same level as leg, it is agony. I can only sleep in a chair, which is causing a painful rear end as in this chair most of the time. Pain level is high even with two tramadol and two paracetamol and oramorph. Cannot put anywhere near full wieight on leg. Had GP to see me and he said everything is normal, and i suppose i am only five days post op. The other odd thing is that the op. leg now seems longer than the other leg. I was told that they they had lengthened this leg because it was shorter, just hope they have not done it too much! Anyone else similar please.
Hi Helen.
So sorry to hear of your sleeping situtation.
How long were you in Hospital for?
Did you sleep in a bed?
Is your bed at home low? ( you could ask for it to be higher)
Try and get into bed you'll have to sleep on your back for a while.
You will need to have the leg flat on the bed.
You'll have to keep untop of the pain tell your doctor of the pain leavel.
It's very early days still.
Keep us posted!
Good luck
Hi, am 5 days op had it on tuesday, i am in Rehab so suppose its different, i have electric bed but still hurts to spend the day here, i take 2 paracetamol evert 4 hours during the day and 2 diclofenic i dont know were to put myself to get comfortable and am so scared of dislocation, i worry over everything wish i didnt, but we are all different, i think its early days for us, just hope time goes quick, if you need to talk pm me, it helps to have someone there to talk to hope you feel better soon x
can you work out how to raise the leg? eg practising during the day ....with pillows under your leg....so when night time comes you've got a strategy?
Sorry to hear you are in such pain butyour situation sounds like mine. You say you cannot stand on that leg? That is serious, how long post op, you didn't say. I was fully walking w/p much pain when I left PT. How on earth could any physician say that you are normal in your condition? That is appalling. At best they should say that they can't find the problem, they should not be telling you that there isn't one. Moreover, the GP should have referred you to a specialist, he is not qualified. OKay I see you said only 5 days post op. Have u had any PT?
Folks, what is wrong with this picture? Hellen is 5 days post op, can't walk, is in terrble pain and has gone to see a GP. What happened to the surgeon? Were u given any post op instructions?
You are not getting NEAR enough pain meds.
This is why you are anxious and can't sleep. I couldn't sleep either without pain meds.
I took (2) 400mg paracetmal+25mg codeine at noght.
During the day early on like you are, I would take (1) 400mg paracetamol+25mg codein 2 times during the day.
Your life will change for the better once your pain is controlled.
I had psychotic suicidal thoughts on Tramadol so watch out for that. If they give you Tramadol and you have bad dreams ask for codeine.
If you do get codeine remember it is highly constipating so drink a full glass of prune juice every day and I also took a stool softner.
I hope Ross comes on and tells you about how necessary pain medication is, he really talked me into it and that was the point I started to get better, once my pain was controlled. I have codeine tablets which can be cut in half for a lower dose once healing really takes off. t is your body and your pain you have to be your own master and take enough pain medication. One day I felt woozy, light headed and weak, that is the day I cut back on the codeine. My body didn'y need as much and instead of simply relieving the pain and leaving me clear headed as I had been experiencing, the codeine more or less went to my head. Pay attention is all, your body will let you know when to cut back. It is highly addictive so just be aware of that.
The hardest thing for me further along after a few weeks was deciding at night if I should take a small codeine dose or 2 non prescription naproxen. If I guessed wrong and took the naproxen I waited at least 6 hours until I then took the low dose codeine. No one can tell you exactly what to do, you have to feel your body and make good decisions. But especially in the first 2 weeks even 3 weeks you MUST control the pain and have sufficient pain medication to do so. You have to ask your doctor for stronger pain medication, just come right out and ask for it. Yu HAVE pain, there is nothing wrong with asking for stronger pain meds, it is the right thing to do.
Jodi - Don't know if it is relevant that I took nowhere near the amount/strength of pain meds you did. I got only hydrocodone 10 mg and that was only moderately effective. But I pretty much stopped the meds shortly after leafing in patient PT.
I was wondering how long post op were you taking codene and the like?
It surprises me how wildly different not only our experiences are, but how our post op recovery is handled. In my case, the hospital basically handeed me a piece of paper and said ADIOS. Worse yet, I never even saw the surgeon. And they call this healthcare?
