THR Rutabaga is recovering!

[Rutabaga]

You're not being negative, don't worry.
You're right, I have been resting a lot so if I was being more active I'm sure I'd get tired quickly.

 

[Readysetgo]

@Rutabaga - Aww your avatar is so cute! I love when kitties have their tongues hanging out. Hard to catch with a camera!

 

[Rutabaga]

@Rutabaga - Aww your avatar is so cute! I love when kitties have their tongues hanging out. Hard to catch with a camera!

This is my kitten! His tongue was hanging out a lot at the shelter, one of the reasons we picked him! Sometimes he starts grooming and then forgets to put his tongue back in his mouth.

 

[Readysetgo]

Love it!

 

[jomarie58]

Hi Rutabaga, I went back to work at school after six weeks...it was ok, not great. Mostly I just get really tired! Some nights I am in bed by 9 pm! Hope you get back to work when you want and that it goes smoothly!


RTHR 1/15/2016. Posterior approach. Due to AVN. LTHR in my future.

 

[Jaycey]

You may feel like you could go back to work tomorrow but the reality of the whole work day activity will hit hard. Getting up and dressed, commuting - there is a lot more to going to work than just doing the job. Then there is Energy drain for THRs It's real and you can't fight it.

Recovery is a few weeks of healing for a lifetime without hip pain. Get it right and you will be dancing. Get it wrong and you may create chronic problems.

 

[Rutabaga]

Day 20
I got my staples out yesterday. I thought the RN was just clipping the tops of the staples or something but when I looked down she was actually pulling them out! I didn't really even feel it. I was cleared to drive, and have sex , haha. The RN said to just let them know when I want to go back to work and they will send the paperwork without me having to come back in for an exam or anything. It's kinda bad in a way because now that I have total control over when I go back, I think I will be likely to go back too soon. I already feel guilty for being a lazy bum!

I drove to the store last night, only about a mile, and my husband was there with me. Everything seemed good, the hardest part was getting in and out of the car. I drove to Sprouts today on my own; I feel so free now that I can leave the house! It's nice to be able to pick out my own produce once again! The husband is kinda clueless about that stuff and brought home some very squishy avocados last week .

I'm officially done with Norco! I replaced it with acetaminophen at night. I think I need to ice my knee and ankle during the day so I don't get those aches in the middle of the night.

 

[Rutabaga]

I'm having the worst side effects today, I'm assuming from the acetaminophen. I have been mildly nauseous all day (at one point last night I was sure I was going to vomit!), with stomach cramping, slight headache, and poor appetite. I'm definitely not taking that drug again. It doesn't seem to affect my pain at all, anyway. I didn't take any naproxen today, either, in case that might be the culprit. Happily, my pain levels have been the same as previous days. So maybe I don't need to be taking naproxen daily.

 

[Cynthia777]

Do you think it may be caused by the cessation of the Norco? Did you wean off very slowly? Just a thought.

 

[Rutabaga]

@Cynthia777 I thought it might be Norco withdrawal but I looked at my prescription and all the withdrawal symptoms listed are not what I'm experiencing.

 

[Cynthia777]

Maybe you picked up a stomach bug? I did see the stomach issues as withdrawal symptoms online. I googled,
"list of norco withdrawal symptoms".

 

[Rutabaga]

Hmm. Well I'm not too sure what is going on. I went from taking two Norco pills once a day to zero the next day. But that was 48 hours ago that I stopped it.

 

[Cynthia777]

When I stopped one full pill, I got hot flashes and felt kind of down, so I cut the pill in half and they stopped. After a few days I dropped the 1/2 pill and didn't feel any side effects. Just my experience.

 

[Rutabaga]

Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow! I'm not going to start taking any more Norco at this point.

 

[Cynthia777]

I don't blame you. Hope you feel much better tomorrow.

 

[Rutabaga]

Well last night I started googling Norco withdrawal and I think you are right, @Cynthia777. The symptoms that were described online were similar to what I was experiencing, especially the diarrhea (gross, sorry). I started getting really worried though because people were saying that it can last 7-10 days of feeling horrible. These were mostly addicts that had taken the drugs for years that were commenting though. I only took them for 2.5 weeks so I didn't think I would get the physical dependence. I also was thinking that since the prescribed dose was (up to) 12 pills a day, and I was only taking 2, that this was enough of a tapering off and I wouldn't get the withdrawal. Guess I was wrong! So far I feel better today. It has been about .. . 72 hours since I had any Norco so hopefully it is over. Maybe someone here can learn from my mistake!

I took Benadryl last night before I went to sleep and it really helped because I slept a lot of the night straight through. It was weird to wake up in the morning instead of every half hour tossing and turning!

 

[Cynthia777]

I guess that's why our government is going to recommend doctors not to prescribe opiates for longer than a week (in most cases). I've been seeing news reports about this recently. Unfortunately those of us who need them are going to suffer because of those who end up abusing them. It's a darn shame. I just want to get my other THR pronto before doctors start following new guideline! I'm down to two Percocet twice a day and tonight I'm cutting it to 1 and 1/2 pills a day. Dropping by 1/2 pill keeps those icky withdrawals away. I bet you're going to be fine now, as you were on such a low dose. I'm taking Benedryl at night too because I've gotten a skin rash, possibly from the Percocet, but I'm not sure. Thanks for sharing, it will help others here on BS.

 

[Krista]

@Cynthia777, the new guidelines about opiates are for chronic pain and have been given to primary care physicians (not surgeons) by the CDC, and they aren't legally obligated to follow the recommendations. They are just guidelines at this point. Requirements, as opposed to guidelines, are probably far down the road. Post-surgical pain is not in the same category as chronic pain, so I hope you won't be worried about pain control for your upcoming surgery!

 

[Cynthia777]

Thanks @Krista!

 

[Rutabaga]

4 weeks post-op update! This might be boring as there is not really much going on. But I wanted to give an update for anyone that's following my progress.

I've been off all pain meds for a week. Even anti-inflammatories are not needed at this point. The Norco withdrawal I mentioned earlier had that one horrible day (about 48 hours after last dose) and then about three days after that where my stomach was sensitive and I would get mild waves of nausea. All is well now.

Walking is easy now (no aids needed) but I still limp due to stiffness. However, it does not hurt to walk which was the point of the operation . . . so SUCCESS! I still have to take stairs one at a time because my leg is not strong enough to bear more than my weight.

ROM and movement capability are fairly good at this point; I can't quite bring my knee to my chest yet without pain, so if I'm on the floor I have to roll over so that I'm kneeling first in order to stand up. Leg raises are still a challenge.

I can sleep on both sides without pain. If I sleep on my op side there is slight discomfort after a few hours so I still roll around a lot switching positions. I am still using a pillow between my legs if I sleep on my side, but only some of the time. I am sleeping pretty well; not as well as pre-op because I wake up and switch positions a lot. But not a lot of lying awake being uncomfortable.

So overall doing really good! I'm so happy to not need pain meds anymore. I'm hoping to go back to work a week from today, but will re-evaluate on Monday and see how I feel about it.