10 days after no sleep!

[staggerlee]

I’m a dude in Bangkok and I had my hip resurfaced 10 days ago.  I have only had one good night’s sleep since.  The recovery is a lot harder than I thought.  Every night starting about 8 or 9 pm I get a wave of restlessness that goes through my left leg and arm.  I have to stretch it out to make it go away.  As soon as I relax, it comes again, about every 15 seconds.  It’s driving me crazy, I just want to sleep. 

I am taking a muscle relaxant, a Vultin 300 mg. capsule, and paracetamol, which is the same as Tylenol.  I don’t think it’s the pain keeping me awake, it’s the wave-like restlessness.  My doctor said that it might be because I’m walking too much.  But I am not walking very much, only around the house when needed with crutches or a walker. 

Any suggestions about how I could get a good night’s sleep.  I’m 10 days post surgery. 

Hello and thanks for any advice.

[pamela1130]

I am 8 days post op and I have had no problems sleeping.  I take two pain killers right before bed, get situated and seem to sleep pretty good.  I agree, however, I didn't realize the recovery would be as hard either.  It hurts when I try to get into bed or lay down.  I hope you get a good nights sleep because sleep is our friend as someone said on this website.  Let us know how you are doing. 

[staggerlee]

I finally got a good night's sleep!  I took 2 spoons of Benadryl.  It seemed to work.  I feel a whole lot better.
Now I'm on the slow or fast track to recovery. 

[Pat Walter]

Hi

I had had bouts of the same thing.  I think it is similar to restless leg syndrom.   You just have to move the leg a bit and if you don't - it wants to move itself.  There is speical meds for such a problem, but this is most likely temporary from using your muscles too much along with the stress of surgery.  Usually some Advil or Darvocet works for me.

Things will get better in time.  Take naps if you can. I napped in my lounge chair a lot early in my recovery.  My body felt better there.  Also put a pile of pillows under your legs if you are laying on your back.  Getting your legs up helps your blood flow and makes your back feel better.

Good Luck.

Pat

[bothdone]

Hi

Good to hear you've got some sleep.    On my first BHR I was given a mild sleeping tablet while in hospital, with a few to take home.    I then went on to a herbal sleeping tablet made from valerian.  It seemed to work for me.   I only used it for a couple of days.

Like Pat said, I found raising my operated leg on a couple of pillows help ease the leg.   I made sure I positioned my leg so my heel was over the edge of the supporting pillow in mid air (just the heel).

Hope your recovery goes well.

Ed

[pamela1130]

The only reason that I am leary of taking sleeping pills is that I worry that I will fall into such a deep sleep that I will twist and turn without knowing it and hurt my leg. 

[obxpelican]

Pam,

Try a benadryl, knocks me out like crazy..... make sure it's ok with your doctor but benadryl are one of the cheapest sleeping pills I know of.


Chuck

[staggerlee]

Thanks for the tips you guys. 
I will try the pillows and the benadryl. 
I don't have a recliner chair though, I'll have to rig up the couch somehow. 

Ciao

[bothdone]

If you are worried about rolling.... I had my operated leg up on two pillows and wedged another pillow on either side of my body.   I don't think I could have rolled if I'd wanted to.  It was a bit of a performance but it was worth it.

[obxpelican]

If you roll over and your hip is painful you will probably wake up quick.  While during my recovery I did not have a lot of agonizing pain, but if I moved into a position that my body did not like I woke up real quick, and it did not matter how many vicoden I took either.


Chuck

[staggerlee]

Last night was rough.  I tried the pillows,didn't work because I had to move my legs all the time.  I can't seem to sleep on my back anyway.  I sleep face down usually. 

Took the Benadryl cough syrup.  Is that the same Benadryl that other's are referring to?>  Or should I be taking a Benadryl capsule? 

I didn't get to sleep until 3 am.  Very restless up until 3. But after that I slept fine until morning. 

