Hello and Thanks

[April]

Hello all,

I have been peeking in on this discussion board since I was 3 weeks post op when I googled depression and knee replacement. I have been coming back to this forum ever since. I am now 6 weeks post op RTKR, doing better, but as I have learned on my own and from all of the advice and encouragement found here, recovery can be two steps forward, one major step back, with hurdles both small and large in between. I had heard from the medical community about how difficult the physical therapy would be, but no one enlightened me about the depression and lack of sleep. Thanks to all of you, I do not feel alone in this. I have enjoyed getting to know some of you through your posts, and have laughed, ouched, and cheered you all on from the outside before deciding to join and become apart of this wonderful community of TKR survivors. I just want to say thank you all and you also Josephine for all wisdom, chuckles and encouragement over the past three weeks. It has given me great hope for the weeks/months ahead.

April

 

[Doug]

Well hey, glad you joined. I've been a member since late December. We do have lots of fun on this forum.
We generally do try for intelligent responses......for all of one sentence and then there is no telling where we will end up.
We also cover all topics so don't be afraid to ask..

 

[beachcomber]

Welcome April!
I am so glad you decided to jump in! We have a lot of fun, but do some serious support too and I am glad to hear it has been helpful to you.

Stick around and have fun and heal with us!

 

[April]

Thank you. I look forward to being apart. I have already told a couple of people scheduled for knee replacement about this website and the forum. I hope they find it as helpful as I have.

 

[Pattipoo]

Welcome, April. There's nothing simple about the recovery.....hard work and time are the main ingredients. We've all tried to rush it.......it won't be rushed!!!

 

[jb94102]

Welcome April glad to have ya here you will find out thers no better people around than whats in here they are all awesome and Josephine is an angel for sure .This forum was a GOD send for me and has helped me in so many ways ,through my depression ,my pain,and just downright venting my problems they all listened and helped me through it all ........ i love them all dearly they are great folks in here and again April welcome and hugggggggggggssss from ILLINOIS ......JIM :O)

 

[JenniferG]

Hi April and welcome aboard. Glad you found us. Always amazes me how for each of here and posting there is probably dozens lurking, reading and watching. As you read you notice there are many differences and just as many similarities. And there always seems to just enough of us that someone has the experience or solution or just the monitor shoulder to cry on. An Josephine is good to answer all or technical medical stuff and remind us of the process being the process. FYI, I'm 6 weeks on Tuesday and joined in the month prior.

 

[referee54]

Well hey, glad you joined. I've been a member since late December. We do have lots of fun on this forum.
We generally do try for intelligent responses......for all of one sentence and then there is no telling where we will end up. We also cover all topics so don't be afraid to ask..

I guess that makes me the village idiot then...as the saying goes, when somebody greets me, they know that one village is missing its idiot.

Welcome to the forum, and don't be afraid to ask questions. This is a great place to learn about what is going on with not only our knees, but also our bodies and our lives.

Tim C.

 

[JenniferG]

Dog advice, recipes, marital advice, fashion, travel & tourism, comedy channel, emergency/earthquake checkins, politics, a liittle religion oh yeah and knee replacement support. We got it all!

 

[jb94102]

AMEN !!!!!! well said Jennifer LOL

 

[Skeet]

Jenn, good description of the forum. It's a wide range of help for all of us.

Welcome, April, you are past the worst of it at 6 weeks. Things seemed to start looking up for me about that time and it has only gotten better every week. I'm at 19 weeks now and no longer limp, have to ice at work, etc. It is really great to be getting back to normalcy. Glad you found this forum as it got me through the rough parts and it is reassuring to know we aren't alone.

God bless,
Skeet

 

[April]

Thank you all for your kind welcome. Yes, it is reassuring to know that there are others that have gone before that can lend their advice on so many subjects! My family has been wonderful and a great support, but still may not completely grasp all that one goes through when recovering from TKR.

I do have one question: What suggestions do you have for all these sleepless nights?? I am probably averaging 4 - 6 hours and that is usually in 2 - 3 hour increments, if that long. I take two pain pills and 1 - 2 Trazodone at bedtime. When does the sleep become better in both quality and quantity?

April

 

[Pattipoo]

It's different for everybody. I rarely sleep through the night and I had mine on Jan. 7th..
Lots of us fire up the old laptop and read or gab until we get sleepy. There's always SOMEBODY needing a talk buddy on this forum!!

 

[referee54]

Thank you all for your kind welcome. Yes, it is reassuring to know that there are others that have gone before that can lend their advice on so many subjects! My family has been wonderful and a great support, but still may not completely grasp all that one goes through when recovering from TKR.

I do have one question: What suggestions do you have for all these sleepless nights?? I am probably averaging 4 - 6 hours and that is usually in 2 - 3 hour increments, if that long. I take two pain pills and 1 - 2 Trazodone at bedtime. When does the sleep become better in both quality and quantity?

April

April---Sleep didn't come to me until January---after nearly two months! I would sleep for about an hour and then watch reruns of Law and Order or TVLand until 4:00 or 5:00 in the AM! Don't worry about it---sleep will come to you. I used to dread night time as I would go into battle with sleeplessness--unitl I just decided to ride the rollercoaster and not fight it. My ortho told me they do not know exactly why it happens---but everybody I know that had a TKR has said and gone through the same thing.

I went back to teaching on 2-3 hours leep a night---that didn't work(obviously) ---a little Ambien and my sleep schedule normalized---now, I have no problems.

Hang in there, kiddo!

Tim C.

 

[JenniferG]

I do have one question: What suggestions do you have for all these sleepless nights??

KEEP TRYING!!! There aregood nights and bad ones. It'll come.

 

[Skeet]

I ended up staying up until 12 or 1 am then sleeping until about 9 am with maybe one wake up around 2 months. I would take one pain med 30 minutes before my bedtime and that plus something like reading or crocheting helped. I did struggle, so I asked my doctor for help and she gave me Trazodone, 50mg. Said to take 1/2 to 1 and that would help. It did for a couple three nights, then no longer effective. She then said to take 1 to 2 at night. That helped and still does. I don't take them all the time, but when I cannot sleep, I do resort to them. One gets me through the night and able to wake up in ~8 hours. Two knocks me out, but I cannot get up in 8 hours... more like 10.

I can honestly say that at about 18 weeks I started being able to sleep better without aids. I use a night mask over my eyes, avoid the PC or TV for 30 minutes before bedtime. Have a calm time until bedtime. All that helps a lot. It will come, but it will be a while possibly. Don't know when others started to sleep better, but that's my story.

 

[Jamie]

I do have one question: What suggestions do you have for all these sleepless nights?? April

April, my doctor recommended I try over-the-counter Benadryl at bedtime, 1-2 pills each night. He said it would not be a problem to take that with my pain meds and it would help me sleep. I tried it and it worked sometimes, so you might try that.

 

[Skeet]

i forgot that remedy. Yep, I used benadryl because it relieved the itching and helped me sleep. It leaves me a bit groggy in the morning, so that's why I opted for something else after the itching stopped.

 

[April]

The Doctor also told me about Benadryl, and I did but did not like the groogy feeling either, Skeet. So I am on Trazodone for now. So glad to be apart of this community, now, I look forward to getting online when I cannot sleep and be apart of some late night chats.

 

[Pattipoo]

You really have to watch out when your late night chatting here.....Dougie will forget and come stomping through in his boxers.....he means no harm.....just on his way to the fridge....