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TKR When oh when oh when

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I am sorry you had to inform your surgeon that you plan to seek a second opinion to get a reaction from him.
Hopefully the Gabapentin allows you to have some pain free rest overnight and your'e able to get some good referrals soon. We'll be here if you need us, Jammy!
 
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@Cinders2023 - did you say you are taking gabapentin? I finally got the script for it and the PA gave me the script as 30 pills for 30 days, 100 mg (only!). I have been taking it maybe twice a day. It makes me feel tired and sleepy but it does seem to help the tingles and stiffness. By the afternoon my leg is really feeling awful still and so I take one at about 5:00 pm, and next thing you know I'm napping. Then I take one before bed at midnight and try to hold out until 5:00 pm, so I will be needing a refill on this sooner than 30 days. Also, I am having weird dreams from this drug that are disturbing. So I'm not sure how long I want to be taking this stuff.

I did go to see a chiropractor, who said it looked like the pain may be more from my back than my knee. Odd? I could only afford him for two days with my bad Medicare, and decided today not to go forward with a whole chiropractor plan, even though his "adjustments" did seem to help my back feel much better. It didn't help with my knee/leg pain and stiffness. But at the chiropractor's, I met with his nurse, who asked me, "Why did you get a CT scan for your knee? An MRI is what you needed." That is exactly what I thought, and I told the PA that when she had me get a CT scan, and she said a CT scan was all I needed. I am sure they do whatever they think my Medicare would cover (it cost $50 for the scan) and I am on a bad plan, leaving me $3000 out of pocket this year from payments made on knee surgery stuff and I think there was double billing for their PT.

Anyway. After all that I am going to my primary doctor tomorrow and am going to see about 1) getting more gabapentin, and 2) getting an MRI of the knee, since it still bothers me despite everything. Although I know that doing both of these won't make the knee/leg pain and stiffness disappear. At this point, I don't know that I will improve. I honestly thought stupidly that after getting the surgery, I would be able to better enjoy life and hopefully go back to work (which is sedentary but stressful), but I just can't work when I'm sleeping half the day and in pain the other half. Mostly all I have energy for is taking care of my cats and posting sad posts on BoneSmart.
 
Have you checked into getting a Medicare supplemental plan? That would help pay the 20% that Medicare doesn't pay. I'd probably be almost bankrupt without mine!

I hope you can get these orders from your doctor. Since you aren't even a year out, it could be just your natural healing going on causing stiffness and pain. A year of healing is just an average, and it might take your knee longer to heal. It all depends on what all your doctor had to do inside your knee and the way your body heals itself. More time might be all you need!
 
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My OS would only order a CT scan too. He said the MRI could throw artifacts due due metal that could obscure the images to allow for good information…….blah, blah, blah. The CT was only going to show a problem with the implant alignment or loosening, but that’s what I got too. My CT confirmed what my X-rays show, a well fixed and aligned implant!

I am taking 300 mg of gabapentin about an hour before bedtime. I do think it helps me sleep and stops the jittery, tinglies in my leg that start up in the evenings. I have had the odd weird dream, but not often. The last one I had was that I could fully bend my knee and had no pain, but it happened all of a sudden, so yeah-weird! I have been taking this dose since surgery. Hopefully your PCP can adjust you to a dose that is helpful for you.

I also take celebrex twice a day, and it has helped a lot. But I think I remember you don’t tolerate nsaids?

I also had my first session of acupuncture today. Not sure I am sold on this yet, but I am ready to try snake oil if I thought it would help me get my life back! :cry:

I also found that if I wear a knee compression sleeve I don’t feel the sensation of tightness as much. Maybe because the tight sensation is spread over the whole area, and not just across the front of my knee. Have you tried this?

Hoping @sistersinhim is right and it just taking us longer to heal than most. Remember to be kind to yourself and take frequent breaks when you need them.
 
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Yes, I saw my primary care nurse yesterday (not a doctor) and she said if there's metal in the fake knee, you can't do an MRI. I don't really know what my knee is comprised of (and neither did she, hmmm), but I'm sure there's metal because I have set off the alarm at the airport! So that's why they did a CT scan. Ohhhh!

