Knee Replacements, Super Obesity And Exercise, ?'s

[meyouus 415]

Hello,

I am 45, I am over 350lbs. , restarting my Lapband journey next week.

My question: I have a comorbitity of osteoarthritis, it got bad enough that I had two total knee replacements. One a year ago, one 4 months ago. I have exercises that I do to keep the knee's moving smoothly, but am having a hard time at that. I go to the gym 3-4 days a week and ride a recumbant bicycle for a 1/2 hour. Adding five minutes each week, slowly. The other exercise I tried to do was the eliptical. I last about three to five minutes on that. It KILLS my thighs to the point where I can't walk when walking is still hard for me. My surgeon does not want me to use a treadmill. And these were the two exercises they suggested. I am fighting to get stronger and will not give up, as my knees will not last as long if I am this heavy. The main reason I am returning from a long absense from Lapband Life. Plus, I don't want to have a stroke, or die.

Has anyone on here ever had total knee replacements?

If so, if you were morbidly or super morbidly obese, what exercises did you do to recover?

[running_scared 125]

I would stick to non-weight baring things, like the recumbent bike.

[colleenjoy 104]

do you have access to Water aerobics classes? When my arthritis was flaring up it was the only exorcise I could tolerate. I found a class in a warm water therapeutic pool. It was great!

[meyouus 415]

Thanks!

There's a YMCA being built in my area of the burbs, I'm hoping to be able to afford that. I haven't worked in a year, I am WAY out of shape. The pool would be ideal....ahhh...

[Nacol 76]

I just had those corticosteroid shots in both knees and I handled Water aerobics really well tonight. Dr says i have patella femoral syndrome so no squats lunges deep knee bends.

[corrykidsmom 4]

Hi, Im new to this whole blog thing. I had my lap band done on april 2nd 2012. In may of 2010 I had a cartiledge transplant done bc I am too young for a total knee replacement. Now, before that surgery I was running 3-4 miles a few times a week. It was a great stress relief for me. now I am only able to do the ellipitcal. I found that it takes time to build your endurance up and to start slowly and also not all ellipticals are the same. find the right fit as far as stride goes. Patience is key, as I know my weight didnt just appear over night, the road to exercising and building your time up will take some time. Water aerobics is great for your joints also. I've actually started the c25k on the elliptical. I can never run again but on the machine from hell I can work out like i used to without the added stress on my knees. Hang in there.

[meyouus 415]

Thanks corrykidsmom,

Welcome to LBT! I hope you like it around here, I do.

I don't know anything about cartilage transplants, but it sounds painful. I'm 45, but my knees were bone on bone, no choice. Oh well. But I do try the eliptical. You are obviously younger than me, and you started out in great shape, which really helps in the recovery phase. I wish you well.

How do I get through the wicked, disabling thigh pain? It's such a smooth machine, I should be able to do it but can't. I don't mind some pain, but disabling? I am WAYYY out of shape, do you know of any knee friendly exercises to get my thighs to be strong enough for the eliptical? I really love the feel of the machine and really want to do it.

There's a YMCA being built near my home, I will be joining it for the pool exercise, but until then I just ride my recumbent bike like crazy and do my home exercises. Any suggesstions on building up thigh strength would be SO appreciated. Thanks.

[PattyGirl66 1,243]

PKB, I had a total hip replaced several years ago when I weight 269. As you can see from my ticker what I ballooned up to. First off, when we weigh this much it is very difficult to exercise with new joint. I have to have my other hip replaced as well and the doctor won't touch me at this weight. Just one of the reasons I am having weight loss surgery. I do Water exercises, stretch, and if you want a machine I can tell you one that works pretty good for me without joint pain. Gazelle Edge, at Walmart for only $99.00. Very easy to use and easy to storage away. The max. weight says 250, but believe me it can hold me up with nooo problem at all. I only do between 15-20 mins and I don't have that joint pain I usually have if I were walking a lot or exercise with heavy impact.

Best of luck to you, the weight we lose will benefit us greatly for our health and our joints, (especially our new ones) they have to last you know???

[corrykidsmom 4]

Im 39 yrs old and have always been active. Just liked to eat and drink too much, and when stressed I turned to food. I had my knee surgery right before my 37 th bday. As a critical care nurse, I would've rather had a total knee vs the transplant d/t I had to be in a wheel chair and completely nonweight bearing for 6 weeks. At least with a TKR you can get up and move sooner. But my surgeon said bc of the degeneration in my knee, I needed to do this surgery first. I have the knee of an 80 year old.

Some exercises to help with thigh pain are leg lifts. Just lie in bed and start on your back or you can do them standing, just start with 10 each leg, then turn on your side and raise your leg, (Hip abductors), lunges forward and sideways and squats.These all can be done in the pool too! The YMCA is great but our prices just kept raising and raising I stopped going. But I am lucky bc my sister has a pool. I had issues w/ my ITB band after my surgery which was super painful and almost made it impossible to walk. If it wasnt for my little girl who is autisitic I wouldnt be where I am today. It took me almost a year to build up enough strentgh to go up and down stairs again.

