There is not much change in the tight band feeling and I feel like it may never go away. What I can do, I can ride by bike with no problem. I do not have trouble with stairs or getting up and down from chair after being seated for a couple of hours like in the movie etc/restaurant. We just got back from 10 days to Seattle/Vancouever/Victoria. While in Vancouever we did a lot of walking, did the suspension bridge at Capilano park and all the walking there in the treetop adventure which was lots of stairs and little bridges etc., did lots of walking in Victoria at Butchart gardens and justing walking around the town. Once back in Seattle we toured Mt. Rainier. I hiked on most of the trails we stopped at except for one that was pretty steep and I was just afraid I was going to slip. After all that walking at suspension bridge, my left food started hurting so much that I could hardly walk on it. Dr. thinks I might have fractured it but I don't think so.

The tight band feeling is still ALWAYS there. The feeling goes around both knees about the middle of the of the knee and that same tight feeling goes down both shins (outside of lower legs) The only time it is not as noticeable is when I take a Tramadol a day and 2 Advil 2 times a day. The feeling is still there, I just don't pay as much attention to it.

My doctor released me back in the Spring and said come back in 3-4 years. I feel like asking for an MRI (especially since I have met my deductibles this year with medicate) to see if my legs are full of scar tissue. I really don't think I would have surgery if it were scar tissue. I would just like to know what I'm feeling. Massages have not help. I use my stretching strap and stretch all the time. I have a "stick" roller that I use on them also. I even got desperate and went to a chiropractor (I have never had faith in one and will never go again) who did some laser treatments, acupuncture and something where he pressed on the muscles. Plus he sold me (was I ever stupid to fall for this) about $75 worth of herbal things that were suppose to help with inflammation etc. Well, nothing has helped and I guess I'm not liking the idea of putting up with this for the rest of my life. I have no leg pain like before and the feeling I have isn't pain, it just feels like someone is strangling my legs all the time.

I have started stacking pillows up by my bed and kneeling on them for about 5 minutes to see if that will make a difference. Sometimes my husband (almost always) says I limp. I don't think I do, I think the tight feeling makes me compensate some way. I just finished watching a technique called Chinese Cupping that I might try on myself. I have tried scraping over the muscles using the back side of a butter knife (like Graston technique) no help there either.

Does anyone think there is still a chance that this feeling will go away?

 

[kneeper]

Gee, this is too bad about the tight band feeling. Is it both knees? But it sounds like you can do most activities ok. You may want to get a second opinion.