Honestly @Cinders2023 I think if I took 300 mg of gabapentin I would sleep for two days! Plus celebrex? Wow. My nurse gave me a script for 90 of the 100 mg gabs. That should be enough for a while.

Good for you for trying acupuncture! Let us know how it goes! I stopped seeing my chiropractor after visit two but am now thinking twice about that. My back feels good. My knee/leg is still stiff though and achy. And I walk like a duck. Quack quack. I think the gabby causes some dizziness. I am worried about falling. So I need to take low levels of these drugs. We could always do something more natural, like snake oil!
 
It is open enrollment time so you can change it to whomever you would like to. I'm blessed to have a really good one.
 
@sistersinhim , which plan do you have, if you don’t mind saying? My wife moves to Medicare next spring and then I do the following year, and we are starting to research the various plans.
 
So it's Oct. 3. Still awful knee/leg pain tonight. Only taking 1 gabapentin around noon, and another around 11:00 pm. I know it's not enough! But I am pro being awake! I want to be WOKE.
 
PM is used only when information is not for the general forum. It is seldom used.
 
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My OS also told me an MRI would not be useful because the metal in the implant would throw shadows on the images. Strange because seems a lot of BoneSmart people have received MRIs after surgery. I am about 8 months since my surgery and not too happy yet either with my results so far. I also just got a script for Gabapentin, was also offered Lyrica. The gab seems to dull the pain but of course wasn’t planning to have to live on the stuff after surgery. Just thought I would say hello and I can relate
 
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Thank you @LeftKnee123. I'm still at a place where I don't feel any better post-surgery. The tight-band feeling around the knee? Terrible. I didn't have that pre-surgery so it makes things even more unpleasant. I'm only taking gabapentin before bed, and in the day I take Advil and Tylenol all day long. I wasn't planning to live on meds after surgery either. I know there are many BoneSmarters out there who have had great success with their TKR, but I am not one of them and am pretty unhappy about it. So I can be the 1% here, but at least if there's someone else who feels this way I won't feel alone. Maybe it'll happen in a year or more, who knows. Right now I'm a 68 year old woman who acts like a 90 year old woman.
 
I have no advice, but am here to lend an ear and send a ((hug))
 
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It sounds like you need to seek out a second opinion. You need to look for a revision specialist. Not saying you would have to have one, but these specialists look at knees with a different eye, one that looks at problem knees that other OSs don't know what to do with.
 
You are not alone. :console2: There are quite a few of us not happy with our outcomes, and I am one of them. My PKR is 6 and a half years old and has never felt right. I will say, though, that after a tough first year, I did have a lot of improvement in my second year and more in my third. As I’ve posted many times, my ROM continued to improve over the years also.

I’ve had 3 second opinions and none of them have found anything to fix. I am worse than I was before the surgery. Thankfully, though very uncomfortable at times, but not all the time, I am at a point where it’s manageable, and I’ve accepted that. Definitely not the outcome I was looking for.
 
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thank you for you recent update! It’s disheartening to read youre still experiencing issues with your knee And truly i do hope you figure this out to success.
i am commenting on your pain and fatigue issues. Have you seen your primary care physician, PCP recently? It may be helpful to get your bloodwork done, a complete blood count (CBC) if you havent yet- post surgery.

You may have deficiencies causing your symptoms, like fatigue and muscle pain. These are not always in your “head” and antidepressants do not help solve endocrine issues.

I sincerely am rooting for your return to good health!

Vanessa
 
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I wouldn't advise taking anything without speaking to your doctor first, but I had my right total hip replacement last November and have had nerve pain since. The thing that helped me most with that is taking alpha-lipoic-acid as a supplement. I wondered if that was what you meant by "hot spots".
 
I hear you. I am also one of those pesky 1%ers. Keep your chin up. Seek another ortho consult. A fresh set of eyes may be helpful. I tell myself I don’t have to settle for being miserable for the rest of my life, you don’t have to settle either. Just know you are no alone.
 
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