TKR Total Knee Replacement New Girl 10 weeks out

[Jockette]

Wow, you sure have had a lot to deal with.

 

[mendogal]

@rubyedith
You've had a time!

I was desperately trying things after my second knee. What worked for me was a combination of two things taken in sequence:
1) an herbal sleep tea that includes valerian as an active ingredient
2) immediately followed by a 3 mg extended release melatonin (larger doses may be of zero benefit)
3) immediately retreating to a dimly lit room but not to bed, relaxing - this is what potentiates the melatonin's effect
Within an hour of finishing the tea and taking the melatonin I had five hours unbroken solid sleep for the first time in several weeks and was also able to fall back asleep a bit after.

 

[EalingGran]

So sorry for all your troubles. That is enough to stir anyone's sleep pattern up.
The prednisolone also would definitely keep you awake as well. I have friends who have taken steroids who tell me they are wide awake most of the night. It is worth trying @mendogal ideas to see if you can get the sleep rhythm back.
If you can get a walk in natural sunlight during the early part of the day- that helps too. Also avoiding computer screens/ phones/ TV for an hour or so before bed.
I do hope things improve for you.

 

[rubyedith]

Thanks so much @EalingGran and @mendogal and @Jockette . My series of Unfortunate Events is pretty CrAzy, and I can hardly believe it myself. I just wanted to explain that my relationship with sleep has more components than just my recent tkr , but that sure did fire it up again. I soooo appreciate the concern all the helpful suggestions and hope to use them to figure out just what magic blend works for me.

Also, I just have to say, now that I am 1 whole week Post PT...ha!....that I feel so much better. I just love that yall emphasize function over numbers. And that the tortoise is the winner and that I need to listen to my knee. Also, I believe that I saw somewhere on this site, that walking lightly with a cane can help improve limping, so after not using my cane much around the house, I started using it again lightly and sometimes with longer strides. I think my limp is beginning to improve slightly. This makes so much more sense to me than walking back and forth in front of a mirror at PT for weeks, feeling more and more defeated.

 

[mendogal]

Using a mirror won't improve structure. The support of the cane and practicing heel to toe walking definitely can!

 

[rubyedith]

thanks @mendogal for the visual. Sure beats the stupid mirror. Sometimes I just wanted to cry walking towards and away from that thing!! And also thanks for directions with melatonin.

Also curious ...what is odic?

The good news is that it's not unusual to have SI or groin pains after knee replacement. There's a couple of reasons and you basically nailed the main one: yes, over those years your entire structure (mal)adjusted to your knee. Some muscles and tendons contracted and shortened while their counterparts stretched and became lax. This creates tugging on the pelvis.
All at once in the OR everything got changed, and it has to adjust. Some folks have SI issues, some sciatica.

The groin pain, depending on its location, might just be referred pain from contracted quads or psoas. There are different stretches depending but meanwhile heat to that area may provide relief along with - if its quads - gentle massage to the upper quads.

Wow~ yes! maladjusted! My legs from mid thigh to foot look very different from each other. It is amazing to think that within a span of such a short surgery, everything got changed!! It's hard to elevate and ice due to pain in lower back. Pain in knee, now while icing, close to 0, lower back 5!
I do think the psoas is involved. I just hear a lot of digestive sounds in that area...? Isn't the psoas known to be "the anxiety muscle"?

...and a funny little sidebar, I had always heard of icing with frozen peas, but, that sounded messy. When my daughter came to help right after surgery, she found a bag of dried beans we had used several years ago for a craft project. She put them in the freezer and they have been great! mold to me, not messy. This is my fav to take to bed.

 

[benne68]

Also curious ...what is odic?

ODIC = OverDid It Club

We like to joke here on BoneSmart about joining the ODIC or landing on the ODIC bench. We all do it at least once during recovery. Some members -- like me -- are frequent guests!

 

[rubyedith]

O! Too funny! @benne68 ! I guess I'm in the odic club then! lol~

 

[sistersinhim]

Don't feel bad, we've all been a member of it one time or another!

