Hello and good afternoon
I am 76 and have osteoarthritis in my left hip and am waiting on a rather long list to have it repaired.
Unfortunately I also have atrial fibrillation and a pacemaker which means that I have to be allocated to the main hospital where there are ICU facilities available. Otherwise I could probably go to the local Nuffield which would be a lot quicker!
I do pilates every day which the surgeon says will slow down the progress, but I need a painkiller beforehand. This exercise means that I can still get upstairs OK, and my pain is mainly at night.
I have co-codamol and paracetamol for pain but unfortunately I cannot tolerate co-codamol at night as it gives me bad dreams. Alternatives are limited as I have to take blood-thinners because of the AF. So I am wondering if anybody can suggest anything else which I could talk to my doctor about which would help at night.
I would also appreciate any information about special toilet seats which I understand are available from somewhere.
Thanks for any help.
Comments
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Good afternoon @MikeM and welcome to the forum.
I see that you are waiting on surgery to repair your arthritic hip, but are delayed because of other health concerns. These latter also impact on your tolerance to painkillers.
Here are some links to information on our website, which I hope you will find informative:
I have found this on the NHS website:
There are also some useful tips here:
Good luck and I hope your wait fir treatment is not too long.
Tom
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Hi @MikeM
Lovely to meet you, Tom has given you lots to consider there. I have no idea if this drug is possible for you or whether it would help at all. I take amitriptyline, only at night, it acts as a muscle relaxant as well as anti depression. This is very helpful for me. I also have a routine I follow which really does help me get to sleep. I have an electric blanket which is relaxing in itself, when I'm in bed I go through my muscles relaxing every one in order, then I put on a podcast (Melvin Bragg and in our time are especially soporific, and very interesting if you end up hearing it all the way through). See if you can work out a routine for you, I'm sure it will help.
xx
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