Hi all.
I'm new to the forum so if this has been discussed before I apologize
Sometimes at night I have terrible pain along the outer part of my leg and calf and I am unable to sleep. I am 4 weeks post surgery. My doctor seems to have no answers as to why.
Yas anyone experienced this and what did you do to help with the pain?
Hi arizoneone,..well, I'm not the person to give great advice. Just wanted to let you know that I have these exact same issues. In fact, I still can't sleep in bed because either side I lay on, it's just too much pressure. So at 5 1/2 weeks, I sleep in a recliner. Taking my pain pill at bedtime helps my restlessness calm down so I can fall asleep. I don't stay asleep for very long. I see my surgeon in two days and I want to know what I can take to help the nights...besides Norco.
I'm hoping he will have some ideas for me. Good luck. zzzzzz
Hi I am 5 weeks in from my tkr and my main problem has been sleep deprivation I have tried everything and depending on the type of day have had all help to certain degrees it's a matter of trial and error !
Always take some kind of pain killer as late as poss before attempting to sleep. If you end up waking up more than once you might as well get some exercises in as your night of sleep is ruined any way so you might as well give upon those nights.
I have tried night nurse in the middle of the night but make sure you haven't taken all your allowance up on your paracetomal intake over 24 hours !
Always have some lavender oil around either on your pillow or on your skin when massaging your knee.
Relaxation music and a good book is sometimes required if you have taken any other pain medication to wait for it to kick in.
Thepain is not so unbearable now at this stage so I have taken to taking my last pain killer dose, reading and going to sleep as late as poss (midnight) with a relaxing hot chocolate or any other tipple that relaxes you and a banana. I remembered I used to give my son a banana in the middle of the night when he was a toddler when he used to wake in the night as I think there is a chemical in them that causes rest fullness/ sleep. I did this last night and got a full four hours unbroken sleep, yippee !
what your going through I think is normal unbroken sleep is a killer and sometimes you just have to give in and make use of the time for exercising or any other activity to take your mind off the pain you can always grab forty winks in the day if needed.
i have also found sometimes an Epsom salt bath just befor bed or in the middle of the night if desperate for some respite helps with swelling and relaxing if you can get in a bath that is.
i hope some of these ideas help you , obviously if you think there is a problem with your knee that is out of the norm you should still have a word with your doctor if you are concerned.
Are you taking pain relief? Anti inflammatories and others?
There might be one or two possibilities. 1st of all, you are in the infancy stages as far as healing and a lot f stuff has to fallback in place.
1. When you are in surgery they use a tourniquet for blood control. This causes pooling and the blood has to be absorbed back in the system. This take a while
2. A number of nerves are either severed or bruised. Nerves are the slowest healing part of this whole thing. It can take months or even years for this to happen. Stay with the exercises, hydration and icing++. Adding an anti inflammatory like Aleve or ask the Dr about putting you on a high dosage of gabepenton or lyrics, both for nerve damage. Remember, you are still in the infs cy stage of rehab although it seems like a lifetime to you. I've been through 5 complete rehab ad 11 surgeries....all are different in some way. Be patient ,As uncomfortable and frustrating as it may be you will find things will change rapidly and much of this will disappear in a short time. However; that isn't to be taken a promise that something else won't jump up and bite you in the butt overnight tomorrow. Find the writings of the great New Jersey/ Brooklyn native Chico Marx whos added Texas BS to his repertoire. He mixes facts, philosopy, common sense and some earthy humor to his advice. If we could find a way to package it we would have a great fertilizer, But, the man has answers that will see you through. Good luck. Stay with this group...
Everyone has been through it and will become your friend and ally.. Also no matter what time of day or night as its a global group. Chico is in Texas, I'm from a suburb of La dad City and the next response might be from the U K or Australia.
Same here awake now since midnight just put cream on leg still hurting taking Tylenol this is a bad night in a long time pain is horrendous I hope you are feeling better later I do not have any advice except hang in there!
I've had pain in one area of my knee and it subsides... then I get another pain in a different area. You might try to ice you knee right before bed, use a pain relieving cream like Blue Emu, Asprcream, or ask your dr for a prescription for Voltarin. Make sure your knee and calf are supported at night with a pillow. I'm 3-1/2 months out and I still have knee pain.... if often wakes me at night.
Thank you all so much for your words of wisdom and advice. It is much appreciated!.
Knowing that I am not alone really helps!
I had a pain similar to this in the thigh. I think it may very well be nerve pain, and to tell the truth there is not a lot one can do but wait for it to stop unfortunately. Hopefully it will eventually go away. with me it was always AT NIGHT . . not really sure why, but during the day it was a bit numb . .and then, early morning WHAM. Acute and amazing agony! Hope it clears up for you soon, because it really is frightening and horrible.
I think it's nerve pain too. The PA at my doctor's office has no answers for me as to why it happens only at night or if it will start ever go away
I think it's so strange that it happens only at night with so many of us. There has to be an answer somewhere. :-(
I did not know that about bananas! But I got into the habit of eating one at night. h ow funny...maybe our bodies know what is best! Epsom salt is fantastic..I used that too!
My knee always used to go red in the evening's. It was its healing time i think!