Painful sleepless nights....

[Weezy]

Wow, being awake late at night because of bone pain brings back "fond' memories of both of my knee replacements...and posting here in the middle of the night!

For the first time in my life, I can't take OTC anti-inflammatories or the famous Josephine cocktail of OTC drugs to help hold the pain at bay. Dunno why, but by the third day my poor stomach was screaming at me so I gave up. Taking them with food didn't even help. Of course smaller dosages don't do anything except keep the stomach irritation alive. Sigh. Yup, I'm having a pity party tonight! I'm so desperate for sleep....

On the bright side, there are 22 days left until my poor sad deformed hips go bye-bye. Because I hurt so bad no matter what I do, I've decided to fill my days with lots of little goals and projects to keep me busy and distracted. Today I finished and turned in 5 Project Linus quilts (quilts for kids in hospitals, etc.). Tomorrow I'm going to do the last little obsessive touches of painting in the upstairs and get that done. Then I'm going to clean because the painters are finally gone! That'll take several days--the place is a mess.

After the house is back in order and no longer looks like a construction zone, I'm going to cut out several small projects--chef's aprons out of fun fabrics and some fabric grocery bags--so I'll have some brain dead sewing to do once I'm able to. They're for a charity auction in December so I have plenty of time.

If it STILL isn't October 16, I'm going to make a lap quilt for me that coordinates with the new living room decor...and make a couple of pillows to match the recliner I reupholstered last year. Or I'll make a new polar fleece jacket for John....I just finished making him 15 shirts. Gawd I'm rambling. Sorry.

Thanks for listening to me whine. This hip pain is so different from the knees. At least with the knees, I could find a position to sleep...that doesn't seem to work at all with the hips. Doc says its because of the "pincer" shape of my joints and the bone that has been growing more around the edges so it irritates and rubs the wrong way against my femur (if I'm remembering the bone name correctly, I'm so fuzzy headed these days).

Tonight I'll try starting off in bed and then moving to my recliner when I can't handle it any more...then I'll try bed again.

If anyone is still reading this, I'm amazed. It is a totally incoherent rambling of a sleep deprived lunatic....

Weezy

 

[Jaycey]

Aw Weezy, so sorry you are in pain. Can you contact your GP to get something to help you until your surgery date? That's a long time to go without pain meds. I do understand though - can't take Ibuprofen for the same reason. But funny enough I can take Diclofenac. Ask your GP. Hope you can get some rest!

 

[Josephine]

Believe me, I feel for you - I really do. On a personal note and with three surgeries on the books for the next 12 months, I am truly relieved we aren't required to do this in the UK.

 

[Elle11]

Oh, Weezy, I know how bad the pre-op pain is. Hang in there. And ramble all you want.
Do you have a hot water bottle? At least they give some comfort to the ache.
Hugs

 

[Weezy]

I hadn't thought of asking for Diclofenac. I took that for a while last year when I broke my foot. It didn't bother my stomach. I have my pre-op appt. this Wednesday so I'll ask. Unfortunately, I'm not seeing my regular doc on Wednesday because he's on vacation. Hmmm....maybe I stil have some of them left from last year, I'll have to look.

I started taking metformin for my blood sugar about last February, and while it doesn't really upset my stomach too much, it seems to have made me very susceptible to stomach upset from other things. Weird, but its the only thing I can think of.

Hadn't thought of a hot water bottle! Will try one tonight. I've been using ice; maybe heat will help more.

Did manage a bit of sleep last night, but its still a rugged morning. I want my brain back!

 

[bunnymama]

Weezy, I had a lot of trouble finding pain meds that didn't make me totally nauseous. Diclofenac has been the best for me, too. (That and the percocets...)

Have you tried taking Melatonin before you go to bed? My doctor's Phys. Assistant suggested it. I was dubious, but desperate. It really works for me. I can fall right to sleep, sleep a big chunk of the night (until the pain meds wear off and I have to take some more), and I feel rested in the morning. So far, knock on wood, my hip feels the best when I'm lying down. I hope you can get some relief.

I've made quite a few Linus Project blankets in my day. It's a great charity

 

[sharonslp]

Oh Weezy, I so empathize with the tummy distress from OTCs. Another possibility to check is tramadol. Lots of us hippies take it after surgery with good results....I don't see why it wouldn't help ahead of time. Of course, you'll finally find something that works, and then you'll have to stop taking it at least a week ahead of surgery, you know. The good thing to come out of all this is that the worse you feel before surgery, the better you'll feel after.

Sleep....yeah. I started having sleep issues many years ago...nothing to do with pain...more to do with hormones, I think. But I started taking melatonin then and I've never stopped. I have no idea anymore if it really makes a difference, because in general I sleep pretty well, but I do still have an attack of the dreaded insomnia now and again. And again. And again. The hips are only one reason out of many to impact sleep. But whatever the hips are doing to you now, this too shall pass. At least for a while.

You sew the way I knit. Go girl!!

Sharon

 

[Weezy]

Hey Sharon....I knit too! Lately I've been knitting rather obsessively because it was all I could do after my breast cancer surgery. Now I knit when I'm too tired/muddle-headed to sew, which means I'm still knitting quite a bit.

What are you knitting now? I'm making a pretty simple cardigan with some cables/seed stitch...it's called the "newsboy cardigan" and I can't remember the magazine it was out of. Just finished a very long hoodie/coat from a book called "Big Girl Knits." I've got some pictures to load onto my Facebook.

 

[Weezy]

Another PL fan! I love it. I try to keep my fabric stash up by keeping an eye on Craiglist for people selling quilting cottons at a price I can afford.

