The Rules of Sleep Club - (re-posted for the hundreth time)! INVALUABLE ADVICE

Bones, joints and muscles
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The Rules of Sleep Club (again) for the Newbies

Posted 9 months ago

There are many, many posts regarding sleep (of the lack of it) post-op so I thought I would share (again), my favourite post from Kate, a fellow forum member. It is invaluable advice especially for the newbies.

SLEEP CLUB

Hi everyone, I was looking back through some old posts trying to find one about constipation if all subjects (!) & I found Kate's post about sleeping. I'm sure she won't mind as I've took the liberty of copying it again. It was such a great read & made perfect sense particularly now I'm post -op.

As I now consider myself a hip guru after two THR's wink I thought I would impart my most considerable knowledge about sleeping post op.

So as you gather in closer to the screen to read I am going to poke you in the eye and tell you the first first rule...

1) There are no rules of sleep club

In fact there are so many rules of sleep club world wide that it would be hard to confine them all but we are all victim to our country, our county and surgeons particular cruelty (I mean surgical style) when it come to how we are supposed to sleep. Anterior, posterior and lateral scars all bring their own particular delights when trying to stop doing the twist in the early hours.

So, you can arm yourself with the latest in latex support pillows, V pillows, small hand embroidered cushions that Aunty Edna gave you, mattress toppers, wedges, sleeping tablets, pain relief, whiskey cocktail or a complete hospital bed but one thing isn't going to change - your healing!

Our lives before were clock driven , getting a good night's sleep before getting up for work was imperative. Lack of sleep meant we couldn't function properly.

Now, the God of New and Shiny Hip Implants has thrown all that up in the air and we don't know where we are!

We toss and turn (very carefully) waiting for the elusive sleep that never comes or comes in annoying one hour servings. You think you have slept all night only to find that barely ten minutes has gone by since you last looked at the clock. You hobble out of bed with one eye shut, trying to fool yourself into staying asleep while you have a midnight wee and you just know that if you lie there a bit longer then YOU MUST fall asleep.

As we all know things at night are magnified to horror proportions and the sweating, the pain, the twitching, the discomfort have all become mountains we cannot climb.

So, you have read this far and you are waiting for me to give you the secret to sleeping all through the night after having part of your leg chopped off and in a position that you detest. Sorry, I don't have have those answers but what I have learned is....

This lack of sleep, is it so bad? Are you hoping to go to work in the morning? Are you leaping out of bed to go hiking, on holiday, ice sking? No.

The best cure I can find for lack of sleep is - chill out, go with it, let it happen.

Goodness knows what healing is going on inside but it doesn't confine itself to happening at night. It is imperative to rest in the first 6 weeks as it is to walk and that rest can be feet up on the sofa or a few catnaps throughout the day.

I have no problems with lack of sleep because I don't care about it.

A six weeks (today) after my 2nd THR I have learned that it is all transient. Regular sleep comes back in a position that we favour eventually and the trick is to stop worrying about it.

I sleep most of the night now, waking up between 5.30 and 6.30am. Once you find that it okay to find a sleeping place all over the house you will sleep much better as well.I was more comfortable on the sofa this time so that's where I went.

I watched all the films that no one else wanted to watch and knew that I was getting back to normal when it took me five nights to watch a film.

So, wave yourself a magic wand, stop fretting, this is temporary and I'll even go as far as to say enjoy it. For those going back to work that will come soon enough and your body regulates very quickly so in the meantime give yourself a night break, chill out - a bowl of ice cream at 3am is really rather nice!

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Hi Fernlady,

All so very true but it still makes me chuckle reading through it.  

I hope everyone is okay and for those not sleeping, you WILL get through this.

Good luck,

Cels Xxx

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Oh -  never a more true post, spot on Fernlady.

I added a couple of thousand extra people to my on-line family tree, sometimes at 2am in the morning, just to keep myseld busy.

Sometimes look at my postings and think why would I be interested in the mother in law of my fifth great uncle, I really don't know, she was there, I found her on the English Census so I added her to the collection.

Also found some truly interesting items, found the Will of my 5 great grandfather, he owned a big slab of London, in 1795, where's my money.

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Hi Cels, how are you? It's nice to see some familiar faces again. I must admit, I do pop on here occasionally but haven't posted for ages. I think having my annual check-up brought it all back to me because tbh, I've forgotten I've even had a THR!

Hope you are well x

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Lol Lyn! You could be a millionaire then & not know!

I must admit, I re-read The Sleep Club Rules again this morning before posting. It really did make me smile again as it is so very true. I remember the night if my op, I was lying in my hospital bed thinking that I would sleep like a baby & I was up most of the night playing Candy Crush! It really doesn't matter does it when you sleep.

Hope you are also well x

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Hi there,

I'm fine thanks and hope you are doing well.  When people I used to chat with on here start a thread, I get a notification in my inbox.  Saw yours this morning.  I do pop on occasionally too.  I tend to forget my bionic hip most of the time, although I get a twinge here and there sometimes.

It's my left knee that I think is on the way out now.  Either OA or I've injured it somehow.  I'll see how it goes.  I don't really want another operation if I can avoid it, but like our hips, sometimes it just gets to the point where you have to bite the bullet.

Lovely to see you on here 

Cels Xxx

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Hello Fernlady,

How lovely to read your post! I am now 2 years post op THR left hip (posterior, done at York, England) and only found this forum about 18 months ago. I wish I'd found this post while recovering as everything was new and confusing, especially the inevitable  lack of sleep. I'd been instructed to sleep on my back at night for 6 weeks (horrible) and found this far more challenging than anything about the op itself and the following two days in hospital. The other hip will have to be replaced at some point in the future, so it's reassuring to read this one just to keep the mind on the positive side! Thank you and please keep reposting this, it will give courage to all new hippies! 

My my very best wishes to you and to everyone facing/having had hip replacements, 

Alison x

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Hi Alison, as you probably gathered when you started to read, I actually 'stole' this post from another member Kate. She would write the most wonderful funny posts but this was one of her best. It is just so true & it really doesn't matter when we sleep. No need to beat yourself up because you can't sleep when it gets dark! I embraced not being 'on the clock' & the time flew by before I had to go back to work!

I have also got to have my other hip replaced but the surgeon told me last week he would hope to not see me for a few years yet!

As you said, the sleeping was by far one of the most challenging experiences after the op, closely followed by constipation!

Best wishes to you too x

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Hi Fernlady,

So amusing and so true.... I was one of those people who would wake up thinking I'd had a good night's sleep, and it was only midnight.

To anyone out there struggling to sleep, hang on in there, it does get better....