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@Miss Muffet. Good morning Sleep is rubbish still , my back is sooooo sore. Last night was my best night so far though as I managed probably 1.30-2.00hrs sleep But to get that couple of hours I was propped up on about 6 pillows lying almost horizontal across the bed and possibly a bit twisted........which is probably not such a good idea No idea on a solution but the district nurse is calling today so I'll try and pick her brains!!!!
 
@catwoman55 - sorry to hear it's still a problem. @Gillywigs mentioned a painful shoulder and I wonder if that and your back problem is because of lack of sleep? When you rest your muscles relax and if you don't get that rest then they will feel uncomfortable. I suggested she ask a nice family member or friend to gently massage the area (baby oil is good) to loosen up the muscles and help them relax again. Are you elevating your feet? Hope the district nurse may have some advice too. How's the pain and nausea. Are you using ice as well? Keep up the good work!
 
@Miss Muffet Spending most of my time in bed so I'm guessing that counts as elevating:heehee: Well I did get about 1.30-2.00hrs sleep last night so thats a bonus........but no sleepings still not good!!! Got my frozen peas on the go.....they're good, pain is ok just achey and sore with the bruising, still feeling sick every time I take a pain killer but only got a couple of days of these to go......hmmmmm is that a good thing i wonder:rotfl:
 
@catwoman55 You don't actually have a couple of days to go on your meds. You are supposed to get a refill prescription from your GP.

As I suggested before, ask for something other than what you are taking. There are plenty of pain meds that will not make you nauseous and will help you sleep. Far too early to try going without pain control.
 
Oh, @catwoman55, I am so sorry to hear you are having such a hard time getting quality sleep. You will find it is trial and error just trying to find that sweet spot and finally get some good zzz's. But, if I could suggest a couple of things for your bed and the awful chair. First, try propping yourself up in bed, with two or three pillows, staggered, so you're not too upright. Then, place a pillow or two under your op leg, staggered, with the bottom one closer to your knee and the top one a few inches further down towards the foot of the bed. Then place another pillow, between your legs, crossways and under your non op knee. This not only keeps you from breaking any restrictions, it also takes pressure off your back. This is what helped me tremendously and I was sleeping through the night. If you're not used to sleeping on your back, it does take a little tweaking and a lot of resolution on your part, that this is what you have to do for the time being. And, yes, a lot of pillows are involved.
Now, for that chair. Not sure if it's a recliner, but am assuming so. If you have any extra blankets or quilts or even a mattress pad, get someone to help fold them and put them on the chair to give you a little more cushiony feeling. The seat of my recliner was a little too low, so I added yet another pillow under the quilt and it turned out to be perfect. Hope all this helps, my dear. And, as a side note, I would be on the phone to my GP for different pain meds that don't cause me nausea. But, in the meantime, keep elevated and iced...it really does help.
Good luck and I wish you well.
 
@Nana757 Thanks for all your input I will try to organise my pillows tonight in the way you described:fingersx:
The chair isn't a recliner unfortunately just a basic upright chair that the NHS supply for a few weeks, I've heard that they can put blocks under my normal chair to make it higher so I'm trying to look in to that at the moment. I rang my GP this morning to ask about changing my meds but they basically said that there wasn't really anything that they could say wouldn't make me sick..........so thought i'd better stay with the devil I know:hairpulling:
 
I hope my suggestions for your bed bring you some much needed relief. But, I have to say, what yor GP's office said is totally unacceptable. How in the world do they know that every pain med out there will cause you nausea, if you haven't tried it? Did you speak with your DR, specifically? And, what about your OS?
UGH, on the chair. But maybe an ottoman would help.
 
I agree @Nana757 - I'd ask to speak to the Doctor. That's no okay. How did you sleep last night - in pillow heaven?
 
@catwoman55 congrats on your new hip! I agree with Nana-- pillows and props will be your best friend! Some of my best sleep came during the day though and that lasted several weeks. I think it turned around at maybe 4 weeks? Just flow with it if you can.. grab the oz's whenever you can, it will even out in time.
Good luck with the meds! Maybe try calling the OS office? I bet they have more experience with pain meds that can help and not make you feel as nauseous... good luck!
 
I'm way behind with posting but sending my best "congrats" on your new hip! I saw your struggle with sleep and it plagued me, too. I finally threw away my clock and allowed my body to rest when needed. For the first eight days, I mostly stayed in my recliner to sleep. I seemed to sleep better during the day but I gave into it and eventually it sorted out. Ice is your friend. Drink lots of water. You'll be fine soon!!!


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Well update on sleep........not much better 2-3 hours on a good night:bored:
But more than that starting last night when I put any weight on my op leg I get a shooting pain right from my hip up to my back :gaah:is this normal should I just take an extra pain killer as I'm only on 1 tablet 3x day when the actual paper in the box says the usual dose is 2 tablets 3x day? Any thoughts please.
 
You are 11 days out of surgery. At that point, I was still on full, round-the-clock opioids, so I didn't feel much pain. I think your surgeon would know if your shooting pain was normal or not. What is the surgeon's recommendation for the amount of medication that you need? Were you previously putting weight on the leg and not getting the pain, with the same amount of pain meds?
 
@catwoman55 - hello. I don't know but it doesn't sound like much of a dose especially as the box says more. Have you queried this with your doctor, and are you following all the other postOp rules (icing and elevating etc) Bad news about sleep - are you able to nap during the day? I'm sure someone will jump in with more specialist advice.... (have tagged @Josephine just in case) Hope you manage to get this resolved
 
@Krista Thanks for your reply, yes up to yesterday I was pretty much putting weight on it with not much problem, but wondered if maybe after a certain length of time you got to feel different pains maybe!!

@Miss Muffet Called my GP today but not able to speak to a doctor until tomorrow, the receptionist said to increase the dose for today and then see what the doctor says tomorrow.
Just managed an hour in bed now, so think I'm going to start doing that every day until night sleeping gets better.
 
@catwoman55 I am not aware of feeling different pains as time goes on and would always be worried about shooting pains. But since you are still so early in recovery, perhaps your shooting pain is normal, especially if you aren't getting enough pain medication. Your doctor should know.

As far as sleeping goes, for the first 6 weeks, while I was forbidden to sleep on my side, I had to sleep sitting up, since I have apnea and don't have a device to help me breathe. Never needed it before as I could always sleep easily on my side. So my sleep was a mess, but I ended up getting a total of about 7 hours in a 24 hour period, broken up into 4 or 5 blocks of 1 to 1 ½ hours at a time. Do your best to sleep whenever the need overtakes you. An hour here and there is much better than none at all.
 
Well took the extra painkiller.........and then threw up........so that's the answer to that question I won't be taking 2 again!!!!! I'll see what my GP says tomorrow.
 
@catwoman55

Gosh, I'm so sorry to hear you're having such issues with sleeping and nausea! I have read that taking peanut butter with pain meds usually works very well in combating the nausea. On another surgeon's site, he recommended the peanut butter and an antihistamine, but cautioned that you could experience quite a bit of sleepiness (which in your case may be a godsend). Are you able to call your GP and verify he's okay with taking the antihistamine? Just a thought. I hope you feel better...BIG HUGS!
 
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