TKR Suz's Recovery Journey

[Suz]

So here it is 3am in the morning- and all I can do is sit here and cry. Wondering what on earth I've done to deserve the worry I now have over my medication situation. I'm the woman that never takes her medications- and the one time I come out of a surgery and commit myself to stay on schedule- I lose my prescribed dose of effective pain relief at 3.5wks out from a TKR.

I'm going to be careful not to exceed the recommended dose of Tylenol- but at my 12am dose time I only took 5mg of my oxycodone so I can taper it down until I"m able to get a second opinion on my pain-relief medication. I just now (3am) took a 500mg Tylenol PM because I don't need to stay up all night stressing this. That and my knee hurts.

Just needed to vent- to the only place I feel I'm heard anymore.

 

[SuperSnapper]

@Suz I was reading your thread and wanted to say that Tylenol taken with Tramadol is very effective. My OS will not use oxycodone after the first two days and sends patients home with only codeine and Tylenol. I can't take codeine so after some pressure he gave me Tramadol. With those and icing I was fine. I only used the Tramadol for two weeks but did use ice, ice and more ice which was great at numbing the pain. It wasn't easy but I got through it. The advice to take a NSAID is poor as they can cause awful stomach issues and kidney problems and are not so effective as Tylenol with pain relief.
I believe Josephine has a handy chart for taking the Tramadol and Tylenol together.
Hope your recovery keeps going well.

 

[LFitz]

Hi Suz I've just been reading your thread and am really amazed at how well you addressed your PT. I really wish I had found this site earlier in my recovery. Kudos to you for standing up for yourself and your knee. I know there is a chart, I believe, @Josephine has published regarding taking Tylenol with Tramadol and I've used the 2 together and it's works really well. I too am up this night, like most every night, changing positions to find that comfortable one again and trying not to stress over every worry I have over my tkr. I really hope you get some rest and that your pain meds get worked out.


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[CaliGirl]

I'm so sorry you have this stress of having your medication last over the holiday weekend, with the uncertainty of what if anything you'll be given to control your pain once you do see a doctor.

I don't have any words of wisdom (besides do as little as possible and ice, ice, ice). Just wanted to let you know I'm thinking of you and wish you the best.

 

[Suz]

Thank You my dear friends! Woke up feeling my knee this morning- and started looking through meds I've stuck back after not taking them prior to my TKR. Like I've said- I don't fancy taking medication. But I'm hoping that will now play into my favor especially over the next few days. I just found a bottle of tramadol 100s with what looks like about 100 pills. I also found Josephine's charts for Tramadol and Tylenol. So there is hope here once again on this recovery roller coaster!

 

[Josephine]

You'll be fine taking Tramadol and Tylenol provided you take the proper doses! Since you've found the charts you should be clued up on that. And then there should be no need to worry about weaning of the other drugs. I'm sure you will find this far superior anyway!

 

[Suz]

Just wanted to thank everyone for your recent support regarding my pain-med situation. It was very frightening for me, actually everything has been with this being my first time through a procedure like this!

I followed Josephines advice regarding an alternative to the prescribed meds I was on. I have been off of those prescribed narcotics for 24hrs now. It's not by choice I quit taking them for those of you new to this post- my surgeon felt I didn't need them anymore at 3.5wks out from surgery. I do still need them- but since he's unwilling to prescribe more I had no choice but to come here for help. And I received it!

I had pain my first day off of the narcotics- but it wasn't excruciating pain like I feared. I woke up this morning totally amazed that the tramadol/tylenol combination Josephine recommended contained 80% of my recovering pain! I'm so excited and have big signs plastered everywhere not to let my pain-free experience throw me into to 'over-do' overdrive, haha!

I'm going to sit and watch more episodes of Outlander (I just started watching this series after my surgery and I LOVE it!) and continue to stay on schedule with my new pain meds.

What a wonderful recovery site we've been blessed with here!

 

[newlybionic]

That's great that your pain is under control. I'm sure you are very relieved that it is after your OS decided you no longer needed pain meds. That's totally ridiculous.

