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THR Doing it Alone

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Yes I am still on pain meds. My surgery was day before yours. My progress is slower than I would like. I was not given exercises to do just told to walk, building up the amount each time. My left leg is holding me back as I still need that one done.
You can whine all you want. Especially on here cos we understand better than people who have not gone through it. No need to "suck it up" as you put it. I find it helps to have a good whine and get it off your chest. We will get there eventually :ok: Barbara
 
Thank you Barbara... that does make me feel better. I'm sorry you are still suffering too though. But it does help to know that I am not an anomaly.
 
Hi NDN - so sorry you are having a rough time. Maybe you should back off on the exercises and take it a bit slower. As Jo always says - hips have a way of working themselves out. There is no real push to exercise continually. Walking and getting out in the fresh air can work wonders. And yes - plenty of us were on pain meds far longer than 3.5 months. Honestly - it took me over a year to recover from my THR. Depending on how long you limped around pre-op it can take awhile for things to settle and strengthen. Please don't be discouraged. You are on track and you will get there.

And by the way - you are not going through this alone - we are always here for you!
 
[Bonesmart.org] Doing it Alone
NotDancingRightNow,
[Bonesmart.org] Doing it Alone
Just keep things in perspective: Focus on how far you've come and not how far you have to go. One day at a time, one step at a time. But as long as you're moving, you're improving.

Take care and keep us posted. We care. [Bonesmart.org] Doing it Alone
 
NDRN, it sounds like we're experiencing very similar tracks of 'progress'. I also am having back issues as I re-learn to walk and often feel dissatisfied with the pace of recovery, particular ROM. I chastise myself for lacking the patience I feel like I should have more of as well. I certainly expected to be a lot more functional at this timepoint. Mentally, it feels very bipolar. I have good days when I'm thankful that at least I don't have the debilitating, searing pain of pre-op; and then bad days when the sun is shining and I just want to be able to get out and be 'normal'. I see occasionally glimpses of what the future normality will look like, but it comes and goes.

Not sure if this will help you, but I've noticed that taking days off from the exercises actually helps a bit in my progress: I tend to have pain and swelling and easily overdo things, especially when trying stretches, and they end up setting me back. Thus, taking off days seems to give my joint time to 'calm down'.

Hang in there, we'll make it, eventually. I have to believe that and keep forcing the thought upon myself to prevent going down a darker path. Take care!

ps - I'm still taking pain meds 3 or 4 days per week.
 
Gosh, I totally know what you mean billyedtimmy! From all the stuff I read going in to this, I thought I would be back to normal by 3 months and I'm far from it! I'm the type of person who has always been so active and athletic so being 'disabled' for this long is frustrating. I keep having to remind myself that things will get better and it is certainly better than it was pre-op..

I think I will take your advice and maybe only do my exercises 3x/wk instead of daily.. do you have a leg length discrepancy too? what meds are you on?

I stopped tramadol cold turkey after only taking 2/day and it was absolutely awful. the withdrawals were so horrible so my dr told me to go back on and ween off much slower. so I am at 2 half pills per day now. I can't wait for this to be over! It is so tiring trying to be positive every day because I want my life back!

you still use a cane? i use mine for when I am doing alot of walking but other than that, I don't.

my next battle is trying to see a chiropodist to get this leg length thing sorted out. My OS told me that he only made it 2mm longer but my PT measured and it is a full inch! I don't know about BC but here orthotics are so expensive! my only hope is that when hip #2 is done in a couple years, my legs will be the same length again.

thanks for sharing and for your advice!
 
Hi NDRN and billyedtimmy my fellow country folk. I wanted to let you know that a month can make a huge difference. I was where you are now when I gave up doing exercises because they hurt. I concentrated on the stationary bike and walking, with an emphasis on improving my gait as advised by others here. Heel-toe, imagine cracking a walnut in my buttockal area, abdomen in, chest out. I checked myself, still do, in shop windows and a full-length mirror, to make sure I was losing the penguin walk and stopped swinging my leg around. . It really worked for me. I have not felt any pain since and it is really good for morale. We are all different but sometimes it helps to attack a problem in a different way. I am told, and now believe it, that strength will come back naturally, in time.
 
NotDancingRightNow, I agree, that you sometimes need a break from exercise. I went back to work last week, and I probably walk about a mile in the course of a day. I've been really sore-- actually the most pain I had since the surgery. I'm going to see if I can cut back to 4 days a week for a few weeks. Also, re: tramodol, I hated being on it and stopped cold turkey, too, and the withdrawal was awful. It's a really hard drug to get off of, so it's good that you're tapering. I had flu-like symptoms, shakes, insomnia, no energy, difficulty breathing for 3 days and then I was basically ok. I didn't realize why I felt so awful till I googled tramodol withdrawal, and by then I'd been off it for 24 hours so I decided to tough it out. Since I went back to work, I have more pain-- my surgeon warned me that that would happen as I became more active-- but I hate the way I feel on pain killers so much that I'm sticking to acetaminophen and will use ibuprofen again as needed when I finish the Celebrex they gave me. I think you're so smart to taper even though it's taking longer than you want, and I hope you feel well soon.
 
Thanks Vida! I think I am going to do just that! For me , walking is a challenge because of the LLD. I tried putting extra insoles into my shoe but I can't put any more in because my heel pops out of my shoe and the height is still not enough! So the more I walk, the more pain I feel until I get this LLD sorted out. But for that, I need $$ and I'm kinda short on that at the moment since I'm not working.

