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Revision TKR Third TKR Replacement needed

3 months out for tkr on my left knee, I too have trouble sleeping. It is no longer knee pain, but rather a restless leg. It is as though an electrical current is running dully through my entire leg. Although I call this discomfort or I refer to it as a very irritable feeling, my surgeon said it is a form of pain and recommended that I continue taking a pain pill at night as needed. (I take percocet in low dose as Norco or Vicodin tend to keep me awake). BUT, the other med that really helps is Xanax at night. Those tingly, tight leg nerves tend to gradually subside in about 20 minutes. I think this med works the best to relax me and my leg into a good night's sleep!
 
The commute is long but not too bad because i can make my connections pretty easily. Sleep is still a problem at 12 weeks out and I've found that Percocet works best for me. I don't take it at all during the day anymore and I haven't been taking it regularly before bed if I didn't need it. But I've found that when my leg is really angry at 3 am, Percocet eases the pain and makes me sleepy enough to drift back to sleep.
 
Jodie said:
3 months out for tkr on my left knee, I too have trouble sleeping. It is no longer knee pain, but rather a restless leg. It is as though an electrical current is running dully through my entire leg. Although I call this discomfort or I refer to it as a very irritable feeling, my surgeon said it is a form of pain and recommended that I continue taking a pain pill at night as needed. (I take percocet in low dose as Norco or Vicodin tend to keep me awake). BUT, the other med that really helps is Xanax at night. Those tingly, tight leg nerves tend to gradually subside in about 20 minutes. I think this med works the best to relax me and my leg into a good night's sleep!
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We are at about the same point post surgery and I have some similar restlessness but I seldom have any "pain" I would put on the pain chart. My wife has issues with restless leg and she was prescribed clonazepam and that seems to work for her. Xanax is a similar drug and probably just as good. When my leg gets restless I do a few heel slides and if that does not work, then I have my dog lay on it till it stops being restless. Seems to work.
 
Restless leg or leg pain is common for me when I wear my bedroom slippers instead of my walking shoes. They feel like shin splints some nights. I sit on the edge of the tub and with shower wand, I let very warm water massage my chin areas.
My GP was very supportive when I asked about the Ambien script. He even increased the dosage plus 3 refills. That should carry me through this insomnia phase. I see the PA in the OS's office on the 29th to discuss the hip pain and head to Jersey the next day.
The swelling pain and insomnia are my stressors these days. My first full week back at work was manageable. Lots of bumper to bumper traffic did not help my swelling. I will find an alternate route to avoid construction traffic. Icing and pain meds are my after work routine these days.
 
I remember this! I finally switched my requests for pain melds to my GP. I never talked about the sleep issues, except to say I wake up due to pain so she adjusted the prescription. The PA at my surgeon said to take the pain med and my Melosicam in the morning then follow 3 hours later with ibuprofen in liquid gel capsules. I was really fortunate after my second knee and didn't have to return to work for 6 months. That gave me achance to recuperate from 3 surguries in one year. I was very worn out. Bad enough the trauma to knee tissue, the rest of your body has to recover too. Good Luck with recovery. It sounds like you're on the right track.
 
It's 7 months since my left TKR and my sleep pattern has only returned to normal in the past couple of weeks. I'm surprised it has taken so long, but I'm glad that the insomnia seems to be finally gone.
 
You would think there was something we could do to be able to sleep through the night. I wake up every couple of hours and then have trouble going back to sleep. It would be great to sleep through the night. I did not have this problem with my first knee and this one seems to have all the problems. The restless leg syndrome seems to be a major problem for a lot of us. I am scheduled to see my GP within the next 2 weeks, hope he as some answers for me. Good luck to you.
 
I've struggle with RLS and sciatica for years. I also have periodic limb movement disorder, (oh joy!). My husband says its like sleeping with a dying mouse. Lovely romantic image, that! The RLS and sciatica really kicked up after the TKR on that leg, the left. I take Gabapentin 2100mg/day, Flexeril 30mg/day and Norco 7.5/325mg from 3-4x/day. I've tried all the folk remedies to no avail. Part of it is pain from L5-S1 or L4-L5 in my back, part is restless legs, the buzzy feeling. I have some neuropathy on that side, partly due to the sciatica (radiculopathy) from the lumbar, part due to Diabetes II. Keeping sugars in check helps a little. I'm going to see my father's Neurologist to make sure none of this is related to a degenerative condition he has. Caught early, it can be reversed fully.

