Fibromyalgia Support Group

Does anyone else have really bad pain in your knees? Mine is on the inside of my knee and goes all the way around behind my knee. Some nights it is very hard to walk because I have such pain there.

Imcclure4477 I know exactly what your talking about my knees do the same thing. But edtime is the worst cause I also have restless leg syndrome on top of it. And forget trying to go up or down steps or getting up or down out of a chair. PDW.

I am not sure if I have restless leg syndrom but some night when I lay down mu legs cannot get comfortable. They hurt so much and no matter how I lay they are not comfortable. My mistake was I trid jogging a little bit today and now I am hurting big time!

The pain in my knees was the worst of my pain. I couldn't go up or down stairs and squatting was not an option. I'd wake up several times a night and have to walk to get rid of the burning pain. It hurt so bad I 'd cry when it was bedtime. Are any of you on Lyrica? I was on 300mg a day and weened off. It has helped my knees alot. I think I had gained alot of fluid weight and it was putting pressure on my knees. I have RLS and my legs jump when I lay down. It is like a twitch that I can't get rid of. I haven't found anything for that yet. My pain doctor is going to put injections in my knees and hips at the end of March to see if that will help. Wishing You All The Best, Chris

Knee pain was the first major symptom to follow the fatigue for me. It came on much like the joint and muscle aches you get with the flu, but got progressively worse with each "flare." The ortho specialist I saw did an MRI and only found mild arthritis when I was just SURE I'd torn something, but was shocked when he compared it to an x-ray I had only a few months prior that showed absolutely no signs of arthritis. He said he saw it often in "overuse syndrome" or "repetive strain injury" and theorized that my muscles had been weakened by the illness, allowing the joint to take more abuse than usual. Either that or I had been secretly training for a marathon and over-doing it, ha, ha. He gave me prescription strength Advil to get rid of all the inflammation and I started some strength training at the Y to build my knee muscles back up. I had some improvement, but the damage was already done. Since that time, my knees creak like a squeeky old door when I bend them and it just feels totally gross to whomever dares put their hands over them. You can just feel stuff grinding in there! It is painful to walk or stand for even short periods of time and going DOWN stairs or hills is the worst. The same thing happened later with my hip and shoulder. I learned to take it easy when I'm feeling any sort of muscle weakness and I think it has spared my wrists, ankles, and other joints the permanent damage. Also, I am a HUGE fan of Advil for pain I get when my joints are inflamed. It is a great anti-inflammatory and WAY under prescribed in my opinion. Of course I'm talking about the 800 to 1000 mg. a day regimen and that is something you have to talk to your doctor about first. I was on a 800 mg regimen when my doctor put me on Lexapro and I had nosebleeds, a bleed in one of my ovaries, and mysterious bruising so DON'T SELF MEDICATE with Advil! And contrary to popular belief, you can follow that regimen for up to four weeks and it sometimes takes that long to get rid of all the inflammation and keep it gone until the joint has time to heal.

I take Neurontin for RLS. When I first started this med there wasn't any thing for restless legs. IN fact I found an article and told my neurologist what I had. I can take 4 pills of 400mg daily if I need to. I also have prescription Ibuprofen @ 800mg and take 1 pill 3 X daily. At night when I get into bed I take a regular bed pillow and put it between my legs. It keeps my knees from touching and separates my legs. It also helps my hips. I tried smaller pillows that are for sale to put between the legs but they just weren't thick enough. A bed pillow works best for me. Trudy

I have two very painful knees. Sometimes it is the worst of my pain. I have trouble walking up and down steps, stooping, crouching or bending them. The pain is all around the knees. I do have severe arthritis in them both. My mom had to have knee replacements so I am sure I am heading down the same path. Seems everything she has I get eventually. LOL

Unfortunately I cannot take Advil or Aleve because I am on Blood thinners. I can only take Tylenol and that just doesnt work. So sometimes I sneak in a Celebrex, which dr doesnt want me to have either because of me being a high risk for heart attack but I have to take one now and again just to feel normal for a day or two. And especially when I am going to watch my 16 month old grandson! Like today!! LOL

Debbi

Debbi, I can feel your pain from up near Cleveland, Ohio. This winter has been the worst for the arthritis pain my my knees. I have torn cartilage in the right one and supposed to have arthroscopic surgery to have it "cleaned out" but I can't afford to be gone a whole day for the surgery then on crutches for a couple of weeks after. I think I am afraid they will mess up with the surgery and make the pain worse than it is now. I don't know how you can cope with the pain without NSAID's...I take enough during the day to

keep a broken down old racehorse running in the Kentucky Derby.

That is how I feel, a broken down, beat up old racehorse. Perhaps a Clydesdale is more like it, they are massive slow plodding animals.

Is there anything else you can take that doesn't interfere with the blood thinners? I ice my knees to reduce swelling and put biofreeze on them. Helps a little bit. Have fun and enjoy but try not to overdo playing with your grandson. They are so active and energetic at that age, but at least at he doesn't realize what you can't do, and hopefully still takes naps.

Trudy... I feel for you, hon! Every time I've gone on the Advil regimen, I've been warned about long-term effects from using ibuprofen for too long and yours isn't the first story I've heard about folks with RLS having to choose between those risks and getting some relief from pain. It is often a "lesser of two evils" scenario and it shouldn't have to be like that.

Debbi... Yours is another story I hate to hear. My mother was on blood thinners a while back for a blood clot and had to stop taking her Naprosyn. She has Plantar Faciitis in her feet and the pain was so unbearable at times that she took the gamble and snuck in the Naprosyn. And I know what you mean about the grandbabies! My 6 month old grandson is up to 18 lbs now and packing him around for even a couple of hours can totally wear me out! But SOOOOOO worth it for those little grins!

Knee pain is wonderful isn't it? Not!

I have 2 granddaughters too, and the 2 year old doesn't understand as well as the 7 year old does. She can't understand why I do not get on the floor with her like the grandpas do, I have never been able to, or the crouching on the knees, feet whatever.

My daughter used to always go..."ewwwww mom", whenever she felt my knees, guess what, I can go, "ewww" now, she has arthritis in her knees now too.

I too have been developing the same things as my mom had....I am supposed to be having a knee replacement, not sure when yet though.

I am the younger grandmother, but I am the one who can do the physical least with them, some days that really bothers me. But, I am glad that they have the others who can physically do more with them. On my good days, and not so good days, I do more than I possibly can with them, which is still more than the others most times want to do with them. Sure, I pay for it the next day or two, but, I know my girls are so happy when I do the things I do. Yes, Tammy, those grins are worth every second, aren't they?