Thanks Barbara. I had all the withdrawal symptoms you mentioned plus intense body/muscle pain all over. But I have been on Tramadol since the beginning of October. I know what you mean by hating the way you feel on pain killers though. I can't stand it either. But I am so limited to the type of meds I can take. I can't take any NSAIDS (celebrex, ibuprofin, etc) because I have GERD. I'm allergic to codeine and can't tolerate oxy. And tylenol is like taking candy (doesn't work!)
Did you notice a personality change on Tramadol???? I've noticed that I am way too easy going to the point of not really caring about what goes on and also forgetful/absent minded/etc. The tapering seems to be going well. I had tried 48 hrs cold turkey and it wasn't getting any better. The doc said it could take 2 wks to get out of my system and I couldn't bare that. I admire you for sticking it out; that must have been awful!
 
[Bonesmart.org] Doing it Alone
NotDancing, I have a LLD of 5/8" as a result of my RTHR. It is not possible to compensate for that much difference in leg length by simply inserting something inside the left shoe. Enough lift inside makes it impossible to keep the shoe on unless it is a lace up shoe; and even then, you are so conscious of the lift, it's annoying.

I send my left shoes off to a place in Ohio where they split the sole and insert 5/8" lift and then put the bottom of the original sole back on. This way when you put your shoes on, they both feel the same, and you are nice and level. It does cost be $60.00 a shoe. This may seem expensive---but the local orthotic companies wanted $126.00 to do it. They can put a lift on any type of shoe---including heels. No one even notices that I have a lift on my left shoe, and I don't think much about it until I have to send off another left shoe to be lifted.

I wear Croc like bedroom shoes---so I can put enough lift inside to not be too offset and not spend a ton on something I just wear around the house. I figures out that I could have several pair of cheap flipflops by buying a couple of extra pair, cutting off the strap piece and super gluing another sole to the bottom of the left flop. Worked like a charm.

I was not happy about the LLD when I realized that mine was the real deal. But crying over spilt milk was not going to get me anywhere or change the reality. So I have just accepted it as part of getting a pain free hip and being able to really live my life. I do miss going barefoot for any length of time---but age has also robbed my of all that nice natural padding your feet come with---so going barefoot was becoming more uncomfortable anyway. And shoes are much more expensive than they used to be---but again---a small price to pay in the long run for a pain free hip.

Hope this is helpful to you. Take care and keep us posted. We care. [Bonesmart.org] Doing it Alone
 
NotDancingRightNow, yes, Tramodol does give you this incredible sense of well being--it works on the serotonin in the brain, and that's why it's so hard to stop taking. I was only on it for 3 weeks and I had 3 bad days of withdrawal--you've been on it for almost 6 months so it's understandable that it will take longer. I frankly don't know how well Tylenol works for me either, but I'm still taking it because it's the only thing I have right now.
 
Us hippies are far more apt to be over stoical than self-pitying. We want to get back to our lives and find the long recovery really hard to bear. I'm 4 months along and am just beginning to walk something like normally. Hang in there and keep in touch.
 
I wish you all the best Barbara and I appreciate your comments!

Giraffe44; thanks for your comment; this is a much tougher road than I expected it to be but I guess we have to remember that we are better than one month ago and the month before that! Glad you are getting around better now!
 
I am at the 8 week point post op and also still waddle. I use my cane for longer distances, although my OS said to use it if I need it. I want so desperately to walk without it, but I have knee issues too. Someone commented on back pain, I also have that. Do you have a hard time standing for a longer period? My back hurts then also.
I was on tramadol for a very long time. About a week before my surgery, I was in so much pain, that I used tramadol in the morning and norco at night. I do not think I experienced anything going off of the tramadol, but who knows..I was in so much hip pain, maybe I attributed the discomfort to that.
 
NDRN - I have an 'apparent' but not actual LLD. Basically, if I'm laying on my back and I put my feet together with my knees bent, I can observe the discrepency between where my knees meet (i.e., they appear about 1.5 inches off from each other). However, the surgeon assured me that my actual leg lengths are only 1 mm apart. The reason for the discrepancy? My pelvis was way off with my bad hip and has yet to adjust itself.

As far as the cane, I just stopped using it last week, and it was a 'force myself' kind of decision. I decided that perhaps I'd make more progress without it, even if that meant hobbling around for a few days. For the most part, it seems to have helped my muscular development. I can much more comfortably put full weight on my hip than I could before and that part seems to be improving rapidly. OH, and extra cushioning in the shoes makes a world of difference during this 'transition' perid. Now if only my ROM would do something significant.
 
Mbone, yes, I have a hard time standing for a long time; also when I am sitting on a hard surface. I'm glad you didn't have any withdrawals coming off Tramadol. I know my back pain comes form my LLD and which exacerbates the lumbar disc bulge I have. Thanks for your comment!

billyedtimmy; I wonder if that is my problem too (with the bad hip still adjusting itself) It makes me wonder if I should wait a while longer before spending all the money on orthotics. My OS has not been very helpful; he just said to wait 3 months before I thought about getting a lift for my shoe. It's been 3-1/2 months now. I think it takes a lot longer for ROM to come back. Keep in touch and let me know how you are doing!
 
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