Knees & Hips

My hip has been great the last two days and is now very painful again - so annoying as I was getting quite excited!

Thank you, Mishap and Charleygirl. I am not keen to take more than one Piriton as it does make me very drowsy. When I think about it, any other problems I have had post-op have generally gone away in a short time so I think I will press on and hope the itches disappear. I have an early appointment to see the consultant on 13/4 - it should have been the following week but he is going away - so I will leave it until then and ask him what he thinks. If I can't stand it I will have to contact my GP again. Thanks for your advice.

Time is flying.

I assume that you have been prescribed Piriton to take more than once a day and that you take the anticoagulant tablet in the evening. Why not take a Piriton, if prescibed, a few hours before, and then repeat after or with the anticoagulant. Do not forget that one of the side effects is drowsiness so if you increase the dose to two tablets a day- it may have consequences. Please be careful. I have forgotten if you should take Piriton 4 or 6 hourly.

I do not think that you are making a fuss- I have not experienced it and I do not know if it will wear off soon.

Sory you have this problem - and no I did not have this. ?Talk to GP.

Have revived this thread to give you all an update (you know you want one!) I am now 2 weeks and 4 days post THR. I have become used to sleeping on my back and now generally get a good night's sleep. I am doing the exercises regularly and taking a short walk down our road every day. I am still using two crutches but think I will soon be on just one. My wound is healing nicely and I no longer need to keep it covered. I have finished the medication except for the anti-coagulant of which I have to take one every tea time and I take one quinine sulphate tablet each night, as prescribed by the GP, to ward off the leg cramps.

However, I do have a problem. Each evening I develop a terrible itch, mostly on bum, back and scalp and spend the few hours before bed grumbling and scratching and generally wearing myself out. There is nothing to see on my skin except some redness where I scratch. The listed side effects of the anti-coagulant do include skin irritation but then so do the side effects of most drugs, I've found.

When I finally get to bed, feeling exhausted, the itchiness abates and I drop off to sleep quite quickly. I think this problem MUST be to do with the anti-coag and I still have 20 of those to go - at a doseage of one a day, that's nearly another three weeks. Yesterday evening I tried taking one Piritron but it made no difference at all.

Has anyone else experienced this? Will it wear off soon? Am I just making a fuss?

I was not given exercises (apart from gradually increased walking) after the hip replacement but was told I shouldn't lift the leg sideways. After a later consultation with the specialist physio I was told that it was OK to swim, but to be very careful with the breast stroke kick because that involved sideways movement. For a while I did breast stroke with a freestyle kick which must have looked a bit weird. Breast stroke is no problem now - after almost 10 years. As for sleeping, I slept on the 'good' side with a pillow between my knees and rarely lost sleep.

I am still having difficult nights, although I have not had the jumps and cramps you describe - just pain.

I have a rubber ring (blown up a very small amount) under my bum, a rolled up cot quilt under my thighs, two pillows under my knees, and a pile of pillows at my head end. In fact it is quite hard to find me at all surrounded by all this bedding! - but it does help a bit. I also have a sheepskin where my feet land, and wear think bed socks so that my heels do not get sore in the night.

All very romantic and full of passion!

NotTooOld have you tried lying with a pillow under your knees so that your hip is relaxed more, I know when I had to lie on my back all night I couldn't relax but having the pillow under my knees helped a lot..

PS I should have said that my op was for total hip replacement.

Can anyone help?
I am now two weeks post-op and getting on very well during the day. My problem is that, come the evening, my 'bad' leg jumps and cramps and generally makes it impossible to sit still and this state of affairs continues most of the night. My GP has given me quinine sulphate tablets which help a bit but I am spending an awful lot of the small hours just lying there in discomfort. I should add that I am religiously doing the exercises and going for short walks. :-(

mishap, i am cringing reading that you are walking with a broken foot and more damage as a result of the misdiagnosis plus the aftermath of a joint replacement. Brave is not the right word-i now say heroic . Also i wonder if there is an orthopedic support device that could help your foot in some way. I have one that looks like a corset for a long skinny doll for my collapsible knee.

amarmai - thanks for your kind words. My broken foot occurred over two years ago but only one of the two fractures healed (due to a misdiagnosis) and this has resulted in the joints collapsing and rubbing against oine another. The possible surgery for this is know to be unsuccessful in many cases so I have opted not to have this - I just limp and walk with a stick outdoors.

