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To the OP, You are on a very low dose of Oxy. In fact it is the lowest dose there is. The problem is not that Oxy doesn’t work for you, the problem is that the dose is too low. Ask your doctor to increase the dose to 7.5 or 10. Even that is still a low dose.
Very interesting, although I'm so sorry you had to go through that!! My pain is (luckily) definitely not nerve pain -- I had a TON of that in my left knee BEFORE the February surgery, the kind where I would wake up feeling like someone was stabbing my knee over and over for several minutes. That totally disappeared after the surgery.
I DID have weird HIP pain -- like a constant dull ache -- after the February surgery, and was told it was likely due to my body being manipulated into so many different positions during surgery (now that is a lovely thought, isn't it? ). That took a LONG time to go away -- at least 2-3 months -- but I don't feel it at all any more. (THAT pain actually hurt my sleeping a lot more than the KNEE pain last time -- I simply could not get comfortable in any position.)
The right-knee pain I'm feeling now feels the same as the left-knee pain in February (no hip pain at all this time!!). I think it's just ordinary total-knee-replacement pain. I don't know why the opioids don't work for me, but at this point, I'm going to try to do Tylenol and see how it goes. Glad the Lyrica finally gave you some relief!
Nothing on earth helps the pain from kidney stones....
Take a hot shower and let the hot water hit you right on your kidneys. That helps as long as you don't get out of the shower. Of course, you will turn into a prune and you might eventually run out of hot water. A heating pad also seemed to help, but I felt the shower beat the pain killers. I am getting to be a pro at passing the little buggers and if you need a cheerleader just holler - only kidding.
Now if we could only get a surrogate to deliver those nasty little buggers!
As far as knee pain, I just sprained my knee on the 4th. I was afraid that it was worse than just a sprain; it felt worse. I have really abused my knees and hips over the years and I am expecting them to finally say enough is enough. I had sprained my knee in the morning and, even though the neighbors had great fireworks right outside my house, I did not feel like getting out of bed to look. Fortunately, the pain has subsided and I will probably be back to work next week.
It is good to hear about the pain and the problems we could encounter from people that are going through these operations. Out of curiosity; how long is it until you no longer think about the pain? Is this weeks or months of healing and rehab?
To the OP, You are on a very low dose of Oxy. In fact it is the lowest dose there is. The problem is not that Oxy doesn’t work for you, the problem is that the dose is too low. Ask your doctor to increase the dose to 7.5 or 10. Even that is still a low dose.
In the hospital I got a couple of 10mg doses -- pain relief wasn't any better than with 5mg, and I'm simply not willing to go higher (I would also have to renew the prescription every few days, which would be a pain in the butt as I couldn't drive while taking an opioid). I have never had any addiction of any kind, but I DO have lots of alcoholism in my family (mom, probably my dad, 1 sister), so I am pretty careful about meds/alcohol/all of that. I haven't been on any kind of regular prescription for literally decades (just a couple of short-term antibiotics, which have always worked immediately, luckily).
Quote:
Originally Posted by fisheye
... It is good to hear about the pain and the problems we could encounter from people that are going through these operations. Out of curiosity; how long is it until you no longer think about the pain? Is this weeks or months of healing and rehab?
I had a read a TON about knee replacement surgery before I had my first back on 2/3/20. I had had bone-on-bone arthritis for at least a couple of years but had been a runner for decades so occasional knee pain was expected (and it always went away when I stopped overdoing the running). But this pain didn't -- it became intolerable to the point that I was walking with a cane for 6 months pre-surgery and should have been for longer than that. All I took was Ibuprofen, but then THAT stopped working so I just dealt with the pain. Not fun.
After the first surgery on 2/3/20, I used hydrocodone for a few nights but it didn't do much so I stopped (again, just did the Tylenol). I worked at home the entire spring semester so again, didn't have to worry about being up at any specific time, so the pain was tolerable -- I simply didn't think about it much during the day because I was too busy. (However, there is NO WAY I could have worked a regular job, having to be up at a certain time every morning, as sleeping was bad for months -- but that was more due to the odd hip pain than the knee pain.) I was very good about the physical therapy although had to do that mostly on my own as of March because things closed down. As I wrote earlier, my left knee is probably 95% of normal, and I suspect it will get to 100% after my right knee heals and they are working "together" normally again -- which they haven't been for years!
