I am 4 weeks post-op. with my new knee replacement and very discouraged! I expected the discomfort but no one told me about the possibility of not being able to lift my operative leg at all! Seems that the quadricep muscles controling it have "gone to sleep" and have to be awakened up again. I can't even lift it off the bed, much less move it to a diferent position. Any one else have this problem?
2 weeks post op and feeling the same. Working hard at exercises and trying you get 90 degree bend. Extremely sore ,discouraged and constipated from pain meds. A much harder road than I thought. Trying to remain positive
Hi Susan,
What you are experiencing is perfectly normal. I couldn't lift my operative leg also. I am 5 1/2 months now. Be patient it will come with PT and working it. Good luck to you, you'll get there!!
Hi - so sorry to hear your muscles are slow to get back to life. It took mine a couple of weeks of agony but now I can get in and out of bed without having to use a sling to lift it. For me doing my exercises religiously plus constant icing seem to have been the magic ingredient. My physio says it is different for everyone in each stage so my recommendation would be to keep persevering with the ankle tilts and leg and but tensioning as well as using the strap to lift the foot through the other exercises. Each time you do this the brain and muscle communicate and start to work together.
Perserverence ! BUT I would also be getting an opinion from your doctor and PT.
All the best.
https://patient.info/forums/discuss/the-tkr-experience-or-wish-i-had-another-kidney-stone--524499
Welcome to the club...
If you're on hydrocodone (Vicodin/Norco), switch to oxycodone (Percocet). Same opioid pain relief without the constipation.
That is exactly what I was told - the muscles need to be awakened. Just keep trying. The top of the knee hurts alot trying to lift the leg, but you take pain meds and keep working on it. Slowly you will be able to lift it, a little at a time.
Thank you for your encouragement! I'm not used to being inactive and was just shocked by the inability to move my leg! Pain management has been challenging because I can't take any opioid. Ice and Aleve are my best friends.
Same here but wow when I could suddenly lift it I remember the great feeling. Just use a dressing gown strap to assist or tuck the good leg under the tkr one but still try to engage brain into lifting the tkr leg. It will come - frustrating but same for all so that's one crumb of comfort. I'm 18 months on and doing that was a memorable highlight in the journey
CONSTIPATION ALSO COMES WITH PERCOSET. EAT FRUITS VEGETABLES, SOFT FOODS. TAKE OVER ABUNDANCE OF STOOL SOFTNESS. DRINK LOTS OF WATER. PAIN MEDS DEHYDRATE YOU. ITS NASTY,BUT GO GET PRUNE JUICE AND DRINK AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. IF ALL THIS FAILS GO TO PHARMACY AND GET CASTOR OIL .FLEET EMMA IS SURE THING. ITS BEEN CONSTANT BATTLE FOR ME. I REALLY FIND THIS AN UNUSUAL CONVERSATION. ANYWAY ,HOPE FOR THE BEST. NOT NUMBER 2ING IS REALLY UNCOMFORTABLE
Hi Susan!
With my first TKR my whole leg felt like a tree trunk filled with cement!😲
This was really surprising to me! At first my nurses and aides moved my leg FOR me. Then it was my PT people. My leg didn't feel like it was even connected to my body!
My home-care PT who had had both of her knees replaced at age 42 showed me how to loop my husband's belt over my foot so that I could feel more independent. That was VERY helpful and boosted my confidence.
I needed to use this looped belt for that first month anytime I needed to get my leg up onto the bed, onto the couch, or onto my ottoman. I looped the belt over my walker so I'd have it with me as I moved around the house.
Walking around inside the house helped build up my leg muscles. Getting off the opioids helped me to feel like my brain was connected with my muscles again.
At three weeks I graduated from home-care and began outpatient PT. Work using the TOTAL GYM to practice controlled squats and doing balance exercises while at my twice-a-week PT sessions as well as practice each day at home increased my strength in my leg muscles.
I also was learning how to walk again in a proper way.