I wish I could take melatonin...have tried it many times but I'm one of those that it actually makes me more wide awake. I do have some narcotic drugs around, but believe it or not, they disrupt my sleep as much as the pain. I can never really sleep while taking them--I stay in kind of a woozy twilight doze. So I'm just trying to gut it out and save the narcotics for surgical pain. On the bright side, as Sharon said above, the worse they hurt now, the better they'll feel later!

Weezy

 

[sharonslp]

Weezy, are you on Ravelry? If you're not, you need to go right over there, right now, and register. (It's free) Ravelry.com.
My username there is Knitknacks. Friend me, and you can see the projects I've posted. (I am pathetically way behind.) The sight is simply an amazing resource for knitters. Free patterns galore, message boards on every topic under the sun, a yarn and pattern database that finally takes the guesswork out of wondering how a pattern is going to look in real life.

Currently on the needles: 1) a skirty....combination panties and an attached ruffly skirt for a granddaughter who is still in diapers. 2) a very simple but diabolically clever sweater called an Origami Cardi. Using two strands of sport weight alpaca in two shades of purple. 3) a scarf pattern called Spectra (look it up on Ravelry), using two different self-striping yarns, and short-rows to make a spiral effect. Oh...I forgot....#4....I always have a pair of socks going.

I know the hoodie coat you are talking about. There was a sequel to Big Girl Knits that had a pattern I really liked, but I never did get the book.

 

[Josephine]

Weezy, it's really not necessary to use the "Quote This Message" icon in someone's post to reply, specially when that post is going to be the one right before yours.
Just scoot on down to the bottom of the page and start writing in the box, okay?

 

[Weezy]

Wooo hoooo! Saw the doc today for my pre-op and got a prescription for Diclofenac. I had taken it last January for a broken foot/torn tendon and it worked well with no adverse stomach problems. So I immediately trotted off to my local Costco and filled it. Took one about 90 minutes ago (with a big lunch!) and am already feeling some relief. Whew!

I have hopes of sleeping some tonight....or at least sleeping more comfortably and who knows, maybe I'll sleep for more than 20 minutes at a stretch.

Pre-op went great, no problems, test results are back already and everything is normal or even improved. My hbA1C went from 6.9% to 4.9% and CRP (inflammation) went from 6.2 to <3 (apparently they don't measure until it's greater than 3). Except for crappy hips, I'm very healthy and fit for a middle-aged broad (doc was impressed with my overall muscle tone and biceps)!

Sharon--yes, I'm on Ravelry but haven't really completed any projects since I joined it (I went into a needlepoint phase!). I do have pictures of the completed red hoodie so I'm going to get those posted. I'll look you up! I've also posted the pictures on my Facebook page.

Weezy

 

[rider1960]

I'm glad you are getting some relief. I had to take percocet before my first surgery. It didn't help much with the "up and moving around" pain, but it helped with sleeping and the aching that can happen at the end of a day, even when you are still.

Dorothy

 

[Josephine]

You can take 1,000mg of Tylenol with that, you know. If you need to. We used that in recovery all the time for patients who were going home the same day and so couldn't have morphine.

 

[Weezy]

Thanks! Great idea. What does the Tylenol add? Just more oomph? I have gotten some relief this afternoon, although of course it still hurts at least I'm not wanting to scream.

Weezy

 

[dede62]

Weezy,

Sorry that you are having sleep issues. I've been having problems sleeping since mid-July. I've run the gamut on NSAIDS and am cueerntly taking Relafen with Prilosec since it bothered my stomach at first. I just had an appointment with a new rheumatologist last week and she has me taking a low dose of gabapentin at night. It'ts been the longest I've slept at night for months. I also use a gel icepack from Elastogel I got on Amazon. It's the lumbar one with a "tail" for the back, but it's perfect when swivelled around to the side on my hip.

Hoping you can find some relief before surgery...

dede62

 

[djklaugh]

Weezy - I sure hope the new medication helps you get some sleep! Prior to my surgery I too was having a lot of problems sleeping because any little movement at night would "wake up" the poor old arthritic hips. I found that sleeping on my side on my couch (with my back pressed against the back of the couch) helped keep me from moving around too much at night. That plus putting a pillow between my knees so that the upper leg was supported really helped me stay comfortable during the night. You might try putting several pillows at your back to see if that helps.

 

[Weezy]

Had a little less pain last night after taking the Diclofenac. Not as much relief as I was hoping for, but I did a LOT of walking yesterday (two trips to Costco and no scooters were available), so it would've been lots worse without it.

Does anyone know if this stuff gives better relief after you've taken it regularly for a few days? I'm sure hoping so!

But I got a couple hours of pretty decent sleep before I had to just get up and move to my recliner were I just dozed a bit while watching TV...sometimes I wish we had a couch, I can see how that could offer some comfort. I was able to go back to bed for a couple hours more sleep so overall it wasn't too bad.

Off to lift weights and then work on the drapes I'm making. Keeping obsessively busy during the day helps!

Weezy

 

[Josephine]

.Actually, the Tylenol is a better pain med than NSAIDs, even diclofenac but together they do a better job than separately. However, it's a bit of a fad because you need to take the diclofenac 3 times a day and the Tylenol 4 times a day. And no, they don't get better with time. You get the full effect each time you take them but you do need to stick ot a strict regimen of taking them. It's no good just taking them now and then or when you think you need them. Read this Pain management and the pain chart.

 

[Weezy]

I will add the Tylenol. I had tried taking just Tylenol after I had to quit ibuprophen, but it didn't do anything for me. I'm hoping that now I have an NSAID I seem to be tolerating a bit the Tylenol will noticeably help.

My diclofenac prescription is 75 mg. 2x day, so I wait until right before I go to bed or 10:00, whichever comes first. I'm trying to develop an every 12 hour schedule for it. It'll be easy to add in some Tylenol 4x day.

Weezy