Postoperative Neuropathy
Postoperative Neuropathy – I has it. There’s a large roving dead spot of no feeling in my lower leg since the surgery. surrounding it, and radiating out, are patches of hypersensitivity. Anything against these patches, even something as thin as a bed sheet, feels like rubbing sandpaper over a freshly skinned knee. It makes wearing pants, and long johns (kind of a necessity here right now) annoying, and it makes sleep nearly impossible.
It seems to be the worst at night. Right now I estimate I’m getting 2 hours or less of sleep at each go before waking up. Sometimes it’s the knee waking me up, as I can easily irritate it changing positions in my sleep, but most often it’s this nerve pain. Once awake it’s difficult to go back to sleep. On a typical night I’m in bed by 9, but not asleep until midnight or later. Then I’m waking up at least once around 2. If I’m able to fall back asleep I reawaken around 4. Usually that’s it for me, and I just get up. This morning, for the first time, I was able to fall back asleep around 4:30 and my alarm woke me at my usual 5:30 time.
I’m trying different methods to combat all this. I’ve had chamomile tea and taken valerian and other supposedly sleep inducing herbs. I’m loathe to take a prescription drug, as I’m finally off of the ridiculous number I was on post-op. Last night I tried a compression sock over the leg, thinking that maybe having something on it that isn’t moving around causing irritation might help. It seemed to, at least a little, though this morning my foot hurts. I may have to cut the toe out of one of the compression socks and see if that helps.
It’s all very frustrating, as it’s severely effecting my focus, attention and motivation during the day. I’m not only constantly in varying levels of pain, I’m also always tired.
There’s no doubt that they cut through some nerves during the procedure. They also moved some around – out of the way – during it. There’s also still plenty of inflammation going on. My hope is that this will all improve over time.