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TKR One week post TKR surgery - March 28

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I am a new person over the course of a couple of hours! My pain from the thigh and hip has disappeared. It may be temporary but I now know what is needed. I awoke in pain this morning with a distant memory of Dr-Ho tens machine I bought years ago for my Back! After digging through a closet I found and immediately used it on my hip and thigh with instant results. After 5 hours without that pain and just a bit of knee pain I am now using my cane instead of the walker around the condo. I can do all my exercises and walks and come out feeling okay. Now the hard part will be to not overdo it with my new found feeling of wellness!
 
What a rollercoaster ride! After a weekend of developing a rash over my back, arms, and hips and finally around my surgery knee I ended up at the Dr's yesterday morning. She determined that I was having a reaction to the dilaudid I had been taking for the last 2½ weeks. She switched me to Tramadol and the difference in my pain level and over all feeling of wellness has been profound. I no longer need my walker and am using a cane very comfortably. The pain level when I get to where it would normally be time to take more is significantly reduced to the point that I am extending it for the first time. My overall sense of wellness makes me think that the dilaudid was doing more than causing a rash. I really am wondering if it was working at all.

My question is has anyone else had this experience? Is there that much difference between dilaudid and tramadol?

I am hoping this feeling continues!
 
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I've known any number of people have such reactions to almost every medication going. It's very upsetting for the individual as you have found. I'm pleased you found a doctor who prescribed a suitable alternative. Personally, I rate Tramadol very highly as in my experience less people have adverse side effects from it.

Are you taking paracetamol with it? They make a great combo. This was my schedule after my TKR

[Bonesmart.org] One week post TKR surgery - March 28
 
Josephine, On the bottle it says APO-TRAMADOL/ACET 325 mg. I am in Canada so I don't know if that makes a difference. I can take 1 to 2 tabs every 4 - 6 hours. Right now I am taking 1 tramadol every 5 hours and 2 at night. I am also taking Arthritis Tylenol every 8 hours (650 mg). This seems to be working for me. I actually over did things yesterday a wee bit because I was feeling so much better. I will have to monitor that.

Thanks so much for responding. It means a lot to know someone else has shared the same expedience and that I am not crazy lol!
 
Well, if you were improperly medicated , than that makes alot of sense. Im glad you figured it out. Tramadol along with Tylenol and one celebrex daily really did the job for me , of course I still elevated and iced for a ridiculous amount of hours daily. Now your job is to not miss a dose, elevate and ice , rest and try not to over do it ! Which I was guilty of doing. keep up the great work . Iceman
 
Thanks! I forgot to mention that I take 1 celebrex a day as well. I bought an 'Iceman' machine so am also icing and elevating a ridiculous amount of time...lol! I know that it really helps. I am using my smart phone to set up alarms throughout the day for med times. I don't know how I would do without that! I write everything I take on a schedule which can be adjusted depending on how I feel.
 
It has been 3 weeks since surgery. I am no longer on Tramadol, just arthritis Tylenol and celebrex which seem to be working just fine. Went for my first outdoors walk today and practiced doing stairs. Going out for a 'short' dinner at my daughters tonight. This is where I need to monitor my activity. Feeling good but crash quickly!
 
:yay:
 
Just over four weeks from surgery and after feeling really good for the last week I am all of a sudden in pain this morning. It is in my upper thigh. It is not a steady pain but builds up then backs off, only to build up again. I have tried my tens machine, a heating pad, and now ice. I also am having pain again in my hip but not as bad as the thigh. I hate this! It's so frustrating! Looking for solutions other than going back to the heavy drugs as they never helped with this pain before. :beg:
 
It's ok to take a dose of the pain meds to calm things down. Otherwise I'd say you're doing the right things.
 
kneesrus said:
We live in a world of instant gratification these days. Mother nature does not have next day service in her company. Sometimes it takes a great deal of work to correct what we have done to our bodies over 50+ years.
David
Click to expand...
This is a tremendous point---we live in a "fast-food society" and are used to the quickness and ease of things---even prior surgeries may have been arthroscopic, requiring little or next to no real recovery time and pain.

A TKR is major surgery that causes stunning surgical trauma to the joint, and this takes a great deal of time for the body to recover from.

IT can not be rushed, but as David has said, it took quite a few years to get to the point where a TKR was needed, so a few months, when viewed from the proper perspective, is actually very little time.
 
Thank you. I think I need to hear this again and again. It's a frustrating process.
 
Yes well I guess when in excruciating pain I was really hoping to hear that someone else had experienced similar hip and thigh pain that seems to move around and go up and down and that I am not having some horrible unusual reaction. I'm sorry if I am sounding grumpy. I guess I am :-(. I was actually a little scared and overwhelmed by it all this morning.. All I could do was cry :boohoo:

Thank you kneeper. I did end up taking the Tramadol this morning which helped as long as I laid in bed and didn't move. As soon as I got up this afternoon afternoon and tried sitting for about 30 seconds I went through the roof again! So have taken more and will stay on top of it! More in my hip now. Not sure if it is spasms or what.