Around three and a half months after my left TKR I had my right knee TKR. My left knee was doing well, and it was my right knee that was holding me back. Was VERY ready to have TWO GOOD KNEES!
Started up PT again with my newest knee while keeping my first knee working hard to help. The second surgery went easier, and my strength returned quicker the second time around.
I'm a year in now with my two new knees. Stretching often throughout the day helps with stiffness, and I keep busy in the garden, shopping, working in the yard, and in the house. I walk purposefully, trying to have a normal gait and concentrating on walking by putting down my heel first and rolling my foot to push off on my toes.
It is a slow process, but it eventually DOES happen!
Look for small victories, and be kind to yourself! The TKR surgery is a BIGGIE! Be patient!
Success will be yours!😊
Thank you Cheryl. That was motivating .I will really work on the heal to toe in my walk DO you have any answers for stiffness 8n knee after laying down
I like the small victory approach.
Hi Susan ive had the same problem my physio put it down to trying to lift my leg to early after my op and i mean just a few hours they had me lifting mine problem was the epidural they gave me hadn't wore off properly which made it easy to lift but damaged the muscle i used a belt around my foot and gently stsrted to lift my leg each time trying a little more with the leg i have just stsrted to lift it a little on its own although its still painful you need to take it gently hope this is of help.
Sorry...not true. I did a lot of research into this because I got constipated on hydrocodone (Vicodin and Norco).
"Treatment with acetaminophen and either oxycodone, 5 mg po, or hydrocodone, 5 mg po, resulted in pain relief ... and there was no difference between the two agents at 30 and 60 minutes." - US National Library of Medicine, National Institute of Health
"These results suggest that oxycodone and hydrocodone have similarly potent analgesic effects in the first hour of treatment..." - US National Library of Medicine, National Institute of Health
"Adverse effect profiles were similar, with the exception of a higher incidence of subsequent constipation with the use of hydrocodone." - US National Library of Medicine, National Institute of Health
Both drugs are opioid based but the hydrocodone is derived from codeine which has additional cough suppressant qualities but causes constipation.
Yes, changing your diet and taking stool softeners can help but why not swith to the oxycodone (Percocet) and avoid the problem in the first place?
Just saying...
Hi Susan. I am now 18 days post left TKR and having the same problem. I can do most of the exercises they told me to do at home, and can lift my leg up a bit if I am sitting in a chair. But, like you I can't lift it at all if I'm lying down, not matter how hard I tighten my muscles nothing happens. It isn't even usually because of pain, it seems more like the muscles just don't react. I know it is still very early for me though but I am feeling a bit more encouraged to hear others say it's normal. Will be starting outpatient physio tomorrow so hopefully they can help. I can manage to move it sideways and use my other leg under it to lift it. Good luck with your recovery - think we all need it
It is a journey for sure and no one is ever fully understanding of the process before hand - well maybe folks who have had one already done and have another !!
I also cannot take any oral pain meds apart from Paracetemol so get you on that one too.
My doc gave me Votarin suppositories which are great once you get used to doing it - blush - they also help with swelling. One advantage is not having to go through any withdrawal. A BIG advantage in the long term actually. I chart my meds as I take them and have found I have dropped back a lot on what I need and mainly just use at night or if I am going out.
I am just starting my fourth week post op and am using one crutch around the house. Each small milestone is so worth celebrating !!!
Keep going forward at your own pace we are all so very different in out recovery.
It will happen just keep the exercises up gently. I have discarded by belt now which feels like a massive victory. I had very severe pain behind the knee cap s took pain meds before exercises and iced afterwards.
At the beginning of week four now and that has pretty much gone
I am also 4 weeks out (today) and am doing well...ROM 125 with effort. I have never heard of what you are experiencing and I know that you must be discouraged. I hope it resolves itself soon.
Cathy
Keep up on this problem it almost killed me , I was in rehab for 13 days no one ever asked if I had gone to the bathroom. Then I went home I got impacted it was horrible I was so sick. Good luck.