 

[Peterfox]

You can try
Tylenol p.m.
I get at least 7 hours of sleep
Always been a good sleeper try not to take naps
I am 6 weeks out
Ice. Elevate. Stretch at least 4 times a day
Don’t stop
Keep going to PT
It slowly gets better. As I emphasize. Slowly

 

[rubyedith]

@Peterfox Thank you so much for your suggestion of Tylenol pm. that is something that has worked for me before and may be of benefit again. Congrats on your sleep!!! So envious! Thanks for cheering me on in the stretching game. Went to a too aggressive PT for 3 times week for 8 weeks. That was all the chance they are gonna get from me. If I see I need another round, it will be a group with a more BoneSmart philosophy. I stopped a little over a week ago and have improved so much, my mood has improved, sleep improving, limp improving, hardly need tylenol anymore. So thankful this group is here. Appreciate the support so much.

 

[Jockette]

If I see I need another round, it will be a group with a more BoneSmart philosophy.

You most likely won’t need another round. You’re doing great!

 

[rubyedith]

@Jockette Thanks! you just made my day!!

 

[Layla]

So thankful this group is here. Appreciate the support so much

We appreciate you and thank you for joining us to share your recovery journey.
Happy Three Month Anniversary! Wishing you a great day!

 

[rubyedith]

Hi Gang! I feel like I have been MIA... and I certainly have been IN ACTION! About two weeks ago I was so fed up with limping I googled and watched a video from Restore Plus PT. It was super simple and I could do each exercise easily and thought, well, that's not gonna do anything. The next afternoon, I noticed I wasn't limping as much. And the next day, I was walking about 99% normal. I was waiting for the magic 12 week mark, but it didn't happen to me until the 14th week. Now at 16 weeks, I have been so busy catching up on all the things I've been behind on for the last 4 months! I can squat in my garden, I've been going up and down stairs like a grown up, holding lightly onto the banister. My front and back porches have only 3 and 4 steps, and I do those without a banister. My knee is not painful, but it does feel somewhat uncomfortable, like I am learning how to reuse the muscles, tendons and ligaments. I can go all day and not get tired or lie down. I feel so much more like me again. I did go to my NP and told her I was not able to fall asleep without taking a .5 xanax and she she said that she was not concerned, as that is such a low dosage. I plan to slowly titer off after I get caught up on all the sleep I have missed since surgery! My right sided chronic nerve pain has resurfaced and I restarted Lyrica and Zoloft. I have developed burning mouth and my dentist prescribed miracle mouth wash. He said if it didn't clear up, he would do a biopsy. I'm concerned it may be lichen planus and have seen others on here have developed LP after TKR. I will be seeing my surgeon for only the 2nd time since surgery. I'm not real happy with him. He seems to have a bad case of MDiety

 

[mendogal]

Heck with the doc... You're doing great!!!

Please update us if the mouthwash addresses your mouth issue. Fingers crossed!!!

 

[Jockette]

I’m sorry you have some other issues, but your TKR is coming along great and I’m so glad you’ve been able to get back to your activities!

 

[Layla]

All sounded good until the nerve pain and burning mouth sensation. Hopefully they both ease soon.
Please keep us posted on your progress, you're making great strides, rubyedith!
@rubyedith

 

[rubyedith]

Thanks gang! You are the BEST cheerleaders!! The right side chronic nerve pain has been and issue since 2009, when it developed slowly after what was then diagnosed to be a sinus infection. I think it triggered something in my immune system. For code purposes, they are calling it fibromyalgia, though it is only on right side. Lyrica has been great before, but late last year, I saw a different dr. in group (my usual NP was out of town) and he switched me to Cymbalta which I think contributed to the insomnia.
Doing pretty good with TKR, except it feels so good to be close to normal again, that it is just too darn hard to overdo it. I really don't think I'm completely ready to go down stairs yet. I had in the back of my mind, that I was training my knee, but maybe I was just doing something it wasn't ready for yet....think I met some resistance. I know we are all different, but is there a time frame when most people have experienced going down stairs with ease? Stairs and long walk were the only 2 things I could not do prior to surgery, so they are the two I use as my test guide for this. Also, has anyone experienced foot numbness after walking about all day?

 

[mendogal]

Going down stairs is for many of our members a late milestone. It's not unusual for it to take six months.

It's partly a matter of regaining strength but even more so it's a very complex neuromuscular sequence where intention, sensory nerves, motor nerves, flexors, and extensors have to communicate with each other in a specific sequence.