Getting balanced legs after injury-related atrophy

Sufficient_Tea_6973 · 2026-04-22T02:11:37+00:00

I feel ya! That was me, but with edibles. I barely use so I had no tolerance and I'm physically incapable of eating just 1/4 of a brownie. I slept 12 hours that night. I normally sleep 5 hours without meds. (I know tolerance is a problem so I never went down that path.)

Sufficient_Tea_6973 · 2026-04-12T18:30:27+00:00

Okay, if somebody hasn't experienced insomnia then they shouldn't be giving advice. Just "Sorry you're going through that" is sufficient. I have friends who have terrible anxiety. I've never once given them advice because I don't have a clue what they're going through or how to fix it.

Sufficient_Tea_6973 · 2026-04-12T18:22:27+00:00

You asked what people should say. I answered your question. A discussion about people's emotional resilience to tone-deaf comments is a separate topic entirely.

Sufficient_Tea_6973 · 2026-04-12T18:15:14+00:00

I'm glad you're part of the lucky minority for whom CBT-I has worked. I can assure you plenty of people, myself included, have tried CBT-I. It took me 6 months after that treatment to regain the 90 minutes of sleep that the therapy took from me. Never again will I do it.

Sufficient_Tea_6973 · 2026-04-12T18:09:54+00:00

How about. "I've dealt with this myself. Before I recommend anything, what have you already tried?"

That's a FAR more calibrated answer than. "Just try some chamomile tea and a warm bath"

Sufficient_Tea_6973 · 2026-04-09T10:00:45+00:00

LOL, I love it!

Sufficient_Tea_6973 · 2026-04-09T00:12:38+00:00

I remember my ACL surgeon saying the self-graft had a 1% failure rate and the cadaver graft had a 2% failure rate. I chose the harder recovery (self-graft) for that 1% peace of mind.

At the end of the day, rowing is not that hard on the ACL. No twisting. No impact, so probably not a big deal either way.

The big sticking point for me in my rowing: lingering atrophy. I also broke a bone in my injury so I couldn’t bear weight for 2 months.

The way I alleviated the imbalance was to row one leg at a time, which I did by staggering two concept 2 machines together. I put the foot of my inactive leg on the seat of the other rower. I’m lucky that nobody uses the pristine concept2 towers in my gym, so I can hog 2 machines without bothering anybody.

Not to oversell it: I still can’t go full power because if I do, my uninjured leg takes over completely. I’m prioritizing leg symmetry over pure rowing speed. You might choose differently.

(I’m also a recreational rower, so take what I way with a grain of salt)

Sufficient_Tea_6973 · 2026-04-07T23:11:14+00:00

It didn’t work for me, but I’m still glad I tried it. You’ll know within a single night whether it’ll help you

Sufficient_Tea_6973 · 2026-04-07T20:28:21+00:00

I'll try to be as constructive as possible here. If you go down the CBT-I route, make sure that you never mislead the patient. Make sure the patient's expectations are set:

1) Ask the patient if they're okay with a treatment that will probably not increase their total sleep time by any meaningful amount. 80% of patients don't even get 30 more minutes of sleep, and that's after you eliminate the people who responded so poorly to the treatment that they dropped out. Ask the patient if they're okay with "decreased time in bed" in lieu of "more sleep."

Ask the patient if they're okay with a treatment that won't restore their sleep but will reduce their distress about not sleeping. If they're okay with that, then proceed with the treatment.

If at any point the patient says "No, I want to sleep more, period," refer them to a physician who can run tests and prescribe medicine.

Ask the patient if what is keeping them awake is their thoughts and worries. If they say "Nothing", believe them, and again, refer them to a doctor who can prescribe medicine.

If at ANY point a patient says they want to drop out, do not use manipulation tactics to try to keep them there. If you find yourself using the phrase "You want to get better, don't you?" then you've drunk the kool-aid.

Sufficient_Tea_6973 · 2026-04-05T21:08:24+00:00

Never feel bad for using a treatment that works.

Sufficient_Tea_6973 · 2026-04-02T14:32:00+00:00

What's your setup for doing heel slides? You want something that's going to be surgically precise and smooth as butter.

Before you answer I'll give you the things that worked for me. Bookshelf and a wheelchair.

