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[Nestor]

Just wondering how many of you guys would recommend renting a hospital bed during recovery to help with leg pains at night? I'm about 5 weeks post op (stryde femur) and I haven't had a proper nights sleep since I started lengthening, the night pains are just crazy right now. I've tried everything from adjusting pillows under my knees to buying a special memory foam elevation pillow but nothing works. My doctor prescribed Bromazepam to help induce sleep but I still woke up around 3am and couldn't get back to sleep. My only thinking is maybe the way a hospital bed can adjust your body might at least ease the legs pains?

[Medium Drink Of Water]

I don't think that hospital beds can get your body into a comfortable position that's impossible to get from pillows.  If you can find a position that's comfortable with pillows, a special bed may be able to help you maintain that position better.  But I'd start by finding a comfortable position first to see if one even exists.  Could be a waste of money if you don't know what you're trying to get from the hospital bed.

[Nestor]

Thanks Medium. It's difficult to say for sure but the pain seems to subside a little when I sit upright in bed with lots of pillows behind my torso. I'm wondering if my leg position was adjusted like it was while in hospital if this would help any. I'd love to hear from anyone who's actually tried this, as you say I could end up spending a lot of money on something that might not even work.

[Great321]

How does the pain feel like if you can describe it?

[Ghostfish]

Hi Nestor
Sorry for your difficulty in sleeping. But, I am quite sure that there is no absolute solution for it.  Hospital bed can't reduce your pain or discomfort.  I am also sensitive for sleeping even before LL.  During lengthening, it was hard for me to fall asleep and
 couldn't sleep for more than 2-3 hr without waking up.  Everyday, I slept 3-4 hr rarely 5-6 hr and took a nap for 1 hr or so.  Other patients were more or less same, although I was the worst at sleeping.   

You need to stretch a lot to reduce tightness and pain.  Warm pad (I used an electric pad.) or putting your feet on warm water could help your blood circulation and muscle relax.  Tylenol-PM or other sleeping aid could be helpful, although that didn't work very well for me.  So hang in there!  CLL is not a walk in the park.  You can do it!

[JsElysianEagle]

I’m just a week behind you actually and I’ve got a hospital bed that I’ve rented. It helps being able to adjust it in various ways but in your case you need to tackle the pain first. Are you taking adequate painkillers?

[Nestor]

@great321  it's difficult to describe, it feels sort of like nerve pain that aches all the way down my legs. During the day it's fine, it only comes on at night when I'm in bed

@Ghostfish  thanks for the positive words! Yup it ain't no walk in the park that's for sure. The sleeping pattern you had sounds a lot like me, just a few broken up hours during the night then naps during the day to compensate which sucks coz it's time I'd rather be spending on stretching. That's one of the worst parts of it your days are taken away from you because you feel so groggy and tired and lack any real energy for doing exercises on your own. I have PT four times a week but  I feel it's not enough.

I use a hair dryer and blanket to keep my legs warm  I don't use any sleeping pills just Bromazepam which helps a little but only lasts a few hours. Man I can't wait till the lengthening is done!

@Js  Do you get any night pains at all or have you been lucky enough to dodge that bullet? The only painkillers I'm taking are Tramal and Lyrica for nerve pain, they don't seem very strong tbh. What position do you normally sleep in? Do you think the hospital bed helps?

[JsElysianEagle]

@Js  Do you get any night pains at all or have you been lucky enough to dodge that bullet? The only painkillers I'm taking are Tramal and Lyrica for nerve pain, they don't seem very strong tbh. What position do you normally sleep in? Do you think the hospital bed helps?

I've noticed that my leg pains do increase at night, to about a 3 or so without pain medication, so I usually pop 1 Norco before bed and that usually makes the pain go away. I also sometimes take a muscle relaxer (Flexeril). If I suddenly wake up in the middle of the night with pain, I take another Norco (it lasts about 4 or 5 hours each pill).

I don't know about Tramal, but perhaps you could try increasing the dose and seeing if that helps?

I honestly don't know if finding a sleeping position on a proper bed will make the pain go away, but I'm no doctor...

[TemakiSushi]

Are there any reasons that your doctor doesn’t prescribe oxycodone or morphine?

