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TKR Not a new patient but I need help, lots of it

@Texaslady I have moved your last post from LynneCleveland's thread as it was about you and not sharing anything she might find helpful. This is known as derailing a thread and not in keeping with Forum etiquette. Just thought you should know!
 
Tesaslady,

I replied but it was in my thread so I’ll put it here as well. I’m glad you got some answers through the pain clinic and can move ahead.
It’s very frustrating when you can’t get your pain under control, I know! I saw my OS on Wed., and am alternating two different meds so hopefully this will help me. I keep telling myself this to, will pass. One day at a time. Sometimes. One hour at a time.
 
Hi, Texas Lady,
I'm sorry you had such a bad experience with the gabapentin. Sometimes drugs do unusual things to us. Compazine, a medication for nausea after chemo, did something similar to me! After taking it, I was so jittery that I couldn't sit down, couldn't write a check for my daughter's daycare, couldn't tie my shoes. When I went to bed, the room kept revolving and pulsing, and the next day I couldn't get out of bed for fear of falling. I've never taken illicit drugs, either; yet I feel I have had an experience that might be close! The good news is that they were able to give me something different that worked. The bad news is that it wasn't yet available in the US for oral consumption so I had to empty a syringe of the med into a cup, add a huge dollop of frozen grape juice concentrate from a can, and slug it down. Worst thing I ever tasted, and I can't stand grape juice to this day.

It's worth working to find something that works for you! Thank goodness you found a doctor who specializes in managing such things. It's interesting that she didn't increase the strength but is working with the frequency of dosing. I discovered that on my own, when my drugs seemed to stop giving me pain relief. It's counter-intuitive, because after an initial period of drugs, we think decreasing the frequency is the thing to do.

As far as your level of pain, she's not promising no pain, but getting it to a more manageable level would be great! I had pain far into my recovery, especially at night, and I was thrilled when the level of pain dropped to the point where I could ignore it more often. I wish that for you. An anti-depressant will help you cope better, I think. Pain can really mess with your head and your emotions!

So...I hope you keep on this with this doctor, and find the relief you need to move forward with your recovery. I think that's one of the hardest things: to keep on contacting the doctors when something isn't working. Don't hesitate. Keep after it!
 
Josephine, I am so sorry I may have been guilty of the same thing just now. I was just trying to share my experience in case it could help. I will be more careful from now on. I will try to go back and edit the last post.
Thank you
 
I am so confused as to if this my recovery thread or not! I hope it is because I need to get this off my chest!

The past couple of nights have been just awful it really started yesterday morning I was woke up at 1:27 a.m in pain as usual then everything went downhill. I iced my knee at least 5 times maybe more it is hard to keep track when you start so early. I tried to blame the pain on the wet weather even.

Time I went to bed last night I was wishing I would die! My leg felt like the way a dish rag would when being wrung out. My leg would contract and from my foot to across by lower back would just knot up. Then when I would flatten my leg out on the bed it felt like someone had put their hands on top of my knee was trying to push it through the bed.

My poor husband tried massaging it with lotion from ankle up to my rear end. Finally he lay down next to me and just rubbed my back until I finally relaxed which relaxed my leg and hip. I don’t know if this is normal are just more of the healing process. It has been 8 weeks yesterday since my TKR I keep thinking it will be over soon. Don’t get me wrong, I have had improvements good days and bad this was really a bad one,I at least slept pretty good after I fell to sleep until 5 a.m.

Thank you for letting me rant.
 
@Texaslady yes, this is your recovery thread. Just keep posting your updates here so that we have all your history in one place and can advise you if needed.

Are you taking any medication for your pain? Nights are almost always the worst time - especially if you are having issues with sleep.
 
@Jaycey yes I take my pain meds as prescribed no sooner or later than I should. I am just one of those lucky ducks that it seems a little harder I only use my recumbent bike every other day because of pain and I exercise like walking but I try not to over do the exercise. You know I have noticed my leg does bother me more at night I cannot help but wonder why? I really would like to go to bed at night and stay asleep and in my bed all night.
Thanks
 
Oh, @Texaslady, you need hugs... and a hot toddy (or other beverage of choice), and anything else that will help you relax and rest.

Sleep is the desire and nemesis of all TKR patients. It's a rare person who has this surgery AND gets to sleep happily after, at least for a few months. Yes. Months. Everyone is different, but very few sleep well until a few months out.

I can offer some tips. They may help, or maybe not. :umm:One is to just embrace your current situation and accept that you will have to grab a few winks whenever possible, usually while resting during the day. A few others:

* have a nightly ritual. Your husband rubbing your back sounds like a promising one! A little ritual tells your brain and body that it's time to wind down and... sleep. It can't hurt.
* ask your personal physician if you can have a sleep aid, just for this period. Some here recommend Trazadone (my FIL used this... it's mild and works well)
* don't lie with your legs flattened out --this hurts unless you have full extension (and maybe even then). I slept with my legs elevated on a foam wedge for almost four months. Now, if I want to lie flat on my back, I place a firm regular pillow under my knees. They sigh with happiness and are content.

Sleep will eventually return. I struggled at first but now sleep just as well as before surgery. However, there's no way to force sleep. Disrupted sleep is one of the most --if not THE most-- irritating thing about this surgery!
 
I totally agree with SusieShoes. You have to sleep whenever and wherever you can. It doesn't matter whether it's night or day, your body need it! Sleep is so elusive these first few months. I, too, had to have a pillow under my knee for quite a while. When I laid on my side, I had a pillow between my knees. But, many times my sleep was right in my recliner in front of the TV. And I was thankful for that! It sounds like you're really stressing over the lack of nighttime sleep. Walmart, and I'm sure other discount stores, have a sleeping aid that I took for a while, and sometimes still do! It's mild, but helps. Many also find that Tylenol PM helps them to relax. I hope you can find something to help you.
 
I didn’t sleep through the night for 12 weeks, but pain wasn’t the problem. I napped throughout the day because night time was awful. Tylenol PM did help me to get back into a sleep routine. Try everything Susie and Paula suggested, but you may also want to dial down your activity if your waking up in pain.
 
I hope all the measures that people have suggested do help you to have more comfortable nights.
There's one more thing that can contribute to night pain and that is too much daytime activity. It's almost as if your knee stores up your activity and says "I'll get you for this, later." And it does - at night, when you're already tired and your resistance is low.

IF you haven't already, cut back your exercises, and check you daytime activity against this article, to make sure that you're not trying to do too much: Activity progression for TKRs
 
I followed the progression schedule very closely and had a good recovery. Your knee needs much rest!
 
Texaslady said:
I am so confused as to if this my recovery thread or not! I hope it is because I need to get this off my chest!
Click to expand...
It's easy to tell if this is your thread. The background colour of your posts is a light grey, where the background colour of other people's posts is white. Also, under the photo of your dog and your username, there is a white box with "Thread Starter" written in it.
I hope this helps.
 
I had a really hard time figuring out who's thread I was on until they changed the background color to gray to signify who started it. It is so much easier now.
 
@Celle Thank you so much you are so helpful, you and so many others. I am not real good at asking questions sometimes. This has been such a rough time for me and thank God You all have been so kind and understanding.
 
Texaslady said:
The past couple of nights have been just awful
Click to expand...
I'd really like to offer you some structured advice but in order to do that, I also need to ask you some questions. Are you willing for me to do that?
 
@Josephine any advice or suggestions you may have is more than welcome. You was the first person I kinda stalked once before my TRHR back in 2016, the TRHR was 8-8-2016,but I had started reading this forum before that. So with no hesitation I listen to you, you have so much orthopedic experience.
 
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