Anyway, sometimes a potassium supplement helps, also Magnesium and Calcium. If you don't have a scrip for Xanax, you can try the herb Valerian. It comes as a tincture or capsules. That and a cup of milk at bedtime as well as a little massage with a lavender scented lotion help quite a bit. That's my fallback if I don't get my meds refilled on time. Best of luck to everyone, we in the U.S. Are a sleep deprived nation as it is.
 
Thank you all for your posts. It definitely helps to know I am not alone in this journey.


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Got swelling and pain from an hour of bumper to bumper traffic. I was not paying attention this morning and failed to by pass the bridge construction during my morning commute. My knee is mad again. Woe is me.

Read a few posts in the forum about the knee wrapping at night, saw a video on You Tube and tried it last night. I slept pretty well after finally getting to sleep. Why is it that it is so easy to get comfortable while taking naps? Naps are rare these days now that I am back at work!


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Restless leg can often be a magnesium deficiency and can be very disconcerting - I have two articles in the nutritional library that anyone reading this post may care to read - here is the link :)

Feel free to tag me if you have any questions regarding nutrition.

However, I would appreciate if you (or any other member) do not request advice regards supplements as I would be breaking the Common Law Act (under which I am governed) to prescribe outside of my practice, especially via the Internet.

Nutritional advice for pre op and recovery
 
@Poppet - this link is not going to the right information. It goes to a post from 2006 from kniel13. I also tried to follow it from another post and went to the same place.


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Got pain meds and ambien for 90 more days!!! Headed on a business trip to Jersey in a few days. My stress level has been lowered a bit as I will be getting some rest!

Happy dance!


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Bursitis in the hip is the diagnosis and a cortisone shot is the treatment. Hopefully this will help me get in my walks and my journey through two airports tomorrow will be easier.


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Hip pain is much better. Will do some walking and hopefully the pain will be bearable. I will take a C+.

Sleeping great with the Tramadol and ambien cocktail. Gradually cutting back my dosage on the Ambien. Taking Meloxicam once or twice a day and cut out all pain meds during the day except when I overdo.

Enjoying this site!!


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Your journey sounds similar to mine and I am so glad when I read posts that do not make me feel so behind in recovery. I still take a Norco 5-325 once a day and usually ibuprofen twice a day. I am fortunate that I did not have to return to work yet. I do not go back until August, as I am a teacher. There is no way I could have gone back at 3 months, 4 maybe? I just passed the 5 month mark and walked on sand two weeks ago, but get stiffness, swelling and minor pain every day. I forget I need to get off my feet and rest. sleep is ok now, I think it is more my age than my knee that I cannot get more than 6 hours of sleep. Hang in there. We know we got new knees to improve the quality of life and reduce pain, but few of us are prepared for the amount of recovery we really need. I know I wasn't!
 
Hello everyone. Hope all of you are feeling better& knees are getting stronger. I am almost at 14 weeks post open now. I sure can tell when rain is coming. Knee gets very stiff & sore. That's when it's time to get the ice pack going. Any of you experience this kind of weather alert? Still have swelling after walking or just being on feet too long. Sleeping better through the night without Tylenol. I guess I can truly say ,although this is a very long recovery period, and I'm not through yet, I think I might be well on my way
 
Well,here I am... 4 months tomorrow. There were days when I didn't think I would be able to walk the malls anymore. I did just that last week. Took my cane, spent about an hour . Found out that I need to take someone with me to carry parcels. With handbag on one side & cane in other hand, I was unbalanced and had a painful rt hip when I got home. Still having pain & swelling in lt knee. Still icing & elevating. Doing physio exercises at home with 2 lb weights.only use the cane now when I walk in mall . Very seldom do I use any pain meds. Don't care to carry anything heavy,like grocery bags.I really have a hard time walking fast. This recovery process is slow, should be thankful for the small progress or milestones we meet. They say that slow and steady wins the race and that is just what we have to remember. We are not going to rush through this recovery. That knee is going to be 100% when it's ready. I guess we have to admit. It's the boss
 
I find it better to walk slowly as I stride better. If I walk fast my back starts to hurt. My stride length has improved dramatically though. I used to baby step, now I even go down slight slopes with a reasonably long stride. Guessing speed will come in time. I know I can walk 2mph but I am better off not going quite so fast yet.
 
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