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Sleeping problems

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ern

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Jun 12, 2008
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Australia
I have just read many of the messages posted on this site and find it quite a relief that it was not just me who could not get sleep at night. My TKR surgery took place on the 12th May, 08 ( 1 month ago)and since then my recovery has been very good. I have the total flex requirement, walking with the aid of 1 stick and expect to be walking un-assisted from the 20th June after my next visit to the Surgeon. I usually head off to bed about 9.30pm and sleep for about 5 hours. During that time however I am waking say every 1.5 hrs with stiffness, pain etc. I find a pillow under the knee, 2 panadol on the 1st occassion usually helps heaps. At the 5 hour mark however, the pain and stiffness is too much. At this point I get out of bed, head to the loungeroom, get on my recliner chair, pull a doona over me (winter in Sydney, Australia at the moment), elevate the knee with 2 pillows, perform a few isometric exercising of the knee and quads and try to relax and doze for an hour or two. By this time it is about 3-4am so I head back to bed again and 9 times out of ten sleep for at least another 2 hours. After reading similar situations here it would seem that most of you who have this same problem usually recover after 2 months or so. I am so pleased I found this site and hope that maybe a little something I have relayed may help at least one person. God Bless. Ern
 
I am 4 weeks away from tkr so I have no advice on the sleep. From past scopes on my knee I found the meds loused up my sleep. I am lucky to have a very oversizef bedroom and can move from the bed to a chair and a half and ottoman to watch tv and not wake the house. Then pass back out again. I am not looking forward to the sleep issues - but I am in alaska and in the summer we all have bizarre sleeping habits anyway (all the daylight) - plus I am a teacher and do not have to go back to work until 8/13 and hopefully by then things will even out -

I am trying to figue out how many hours you are behind/ahead of me? I though you might be heading to be as I type - it is 12:25 AM her and we are heading off to bed!

Hope you get some sleep - sorry I couldn't be more helpful.
Marianne
 
Em -
Had to laugh when I just got online and read your message, because "lo and behold" that is exactly what I am doing right now! My surgery was 5/27, so I'm a little behind you, but not much.

After going to bed at 11pm, I finally ended up out here about 1:3p pm on the recliner because I thought my tossing and turning would wake my husband up. So, I came out here and watched bits and pieces of a movie and fell asleep until now (4:15am). Decided to head back to my bedroom and my husband has taken over the whole bed. Since he has to get up in an hour, I decided to come back out to the recliner and see what's going on out here with everyone else.... they're probably all fast asleep (for maybe an hour).

Eyes are trying to close, so I guess I'd better try and catch this snooze. Good luck!

Laurie
 
I'm at 6 months now and still have trouble sleeping off and on. My OS didn't have any idea that sleeping could be an issue. I talked to my primary care physician and she gave me a prescription for Trazadone, a mild anti-anxiety drug that helps me relax. It is inexpensive and has no addictive issues. Most of the folks on this forum back when I was first recovering were taking something to sleep. It's worth talking to your doctor as your body works to heal when it is asleep and at rest.

We also had issues with restless legs when sleeping. The recommendations there were to get up and walk around a bit or to use a heating pad on your lower back.

Good luck! It's a long road, but a worthwhile journey.

God bless,
Skeet
 
I Was Wondering About Using The Heating Pad On My Low Back, New Puppy The Family Rescued The Day After My Surgery Took Care Of That Though, Lucky For Him It Wasn't Plugged In, He Would Have Killed Himself. Now I Just Need To Get To Town To Buy A Heating Pad. One Of The Drawbacks To Living In The Boonies And Being 15 Miles From The Nearest Store Is You Can't Run Into Town At The Drop Of A Hat, Not With Gas Prices At $4 Plus Dollars. Too Bad We Can't Eat Gas, It Is More Than Steak Now, Rowdy
 
Skeet,
I have been taking trazadone for a few years to sleep every night. all my docs say it has no bad effects and can be taken forever.
Last night was my first night home and it only helped a little. I may up the dose this evening.
Judy
 
I have just read many of the messages posted on this site and find it quite a relief that it was not just me who could not get sleep at night. This was not discussed nor was it brought to my notice by any of my medical contacts including the surgeons. My TKR surgery took place on the 12th May, 08 ( 1 month ago)and since then my recovery has been very good. I have the total flex requirement, walking with the aid of 1 stick and expect to be walking un-assisted from the 20th June after my next visit to the Surgeon. I usually head off to bed about 9.30pm and sleep for about 5 hours. During that time however I am waking say every 1.5 hrs with stiffness, pain etc. I find a pillow under the knee, 2 panadol on the 1st occassion usually helps heaps. At the 5 hour mark however, the pain and stiffness is too much. At this point I get out of bed, head to the loungeroom, get on my recliner chair, pull a doona over me (winter in Sydney, Australia at the moment), elevate the knee with 2 pillows, perform a few isometric exercising of the knee and quads and try to relax and doze for an hour or two. By this time it is about 3-4am so I head back to bed again and 9 times out of ten sleep for at least another 2 hours. After reading similar situations here it would seem that most of you who have this same problem usually recover after 2 months or so. I am so pleased I found this site and hope that maybe a little something I have relayed may help at least one person. God Bless. Ern

Hi Ern and a belated welcome. I had the no sleep problem at about 5 - 8 weeks I think. It make you feel lousy doesn't it? I took an over the counter natural pill, Sleep MD. It really made me relax at night and also using a body pillow instead of a normal pillow really helped. I still use it (thankyou forever Skeet for that suggestion, glad you are still here). The only thing that keeps me awake now is staying online here too long or if I have the eebie geebies from my reduction of my Percs.

