side effects of surgery

[gormenghast]

I had a total knee replacement a week ago and if I'd known how rough I was going to feel I wonder if I would have gone ahead.The knee is fine if a bit sore which is to be expected, but I have appalling nausea, am dry retching until it hurts my throat, depression and tearfulness which means I have no interest in anything.The ward assure me that these are common symptoms, but I would like to know how other people have coped. Sorry for being such a drag

Ive known a few people with knee replacements and none have had depression. Are the medics suggesting some kind of allergic response to your new knee? .

Might it be the effect of the anaesthetic? I've had a few ops and two of them made me feel down, paranoid that everyone else had millions of cards /visitors whereas I had a few, sick over the side of the bed etc. The nurses said it was a common after affect of the anaesthesia and it did pass.

(Didn't have it on my most recent ops, perhaps they used a different gas mix or something)

Nausea is a common side effect of opiate painkillers such as morphine, codeine, tramadol, etc. Tramadol can also cause dysphoria, so you can feel detached, depressed and emotionally numb.
I'm a retired anaesthetist, and did virtually all my knee replacement patients under spinal rather than general anaesthesia, as it provides much better post op pain relief and fewer side effects. But even if you did have a GA, it would all be out of your system well before a week had elapsed.
The surgery itself causes a hormonal stress response, which can make you feel weepy and run down for a few days post op - I think you may have been suffering a combination of this, plus effects of your painkillers.
A knee replacement is a major op, and is usually more painful than a hip replacement, with the pain taking weeks or a few months to resolve. But once it settles, you will be feeling a lot better than you did when you had an arthritic knee joint in constant pain.