[B.I.L.L.]

I battle with that constantly.  What seems to help me the most is to make sure I drink 8 glasses of water, take vitamins and eat a banana and drink some orange juice everyday.  A vicoden right at bedtime helps on the bad days but you obviously don't want to make that a regular thing if you can help it.  I also try to drink the water during the day and stop a few hours before bedtime so you don't have to pee in the middle of the night. They recommend magnesium for restless leg syndrome, I tried that but didn't notice any difference. I still get it but not as often as I did in the early part of my recovery. Good luck, a good nights rest is magical haha.

[obxpelican]

Last night was rough.  I tried the pillows,didn't work because I had to move my legs all the time.  I can't seem to sleep on my back anyway.  I sleep face down usually. 

Took the Benadryl cough syrup.  Is that the same Benadryl that other's are referring to?>  Or should I be taking a Benadryl capsule? 

I didn't get to sleep until 3 am.  Very restless up until 3. But after that I slept fine until morning. 

One benadryl capsule.

Knocks the snot out of me.  Although 1 vicoden would put me out cold for 6 hours during the day.


Chuck

[staggerlee]

The restless legs are really bothering me.  I just have to wait it out until it ceases, then i can sleep.  I will try to find magnesium supplements, thanks for the tip. 

It might be difficult for me to get a hold of Vicodin, since my doctor won't prescribe any pain medication to me at all.  I am in Thailand,and it seems like the doctors here are reluctant to give pain medication, but they do give me muscle relaxants. 

I'm going to drink lots of water like you said, and eat bananas.  They got crazy bananas here of all sizes.
 Do bananas have magnesium in them?  Maybe I won't have to buy supplements, I just have to eat a lot of bananas. 

[B.I.L.L.]

The restless legs are really bothering me.  I just have to wait it out until it ceases, then i can sleep.  I will try to find magnesium supplements, thanks for the tip. 

It might be difficult for me to get a hold of Vicodin, since my doctor won't prescribe any pain medication to me at all.  I am in Thailand,and it seems like the doctors here are reluctant to give pain medication, but they do give me muscle relaxants. 

I'm going to drink lots of water like you said, and eat bananas.  They got crazy bananas here of all sizes.
 Do bananas have magnesium in them?  Maybe I won't have to buy supplements, I just have to eat a lot of bananas. 

I think Bananas have potassium, don't know about magnesium. I don't know if "Lots of bananas" will help anymore than 1 or 2.  I'm not a Dr. by any stretch, but that combo seemed to help me, it's cheap to try and I'm pretty sure you can't drink too much water. I know how frustrating it can be. It seems to happen later in the night for me, not so much when I go to bed, but it'll wake me up at 2 or 3 in the morning and then I can't get back to sleep. Like I said it's cheap enough to try.  I never tried benadryl but am open to any suggestions that equal a better nights sleep, good luck I hope it helps.
Kind of off topic but my Daughter visited Thailand recently and said it was awesome and she wants to go back there to vacation, she was on the Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier when it stopped there a few weeks ago. Good Luck.      

[Lisa M.]

Stagerlee,

I have a serious case of restless legs. I have had this for a couple of years now. Finally my physician prescriped Mirapex in a very small dose. The very first night that I took it I slept  all night and have not had a problem with restless legs since. I know what you are going through because after my surgery I ran out and my  husband forgot to pick up my prescription. It was a miserable night. I wonder if your Dr. would be more inclined to prescribe something that is non narcotic to help with this than a pain pill.  Just an idea.

Lisa

[takilasunrise]

I have always had a mild case of restless leg sydrome, even when I was a kid.  But as I got older, I was able to figure out what was causing it.  I will get mine if I am OVER-tired.  So, if I get the normal amount of exercise during the day and not stay up super late, my legs are fine.  But it can sure be a bother when you're having it!  I didn't have any of it during my immediate recovery, but I'm sure the painkillers had something to do with that........