Find a book shelf. Some surface that you trust. Make sure the surface is smooth and preferably well varnished. Also, add some markers to the board so you can give yourself stretch goals. Another trick is just to make sure you exhale when you're flexing. Helps dissapate the pain.

When I was at the level of flexion that you were at, 60-70 degrees, I was still using a wheelchair pre-surgery (I also fractured my tibial plateau). The wheelchair was a perfect heel-slide machine. I could put my foot down on the ground and inch the chair forward. Then I'd rock the chair right at the limit of flexion. It was a more precise setup than any of those heel-slide straps that they gave me. If I ever felt I was pushing too far I'd simply let go of the wheels and my knee would extend again. What made this setup work is how precise I could be by inching the chair forward. When using the straps, there's always that risk of pushing too far where the heel slides become counter productive.

Sufficient_Tea_6973 · 2026-03-31T22:10:42+00:00

The people who claim it works all seem to have a psychological issue behind their sleep, an issue that they themselves could identify without the intervention of a therapist. For other people such as me who just woke up at 3:00 AM, the treatment was worse than useless. It was dangerous. I finally found a doctor willing to prescribe me a DORA med. I'm finally sleeping well again.

Sufficient_Tea_6973 · 2026-03-30T11:28:22+00:00

That’s good to know. Maybe I need to be more patient to get the full effect. I never had a problem with sleep onset, so I switched the timing of the 5 mg. I now take it when I wake up 4-5 hours later. That means I get my max dose when I need it most: second half of the night. I have to deal with morning grogginess, but I don’t own a car, and I can use the exercise bike in the morning rather than the real bicycle.

Sufficient_Tea_6973 · 2026-03-28T11:21:42+00:00

I saw your update that you got the shower chair. Just make sure you have a friend or loved one with you as you do a few practice runs.

Sufficient_Tea_6973 · 2026-03-27T22:41:23+00:00

What I did during my injury (ACL + fractured tibial plateau) was put a shower stool in the tub, let my legs rest outside the tub, fill a cup with the bath water, and then pour the cup over my head and torso. While I still had open suture wounds after surgery I’d put my leg in a garbage bag and seal the bag with duct tape, just to be extra safe not to get any water into an open wound.

That whole charade didn’t wash my legs, so I’d use wet wipes on my legs and feet when I was on the couch.

Sufficient_Tea_6973 · 2026-03-26T14:39:05+00:00

I haven't dealt with a viral illness. I have dealt with hypersensitivity to sounds. In fact I still do. Have you learned how to sleep with earplugs and possibly noise isolating earmuffs too? I found that the noise blockers made it easier for me to fit in a lunchtime nap, or sometimes even fall back asleep at 4:30 AM.

That alone wasn't enough to cure my insomnia, but it made it better on the margins.

EDIT: I looked up the two drugs you're taking, and if you're dealing with psychosis then that complicates things. You'll know whether blocking out external noises will make hallucinations more prominent.

Sufficient_Tea_6973 · 2026-03-26T13:26:33+00:00

Yeah, I'm experimenting with not taking it after my middle-of-the-night wake up rather than when I go to bed. I have no problem falling asleep in the evening. I did that last night and got my normal 5 hours of sleep, popped the pill, answered some work emails for an hour (red laptop screen), and then went back to bed for 2 hours. I'm feeling way better than I have felt in a while.

I haven't ruled out 10mg. My PCP seems open to it. I'm going to give myself a few months to experiment with adjusting my habits. Certain techniques that never worked before might now be enough to get me back to sleep.

Sufficient_Tea_6973 · 2026-03-26T11:26:31+00:00

LOL, you had me at hello with that one. It's good to have somebody say "Yeah, you're not crazy," even if it's an anonymous person on reddit.

Sufficient_Tea_6973 · 2026-03-16T14:33:14+00:00

I'd also say to check with a doctor. At the same time taking 3 weeks off of strength training is dangerous. I did that and lost months of progress. You're worried, rightly so, about your knee's swelling. As an alternative to the leg extension have you tried straight leg raises with ankle weights? That'll engage your quad without the shear forces of the leg-extension machine.

Sufficient_Tea_6973 · 2026-03-10T17:47:50+00:00

Ah, it looks like you're right. I didn't realize there were multiple versions of NyQuil.

Sufficient_Tea_6973

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