TKR TKR June 2. It's the little things like burning and nausea!

[Celle]

Loss of energy and loss of muscle strength are both a normal part of having a knee replacement. You'll get them both back, as you continue to recover.

 

[kmak81230]

Hi RSLobe: Sorry to hear about your lack of energy. At 9 weeks out I still have periods of low energy and certainly that was the case at five weeks, particularly after going back to work. Lack of appetite probably doesn't help as you need the calories for energy. My hamstrings are really tight and I probably also very weak. Perhaps some of the advisers can assist with concerns about energy and weakness - I expect it is part of the long journey of recovery.

 

[rslobe]

Thanks for the encouragement. I am still struggling with low energy and YAWNING! If I yawn one more time I am going to crack my jaw! I assume it is fatigue and lack of sleep. The yawning episodes come in waves and I yawn about 20-30 times close together until it stops. Hard in a meeting. Again, I am lucky maybe because I am walking normally and have much less pain during the day. It's when I get into the sack that the trouble starts. I have seriously thought about Ambien or the like but am not sure they mesh well with Oxycodone. On the latter, I did try to stop last weekend. I am now down to halves in the am and pm of a 5mg pill and 1-2 at bedtime. So I just figured I would stop. That did not work out. Not because of andy withdrawal but because of pain. If I had had a firehose at 3am I would have used it on my knee! So back to pills at bedtime. One might wonder why I am so anxious to stop. It is because I have two other things going on that pre date the knee surgery that I need to resolve. One is nausea. I have H Pylori that might be causing it. This is a joint forum so I won't elaborate but it confuses treatment and whether it is coming from the H Pylori or the pain medication. Second, I have some disc problems. Referred pain down my legs and back pain. I can't really mess with that until I am recovering and off pain medication. It's always something. I might as well end with a funny story. Last Saturday the neighbor kid came by to help with dog walking. As she was leaving I could hear "That's my bike." Some guy jumped on her bike on his way to stealing it. So what did I do? Ran. I forgot about the knee. Adrenalin. I could not catch him but got in the car and pinned him a mile away and got her bike back. My knee likely suffered for the short run but my ego was boosted with a win against a perp. And, I got cookies from the dog sitter. All good. I will take a step back on the knee for a good deed. It also reminded me about mind over matter. While I was running I completely forgot about my miserable state. PS. This is what you get when you chase a criminal on a new fake knee!

 

[sistersinhim]

Hooray for heroes! Mind over matter for sure! How did your knee do after your running?

 

[rslobe]

Sistersinhim, I think I strained it a bit but I am back to where I was before that now. It was worth it. I guess an interesting aside to all my whining about pain. You can turn it off. I did briefly. I remember talking to a friend that is a psychiatrist a while back. I was complaining about my bone on bone knee. We both are Stanford fans and he said, "When you went to the Pac 12 championship and watched Stanford win, did your knee hurt?" I was like, "What knee?!" So mental diversions. It goes to my, as yet, unsatisfactorily answered question. Why the pain in bed? At this point, tomorrow 6 weeks out, it doesn't hurt during the day unless I chase bike thieves. But in my bed it hurts like hell. The hospital explains it as lacking mental diversions. I am not so sure about that. What about circulation? My bed type? (Memory foam btw and jury out.) Worry? It doesn't stack up. No weight on it, relaxed otherwise, done with the day. So why pain? Hmmm. Maybe I need to consult a yogi!

 

[sistersinhim]

Great that you didn't hurt your knee with your run! I think nighttime pain shows up because we do too much during the day and once we get to bed, there are no distractions plus, once the muscles and tendons relax, that's when the pain starts big time. I have no idea if it's the cause of not, but it made sense to me!

 

[Jennszoo]

Yikes! But WTG on saving the kids bike. I hate theives. Get your own stuff!

Yeah, distraction, mind over matter, all that stuff is fascinating to think about.

 

[Celle]

Hi @rslobe
You'll notice that I have moved several posts about your recovery from drsmagic's thread to your own recovery thread. The conversation about your recovery derailed the other thread, and we prefer that not to happen, because it takes the focus away from the other person's recovery.

For several reasons, we prefer that you have your recovery updates in your own recovery thread:

• That way, we have all your information in one place. This makes it easier to go back and review your history before providing advice.
• If you keep starting new threads, you miss the posts and advice others have left for you in the old threads, and some information may be unnecessarily repeated
• Having only one thread will act as a diary of your progress that you can look back on.

So please post any updates, questions or concerns about your recovery here. If you prefer a different thread title, just post what you want and we'll get it changed for you.
If you need an urgent response to a question, just tag a member of staff.
How to tag another member; how to answer when someone tags you

Here are the instructions on finding your thread, How can I find my threads and posts? . Many members bookmark their thread, so they can find it when they log on.

 

[rslobe]

Ok!