Hydrocodone is Vicodine. I had an issue in that I didn not get any pain meds at all the day after my surgery. They put the IV in wrong and it all ran onto the floor. It is a very bad memory for me especially the horrid French Night shift workers. It wasn't until I got home 6 days later and looked up Tramadol that I found why I was so psychotic. So it wasn't actually until 8 days later that I got sufficient pain meds. In France they prefer morphine but I had a bad reacion to that in the Hospital so that was out. It was only actually the first week after my 8 day agony that I took codeine 3 times a day. After that I tapered off, but not at night, at night I kept the (2) 400mg paracetamol+25mg codeine althoough somenights I only took (1). I needed it, I had pain. Not everybody does obviously but I did. And I was traumatized by NOT having pain relief from my hospital stay. They kept pushing the paracetomol which wasn't enough for me.
Helen, you must get on top of the pain. Keep pestering your GP, my hospital has a joint replacement helpline or you can phone the ward and if fairly hefty meds aren't working you need help. Pain is made worse by fear of pain, why my hospital encouraged us to ask for extra meds when the pain started, not when you were at screaming pitch. Relieve your pain and hence get more sleep and you will feel a new woman.
Even though it hurts, do keep doing small movements, ankle rotations, knee flexes and as much movement at the hip as you can manage, especially the moving leg to the side which does hurt a bit at first. Some of the pain is 'stiffness' and you need to get the blood flow through the muscle up to wash away the chemicals which have built up. Try to stretch out for a few minutes two or three times a day otherwise the muscles at the front of your thigh will tighten, if you can't tolerate it then stand on your good leg (with your crutches or holding on to solid furniture and move your operated leg behind you several times to stretch those muscles. Do persuade your GP to get you a visit from a home physio because you need help to break this cycle.
Hope it works out for you.
I won't be in touch because I'm going in for a TKR (op tomorrow) in a couple of hours!!
thank you and good luck
I was given a sheet of exercises to do. Unlike some people i have had my leg lengthened so maybe that is causing this issue. But have found number for advice now, at hospital. In Uk they have fast track where they like you to be gone in two days. Pain is a bit easier today and am putting leg on floor more. I had instructions by PT in hospital of how to walk and use stairs and that was all. Thanks for your reply and everyone else.
good luck ros
hang on to your own advice! hope these quality suggestions have helped you helen...how are you now? have you upped your pain meds and movement?
Jodi, now you have me scared...well not scared more like informed...if whatever meds the doctor sends me home with doesn't work, how do I get them changed...I live l.5 hours from Toronto and no way is anyone going to be driving me to the city (with traffic) to get a new perscription...I will definately be asking for a few alternative perscriptions as a back up....here in Canada it is like David says, home in 2 days, have a nice life!!!!
Best Wishes Ros...speedy recovery!
Helen, do you have someone that can advocate for you....it is hard being in the situation you are in , constant pain, thinking no one has an interest in your recovery...stay strong and see if you can get someone to "shake that doctor up" alittle into taking your situation....when you start to feel in control you will feel better but you may need help to get started, this is where good discharge planning comes in and follow up. which it seems you were lacking....best wishes Patricia From Toronto
"how do I get them changed."
You have the name and phone number of your local pharmacy on hand and call the doctor. The doctor should be able to phone in a prescription to your pharmacy. (at least in the US it is like that hopefully in Canada they can do the same thing, to check call your pharmacy and ask them if they take callin in prescriptions from physicians) Or your doctor can fax over a prescription (have the fax number handy) to your pharmacy.
You are going to feel amazingly different after 2 nights of full sleep.
Also anxiety makes pain meds not work as well. It is kind of like a viscious circle, you have anxiety because of pain and then the pain pills don't work as well becasue you have anxiety. Untill you get that pain relief don't be surprised if you need the full strength prescription. Once your pain gets knocked down your anxiety will get knocked down as well. Your anxiety will be lowered once you have something in your hand that you know will dimish your pain, that you are now in control. Best of Luck Hon.
Good Luck Ros!
I just noticed, you have a prescription for Oramorph-
Oramorph is morphine.
Maybe you just need to take more of this or something Helen. It seems like you already have a good pain killer. How much are you taking? How many mg in the pills? And how many do you take?
Helen: I was trying to think back to what it was like when I was what/ now 6 days post op? I wasn't exactly pain-free and walking normal. No, I was in-patient PT in what I thought a very good facility and, as I said before, they pushed me pretty hard. I questioned both Dr. and the staff about that and was assured was okay. I don't think it can be said that your pain is excessive at this point but it should gradually improve. No doubt about it.your attempts to walk are going to hurt so you just have to push on through it. How well you handle it will depend on your pain tolerance; mine is quite high, hopefully yours is too.
Why aren't you getting PT as a matter of course?
Best of luck to you.
thank you, I'm hoping I will be one of the lucky ones and have a speedy recovery with just the "normal ups and downs"....