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TKR Cry baby

Yup you're certainly not alone! ROM of 120 is seriously impressive btw. Moving house and a full time job as well as trying to recover from a TKR is enough to make anyone cry!
It's my second op a week today and I'm trying to make the most of sleeping all night as I know those won't return for many weeks. (8 weeks last time).
Keep on keeping on. Daily living activities will do the trick. Remember the motto ' this too shall pass' - and it will. (Especially relevant re post op constipation! )
 
Thanks for your reply. I had such a bad night last night. I'm beginning to dread the nights. Last night was worse because I was really sick. I just don't know what to eat any more. I have never felt this ill for so long before. Everything was progressing until this week (4th). I've been walking about without crutches for a while but this morning I had to go back on them cos knee was so weak. Now I've got a sharp pain on the left side of my waist. I sound like a hypochondriac but I just feel it's all going wrong. Where is the promised 'every day gets better?' I seem to be going backwards. I apologise for moaning but I have only got 2 weeks before I go back to work but I look a mess. Too sudden weight loss at my age is not a good look! Plus bags under eyes from lack of sleep and crying. I'm a poor advert for tkr.
 
Thanks for all your supportive answers. (Mollymax I live in Bedfordshire).
Most of my pain is located on and just below the knee. I take tramodol, ibuprofen and paracetamol. Sometimes ice and elevation feels uncomfortable and I have to stop it. My legs feels twitchy and restless at night but ok when I'm walking about.

I'm going back to work as a complete stranger. I feel as though my brain and personality have been replaced along with my knee!
 
Senny could the Tramadol be the problem? I was given tramadol for the arthritis pain and within 2 days they had to take me off it. Talk about restless legs! They wouldn't stay still. Night was worse and couldn't sleep. Legs were all over the place and I felt so sick Went back to doctor who said oh that's a well known reaction to Tramadol we need to get you off that. I have warned hospital not to give me that next week. Worth maybe talking to doctor.
 
:console2: I’m sorry you are feeling so bad. And I’m sorry to say a lot of us have experienced all of what you just said. It’s a “normal” part of recovery from knee replacement. (Though we don’t like to use the word “normal” too much because we are all unique and so is our recovery)

It does not get better each day. This recovery is like a rollercoaster with lots of ups and downs. You will have good days and bad days. At 4 weeks many of us still had more bad days than good.

We get aches and pains all over until our body sorts itself out after this surgery.

Is there any way you can delay your return to work?
 
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Hi Senny, I am in Milton Keynes.

Where was your op done? I had my op a week ago on Saturday in Banbury and have my one and only physio next Tuesday.

So much difference depending on where you are!
 
Hi, @Senny!

Your knee seems to be working all right, but that first month of recovery...yikes! It is the pits for sure. Nothing works, you hurt, and--worst of all--you can't sleep at night. At this point the best thing you can do is sleep when you can, keep the ice bag on, and just veg out. Your knee will thank you.

Painkillers can mess with your head. It took me 2 months to stop using mine and another 2 months before I could sleep normally. I spent many pre-dawn hours with the tablet and Bonesmart :) :-) (:

It is a journey measured in months, not days. It does get better. Let your knee lead the way.
 
Senny said:
Hi. I've just joined this impressive site. I've been reading it since I had my tkr on 25th May. I am 69 and have managed since day 3 to shower on my own, live on my own with family visiting. Stuck to pt. The pain management in hospital was not successful. I could only tolerate paracetamol which isn't strong enough so suffered much pain. When I came home GP gave me tramadol which helps.

I thought I was doing really well until today when the pain in my new knee was so bad, plus feeling nauseous, got too much and I just cried and cried - even my arthritis didn't hurt this bad. My pt has gone out of the window. All I can do is just walk about. Ice and elevation didn't work. I had to take extra tramadol to stay sane and have been drinking chamomile tea.

Is this normal. I've had off days but today I truly regretted the op.
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Hi Senny. I had my tkr on May 30th and was doing well until I started Pt. The pt pushed on my knee to try to straighten it until I was in tears! I talked to my os and he said to rest ice and elevate and to do my exercises at home for a few days. I am alone most of the time too! I think when we can drive it will be better! Hang in there. You are not alone
 
Hi Senny, I had my tkr on May 30th and my situation is very similar to yours. I vomited from every pain med they gave me. I was doing better until yesterday when the pt pushed down on my knee until I cried! Now my rom is worse than before and my knee is swollen and really hurts. My os told me to take some time off from pt and just do my exercises at home. Also rest ice and elevate. I am alone most of the time also and can’t wait to be able to drive again. Hang in there! You are not alone
 
Senny said:
Where is the promised 'every day gets better?' I seem to be going backwards.
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Although every day your knee is getting better, you won't always feel that way. This recovery is a bit of a grind and even the most cheery soul will have days when nothing seems to be going right. :gaah: Keep faith that you will feel better soon, because you will. It just won't seem that way sometimes.