Hang in there. Start slow and gradually increase reps and time. Ibuprofen is a great friend of mine also! I normally take a couple after exercising to ease some the joint pain.

[FLHgal 68]

I had my total knee at 270 pounds, it was a struggle to recover.

My husband just had total knee and thanks to the Lapband on 11-29-11, his recovery is amazing.

As I have lost weight 75 pounds my knee is working better than ever and my other knee will remain until later.

I would check with a PT and see what they suggest for rehabbing a knee when you are obese. My rehab at 270 is far different from my husband who now weighs 220. Wishing you the best.

[honk 780]

For the Y I would contact them and see if they have a special program for low income people. The Y I used to go to was about 30 a month.

At 38 I had knee pain that was so bad I could barely do grocery shopping. I went to a knee surgeon who in a not very polite way said that I was too young for a knee replacement and that the pain would not go away until I lost weight.

So I embarked on an attempt to loose weight. I joined a gym and did lap swimming. Really the only exercise I could do. I can't do recumbant bike bad angle for my knee.

In order to swim longer I use a snorkle/goggles/ and a Water proof mp3 player. By modifying diet and swimming 7 days a week I lost about 30 pounds (starting weight 365). This did not prevent me from having a stroke however at 39.

Prior to lap band, again with diet and swimming I lost another 50 pounds. Post op I've lost another 70. The difference in my knee is like night and day. I now do about a 3.5 mile walk daily plus an hour swimming/water aerobics.

[meyouus 415]

Im 39 yrs old and have always been active. Just liked to eat and drink too much, and when stressed I turned to food. I had my knee surgery right before my 37 th bday. As a critical care nurse, I would've rather had a total knee vs the transplant d/t I had to be in a wheel chair and completely nonweight bearing for 6 weeks. At least with a TKR you can get up and move sooner. But my surgeon said bc of the degeneration in my knee, I needed to do this surgery first. I have the knee of an 80 year old.

Some exercises to help with thigh pain are leg lifts. Just lie in bed and start on your back or you can do them standing, just start with 10 each leg, then turn on your side and raise your leg, (Hip abductors), lunges forward and sideways and squats.These all can be done in the pool too! The YMCA is great but our prices just kept raising and raising I stopped going. But I am lucky bc my sister has a pool. I had issues w/ my ITB band after my surgery which was super painful and almost made it impossible to walk. If it wasnt for my little girl who is autisitic I wouldnt be where I am today. It took me almost a year to build up enough strentgh to go up and down stairs again.

Hang in there. Start slow and gradually increase reps and time. Ibuprofen is a great friend of mine also! I normally take a couple after exercising to ease some the joint pain.

Wow, sounds like you had a tough go at it! I was in a wheelchair while in rehab for a week, and hated it. I can't imagine being in one for six weeks. With the degeneration of your knee, after surgery is it better? I hope you don't have to have a total one day, but if you do, you sound like nothing keeps you down for long, you'll be able to work through it!

The exercise you suggested are the one's I was doing in the beginning of recovery. I had 3 months of PT and didn't think those old exercises would be very beneficial, but if you think they would be, I'll re-try them! Anything to get back on that eliptical.

My "Y" is 40.00 a month. A lot for me, as I haven't worked in over a year. But I'm working on that.

I hope your little girl keeps you moving forward, I'm glad she got you this far! That's patience, hard work and a lotta love there.

Thanks for responding, see you around....

[meyouus 415]

I had my total knee at 270 pounds, it was a struggle to recover.

My husband just had total knee and thanks to the Lapband on 11-29-11, his recovery is amazing.

As I have lost weight 75 pounds my knee is working better than ever and my other knee will remain until later.

I would check with a PT and see what they suggest for rehabbing a knee when you are obese. My rehab at 270 is far different from my husband who now weighs 220. Wishing you the best.

Thanks for the well wishes! It helps me to know that it does get a little easier. Aside from not wanting to die from super morbid obesity, one of my main reasons to use my lap band again was because I know my knee's will last longer if they don't have as much weight and stress on them. My PT and Surgeon only offered up three types of exercise for me (recumbent bicycle, eliptical and swimming). I'm working on all three.

SO happy to hear you and your husband are doing so well both with your knee's and with losing weight. May you have success for a long time to come!

[Kmom2 12]

I'm 47, have had a partial replacement (right leg) and a total replacement (left leg). I am walking on an underwater treadmill and a wellness center near my home. I have lost 50lbs, but want more off as the partial replacement has to become a total replacement. I want as much weight off as possible before that surgery happens. Water exercise is the best I think. Good luck to you dear!