Extreme fatigue

I am 4 months from having TKR. on my right knee and this recovery has been very painful.The first 2 months I got no sleep, could not get comfortable and in a lot of pain. I finished 3 months of physical therapy they said my knee was fine but it was the muscles that were giving me the pain plus the diabetic neuropathy. I now do pool therapy which helps saw my surgeon 2 weeks ago had to go for lab work and now he prescribed prednisone. I started taking it today. He said that should make me feel better. I am always exhausted and things are used to take me five minutes to do take me 20 I am hoping that between the pool therapy and the prednisone I will have more energy.

Hello,
It sounds like you may have gotten vertigo. After both tkr which were April 12th and May 31st, 2023 it brought on my vertigo and it's extremely bad. I now have it in both ears. You might have to go to an ear,nose.throat doctor.

Thanks for the suggestion. It’s not vertigo, there’s no vestibular component or dizziness, just a near syncopal sensation & extreme fatigue. (I also saw an ENT doc early on, though I didn’t think it was vestibular). Thanks for the idea; I hope your vertigo resolves soon.

Don’t give up it does get better you just have to keep doing the foot work …. Like I mentioned I am year out of revision but I had my tkr year prior to revision dr put in 3 sizes to big I could not maintain any progress I would make I struggled for every degree , long story short went fort second opinion at I think 6 months out of tkr told me it was too big but honestly original dr told me it was my fault was not pushing hard enough , that my mind would not let me get through the pain my hip, headaches you name it he blamed it , but never once blamed himself for putting in wrong size……new dr scheduled surgery I had to wait the year I have to tell you what a wonderful experience ….. I was dreading it because. Knew the pain that was going to come and not end …. But woke from surgery no pain walked up steps the same day was amazing…. This recovery was so much better gain in flexion and extension I made I kept although I have only gotten to 100 flexion and off by 4 extension …. Before I was at flexion 65 extension don’t even remember my extension I know had tuff time walking ……I am telling you this is because it was hard I just keep exercising looked on this site …..I got a team on my side mfr therapist , an amazing chiropractor they helped me through all the rough times and still do …… I am always looking for new things to help with pain and stiffness because they will always be part of my life but I be damed if I will let it control my life …. I look for natural things I am not a take a pill for that like my tkr dr tried to do…. So don’t not give up keep on exercising And moving find a new dr get second third opinion , keep on looking for answers….

I am a 68 y/o male, in the gym almost every day, and had both knees replaced in 2022. Before the surgery, I did as much as possible to strengthen the muscles around my knee, and then aggressively followed all post-op exercises. I recovered in two months and never had any serious pain, other than immediately after surgery.

So I have no idea why a TKR would cause sleeplessness. I can make a guess. If patients do not do the pre and post surgery exercises, the knee will not heal properly (most likely a build up of scar tissue), the knee will hurt and cause loss of sleep.

I suppose a person could be allergic to the prostheses, but the chances of that are probably remote.

My advice is to get active and stay active, before and after surgery.

I am going to Mayo in three weeks. I need answers! Both of us were AOK before our surgeries. What happened?

I think that's a good idea. Please let me know how things go, I hope Mayo is able to give you a diagnosis, and help you recover fully. (I'm tempted to try Mayo as well, & probably will if I don't improve soon...

I will share what I learn!

Thank you. I'd also be interested to know how one obtains an "appointment" at Mayo Clinic. Good luck with everything!

TKR surgery doesn’t always go smoothly despite the patient doing everything they are supposed to do. I was very active before and after surgery, did all my exercises, rode stationary bike 2 to 3 times a day, & went to PT 3X a week. However, despite following all the rules, I’ve had serious problems, which no one can explain. Sometimes things just don’t work as they should, and whatever is causing the problem(s), cannot always be easily diagnosed.