I am pretty good a tolerating pain but I am finding the pain in my knee at night is agony and has me crying in pain. My knee is pretty good through the day. I'm 56 and 5weeks post surgery does anyone know if this is normal?
Are you still on meds? Do you sleep with a pillow between your legs? on your side or pillow under your legs on back.
I found the pillow to be most helpful. I quit the oxy and everything else 6 weeks after surgery, I could not take the side effects. The main pain I deal with now is just when I stand after sitting. I don't know how long that will last.
When you say your knee is good during the day, are you still resting in between exercises, daily tasks and using the ice pack. At seven weeks ( on Monday) I still do a bit rest, walk, rest, ice. I don't have really bad pain at night but I still wake up a couple of times because it is stiff and still take two co codamol when I go to bed. However I did lots on Wednesday and did not rest enough or ice and I had a bad night?
I stopped my dehyracodine last Sunday as I couldn't stand the side effects and iv spent the last week coping with withdrawal synptoms as well as the night pain. I'm resting and. Not over doing it.
Hi Jeanette, what you describe is quite normal. Pain is always worse durint the night for some reason and wrestling with sleep seems to be one of the hardest issues to deal with during the recovery process. The good news however is that it all improves. Normal sleeping patterns started for me about 8 weeks post op. now at 12 weeks its pretty good. Although my knee still wakes meat night, theres no real pain to speak of and I fall asleep right away again. So rest assured, your pains will come to an end. In the mean time, don't be a hero, stay on the pain meds, ice and elevate.
Probably you've stopped the pain medication a bit early, and if you have already gone through the withdrawl stage, I'll bet you don't want to start again! I've never really experienced agony in the knee. . but I have in the thigh and screamed with the pain. I do hope you find this is a very temporary thing. the extreme pain only lasted about a week with me, and now it's more of an annoying every-present pain . . .If you do decide to go back on the strong medication, next time come off really slowly, reducing the dose gradually. It really makes it easier (I've tried the cold turkey system . .horrible!) (9 weeks, and have to admit pain is worse now I;ve stopped the meds!)
I am 56 and seven weeks post op that is normal and I have now stopped the crying but replaced it with a bit of daytime crying post op depression. So be patient think the night pain will ease as swelling eases. Also found icing last thing and instead of crying icing made me feel like I was doing something positive And numbed it sufficiently to calm me down and go back to bed. Good luck remember it's not forever
Are you still taking strong painkillers regularly? At 5 weeks I think I was still taking strong cocodamol regularly 4 times a day. I made sure I took them every 6 hours. I think it's important to keep topped up rather than just take them at night. It doesn't last forever and you can soon wean yourself off them gradually. I too slept with a pillow between my knees (and still do!) and once the swelling went down I found a heat pad behind the knee helped. Also, make sure you catch up on lost sleep by taking a nap in the day. You wil get through it - but it does take time I'm afraid. Hope you get a better night. Jen (7+ months post op).
Thanks for advise Caroline
i iced my knee last thing before going to bed,, it took me an hour to fall asleep and twice through the night I put a cold face cloth on my knee, I managed 5 hrs sleep most Iv had since op.
Good even five hours makes such a difference to mental capacity and to recovery - keep going - I have had some really good nights last week but last night was terrible! Fingers crossed tonight will be back to six or even seven hours. Will be seven weeks Tuesday
Hi Jeanette. Definitely try sleeping with a pillow underneath your knee to lower legs if you are sleepng on your back as I found by doing this and taking painkillers I got a decent nights sleep
Can't stand the pain in my knees when I wake up. Had a knee replacement some 8wks ago
why does the pain hurt so much when I wake up no matter what time it is.Is it normal
Hi, post this as a