Anyone sleeping at night if so can you share how. I am so uncomfortable no position is good once I do fall asleep I wake up so often and my knee is stiff and swollen which I have no idea cuz im sleeping.
Any suggestions
Hi. My surgeon suggested Tylenol or aleve PM. Tried 2 Tylenol pm last night and I slept 2.5 hours for the first segment and 3.5 hrs second half. Once I wake up, I took another pain pill, had a snack, and put clothes in the dryer and walked my hallway until the stiffness in my knee eased a bit. It's the most I slept at night in a few weeks. Trouble is knee gets real stiff and hurts.
I'm going to try Tylenol PM again tonight so I'll let you know what happens. Good luck.
This is pretty typical. and you have to remember you just went through a very brutal surgery with ALOT of forceful pounding to set the parts. I used several sleep aids even a prescription sleeping pill that I would only use once and then skip several nights so it's effectiveness didn't weear out. You have to keep adjusting your knee and it is painful to move it. But it does get gradually better. The thing that was hardest for me was how L O N G recovery took. So try a body pillow or two to help get comfortable, valariun root, benedryl (sparingly because it can contribute to demensia) and healthfood stores have herbal combos that help with sleep too. Just expect to take alot of naps during the day for awhile
i went through this too. I laid on 4 pillows so I was almost sitting up bc I can't sleep on my back. I took my pain pill regularly so I could sleep some but, like you, I woke up in pain. Nap during the day too and it does get better. Take care and only do what you can. Your body has to heal.
Hi. The first couple of months were the worst then I started sleeping soundly. I took tramadol for the pain and hydromorphone (opiates) every few hours. After 2 months I took 15mg codeine and paracetamol. Antihistamines are my "go to" sleep remedy now. I suffer from hayfever and the pills knock me out at night. It gets better and easier but the first few months are hard. Stick with it. You probably don't have any alternative! Good luck! x
For the first several weeeks, I slept on my back (You can do it!) and put a body pillow beneath my TKR leg, placing it so that one end was where my thigh met my butt, and the other end was past the foot. I sometimes put a regular pillow under that pillow, running from above my knee (but beneath it) and stretching down to below the knee. Sometime I'd just use the body pillow. I found this to be very comfortable and relieved both pain and swelling. I also took 1 or 2 Vicodin (hydrocodone) if I were to wake up, but not more frequent than every 4 hours to relieve the pain. I kept the pills in a dish on my nightstand so that I didn't need to turn the light on.
Now 14 weeks past surgery, I still use a small pillow to put between me knees if I'm sleeping on my side. It helps to shield the TKR knee from the good one because one knee on top of the other causes pain.
Hope that helps.
I'm nearly 11 weeks in, still no sleep, Hour then wake up with stiff & aching legs, I had 2 knees done, I will be following this as I would like to know how to get a good nights sleep too.
I'm 4 weeks from surgery - TKR - at first I couldn't sleep either but now I manage 6-7 hours of sleep although I generally wake part through the night.
I take some of my medication about 9 and again at 11. At 11 - I also have a small amount of brandy (tablespoon) in hot water and honey. That gets me off to sleep in the first place.....
Painkillers don't work well for me so the first few nights were impossible to get much sleep.
I was told from the word go, no pillow/s under my knee.
But....I put two pillows under both my legs from just past the knees touching my thighs and then past toes. Both kegs were fully supported.I then propped myself up so I was half sitting up but relaxed.It took a few minutes to get sorted but it worked and I managed to get rwo or three hours straight sleep at a time.As the weeks went on I gradually managed to alternate with sleeping on my side with a small square piece of memory foam( in a pillow case)between my knees.Fourteen weeks on I am now sleeping as I used to.I can now bend my knee and fully straighten it so the pillows did it no harm.It's very important that you don't use a pillow just under the knee alone, it must support the whole leg.
Hi I am 2 weeks post op and I must say the sleeping is just starting to get better, I was advised to take medication regularly I take dyhydrocodeine 30mg 4 x daily along with paracetamol and ibruprofen and last thing at night 5 MLS oramorph, I sleep with a pillow under my leg lying on my back but must say for the 1st 12 days only managed 2 hour sleeps so it does get better hope this helps
how many weeks are you?
13 days today
I found only two solutions:
1. sleeping on the side and resting the knee on top of the other one
- difficult to sleep in one position for the whole night!
2. a stiff cushion that replicates the height in 1. above and preferably has a cover with high friction (to stay in place)
Despite being "weak" ibuprofeine is good as it is not only anti-inflammatory, but also contributes to muscle relaxation (contributing to falling asleep)
4 weeks out today. Still no quality of sleep. When the pain wakes me I have to get up and walk it off. I take half a pain pill and head back to the couch. My bed is too soft. I can't sleep on my sides yet. I met a lady yesterday who is at 7 weeks and she's not sleeping either. I'm told it gets better so I'm hopeful...
Hi Young knee
Have you tried putting a pillow between your legs and having a warm bath before u go to sleep? Try to aviod the sleeping tablets if you can. Also put ice and elevate your knee it helpss. Hope it helps. Ron
Hi All
It is best to sleep with your knee on a stsmack of pillows to hold the swelling down. Less swelling means less pain means easier to move.
I see that our group has tkr of various ages. .Mine was just 16 BUT five years ago I fractured my femur right where it was holding the implant...this is what I still do... Perhaps a neoprene knee compression sleeve...it is specifically made to cradle to patella, knee cap. One should be available from the pharmacy. you will need to measure the circumference of your knee in order to determine the correct size.
It is best to elevate your knee above your heart while placing a frozen gel ice pack beneath the knee as well as on top of the knee for an hour while you read, telly, chat, knit or whatever.
Then extend your leg straight up and hold it up for 30 seconds. Now slip the sleeve on. Be sure to properly allow the sleeve to cradle your patella, the knee cap. Flex your knee a couple of times to ensure that your patella is able to properly glide without impingment.
In about another hour you should have much less discomfort and pain. You may sleep in the sleeve. You may walk in the sleeve.
You will be pleasantly surprised at how much easier walking and range of motion exercises will become because the swelling will come way down.
Kind regards
Judith
ps barometric pressure drop causes pain...during winter, during damp, keep your knee warmly wrapped.
To help sleep....your body naturally produces melatonin in preparation for sleep...but light and screens inhibit this process...two hours before bedtime take Melatonin no more than 3 mg...in a few days you will regain your sleep.
If you can take melatonin (which does nothing for me) and get through the night, more power to you. But otherwise, don't heistate or feel guilty if you take pain meds your doc has presscribed in the dosages he has given you. This surgery produces significant pain for weeks if not months. I'm not suggesting it's OK to still be taking morphine at 4 months, but if you need pain killers to enable you to sleep, exercise, or just get through the day, then take them. Recovering from this surgey is no time for martydom. You need sleep. You need to exercise. You ned to be able to relax and let your body heal. If you need pain meds o do any of those, then take them.