T
 
and the saga continues....On Sunday night I started throwing up my meds. Tried taking my sleeping pill and threw that up to. Around 2:00 in the morning took an ativan and finally passed out only to awake at 6 in terrible pain. Called the knee clinic at 9 and they said to go to walk in clinic As now I have no meds for the pain except Tylenol and celebrex. NOTE: I can barely walk to the bathroom and by the time I get back to the recliner the pain is peaking. I also can't sit without bringing on the pain. My bed and the recliner are my only options.

At 11:00 my husband called an ambulance the pain was so bad. At the hospital they did blood tests and loaded me up with oxycodone.. So far I haven't had any adverse reactions to that one.. It just knocks me out.....which is a relief. A seasoned nurse asked if I had a bladder infection adding that she had seen patients where they had this and it had caused severe spasms in the legs. The young Dr said he had never seen that.. She tested my urine anyway and I do have a bladder infection. So also on antibiotics now.. I have been hoping the nurse is correct.

It is now Wednesday and although the screaming, writhing pain has stopped I am still unable to walk for more than 30 seconds without pain building up. I have not been able to exercise since last Saturday when this all began.

I have not been able to find any info on here relating to spasms that are this debilitating. Any info or insights would be appreciated. Right now I feel like I am alone on a raft in the middle of the ocean with no land in sight.
 
Pat, where is your OS in all of this? The others will only have part of the answer. Please contact your surgical team immediately! I know next to nothing but I do know that you should not be having this kind of pain. Don't beat around the Bush. Get the right help now!

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk
 
Thanks Jeff, when I looked back at my post I realized it was OS that said go to walk in clinic not the knee clinic. I am going to make some phone calls this morning to my GP and OS. My fear is that they will want me to come in and SIT in their waiting room. I suppose I could dose myself with some oxycodene and if I can find a wheel chair somewhere I might be able to do it. So far the response seems to be yes you will have pain. I accept that but not to the point of being totally disfunctional.. I was actually doing very well until this turn and I made sure I didn't over do.
 
Go at this slow. There is no way to speed it up. I am almost 3 weeks out and the best advice I keep getting is to not push it. Do not push your knee. Your knee calls the shots, not you. It has been a hard concept for me to grasp, but it is SO true. The more I listen to my body, not my PT the more progress I make. I wish you the best. I have had that sciatic nerve pain and it can be a BEAR. Standing some helped me. Very short walks with the walker, NOT sitting. It is hard work, I hear ya! Keep us posted. We care.
 
Saw my OS on Thursday. He says these is not typical but it is a bump in the road for me and I will recover. I am off the oxycodone and back on tramadol and avoiding the vomiting by making sure I have something in my stomach before I take it. Because he feels it is a problem with my sciatic nerve he has put me on a nerve med (lyrica) to see if that helps. So far it is a little better but I still unable to walk to the bathroom and back without terrible pain which settles quickly when I put heat on it and recline. I am seeing him again next week.

Through all this I have no knee pain thank goodness. However I am not able to go to physio untill the spasms are rectified. I am quite concerned about that even though the OS said it is okay.
 
Hi @robograndma and welcome. I just read your whole thread since it popped up and it sounds like you have been on a roller coaster ride. But actually having a TKR is a roller coaster ride. I am at the 6 month mark. I am still have pain in my knee on some days and matter of fact this evening I started having pain in the knee and took pain medication and am icing at the moment. I went back to work at three months. I was still doing the both feet on one step until I retrained myself at three months. This whole knee situation takes time to get used to and takes time to heal with it's up and down issues that we can have depending on what else is going on with our bodies. Lyrica should help the nerve pain a bit as it works to help pain at the nerve endings. I was on Lyrica for a bit to control RA (Rheumatoid arthritis) pain. I am with @JustJeff that the OS needs to be involved when you are concerned about knee issues. I would call him first. I can understand pain that is severe can be frightening.

When I first left the hospital, I was on one pain medication that was holding me while I was in the hospital and when I got home I was okay. The next day the pain medication I had was not holding me. I immediately called my OS and got a script from him for Oxycodone. When things are not right call your doctor first. They should be able to guide you and assist you with your needs. Hope you are feeling better soon.
 
Hi @chestnc . Thank you for responding. I will be seeing the OS this Thursday. In the mean time nothing much seems to be changing except for maybe the intensity of the pain. I am actually considering weaning of the Tromodal as it is for bone pain which I don't have, and it is causing other unpleasant side effects.

I keep wondering what good laying here watching the hair on my legs grow does for anything!:shrug: The only exercise I am getting is wiggling my feet back and forth.
 
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