I know many of us especially at first are having problems sleeping.
The precautions, pain etc... are preventing us from sleeping well.
i usually wake up every hour and then I have to go to the bathroom due to all the water I have been drinking.
My pain is not the issue for the most part and I do not want to take the pain medication to help me sleep. I can smoke something medicinal but iI do not want to rely on that either for various reasons.
Any advice would be much appreciated.
Good morning! Well for me it is using a king siza pillow to prop up both legs. Using pillow lengthways so whoever leg is up. Hope things get better as rest & sleep are important for recovery!
Hi Rich,
I suspect that there are more posts on this topic than any other! And no wonder as few of us have ever experienced this level of disruption to our sleep. I have come to believe that the symptoms that interfere with our sleep are all part of the body's natural way of ensuring that we get up, move and exercise - all part of the healing process. There are so many factors affecting our sleep after thr - pain, swelling, anxiety, muscle cramps, night sweats, etc.
This is a good review for me as I will have my 2nd thr in 6 weeks.
Keeping pain meds regular was important for me and i really appreciated one of the suggestions to use my phone alarm for this. As pain subsided a little I shifted to using a form of Tylenol with time release which me make it through longer stretches (on the off chance i managed to sleep).
Finding the optimal pillow arrangement - for me that included an oversized memory foam pillow which made sleeping on my back more tolerable (I also added a small pillow under it at my feet to give some elevation to help with the swelling.
Night sweats were awful for me - I kept an extra thirty and towel by the bed, ditto a flannel sheet if the sheets got too wet. Gel packs helped as well and air circulation (a small fan or ceiling fan). Others suggest that quinine helps with this.
Restless legs or cramping - really the only thing that helped me were the exercises (foot pumps and foot rotations could be done in bed but sometimes I just needed to get out of bed- tough for my husband as I needed help during the first week.
The overactive bladder - how annoying is that!? But I did try a trick offered by my GP - drink two good glasses of water at least 45 min before bed. It helps with thirst and runs through your system before you get settled. In fact, as I started managing stretches of sleep, I carried on with this through the night.
Like so many, I am a side sleeper and sleeping on my back was just tough. Another forum member made a brilliant suggestion to plug in my ipod for some music and this made the stretches of staring at the ceiling and walls more tolerable.
Finally, this forum helped a lot - there are many night owls amongst us, by inclination and circumstance, and as we live on four continents, someone was always on line. It was good to vent occasionally (or even help another) with some else experiencing this journey.
I hope some of this helps and please check out Graham's Layman's Guide to Hip Replacement which can be accessed through his profille page for this forum. https://patient.info/forums/profiles/rocketman-sg6uk-907025 (we aren't permitted to add other links here). He has a tips section that is extremely useful - garnered from hundreds of discussion threads here.
This journey really tests our patience - not a quick fix even if the bone on bone pain is gone immediately. Recovery goes in spurts and some steps backwards along the way. Don't get discouraged as after 3-4 months, you will have regained most of your strength and mobility.
Good luck,
Linda
Thank you very much for your response and the link.
Thank you so much for your response. Have a great day !!!
Sorry for typo. Lol!! Meant using pillow lengthways so whole leg is propped up. Thanks have a great day & best of luck!!
You didn't say how recent your surgery is. I used to get up every several hours, but as your hip or hips (I had both done at the same time) heal, it gets easier. I stopped drinking right before bed; that helps. I also discovered that even though I can only sleep on my back, it makes a difference where I sleep. Right outside of my bedroom I have a comfy love sets thati migrate to when I can't stand lying on my back in my bed anymore. I can drape my legs over the edge (slightly elevated) or I can bend the, and lean them gently against the back of the love seat (hard to get that kind of stability with pillows in a bed).
Also, while the frequent waking is disruptive, the actual act of getting up, whether to go to the bathroom (be careful; it's kind of embarrassing at 54, but I use a special potty chair in my room so I won't fall and dislocate a hip when I'm disoriented at night) or to move from the bed to a love sets or recliner, actually gives us the change we normally get by rolling over from one side to our back to the other side, which we obviously can't do now. It does get better, though. I'm at 4 1/2 weeks now and it's so much better this even a week ago.
My surgery was this past Mon 7/25, on my right hip. My other hip was Jan 2013. So I can sleep on my left side and on my back (almost impossible for me to sleep on my back).
We have had a house guest, so starting on Monday, i will be able to switch beds which will help and I wont annoy my wife as much by waking up/getting up every hour.
I contacted my surgeon via a patient portal to maybe get some type of sleeping aid.
I have always played a lot of sports up until my surgeries and I know that is contributing to my sleep problems, it just seems much worse this time than after the last surgery.
I need to have more patiece !!!
Thanks for your input !!
Love reading this
I am 5 days post op and each nite is a new experience really
After surgery nite i was cranked
Had a great sleep one nite
Had yes constant pee nite
Who likes that
I tried less water through the nite and hey if your bathroom is too far i say use a bowl a few times if u have to go every hour
Last nite i think i never slept but woke up on my operation side
I say we just take each day toward running to catch a train
Share your experiences luv it
Jozie
Most of my nites have been the same wake up every hr, I dont need to elaborate on what happens next !!
My one nite in the hospital was pretty bad, no pain, but I told the nurse I had pain so I got the pain medication, once you have bad pain, you cant reverse it, quickly ! Plus of course the staff was checking viitals etc..., every 2 hrs apporx.
Crap you woke up on your operation side.
I have been trying to wean myself off the the pain medications, which will help alleviate another problem !!!
I have had pretty strange dreams !!!
Our dogs seem to know, something is up with me, I guess, they are smarter than we think !
I look forward to 3 days/week of rehab !!
I am bored as hell !!
Hopefully, today, we will have the wi game set up, that will help !
Have a geat day !!
Fun fun fun
I had anterior new hip on 7/25 too
Lets ride this wave👍👍👍
Only using lil pain med at nite now
All the best to u
Jozie
I had the posterior version !!
I had hourly trips to the loo at the start - see my blog at thr org uk - and then again when I had my second surgery. Amazingly when I mentioned it to my GP, he had no idea about all these things we go through.
Graham
Seriously Graham?! Perhaps you guide should be required reading for orthopedic surgeons. I wonder how many other symptoms would be a surprise to them.
Hugs Rocket'
I clicked on the blog rectangle below your name and nothing really happened ?
Hey rich hows your nite
I just joined on here had surgery on hip mon
Last week
Had some rough nites that dveryone seems to be reporting
I am lovibg physical therapy
U in rehab now??
Take care
My nite is great so far. The problem seem to start (some pain), when I try to go to sleep !
Unless I am losing it, havent we corresponded back and fourth for a week or so now ?
I started rehab/p/t last Thurs. Have been to p/t, last Frii & will be going 3 times per week for approx 5-6 weeks. I have been very active for a long time 5-6 days/wk, so p/t is fine by me. It also gets me out of the house !
Take it easy
Typical girls i just started on this forum not paying close attention
Grab a nice starbuks after pt👍👍
I am curious where do you live ? I live in North Carolina, USA !!
I think i need something stronger than Starbucks, ha ha !!