 

[Celle]

I'm glad the Tramadol-Tylenol mixture is working for your pain control. My surgeon was no allowed to prescribed the heavy-duty narcotics after two weeks and that combination worked well for me, too.
(I'm an Outlander fan, too.)

 

[Happydale]

Phew, glad your trauma is over, although I'm sorry it doesn't take care of 100% of your pain. Hopefully you'll have a payoff of fewer side effects now that you're off the oxycodone. Hang in there, Suz. You have experienced the ups and downs, so remember the downs may come but you've been able to handle them and move on so admirably. You are a strong woman!

 

[tjcteacher]

So happy that everything is working for you!

 

[tjcteacher]

Suz how are you feeling this week?

 

[Suz]

Thank You Ladies! I'm feeling great this week- relieved that my pain level is being contained with the Tramadol/Tylenol combination!

I've been able to do a few heel slides & light extension exercises several times a day and am seeing more bend in my knee. I've been a little lazy with icing while elevating over the past 24hrs and I think that's the reason I'm feeling a little stiffness today. It's easy to stray away from it when you aren't hurting! But because I feel a little stiffer today, I'm under ice as I type!

I see my OS in 2wks and I'm hoping my flexion meets his approval but if it doesn't- he'll get over it! I've been going back and forth whether to share with him that I decided to try a tramadol and tylenol combination once he took my effective pain management away- and how successful it has been. Hoping that maybe he will consider it for pain management for his future patients. I'm sure I'm not the only one on the other end of his new attitude regarding narcotic pain relievers. I'll probably wait and see how the atmosphere is between us.

I'm in total charge of my recovery and feel absolutely confident in the bonesmart mantras! And I love reading all about everyone's journey here! It gives me daily strength!

I even did some gardening a few days ago at only 4wks post-op!! Picked all of the dead blooms off of 12 pots of pansies- from my recliner of course-!! Thanks for checking on me- it means so much!

 

[Celle]

That's the sort of gardening that I like!

 

[CaliGirl]

I'm so glad the Tylenol and Tramadol combination is working so well for you. I love your attitude regarding your ROM and your surgeon.

 

[Barnmom22]

Would you please post the dosages for this tylenol/tramadol combo again? Thank you.

 

[Suz]

@Barnmom22

Below is a chart that gives you two scheduling options depending on your pain level. You can click on it to enlarge.

I'm currently taking 100mg of Tramadol & 1,000mg of Tylenol every 6hrs, (to total 400mgs/Tramadol & 4,000mgs/Tylenol every 24hrs), and it is working well for me at almost 5wks post-op!

I didn't want to come off of narcotics because my pain level was still intense but after being forced to do so- I'm proud today I no longer need to ask anyone for oxycodone! Thanks to the invaluable information & resources available from bonesmart.org!

 

[Suz]

I'm approaching 5wks now- , and starting to believe there's a light at the other end of this tunnel! Thanks to my new family here-!!

I do find myself straying away from the icing because the current pads I'm using are only good for about 20 minutes & I'm getting tired of replacing them out so often. I was wondering about some of your icing methods- what has worked well for you?

I realize I can do a search for this on the forum but thought a little conversation about it here in my thread would be good for other newbies who might drop by that haven't yet learned the forum protocols!

Oh and Celle- I'm all caught up with Outlander now and don't know what to do with myself- LOL!!

Happy Saturday everyone!

 

[SassyGirl]

Hi Suzie glad to hear you're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and it's not a train . I've been reading your recovery thread and notice you're from NC. I'm also from NC about 55 miles southeast of Raleigh. What part are you from.

 

[Suz]

We're up in the mountains- Sparta, NC to be exact! I was raised in the Nashville, NC area however! Hope your recovery is coming along well. I'm not the most patient person in the world but I've definitely had to learn to be so in my TKR! I have a goal to make it to Emerald Isle this fall. And that's not to sit in a recliner the entire time- LOL!