TKR SeptemberZen's Bionic Journey

[SeptemberZen]

I dropped from oxy to Vicodin at 4 weeks, and it was a pretty easy transition. Tramadol give me vicious headaches and I leanred with first knee that the Oxys sometimes made me feel panicky. Vicodin worked great, and I am finding it fairly easy to cut back.
;)

Yes, but Vicodin also contains a narcotic, no? I would imagine the step down process would be similar to Percocet?

 

[Maggie94]

Hi @SeptemberZen This getting off the meds is not easy.I got down to 10mg Oxy at night only, nothing else. That was a couple AF weeks ago. However I had lousy sleep because AF the aches and tightness. Rehab specialist said to go back to 15mg Oxy plus endone break thru...have done and sleep is much better (even though I still have a couple hours awake every night...2.10am here)
With getting off meds there is the physiological and the psychological. For me I don't have any physical side effects of stepping down like some do but I don't want the pain so my thing is the psychological. When the time comes I will just have to go with the flow like I did before. This re overt stuff occurs on so many levels....Maggie x

 

[Spencieca]

I might ask my HIV doc about Vicodin...the Tramadol is not agreeing with my stomach or my head or my nerves, to say the least! As long as Vicodin doesn't have ANY type of anti-inflamatory (ibuprofen, NSAIDS) I can take it...what Ive read on the web (we all know it has to be true because it is on the internet!) is Vicodin is an easier step down from Oxycodone and the side effects from weaning off of Vicodin is easier than the Oxy..

 

[SeptemberZen]

@Maggie94 - yeah, I'm thinking that I'll try Duexis, Aleve, Advil or acetaminophen during the day and save my remaining Percocet for nighttime pain, at least for the time being. I tried to power through the pain the other night and I was practically in tears. Nothing worse than being in pain, uncomfortable, exhausted and not being able to sleep!

 

[Spencieca]

SZ, you hit the nail right on the head! I am going to have a serious talk with my OS on my Tuesday check up..there has to be a better way to get thru this part of the process....

 

[kaw205]

I take 1000mg tylenol with 800mg ibuprofen since I started back at work. I take a gel pac and wrap it around my knee with an ace bandage so I can ice while sitting at my desk. (I can even walk around with this on). When I get home, I elevate, ice and sometimes take a percocet.
I've been back two weeks and week 1 was really hard, week 2 better...................

 

[SeptemberZen]

I take 1000mg tylenol with 800mg ibuprofen since I started back at work. I take a gel pac and wrap it around my knee with an ace bandage so I can ice while sitting at my desk. (I can even walk around with this on). When I get home, I elevate, ice and sometimes take a percocet.
I've been back two weeks and week 1 was really hard, week 2 better...................

Thanks, @kaw205!

Since I'm going back to work soon, I really need ideas on how to manage. Appreciate your input!

 

[SeptemberZen]

SZ, you hit the nail right on the head! I am going to have a serious talk with my OS on my Tuesday check up..there has to be a better way to get thru this part of the process....

Surely! As I said before, I understand that surgeons are wary of creating a dependency, but this is madness. We've been cut, sawed, hammered, and sewn back together and within two months, we're just supposed to give up powerful pain meds that the doctors gave us, take a couple of acetaminophen and call it a day?? Really? ??

 

[Maggie94]

I agree SZ. As I have said before the Drs in the US need to get on board with the reality of this surgery. Maggie x

 

[janmont]

