Knee pain in the middle of the night....

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beth1954

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I thought I had asked this question before, but looked back at my posts and didn't see it.

At night, I wake up at least once with the most EXCRUTIATING pain in my knee. When I first try to move iit, its absolutely unbearable. Is it just because it's stiff, or is there something more to it?

I feel sure someone here will know why it does that!

(For anyone that doesn't know, I will be having a TKR, just don't know exactly when yet.)

Thanks,
Beth
 
Do you have it elevated above your heart? I slept in a recliner for months....... It helped with the pain, and icing at night having the knee joints elevated above my heart. Sleeping is not good for the first few months......
I used a twin size featherbed and put it in a tube sheet that fit the width of the recliner (made it easy to launder). This made the chair more comfortable and higher. I put pillows under my ankles and elevated the joint for comfort.
Best,
Crystal
 
Beth, I used to have LOTS of pain in my knee at night before my TKR. My guess is it was from the inflammation of bone on bone during the day. I used to take over the counter pain meds to help me sleep when it happened.

Hope I'm correct that you have yet to have surgery, right???
 
Oh goodness, BEFORE TKR I could barely sleep and had to have my knees elevated with pillow under them to even hope to sleep...

Since TKR (11 months out and 5 months out on the two knees) it is never an issue. I can sleep straight on my back with legs nicely extended. What a joy!
 
My knees were also very painful at night with the weather front changes in pressure. It was always terrible when a low was coming in........ is this when you notice it the most, with changes in the weather from sunshine to rain? Just something to be aware of......
Best,
Crystal
 
Linda, yes you are correct. I have NOT had the TKR yet. I had never really connected it with the weather but it went from very very dry to humid recently. Texas is like that. You just never know from day to day.
I have to sleep on my side, so I don't know if I could elevate my knees/legs in bed. Sleeping on my back KILLS my back.....I have slept in a recliner many times--especially after my hysterectomy. But I also have neck issues and the recliner makes that worse. Since my accident in February, I have even MORE neck issues!
Also, I really don't know why my knee does that. It's probably only about 2 nights out of a week. But it's horrible. On a scale of 1-10, a 9 or 10 for sure.
 
I purchased a knee pillow to put between my knees when I moved from the recliner to the bed. It worked very well!
Best,
Crystal
 
Hi Beth....that pain you describe is one of the reasons I finally had my first TKR. I would lie there trying to think of a way NOT to move, because I knew the pain would multiply tenfold and it was already awful not even moving. I don't know what caused it, but towards the end it happened several times a night.

No night pain anymore since I am now the proud owner of two new knees!

Weezy
 
I got pain in my knee when I slept on my side - either side! I tried putting a big, fat pillow between my legs but that didn't work. I couldn't sleep on my back in bed but I could (can) on the settee so eventually I abandonded my bed and have slept on my settee ever since. That was a couple of weeks before Christmas. Then early in Jan I treated myself to a recliner settee and that was bliss! Don't know when or if I'll ever sleep in bed again.

However, when I got hold of copies of my xray I discovered the reason why - I had a big osteophyte (outgrowth of bone) on the side of the femur and the tibia was slightly collapsed at that point as well. In that small spot it was also bone on bone. Consequently, whenever I turned on my side, the two bones would be knocking against one another in that spot and causing the pain. Ouch! it hurts to even think of it! Perhaps you have something similar.

As for you neck - have you tried using a soft collar to enable sleeping on the recliner? Or one of those blow-up U shaped pillows such as they advertise for sleeping on a plane or in a car?
 
I haven't had too much of that unbearable pain in the night lately. Thank God!
My family doctor put me on a Medrol Dose Pack for my neck problems. Medrol must be some kind of MIRACLE DRUG! (the generic name is methylprednisolone)

My daughter has used it before for her herniated disks in her back.

About a day and a half after taking the Medrol, my foot didn't hurt, my knee didn't hurt, and my neck was just a "little" bit better. I have had almost a whole week practically pain free!!!! I guess it takes away inflammation from almost any place and it has really done the trick! But I'm almost done with them, and then the pain will probably return. But I hope not too fast!! I can even go down steps without hanging on for dear lilfe on the railing!

Anyway, the neuroma from my foot comes out Friday-I am NOT looking forward to that, and I get an MRI tomorrow on my neck. Constantly in pain there.

Josephine, I'll have to take a look at my x-rays when I can to see if I have that same problem with my knee that you had!
Thanks,
Beth
 
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