You're still very early in recovery, and doing quite well. Resting your knee will help restore your sense of progress soon. Once your swelling and pain go down you can get back to going about your daily activities and noticing small victories again.

Painkillers really do mess with the head! And the rest of the body. Once you are off those, you will feel more like your usual self. :console2:
 
Thanks for your encouraging answers. (Nick UK I had my op at the Saxons Clinic in MK. It's private but paid for by NHS).

I've decided the tramadol is giving me grief. Rapid heartbeat, twitchy legs and a few other symptoms. Will see if I can do without it. I don't have to go back to work until 8th July. I love my job, share my office with a colleague/friend and can more or less decide what I feel like doing at my own pace.

I'm moving Monday just a few streets away (nearer to surgery) and I suppose I did take on a lot. Both the op and the flat came through at the same time and I couldn't turn down either.

Everything you guys say all makes sense.
I think I just got too smug. I was last in for the op and the first to go home, doing everything myself, religiously doing the pt, and dispensing with the crutches after a week. I came across this site and thinking how fortunate I was not having any of these issues, but hell's teeth! I crashed and burned this week. And here I am, on the other side with a new appreciation for Bonesmart.
 
Since you're not taking the Tramadol, Senny, do make sure to take the Panadol on a regular schedule, so you keep up the levels in your bloodstream. You can take 4 doses of 1,000 mg each, to a total of 4,000 mg in 24 hours.

Make sure you check any other medications you're taking, to check that there is no Paracetamol (Acetaminophen/Tylenol) in them. If there is, cut back one or two of your other doses, so you stay within that safe 4000 mg limit.

Another thing you can do is cut back your exercises.
It's not exercising that gets you your ROM - it's time. Time to recover, time for swelling and pain to settle, and time to heal. Your ROM is there right from the start, just waiting for all that to happen, so it can show itself.
 
Thanks Celle.

I am taking paracetamol as suggested and ibuprofen. I'm pretty certain the tramadol was causing internal aggro. Just hope it's not permanent.

Before op I used biofreeze gel every morning (with paracetamol and ibuprofen) and together they got me through the day. Tonight I used the gel on my knee and it seems to be helping, at least until the painkillers kick in. For some reason the ice just doesn't work like it does for everyone else. It actually hurts even with a cotton barrier. Even the elevation can be uncomfortable (I have a wedge)

What doesn't help is the stomach upsets. I so want to eat to get my strength back but I can't stand the smell. I tried plain goats yogurt and manuka honey (Steens 20 strength UMF certified and worth every penny). It has helped. That manuka honey is amazing for lots of things

Sometimes I just have to weep. My family are just so gobsmacked because I'm the strong one and it unnerves them to see me sick vulnerable. I fear I may have lost my street cred!
 
Senny said:
Sometimes I just have to weep. My family are just so gobsmacked because I'm the strong one and it unnerves them to see me sick vulnerable. I fear I may have lost my street cred!
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This will pass! I cried buckets early in recovery, then just here and there. It’s all part of recovering from major surgery. :console2:
 
Hi Celle.

Diclofenac was taken off the market some years ago. I did wonder about the ibuprofen. A brand of ibuprofen was launched earlier this year under the name of 'Flarin' which claims to protect the stomach whilst having the same effect as 'normal ' ibuprofen. It's quite an inflated price by comparison but if I find I can't manage pain without ibuprofen it's worth buying. I am definitely feeling something abnormal's going on with my digestive system. Fortunately I don't smoke, blood pressure's always been normal and heart is fine; however it's still a risk and thanks for the reminder.
 
@Senny I'm quite near you geographically I think. It's my second TKR next week I think it says something that I'm willing to go through all that again. But I'm going to because it was worth it! I know now that I will sleep again one day, I will manage to eat again and maybe this time my knee will bend without a MUA (but having had one I know now not to be afraid of one).
This too shall pass!
I'm sure your GP would sign you off for another few weeks. You really sound too unwell for work. Good luck.
 
Thanks spex 10

I actually live in LeightonBuzzard Bedfordshire and work in Milton Keynes. Last night was a bad night because I didn't take tramadol but I did manage to get some sleep.

I keep saying I won't have the other knee done but people do. I do have a problem with pain management cos so many opiate based drugs make me ill. Anyway it's early days. When I'm over the worst I may change my mind. It's a bit like giving birth. We say 'never again ' but most of us go and do it again.

All the best with your op. I've still got three weeks off so I might improve. Thanks for your input.
 
Senny said:
Diclofenac was taken off the market some years ago.
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Diclofenac is the generic name for a product often called Voltaren commercially.
I'm going to ask @Josephine if it is still sold under that name in the UK.

Even if it's not, the warning still holds good for people in other countries.
 
My doctor gave me Naproxene as they say that is the safest of the anti inflammatory. I rarely use it just now because of all the heart fears but I may have to after the operation.
 
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