👯‍♀️ Hips and Knees part 7

Hi I’m seeing lots of adverts for collagen and omega3 just now and feel maybe I should be taking them. I’m 59 soon to be 60 and have a few aches and pains these days.
Do any of you take either of the above and can you recommend brands? There seem so many, advertised by every celeb possible and it’s mind boggling!! 😵‍💫😵‍💫

silverlining & maybee I had a lot of blood tests a few days before both hip replacements, which showed I had iron deficiency anaemia , so was prescribed iron tablets. I hadn’t eaten red meat for years due to high cholesterol, so resumed eating beef and am now ok.

Thanks Redcar. I hardly eat red meat ( or green leafy vegetables) and I also take turmeric every day which I’ve just read can stop your body absorbing iron. I really wish I hadn’t asked for the b/t now. As a worrier it doesn’t help that the things that used to raise my spirits eg going for a walk or going to the gym I’m no longer doing. Mind you it’s taken my mind off a possible TKR!

Karriel I suggest you ask the advice of a pharmacist. In my opinion, it is silly to buy it, and you might end up passing most of it in the loo, as you don't know the dosage or whether it's right for you. I don't like to waste money.

I had blood taken at the TKR pre op maybee. I was told checking for anaemia primarily. I heard no more and assumed all was well. Please don’t stop your knee exercises and gym if they were helping. Exercise will help your mood too. If issues have been found in your blood test are they being addressed by the GP? If not then it’s time to go back to the surgery and ask for input. In the meantime please don’t give up on the knee.

I’m still doing the knee exercises. They’ve really helped. I’ve got into a routine of doing them now. And I’m trying to walk more, too, something I’d stopped doing because my knee hurt ( I also hate going out when it’s cold!). I just wasn’t expecting the blood test to show any problems so it’s floored me a bit ( I still can’t get my head round the fact that I can’t walk how I used to and have only recently come out of a sort of denial about it). I’m seeing another doctor soon for a steroid injection so I might try to tell her how I feel but I’m afraid the doctors at my surgery aren’t as easy to talk to as they used to be. I used to work for them and they were more like friends but I don’t know any of them now.

Birthday greetings to your left hip Redcar. Hearing how other people have done is such an encouragement.

Kariel, there’s little scientific evidence that they actually help. I’d spend your money on good exercise classes that keep the muscles around the joints strong.

Maybe, it always comes as a bit of a shock when the blood tests show that we haven’t managed to sidestep the problems of older age despite our best efforts. At least you know what’s going on and can decide, with your gp if need be, what action needs taking. Onwards and upwards!

My new knee is nearly 11 months old. The joint itself is fine and painless but the flesh around it is still tender to the touch and can ache. Some areas have that numb/tingling sensation which I guess is nerve damage. Is this going to stay the same do you think?

Well hello everyone. Late to the party as ever, and to our seventh edition! Well done silverlining. Belated happy hip birthday, Redcar, mine was a year old on the 11th. Do you remember our conversations from a year ago? You were more experienced as it was your second but I got so much help & encouragement from this forum. It’s great to see so many familiar names, too. Maybee I had a load of blood tests before my op & have just had my annual ones at my surgery although I had to go on my knees and beg for the diabetes one (not literally, even with new hips I don’t do kneeling). Thankfully, all is well. Anyway, great to ‘see’ everyone - I feel I’m at a reunion!

I have very tiny veins and it’s always a struggle for the phlebotomist when I have a blood test, so I usually remember the times it has happened and I just can’t remember having a blood test prior to my hip hop.
As it will be 4 years in spring I suppose I have either forgotten I had one, or if I didn’t I seem to be ok. 👌

I had a whole load of bloods done before my THR. Fortunately I have a vein in the crook of my arm, that never fails despite having blood taken from it 3 times a week for 9 months. It helps, especially if your veins are small, if you make sure you’re well hydrated and warm beforehand. My sister had to sit with a hand in a bowl of warm water before they could get a vein up.

