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Insomnia after total knee surgery
I had successful knee surgery 4 months ago and I still cannot get to sleep. The insomnia started after the surgery when I had to sleep on my back which I had never done before.
My new knee is working well with PT and exercise, but the insomnia will not go away. My kprimary care doc gave me 1 week of Ambien and that was heaven--fell right to sleep for 7-8 hours. But after 1 week, he said he can't prescribe more because it is habit forming. Now I should go to cognitive behavioral therapy. I take Tylenol PM and it works sometimes, but the doc said I shouldn't be taking that regularly.
Any ideas
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I had a similar issue after having my gallbladder removed. Try to contact a sleep specialist in your area or a psychiatrist. They are more likely to prescribe sleep aids. I am currently taking 2.5 mg of Ambien by cutting a 5 mg in half.
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1 ReactionI had RF ablation of my pulmonary veins to isolate them in order to prevent my paroxysmal fibrillation. I began to sleep poorly leading up to the surgery, and did even more poorly thereafter. My GP offered me Zopiclone, but my pharmacist said that my severe apnea might make it a poor choice. He conferred with my GP who said it was okay, but also quietly advised me to try only half a tablet at first. Wise man. It turned out that I could do quite well with only 1/4 tablet, to my surprise. If you get some, try it, but don't take it more than two days in a row, and try one day out of very three or four if you can. You'll have some long nights, but as your mind settles and you enjoy the rest the smaller dose of Zopiclone gives you every third day (I use melatonin sparingly for the same reason), you should begin to see some relief after five or six weeks. Worked for me.
Again, you'll have to suffer long nights in between, but the good rest you get on the medicated/assisted nights will begin to gain you some ground.