Hi sept zen, sorry it is rough going. My glute problem turned out to be periformis muscle issue in that it was pressing on the sciatica nerve. It is a form of sciatica. I had a massage done by a therapist in a chiropractors office and she helped a lot. She stretched my leg too, the other thing is that I do are clamshells, side leg raises, glute bridges and stretches for the periformis in addition to the stretches she did. Lie on your back, extend leg straight up and then rotate it twoard the floor to the outside, this stretches the hip flexor The one I really like takes 2 people, and may not be right for you because of swelling and stiffness. If you think about it, in our early days, we spent a lot of time with our leg stretched out straight and sitting or lying down. Those muscles atrophied, I am sure. The stretch as I can best describe it, replicates the CPM machine. My husband pushes my heel to my chest while I am lying down and I hold for 1 minute. That stretches everything right down the middle of the backside. I am better now. My os nurse says some people have sciatia after surgery and if massage and stretching don't work, they can give you steroids. It can be tough to treat. Hope you can wean off meds, it is a shame you can't take something else. Last week, I was taking 1 to 3 Vicodin a day, not for the knee but for the pain in the but and slightly down the back of the leg. Yesterday and today I have had none. I have been active today doing housework and cooking for 5 hours so now time for a rest. I hope you can get some relief, the sciatica is worst, even more so than the knee.

 

[kneeper]

Hydrocodone (Norco or Vicodin) is weaker than oxycodone. For me I stepped down to it from oxycodone in about week 3. Then I was on the hydrocodone--gradually spreading out doses naturally as I needed them less frequently during the day--for another several weeks. I had no problems when I stopped taking them.

Maybe your doc would be agreeable to giving you a prescription for hydrocodone.

I can see why an anti-inflammatory like duexis (which I looked up and it looks like it's just ibuprofen and a stomach protector) isn't doing the trick yet.

 

[Maggie94]

All these meds... it is so hard going it alone without sympathetic professional guidance. I think I need another chat w Dr cause i am getting so frustrated w no sleep. Didn't solve any problems but thanks for the cyber space to vent. Maggie x

Maggie via Tapatalk

 

[wberry]

@September ,
I am off the narcotics. Slept longer last night than I have since the surgery. And I can poop again now. I am on 2 500 mg aspirin alternating with the aleeve gel caps every 6-8 hours. No pain, just stiffness and a little swelling which I hit with ice.


Sent from my iPhone using BoneSmart Forum

 

[SeptemberZen]

Great news, @wberry! Happy for you!

I decided that I'm not quite ready to quit the Percocets entirely. I'm skipping doses and taking half doses here and there, but I am just too uncomfortable at this point. Have been doing some research on this and 12 weeks or so on Percocet is not the end of the world and not necessarily a sign of dependency. I'll continue to cut down and hopefully in another week or so, I can rely on non-narcotics like Duexis or Aleve.

 

[Spencieca]

SZ, I can honestly say that I think everyone on here wants to be off of these dang pain meds...you need to do what is best for you...I have decided to listen to my body and let the knee tell me what it needs, not the brain..my mind just goes non stop..."am I taking too much, am I taking too little, will I become addicted, AM I addicted, etc." Nobody knows your body better than you...I think all this fuss over these dang meds is what gives a LOT of us these FOREVER sleepless nights, at least I KNOW it is the root of mine..Yes, our bodies have been thru some drama and now we are spending every waking moment on healing and dealing with it..but some of us were not given the guidance or information on how to heal our minds...this is the most frustrating part of this whole TKR for me...IF I get the other knee done I KNOW it will be better, because I have gone thru soo much **** with this one! Hang in there SZ and remember that you are a beautiful and strong woman and you have soo much to be proud of and thankful for...(stepping off of soap box now, bending new knee)...

 

[wberry]

Do what you think
Is best. Every TKR is unique and recovery varies. You and your body will know when your ready. Pulling for ya

 

[SeptemberZen]

Thanks, you guys! There's just SO much information out there and some of it is borne out of experience, some of it is opinion, professional and otherwise.... but yeah, the bottom line for me has always been to educate myself as much as possible and to listen to my own body. I trust, respect, and like my surgeon and wouldn't consider letting anyone else do my second TKR next year. However, this is MY body, MY decision.

 

[Spencieca]

Just WHAT did we do before the internet?????

 

[SeptemberZen]

I have no idea.....

 

[Maggie94]

You girls are a scream. Ping pong convetsation with a twist. Love it. Pre internet and pre mobile phones only about 25 years ago....eeekkkk makes us sound old. And we are not!!!!

Maggie via Tapatalk