Hop[e you get some sleep soon. Hopefully there will be someone online here at the same time as you, it really helps. I think we are 16 hours behind you here in Ontario, my brother in law lives in Sydney too. Sue
 
Thanks Sue, Must be about 12pm there now. Thanks for your suggestion, I am going to wait till Friday when I visit OS and see what he says. After injecting clexane for a month for clots, and all the other pills I feel like a babys rattle. I am nearly at the 5 week mark so hopefully it starts to get a little better each day or evening.
Ern
 
My sleep problems are not nearly as bad as they were. Mostly just because I went off my hormone replacement therapy and that impacts my sleep, too. I used to take 50 mg of Trazadone, but I wasn't able to relax so my doctor upped it to 100 mg if I need it.

I might take meds 1-2 times a week at this point. Mostly I just take the 50 mg to calm my mind because I have a stressful job and my mind races when I lay down at night. If I take 100 mg, I need a full 8-9 hours to sleep.

And the body pillow was a Godsend for me and several others. I don't need it so much now as I don't even notice my knee at night, but for several months I really needed the cushion from it. I highly recommend them.
 
The only bad thing about body pillows is when I travel for business and don't have it. I have to use like 4 pillows to sleep in a hotel bed comfortably. A few of the really nice hotels in places like Singapore actually provide a body pillow if you ask for one. That was super nice!
 
Skeet,
When I first started taking trazadone for sleep, I took one half of a 50 and passed out in 15 minutes.
My script is for 150. I have used 100 for a long time and always take it so I have 8 hours to sleep, if I don't I just skip it.
Last night I really wanted to sleep so I took the 150, it worked like a charm, of course up to pee a feew times, but no problems getting back to sleep.
Of course I was taking pain meds too.
I sure like the no tossing and turning while on my back of course.
Judy
 
One of the odd things I've discovered about the sleeping problems is that they can actually come and go.

The first three weeks were miserable for me re sleep, then things improved for a week or so, then got worse again. Pain levels change and I think that has an impact on whether or not we can sleep through the night or wake up in pain.

If your OS doesn't want to talk about sleep or pain issues, go to your GP or "regular" doctor and talk to them so that you can get enough of the all-important sleep.

Weezy
 
We also had issues with restless legs when sleeping. The recommendations there were to get up and walk around a bit or to use a heating pad on your lower back.

Good luck! It's a long road, but a worthwhile journey.

God bless,
Skeet[/QUOTE]

Hi Skeet. I've had the restless leg thing since I was a kid. About 2 1/2 months post op mine escalated to a level I could only describe as torture - I would have to get up several times during the night to stretch and would just be writhing on the floor - I would have turned wrong side out if I could have. It seemed worse after a very active day, so trying to wear myself out backfired. My beloved heating pad had no effect.

Since I was only getting about 3 hours of sleep a night I called my primary care doc and she said "Magnesium". She started me on mega doses of 2 different magnesium supliments (available over the counter - I'll give you the brands if you are interested). The first night I slept better - the second I slept like the dead and have not had sleep issues OR the restless leg syndrome since.

I have no idea why this works, and it may be my imagination but I think I have less pain now too. I still get that deep bone ache but not as bad or often. I have tapered off the amount of magnesium I am taking, but I still take it every night before bed. This has been a miracle for me.

Aunt B
 
Aunt B, Please let me know what the supplement is. Mine comes and goes. Those who can lay down and sleep 8 hours straight have no idea how blessed they are.
 
Doug, aint it the truth?

Here is what my doc had me do:

The first supliment is called MG-TAURINE FORTE and is made by a company called Miller. (It contains selenium, cromium and some other good stuff in addition to magnesium.) I took 2 capsules every morning and 2 at bed time. I did that for about 2 weeks and then cut down gradually to 1 at bed time. If I get that antsy, I gotta stretch feeling, I just up my dose for a day or 2.

Then (and these are the ones that I will NEVER be with out again) there is DREAMZ, by Prime. This contains magnesium and some herbal stuff that's supposed to help you sleep. I take 2 every night at bed time.

If my math is correct, that is 800 mgs of magnesuim per day, to start. A big dose to be sure, but obviously I needed it.

Good luck. There are few more miserable ways to spend a night than tossing and turning with RLS. I hope this helps!

Aunt B
 
I had problems for a while, too, but in January, after gong to school and teaching on 2 1/2 hours sleep, I had to take something. Ambien for ten days got my sleep schedule back, and I have had very, very few problems since. I used to be up until 4 in the AM after surgery...now, I can sleep very well...things will get better, trust me.

Tim C.
 
Its 5 1/2 weeks post op now. My sleep pattern has changed a little. I go to bed about 9pm after taking 2 panadol. I am usually restless about 1 to 2 am so I get up, make my way to the recliner, get comfortable, do a few stretches and isometric exercises, take about a 1/2 hr break and go back to bed about 1 hr later. Usually I sleep well for another 3 hrs which gives me a 7hr sleep period. It is a very difficult period after tkr and I guess everybody is different but that is working for me and hopefully it will get better sooner rather than later. Good luck everone,
Ern
 
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