 

[rslobe]

BTW my hospital today said that my pain at night could be knee pain or nerve pain. I think they meant to say knee nerve pain or other nerve pain but I am not sure. They said one course would be to take gabapentin. I decline that as I do not want to add a drug at this point. The other is trying Tylenol PM. Maybe. Historically that has made me feel groggy and weird in the am.

 

[rslobe]

Also BTW what do you all take for nausea? They gave me Zofran. No home run. I went out and bought some homeopathic stuff, tummy teas of all sorts courtesy of my wife and ginger chewable tablets. It is all bouncing off.

 

[phrog]

My OS gave me Transderm SCOP patches because I couldn't tolerate any of the narcotics and anti-nausea pills did not work. They are pricey and my insurance would not cover them, but they worked! You might ask your doc about them. I ended up going off the narcotics completely by 4 weeks (I think), but the pills were a godsend until I did. Hope you feel better!!

 

[rslobe]

Thanks! That is truly new to me! I will ask my doctor. It seems the only prescription thing mentioned so far that is not for chemo treatment! And that has not worked. I LOVE the side effect warnings. "Seeing halos around lights. hallucinations unusual thoughts or behavior." There was a time where you paid money for that experience but not in prescription form. Btw I had forgotten Manuka honey for nausea. Went and bought some. Sounds Hawaiian!

 

[Jennszoo]

I have had great luck w both Zofran and gabapentin. But I hear ya on not wanting to add any more drugs.

 

[rslobe]

Zofran gives almost immediate relief. My problem is that it goes away quickly. My wife is laughing at me because I throw the whole medicine chest at it with ginger, honey, Zofran et al. She wonders if some do not cancel the others out! Maybe. lol. I found some natural stuff on nausea. Might try some. https://everydayroots.com/nausea-remedies . No harm no foul.

 

[labbieb]

I just found your post in a search. I'm having a similar experience with nausea since starting to taper off the oxycodone. I'm just starting week 4 and a few days ago I started swapping out some of my doses with Extra Strength Tylenol. Ever since then I feel nauseated quite a bit. How are you doing these days? Has it gotten better? I've just started making ginger tea (no zofran).

Also regarding excessive yawning, if you haven't already, I'd mention it to your doctor. It could be related to your meds, or maybe mineral deficiency like low potassium or something serious like cardiac issues. (https://www.md-health.com/Yawning-All-the-Time.html)

 

[rslobe]

Hello there. I DO believe the nausea relates to tapering the oxycodone. Here's why. I am now "technically" off of it. That means I do not need it or feel the need for it. Tylenol is fine. BUT, I wake up in the middle of the night, have nausea (not every night,) take one half of a 5mg oxy and the nausea goes away. I actually thought it was supposed to be the reverse. It caused it, didn't take it away. My doc thinks I am way too far off of it for it to be withdrawal symptoms but it certainly leaves questions. I can't take little bits of oxy for life so I have to figure that one out. My tools are the usual; manuka honey, ginger, ginger tea (yuck), a bunch of other "tummy tea" my wife bought I will throw away when she's not looking and Zofran, which does little or nothing.

My heart is great with recent complete workups so the yawning not related. I think significant loss of weight, not eating enough and extreme fatigue are the culprits. Who knows?! Embarrassing when I am supposed to be riveted by somebody's conversation!

You remind me to have my doc check all the B, C, D,E's on the next blood test.

Hang in there. I feel better but this knee replacement stuff is a b****ch!

Cheers, B

 

[labbieb]

Haha, thanks for the update! Glad you have no worries for cardiac issues! I suspect the same thing you do about the oxy keeping the nausea at bay...exactly the opposite of what you would think. I'm just glad I spotted your post so I know it's not just me. BUT, at some point we're going to run out and then what? At this point I'm also taking Celebrex and Ecotrin (Aspirin) too from my surgeon, so I'm hoping when I'm done with all that (about another week) things will start to get back to normal.

Too funny about throwing out your wife's tummy teas! I'm with you...just tried that ginger tea...ugh! I've also lost about 10 pounds but if I'm going to feel like ****, I want to be down 25 like you! No fair! ;-)

 

[rslobe]

Not just you! need research. This stuff is addictive so I would not be surprised if it was that. My dose is just so low, like none, that I am confused. I wish I could take Celebrex but it mimics sulfa which I am allergic to. The weight will probably come back. :(.

 

[liam2015]

just read your post about rescuing the dog walker's bike from a thief. wowza, good for you. those were some cute cookies she made for you. i had nausea also, from the Oxycocet ~ ended up quitting all meds at 3 weeks; took another 2 weeks to get out of my system until i could eat again. otc anti-nausea meds didn't help. i was given zofran 10 years ago when i had chemo and that didn't work. i think i took kytril, which helped and a steroid they give you which helped with appetite. you'll feel better once you're finished with the narcotics (i hope). like you, i get the leg/knee pain at night when i go to bed or just sitting with my leg on an ottoman ~ used to get the arthritic pain before the surgery in bed also. hope things are improving for you.