Night Pain: Using a knee wedge after total knee replacement?

I am 6 weeks post op. I still cannot sleep in bed, only the recliner. It is just too painful. Is anyone else like this? I am so frustrated. I deal with depression too so this is making that worse. I sleep well in the recliner. I just want my life back to normal.

I put a pillow under my ankle and used the ice machine when I couldn’t sleep.
The ice machine really helped. I found if I bent my knee and then extended moving my knee a little helped with the middle of the night stiffness and pain.
Hang in there, 6 weeks is early. Hopefully, you are not back at work and can rest during the day.

Thank you for answering. I will try your suggestions. It makes me feel better that you think 6 weeks isn't that long.

Well, now you know a little secret about recovering from joint replacement surgery. It is a BIG deal. When the surgeons talk about 6-8 weeks "recovery" they mean the incision is healed, the implant is knitting into the bone, the muscles, ligaments and nerves have begun to heal.
What they don't talk about is how unhappy all those body parts are at being manhandled, that muscles and tendons get weak and stiff, there is a lot of bruising inside and out, and that nerves take a very long time to heal. So ice, ice, ice, move the knee as much as you can, elevate I when you are sitting or lying down, and control the pain with tylenol or ibuprofen.
After shoulder surgery in October, I iced for 4 months, alternated ibuprofen and tylenol for a couple months (I'm still using one or the other a couple times every day) and I'm just getting ready to start the final phase of my PT.

Be kind to yourself! And keep moving.

You are early in your recovery phase. Sleeping in a recliner may be bending your knee too much. It can get stuck in that bend. You need to try to flatten your knee as much as possible (0* extension in Physical Therapy). This position was very hard for me from the get go.
And I was told to sleep on my back to keep the knee straight as it was healing. Ice machine, eye cover perhaps, pain medication as ordered. It's the hardest surgery to recover from and truly it takes up to a year to recover!

Thank you for that reminder. I know I need to be less hard on myself. But I think my family thinks because I don't walk with a cane anymore, it can't be all that bad. I guess it makes me feel guilty.

I try to not use a pillow under my knee ever, until I want to fall asleep. I'm going to try the bed tonight and just take my pain med so that I'm not laying there for hours in pain. Thank you for your response. I really appreciate the support!

I did not realize how important this was- as my knee hurt so badly fully extended. I ended up having to have an MUA at 11 weeks (manipulation under anesthesia) as scar tissue had built up so much, hindering extension and flexion. If and when I have my second knee done, I will be reevaluating all that I do. I thought I was following post-op instructions and doing as much physical therapy as recommended.
Best wishes.

I was told not to use a pillow of any sort with the knee bent. I would use pillows to elevate my knee when icing (every 90 minutes for 20 minutes - even at night) for the first 6 weeks but never bent. I walked faithfully throughout the house every couple of hours during the day for exercise and to prevent any stiffness. As soon as I was done walking...iced again. The first 4 weeks for pain, I took the RX meds every other dose, saving them to make sure I had them for night & make them last longer. I alternated with Tylenol and Aleve every other dose. At six months I started to feel pretty good and at one year I felt back to "normal".

Thank you for your well wishes. It sounds like you had a bad experience. I've slept in my bed the past three nights, but I'm taking pain meds to keep the pain away.