I had a left tkr last August and by Christmas was able to walk all day around Kew Gardens totally limp and pain free. I was doing aqua aerobics and some weights in the gym, had managed to lose 2 stone and felt on top of the world. So much so, I sat down over Christmas and booked quite a few holidays and short city breaks right up to the end of September. That's all I wanted from the op. Just to walk around sightseeing without pain. All was going great. In February, managed the Steep Hill in Lincoln no bother and was in the middle of Newquay, coping fine with the hills when my right knee began to feel painful especially after getting up from sitting. It was excruciating and put paid to the long walks we had planned. Since that day the pain has been unremitting. Had x rays but was told the there was only age related changes. I saw the physio and he kept changing his mind as each time his advice didn't work. Doing too much, so rest it, Doing too little, use a stick, don't use a stick. As well as the disappointment of not being able to walk far any more, no pain relief was effective and as it was particularly bad at night, I was down to 2 hours a night sleep most nights. In desperation I went to discuss a steroid injection and the doc told me the position of the pain tallied with the arthritis shown on the x rays. So a little more than age related changes. I got the injection three weeks ago. Although I'm less stiff when getting out a chair, it's done nothing for the pain so a huge disappointment. In desperation, I went back to docs to ask about amitriptyline for sleeping and pain relief as I'd read at low doses it can help tackle chronic pain and the resultant sleep problems.
Have now been taking them 3 days and can see a huge improvement in my ability to sleep. I don't drop off straight away but don't toss and turn with the pain. Doc says I'll need to take cocodamol and Naproxen regularly with them for the full effect but I think I'll experiment with that part. I'll just be grateful to be able to sleep again. My Fitbit says I slept 6 hours and 35 minutes last night! The last of my prebooked breaks is coming up in September so maybe I'll be able to enjoy some pain free sightseeing. Doc says I'm a long way off needing a replacement which is good in one way as it's not an operation you want to go through unless you have to, but I can't imagine living with this pain and restricted mobility for years yet. Anyway let's not be too pessimistic. It's early days with the amitriptyline. I just won't be organising any more city breaks for a while.