am i doing to much

ok ladies, i need your help again. today is 3 days postop and i have a question. i know that we are supposed to be resting. but i'm having a hard time. i know that we are supposed to walk as that will help with recovery. my problem is that i can't seem to sit still. normally this is not a problem for me. i am the kind of person that used to spend every minuite i could sleeping, i love to sleep its almost my favorite thing to do. i was kinda excited about recovery because i figured that ment that i could sleep all i wanted. but i can't, its not that i cant sleep. i get up in the morning and feel o.k, not great just o.k. then i usually get on the phone,(i'm on the phone alot) and instead of just kicking back while i'm on the phone, i find myself up and pacing. i can't sit still, i just walk around the house on the phone. when i do sit its not for very long and i have only taken 2 short naps since i got out of the hospital. don't get me wrong, i wouldn't be worried about this if all was well, i still have pain, i definately can not skip the perkoset. when i wake up i am swollen but by the time i make it to bed i look like i'm ready to deliver and i usually feel alot worse at bed time then i do when i get up. do you think that i'm up on my feet to much? or is all of this normal. should i spend more time in bed with my feet up? because if thats what u say then thats what i will do.
i'm also having a few problems telling visiting friends to kind of back off. they want to come and see me, but its always late, thats when i seem to feel my worst and the visits arn't very short, but i'm not the kind of person who can tell them to leave or just not to come at all. what should i do. i know that my recovery is what is the most important here but i don't want to hurt any feelings. i know someone will help me out. thanks for listening,
big hugs,
nocluegirl

I am Kim. 3 days PRE-op. I have percoset that I was given by my knee surgeon and it makes me hyper. I took TWO,tonight, a dose that normally would put a MAN out, let alone a woman my average ht and wt, and with little to no effect other than hyperness. So maybe it's the meds.

Also, you have to figure you had a big build up to this life altering event and it can definitely hype you up.

I suggest melatonin (taken at bedtime, 1/2 hour before) to get yourself regulatd in sleep pattern, it does help. But seriously, I took two of those percosets at midnight and I am sitting here 3 hours later ONLINE, my legs bouncing up and down, all fidgety. I am nervous about my upcoming surgery, but not THAT nervous.

Maybe you could switch pain meds. THere are plenty of em out there. My doc said he was gonna send me home with a med that is a combo of demerol and anti-nausea. Pursue this with your doctor's associate on call this weekend. You do
need to rest. Everybody says so.

I am type A all the way and have been proclaiming to all that after my TVH (next Tues) I fully expect to be working, normally, starting Jan 8. Everybody but a small few have outright LAUGHED IN MY FACE! Tis folly, say they.

Try lavender oil, get it in roll-on form or some essential oils, it's great for relaxation. Put it on your pulse points,your pillow, your wrists, etc. Do your best to rest, and feel free to write, vent, etc. I may end up having questions of you, since you are now Post op. Where do you live? IT's 3 am here and I have to get up at 7:30, yet here I am typing online. Duh! Keep in touch.
Kim/SpriteFMY@aol.com (email address follows that forward slash)
Fort Myers, FL
TVH 12/12/2000
[Edited by SpriteFMY on 12-09-2000]

I agree with Kim. I think it's probably your pain meds. Call the Dr. and see if you can be switched to Darvaset. I have the same problem with Benedryl. For most people, they tend to get very tired when they take it, for me it makes me hyper and I can't sleep or even sit still.

> and instead of just kicking back
> while i'm on the phone, i find
> myself up and pacing. i can't sit
> still, i just walk around the house
> on the phone. when i do sit its not
> for very long and i have only taken
> 2 short naps since i got out of the
> hospital.

I recognize that state of mind.

How much Mtn. Dew are you drinking?

But seriously, maybe you're metabolizing caffeine differently due to the anesthesia, or some meds you are on. If I drink coffee, plus take sudafed for congestion, my heart races, I get shakey... Maybe try cutting back on the Dew a little and see if you can get some rest.

I understand what your trying to say. that maybe the percoset is making me hyper or maybe its the caffine. but i'm sorry to say thats not the case. the percoset makes me terribly sleepy and on top of it i have to take it with bennadryl wich also knocks me out. don't get me wrong i am tired after i take all of these pills, but i seem to be fighting the sleep. and about the mt.dew, well pre op i drank about a 6 pack daily, with coffee to boot. ive been doing it for so long that it doesn't phase me. but ive been trying to stay away from the carbonation so ive cut down to 1 a day. so those were all good answers but i think its just me, i don't know why i'm being so stubborn about this. thanks,
nocluegirl

Nocluegirl, it's not only the sisters who are telling you you are doing too much: it's also you're body. it's very important for you that you do find a way to re-charge your batteries NOW, when there's still time. You've only got one chance to heal, and it's now. Please don't blow it!!!

If this persists, talk to your doctor: it could be, as I and others suspect, your meds or the caffeine in your diet. But it could also be your hormones or a delayed reaction to the anesthesia (sp?), or something else that could be causing the restlessness. I know that I'm really bad where antibiotics are concerned: they make me very hyper.

Take care and try to rest!!!