My right-knee surgery was only 8 days ago, but the pain seems to me to be a bit less during the day -- I haven't taken anything but Tylenol during the day and I've been OK (I think it's also that I simply am doing a lot during the days so I don't THINK about the pain). More strikingly, my right knee is MUCH more bendable already than my left knee was after 8 days -- it's bending more than 90 degrees already. I DROVE yesterday (just around my block!) with no problems bending and no more pain than usual. (OK, the driving was only a BIT earlier than last time -- I drive a stick-shift and was told I wouldn't be able to drive for at least 6 weeks after my left knee replacement. I drove with no issues at all after 2 weeks.)
For me, getting to sleep is the hard part, and unfortunately, that didn't get better for at least a couple of months. I will try to track it better this time.
I've taken opioids every day for 13+ years to slow intestinal motility, so I've built up quite a tolerance to pain killers. When I need something for extreme pain, the only thing that seems to work is Dilaudid.
The problem with Dilaudid, they are VERY short acting.
Have you tried Opana? They are the strongest opioid I can think of, (that doctors will prescribe people anyway), there are MUCH stronger opioids, but NO doctor will give them to anyone outside a hospital, the risk of respiratory depression is just too great.
I've never taken any illicit drugs, nor have I even ever tried marijuana or even cigarettes; and I drink (white wine) so rarely you could classify me as a non drinker, and oxycodone and hydrocodone also have no effect on me. Well, oxy had zero effect, hydro made me loopy but didn't kill the pain (following oral surgery).
My mother told me at the time that my dad was the exact same way (although he was also a heavy smoker and drinker). The only painkiller that works on me is ibuprofen. Not sure what I'm going to do if I ever have to have major surgery. Anyway, I think it's genetic. I hear we're rare, but out there.
I am very surprised that your doctor prescribed Oxycontin of any kind. The problems with street thugs shooting up Oxy has just about stopped usage of the drug across the board.
Getting back to the OxyContin: The medicine is actually morphine sulfate. It's the delivery method that makes Oxy what it is. Morphine delivered in Oxy is very, very effective for relieving pain. If you didn't get any pain relief, it was because you received a very low dose of the medicine. A higher dose would have relieved your pain.
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Wrong wrong wrong. OxyCOntin is slow release Percodan, or at least the active ingredient of percodan which is Oxycodone a synthetic molecule. NOT morphine.
Morphine is still the "Gold Standard" of pain releif. Morphine is NOT a synthetic molecule. Interesting thing about all the synthetic opiods is they are very very difficult to wean yourself off them. Morphine is easy to wean off of, it just takes a while of slowly reducing dose. If you been on morphine for 15 years (and then the problem gets resolved) you can wean off it in two months. Easy peasy.
Hey OP for the discomfort at sleeptime - since being on your back is the optimal, and you're not comfortable on your back, you might want to put a pillow under your knees and try sleeping on your back that way. The smallest, flattest pillow you have, maybe just a decorative pillow from the living room couch. If you don't have any small flat pillows then fold a bath towel so it's as small as a travel pillow, and stuff it in a pillowcase so it doesn't come unfolded while you sleep.
You want your knees JUST slightly bent, because that a) will keep you from hyperflexing, which can be painful when you just had knee surgery and b) will reduce the stress on your lower back while you're sleeping.
If you need to sleep on your side you can do that folded towel trick between your legs, that helped me when I had my surgery.
For me, getting to sleep is the hard part, and unfortunately, that didn't get better for at least a couple of months. I will try to track it better this time.
I can imagine! Just with my sprained knee, I was only sleeping until I tried to roll over. Fortunately, this week has been pretty good. I will find out how good when I go back to work on Saturday!
I wish you a very speedy recovery and thanks for the information!
Narcotics, named after Narcos, the Greek god of Sleep, does not kill pain-- it makes you ignore pain. They do tests with subjects hooked up to a painful stimulus machine controlled by a light dimmer dial. They tell the guy to turn up the switch until it hurts (let's say that for this guy it's at "7.")..Then they give him a drug and repeat the test-- he still says it hurts at "7" but he says it with a "far out, Man" stupid smile on his face.
In the pain center of your brain, you have a receptor shaped like, say, a glove-- everyone is different. Maybe yours is a long opera glove, maybe a catchers mitt, maybe like a little white first communion glove....Each form of narcotic is shaped like a hand-- the better the fit, the better the effect of the drug...Everyone is different! (The socialists hate when I say that.)...So--a strong drug for you may be a weak one for me.
Complicating the picture is another effect of individual genetics-- one guy may absorb the drug faster or better than another, and one guy may metabolize it and clear it out more or less quickly than the next guy.
We can't tell you what's the best drug for you...You have to tell us, and you can figure that out only by trial and error.
Same principle works for NSAIDS & Tramadol-- but different sites of action than the narcotics.
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