[Nestor]

@Js  I'd love to increase the dose but my doc has a strict schedule for taking the meds. If I feel pain during the night I just have to tough it out and wait till the next day until it's time to pop the pills. Does your doc allow you to take a pill whenever you feel pain? Man that would make my life so much easier 😆

It might just be my imagination but I find if I'm propped up in bed almost at a 90;degree angle the pain isn't quite as intense, that's why I was wondering about the hospital bed. Have you tried sleeping in a normal bed to see if there's any difference? Wanna be my guinea pig? Lol

@Temaki  Tramal is a type of opioid as far as I'm aware, I think it has less side effects apparently

[TemakiSushi]

Tramset or tramadol works well with some people but not all
Oxycodone is different from them, yes stronger opioid than them

In korea, CLL patients receive injections for acute pain attacks at night
Generally they use
Tramadol pills
Tramadol shots
Oxycodon pills ( 1 or 2 pills a day depending on person)
Pethidine shots( the strongest pain med they use)
In EU some get morphines

They change meds depending on the conditions
Some receive shots before PT so that they endure well during vigorous PT sessions

For nerve pain generally Lyrica and vitaminB12 combination used worldwide
But  if it doesn’t work then looks like some need  neurotin gabapentine for strong nerve pain attacks

Hope you get pain managed well
Yes sleeping is important
I think it overweighs these risks of pain meds
Meds are temporary thing anyways and very well monitored so that there’s no addictions

In the hospitals where they don’t prescribe proper pain meds, some patients got PTSD after getting prolonged severe pains post CLL surgery
That’s no good

[Lalbadshah]

i personally think it is a very good idea (i had thought abt it) and I disagree with other commentor who says you can achieve same thing with pillow, in my experience you can't there is definite difference, one can be controlled as you wish u can never do that kind of thing with just pillows.

[Great321]

@great321  it's difficult to describe, it feels sort of like nerve pain that aches all the way down my legs. During the day it's fine, it only comes on at night when I'm in bed

That's weird but I'm pretty sure that it will go away like every single pain I had so far! What kind of mattress are you lying on? Because I had muscle pain for 3 months and it turned out that it was the mattress that had caused it because as soon as I lay on my own mattress at home the pain vanished. Funnily my muscle pain was also less present when I was propped up in bed at a 90 degree angle. Since when do you have those nerve pains?

[JsElysianEagle]

@Js  I'd love to increase the dose but my doc has a strict schedule for taking the meds. If I feel pain during the night I just have to tough it out and wait till the next day until it's time to pop the pills. Does your doc allow you to take a pill whenever you feel pain? Man that would make my life so much easier 😆

It might just be my imagination but I find if I'm propped up in bed almost at a 90;degree angle the pain isn't quite as intense, that's why I was wondering about the hospital bed. Have you tried sleeping in a normal bed to see if there's any difference? Wanna be my guinea pig? Lol

@Temaki  Tramal is a type of opioid as far as I'm aware, I think it has less side effects apparently

I'm not a doctor but that sounds really rough man - not being able to take your painkillers when you're actually in pain. I agree with TemakiSushi - unless you have an addiction problem or some other medical condition preventing it, you shouldn't hold back on painkillers since it will make PT and recovery that much more difficult. When I was in the hospital one of the nurses explained to me that the lower the pain, the better the recovery and it's better to avail of the needed painkillers to keep you focused and working hard in PT.

Not in any rush to try a normal bed anytime soon lol

[Nestor]

@Temaki Thanks for the info! I must go buy some vitamin B supplements. Yeah shots before PT sessions would be awesome, there's a few stretches I find excruciating 

@ Lalbad Yeah I agree, I just think it's not possible to get the same positions in a regular bed no matter how many pillows you use

@Great The mattress I have is very soft, not sure if that's a good or bad thing for this condition. The night pains started about 5 days after I started lengthening and haven't stopped since.

@Js I've spoken with my doctor and he advised to take a painkiller if I wake up during the night, I've done that the past two nights but hasn't made any difference, not sure if the painkillers are too weak or if my system has just gotten used to them that they don't have the same effect. I think you're right my PT has gotten a lot more difficult lately mainly due to lack of sleep, I actually fell asleep one day with the physio I was so tired