I’m booked in for a steroid injection next week, but as my knee is feeling better than it has done first a long time I might not have it done. The plan was to have it before I went to my partners for three weeks so it would hopefully enable me to do more walking. But as I’ve started doing daily walks again at home I don’t want to do anything to rock the boat or stop me doing the exercises for a few days. I’ll have it done when I get back I think. I’m going to use the appointment to ask the doctor a few questions about the blood test result, questions that I should have asked at the time but didn’t because I was so taken aback by what the other doctor had said. I also need to explain to her that I suffer from terrible health anxiety ( which is actually even worse than I thought it was!).

grammargran I do remember our conversations from last year, it seems a long while ago now, and it’s so good not to have any hip pain! Good to hear from you again! I’ve recently had 2 new fractures in my spine - thank you osteoporosis! I know they will heal on their own in due course, but they are restricting my life at the moment. I’m waiting for an appointment with a rheumatologist to discuss different medication which hopefully will stop any more fractures.
I’m still doing the hip exercises as well as some for my back, in the hopes that things will improve soon.
Keep walking everyone!

Sorry to hear about the fractures Redcar, that’s a real bummer.

As you say, it’s wonderful to be without the hip pain. I’m only 8 weeks on from my THR and already I feel better than I have done for the last couple of years. I have so much more energy these days.

Redcar so very sorry to hear about your two fractures. How did you manage to do that, or do they just happen with any old movements? I do hope you get that sorted because that must make life quite limiting for you, especially having gone through your hip surgery. I must admit I’ve let my hip exercises slide but perhaps they might help my back which aches so much if I stand for too long? Any thoughts anyone?

Sorry but I’m on about my swollen ankle again. Everything else is going really well and I feel like a new woman but my ankle remains very swollen. I sort of expected the swelling to go down gradually and be gone at about 12 weeks. I’m now nearly at week 8 and it’s just as swollen as it was at the beginning, indeed some days it’s worse. Is this other people’s experience?

Teabag my ankle was pretty swollen for a time after my THR but can’t remember for how long; however, it was for some weeks. I would ask again though, if the area is tender to the touch as it may be phlebitis. If it isn’t and it’s just swollen, it will go down - eventually!

teabag both ankles and legs were very swollen after both hip replacements. It took about 5 months for them to go down after each operation.
grammargran unfortunately the fractures just seem to happen. I know this time I sat down in a very low chair without realising how low it was and actually felt my back “give”! I’m able to do more now, but have to pace myself!
I was told by a physiotherapist that I should do the hip exercises permanently, so I do them most days (unless I forget).

Thank you Redcar, I shall stop worrying and possess myself in patience.

Redcar

teabag both ankles and legs were very swollen after both hip replacements. It took about 5 months for them to go down after each operation.
grammargran unfortunately the fractures just seem to happen. I know this time I sat down in a very low chair without realising how low it was and actually felt my back “give”! I’m able to do more now, but have to pace myself!
I was told by a physiotherapist that I should do the hip exercises permanently, so I do them most days (unless I forget).

With my knee exercises I try to do them every day. But if I don’t like a certain exercise I’ll do less repetitions or I’ll put off doing them. And I keep a little book and write down each day what I’ve done. I’m like a little child getting gold stars for being good!

Hello everyone- I haven’t been active on Gransnet for a while but saw the new hipster post and thought I would add something. silverlining we are both coming up to four years now ! I’m still hoping to get my left hip done , the last time I saw the consultant after the third injection she said she would review it in December 🤞. However a slight spanner in the works now. I managed to fall over whilst trying to catch my neighbours little dog ( don’t ask!!) and have torn my rotator cuff in my shoulder. I’ve been told it can take months to heal and as I can hardly lift it , I can’t cope with anything else at present . So frustrating, I live alone and even getting dressed is a nightmare!

I think there has been a thread about rotator cuff injuries but the search engine isn’t working. But you can find things via Google. Try googling gransnet rotator cuff injury, there might be some good advice for you. I think when our bodies start to let us down it doesn’t take much to overwhelm us ( at least, I know I’m like that).

Oh Susie, what is it they say about no good deed going unpunished. It might be worth contacting your local Occupational Therapy department to see if they have any aids/hacks that will make your life a tad easier. In the old days this would have been done automatically but these days we have to be our own project managers.

Surgery physio thinks I have the same shoulder injury susie. Not the first time. Exercises haven’t really settled it. Flipping painful isn't it? I’m waiting on an x-ray for confirmation then if I want to there will be a steroid injection. Onwards eh?

I saw the physio in our GP surgery, not hugely helpful tbh . I can’t do any of the exercises he gave me but looked online and found some that are possible plus gentle aqua exercises once a week. A neighbour has put me up a sort of pulley to stretch my arm . Not sure if I can self refer to OT but may investigate. Ultrasound referral sent but told it could be 2 months so may ( against my principals) try and get a private appointment. I’m fortunate I have my son and family and very good friends here .