Mishap,you have a broken foot on top of a joint operation and you are walking and exercising! You are very brave and an inspiration to me to keep on moving.

I have an orthotic in the shoe of my broken foot; I have not been using the one that goes on the other shoe as my leg is longer on that side after my hip op. I am seeing the podiatrist tomorrow as there is a problem in my other foot (metatarsalgia). I am hoping that they will find a way of making that more comfortable so I can walk more. I do walk every day - down the steep hill to the flat path to the church which I march up and down 10 times - then back up the hill. I am hoping that the walking action will be the best exercise. It hurts, but I do realise that it is necessary.

Thanks for your sympathy everyone. I've certainly learned my lesson with the exercises and will be taking it much easier in the future. 'Don't try and run before you can walk' must be my motto!

I struggled to get my leg to move sideways for a while, abductor muscle had forgotten it's purpose.

You do have to be very gentle with the abduction exercises, NTO! They have cut into and shifted the muscles over the joint, then put them back so they are quite weak. My physio warned me that I must not work the hip as hard as I had worked the knee. Amazing, though, what you will be able to do after six weeks, I promise you.

Sympathies with the sleeping! I had, with both TKR and THR, at least a week of needing to wee every two hours, which was a nightmare. I can now sleep on the non operated side, but am cautious with the other one. But sleeping like a baby. Apart from the usual 3.30 wee, that is.

I did one of the exercises at the beginning and it involved holding onto the back of a chair and going up on your toes - as I did so there was a ghastly wrenching in one of my knees! So that set things back a bit!

I think the exercises need to be done with some care and stopped if the pain starts. One problem with exercises is that they put bits of you under stress in ways that they are not normally under stress - and not just the joint that has been operated on. Everyone is different and you need to proceed at your pace.

The fact that it has now settled down is very good.

Viewers have been and gone. No idea if they liked it as DH reported they said hardly a word.

Managed, with a lot of help from DH, to have a shower just now. Lovely feeling! After that I did the exercises and gave myself a fright. One of the standing exercises requires a lift of the leg to the side but I must have overdone it because I suddenly got quite a pain at the operation site. I sat down quickly in a bit of a panic but it seems ok now. Phew. Anyone had a similar experience?

Good luck with the viewing - you could probably do without this today!

This is Day 5 Post-Op and I had a much better night's sleep thanks to the 3-pillow tip from Charleygirl. You won't believe this but we have viewers for our house coming at 1130 this morning, so poor DH is running around like a blue * fly. I am sitting here in my new chair like Queen NotTooOld. We did actually tell the estate agent 'no viewers for the foreseeable' when we knew I had to have the HR op but she (lovely girl) thinks these may be THE ONES so we have given in. I'll have to make sure they don't trip over my crutches.

This is Day 5 Post-Op and I had a much better night's sleep thanks to the 3-pillow tip from Charleygirl. You won't believe this but we have viewers for our house coming at 1130 this morning, so poor DH is running around like a blue * fly. I am sitting here in my new chair like Queen NotTooOld. We did actually tell the estate agent 'no viewers for the foreseeable' when we knew I had to have the HR op but she (lovely girl) thinks these may be THE ONES so we have given in. I'll have to make sure they don't trip over my crutches.

Thanks mishap.

I've only just been diagnosed. So far I've had a steroid injection to keep me going whilst the correct dose of Methotrexate is established.

I'll just have to wait and see how it progresses.

NTO, there certainly is a lot of pushing and shoving involved in getting the new hip in place, (I had a fair amount of bruising), that plus working weakened muscles is bound to give you some aches and pains. It will all be worth the effort, 6 months from now you will be enjoying the summer getting out and about.

I did not react well to the trauma of surgery. I was shivering for ages after I came round and they eventually had to wrap me in a sort of blanket through which they blew hot air to try and get my temperature up. I do not know whether it was drug-induced or whether the theatre was cold, but it was very unpleasant. I could not stop shaking. My sister had the same problem after surgery and had to be wrapped in a hypothermia blanket.

I did find the whole experience very traumatic; but I have friends who have bounced back as if they had just had a tooth out!

NTO - if you get a rubber ring (I bought mine online) it only needs a tiny bit of air in it. Don't be weepy about Easter - you will be back in action soon and able to go wherever you wish. Glad that you have a suitable chair now - it makes such a difference to your comfort.

patallus - I am sorry to hear about your RA - is it being kept under control? - I do hope so.