Extreme fatigue 1 month post hip replacement surgery

@walk4life Welcome to Mayo Connect, where we can share experiences and offer support to each other. I am guessing from your name that you are accustomed to being an active person, and this has really got you down!
First, let me tell you that your body does not recognize any surgery as easy - it is an assault. One month out is early days for recovery - remember, you had skin, muscle, nerves and bones cut and manipulated. On top of that you were anesthetized, lost blood, and were possibly still recovering from a nasty virus.

Please let your body recover, and be gentle on yourself. When I had my first hip replacement surgery, I thought "Oh, this is easy. " - was back at work at my home in 2 weeks. Then, I had the second one done at 6 weeks. WOW! I felt like I was run over by a big truck. Had to have 2 transfusions, was sleeping 12-14 hours a day, and yes, even unloading the dishwasher was a major feat. My PCP was furious at the surgeon - said no way should two major (non-emergency) surgeries have been done that close together, because your body has not healed. It was 3 months before I could go back to the office, and 3 more before I began to get my energy back.

Since then I have had many more surgeries, and found it takes at least 6 weeks to begin to feel well afterwards - that is for small ones.

So, I will say again, be patient and let your body heal. Have your PCP continue to monitor you, and do your therapy. Give yourself permission to be "lazy" - naps are restorative. Increase your activity slowly - your heart rate increase probably comes from being "deconditioned" by the one-two punch of Covid followed by surgery. If your hip or leg hurt, resort to our old buddy the ice pack. If your fatigue continues beyond about 3 months, talk to the doc about the possibility you may have long-Covid.

Please let me know how you are doing over the next few days/weeks.
Sue

If nothing is wrong, but you still feel tired - maybe it is the impact of the trauma of the surgery. Do not forget that it is still a big thing. The surgery might be less invasive as 20 years ago, but still. Give yourself time to heal. Do not feel guilty that the healing is maybe slower for you than for other people. You will get better!

Thanks for the responses. I will follow up with my pcp if the fatigue continues.

@walk4life, you may also be interested in the helpful posts in this related discussion:
- post surgical fatigue and lightheadedness: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/post-surgical-fatigue-and-lightheadedness/

Thanks for the link. I did read those and found it helped. I think since I have been so healthy I underestimated the effects of surgery on my body. I am hoping that I will see improvement soon

Make sure you are not anemic from surgery which will make one extra tired. I became anemic after both of my joint replacements and overtime eating raisins high in iron and other iron rich foods got it up enough to be in normal range. We also do so much therapy and exercise post op which can add to tiredness
Good luck

I also had anemia and a transfusion after my hip replacement. My blood levels were back to normal within a month or two but I think my body was still recovering from the anemia some months longer. The anemia plus the big surgery just take a longer time to recover from.

I had my hip replaced 08/19/2020. I developed a very light rosy colored rash. Wound was just pouring drainage. September 24, 2020 I was readmitted and they washed out wound and replaced parts. They said it was saph and would require six or more weeks of iv antibiotics. I needed a blood transfusion and I was anemic and they said I was malnourished to. That part I just don’t know if I believe. But anyway they gave me a feeding tube and had me eating three means a day or as much as I could anyway. Then I was put in a nursing home for thirty day I. Order to get the iv antibiotics. Thirty pounds more and a month later I got to go home with a yearz worth of antibiotics to take too.
It was a long journey but do whatever they tell you so you can get to
Feeling better. Remember it can always be worse. I’ll be praying for you!

I did not receive a blood transfusion. My hemoglobin was 7.5 after surgery so they kept me overnight . The next day it was 7.8 so they kept me a second night to monitor. The ICU doctor that they consult with told me they use 6 as the cut off for a transfusion. I now wish they had given me blood. I was discharged with instructions to take iron and have my PCP check labs in a week. I guess my recovery is just taking longer than I anticipated.

Oh my goodness, what an experience. I am glad that you are feeling better. Thank you for sharing. You are right , it could always be worse. My physical therapist tells me that I am progressing well. I go back to the surgeon next week for my 6 week follow up.