PKR Raffs' Recovery Thread<'

[CATSMUM]

Tell me about it, l bought a prepaid card and have already had my money's worth!

 

[tigwy11]

I used to work for a chiropractor and the kinesiotape works great for supporting muscle injuries.

 

[Raffs]

@CATSMUM what's a prepaid card??

@tigwy11 what do you reckon about tape on knees?? It definitely makes it feel more stable and helps my gait.

 

[Josephine]

you said that you had been prescribed gabapentin too? I believe it helped? How long did you take it for? Would you say that it's worth me giving this a try?

I did and it did! I took it for 6 or 7 months, if I recall correctly. Just finished titrating myself off it. It worked wonderfully well and yes, I do think it will be good for you. However, you might find it necessary to have it increased to quite a considerable level. I was on 300mg twice daily but that's actually quite a low dose. I believe @Legin is on a much higher dose.

And gabapentin is NOT addictive. You can become dependent on it but only after a really long time. Dependency is quite different to addiction. Some people have with serious issues have to take it for the rest of their lives and it's their salvation as it's the only thing that keeps their pain under control.

Think they're probably only addictive if you take them for months on end

Then why mention it!

l bought a prepaid card and have already had my money's worth!

I used those for years when I was on HRT. More than got my money's worth, I can tell ya!
Such a relief when I turn 60! I was FREEEEE!

 

[momweb]

@Raffs I posted a picture of my knee on my thread. You'll see my incision is to the right of center as you look at the knee where yours appears to be more centered. So, the pain I feel is, yes, to the left as you look down at your knee. Today was a good day. I walked a lot and the knee felt great for the longest time. Now, I'm sitting, wishing I hadn't walked for as long as I did. When will we learn?

I can't use the support tape you are all referring to. I have an allergy to adhesives. One year I had a problem with my foot and they tried to tape it. Within hours I cut the tape off to a rash of blisters. It was awful! Let's hope it works for you.

 

[tigwy11]

Yes @Raffs he taped my knee quite a few times before I decided on TKR.

 

[CATSMUM]

@Raffs Prepaid prescription card.

 

[Raffs]

@Josephine thanks. I took 300mg last night another 300mg this morning and it feels better already. I will take another 300mg this evening. Does the drowsiness stop once your body adjusts to the drug? I fell asleep on the sofa last night and struggled a little when working this morning.

@momweb I'll go check out your thread. My incision is ever so slightly to the right of centre too. My pain is on the other side of the incision to yours. I will never learn. As soon as my knee feels even slightly improved I try to push it. I am my own worst enemy. I'm a little allergic to tape adhesive too but I'm prepared to put up with that if the tape helps with the pain! My allergy is only minor though, no blisters, eek!

@tigwy11 and the taping before your TKR helped? I guess so otherwise he wouldn't have done it more than once!!

@CATSMUM I've never heard of those. Wish I had known 2 months ago!! How much money does it save?

 

[CATSMUM]

Think it costs about £104 for a year, you can get a 6 month one too. Might be worth it if you're going to be on meds for a time. If you put 'prepaid prescriptions' into your browser it should bring up the website for you.

 

[Raffs]

10 weeks today! Still not 100% convinced that having the surgery was a great idea but I'm coming round...

Knee feels so much better today in the area of the fat pad, whether from the Gabapentin or the taping or a combo I'm not sure.

The burning/soreness in the fat pad is less.

The tape is supporting my knee so it feels nice and stable. My gait is better even though the tape is quite restrictive. And it feels nice to have the knee pulled up instead of feeling it pulled down by the swelling. I've ordered some tape from eBay so I can re-do it myself when this falls off.

Still can feel a narrow tight band across the front of my knee which pulls when I bend but it is not too stiff.

Two small victories today:

I've walked down the stairs normally twice!! Only taken 10 weeks but hey!

And when I was walking down Hill-gate earlier (using my cane like a good girl) about halfway down I realised that I wasn't thinking about the hill, I was thinking about work!!

 

[Raffs]

@CATSMUM Thanks.

 

[CATSMUM]

You're welcome. Great update. Know what you mean about not being 100% convinced about surgery, guess it's because we expected to be a lot further forward than we are! I'm about the same time out as you know (following my falls). Due to see my GP next week to talk about a return to work plan.

Good news about not thinking about your knee when you walked down the hill, must mean you're on the road yo full recovery. Great about walking downstairs too - fab achievement as that's a difficult thing to do. I've noticed that it's getting easier for me too, so it must be the timing! Keep up the good work.

 

[Raffs]

I decided yesterday morning not to take any meds apart from the Gabapentin so I could see if it helped or not. Yes, I think it is. The burning/soreness is definitely less and I'm only taking 2 x 300mg a day so a relatively low dose.

Knee still taped up and feels pretty good. Tape (beige) arrived from Ebay this morning so I can have a go at re-taping it myself in a couple of days. Need to not start to rely on the taping though, need to go commando/nekkid (@tigz ) sooner or later.

I do have one tight/sore/tender spot about halfway down just to the right of the patella as I look down at my knee. It is tight and tender when I walk, if I put my finger on the spot I can feel movement so it must be a part of the joint. It isn't awful, more annoying. Any ideas as to what it could be?

An unwelcome side effect of taking no pain meds is that my other knee is starting to let me know that it isn't happy. Hmm. Have had a few instances where I've had a shot of lovely sharp arthritis pain. Sigh. And don't get me started on the crunching, creaking and popping. Sound familiar to anyone else? The thought of having the left one done doesn't scare me as I now know what to expect but I would really quite like to have a bit of normal life before I go down this road again. At least I know I've got you guys to help me through when the time comes.

 

[tigz]

LOL it took me four months to have a nekkid sleeveless knee! The scar sensitivity is much better. Still using the sleeve for work as it helps with the swelling. It is eating up a bit!

sent from my Galaxy 4

 

[Josephine]

Still can feel a narrow tight band across the front of my knee which pulls when I bend but it is not too stiff.

Took my first knee about 7 months to shed that sensation. It can hang on but it's not really indicative of anything so don't let it worry you.

about halfway down I realised that I wasn't thinking about the hill, I was thinking about work!!

EXCEllent!

I decided yesterday morning not to take any meds apart from the Gabapentin so I could see if it helped or not.

I found that knee/post-op pain was quite different to the neuropathy. For one thing, it was in a specific place.

I do have one tight/sore/tender spot about halfway down just to the right of the patella as I look down at my knee. It is tight and tender when I walk, if I put my finger on the spot I can feel movement so it must be a part of the joint. It isn't awful, more annoying. Any ideas as to what it could be?

Tell me where it is here

Please note the instructions in the smaller image

 

[tigwy11]

Excited to hear about your walking the stairs and the hill! That is quite an accomplishment......

 

[Raffs]

@Josephine It is DRF1. Thank you. I agree, the post-op pain is different, the fat pad had a sore/burning sensation which I haven't had anywhere else. Coming off my other pain meds (I was only taking paracetamol and ibuprofen anyway) hasn't caused any increase in pain elsewhere whatsoever which I'm pleased about.

 

[Raffs]

Thanks, @tigwy11 . I am chuffed about the stairs in particular. Seeing me come down them isn't pretty at all but it is a start and I can now work on doing them more elegantly!

 

[Josephine]

DRF1 is where the IT band is. Also several other ligaments including the lateral collateral ligament. All can be inflamed by doing too much of ecerything particularly clamshells, side steps, steps, lunges and squats - just for starters!

See here ITB (ilio-tibial band) issues and treatments

 

[Raffs]

@Josephine Thanks v much.