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Knees hurt in the morning bad

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Posted 10/28/2007 6:56 AM (GMT 0)
Hi--

I sleep with my head inclined and pillows under my knees.  I often wake and my knees are really stiff with horrible tearing pain and I can't get out of bed very well and sometimes there is a little heat under my kneecap, but it is hard to feel,  They don't swell.  My xrays show only very very very mild arthritis.  Can this arthritis be like a lupus type arthritis?  Can it occur without swelling and redness?  The pain is absolutely horrible.  And with the negative xrays for severe arthritis and other problems, it is very puzzling to the doctors.  The only thing that puts a dent in it is bengay, heat and ice seem to irritate it more. 

Thanks for any help you can give me and I hope this post finds you all well.

Posted 10/28/2007 2:06 PM (GMT 0)

Hi Marji, I'm so sorry you have to wake up to this crap every morning! The more I'm around here and hear what people have to deal with on a daily basis the angry I get. I have a similar problem with my knees but not to the extent yours is. My doctor says I have osteo-arthritis. I have osteoporosis thanks to a hysterectomy at 26 and than all these stupid steroids. I am very concious of walking down the stairs and stuff when I leave the house. I always step down on my right leg first. I just hold my breath and hope for the best. The pain is on the side of my knee. At least that's where I feel it when I rub my knee cap. I take vicodin for that and other bone problems. Believe me if I don't take it for a couple of days I can really feel it. I hope you can find some answers and get to feeling better. There just is nothing more frustrating than starting every day off in pain.

Love ya

carol

Posted 10/28/2007 8:35 PM (GMT 0)
I have bad knee pain the mornings and sometimes all day long.  I've had to adjust to this by waking up earlier and lying in bed trying to slowly stretch and start moving my legs and bending my knees, just to get me going.  A bath seems to help on worse days as opposed to a shower.  I'm also very careful what shoes I wear throughout the day, sometimes the pain is caused from that.  Also, when I climb onto my chair at work I try to remember to alternate which leg I step up with.  Getting up from a low chair also takes a bit of thought.  I often use Bio-Freeze, which I think is pretty comparable to Bengay.  My doctor has recommended that I continue to stay active and stretch and try to keep my joints as strong as possible.  Although I haven't been able to run for about a month, I have joined a H20 aerobics class that really takes a load off of your joints while giving you a wonderful feeling workout.  I do feel somewhat fatigued afterwards, but I think thats because I've been battleing a flare since about March.  My chiropractor says that when in doubt on how to treat a pain, use ice first followed up by heat, so when I use the heat its usually when I take a bath or sit in our hot tub for awhile.  I hope this helps.  I feel your pain, trust me.

Posted 10/29/2007 12:52 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks okie, firebabe for the replies,
Since there's no damage to the joint, I figure its either nerve pain or ai type lupus pain. I had a hysterectomy at 36 so I'm on the estrogen patch and worry about bone stuff too, especially now that I don't go out in the sun anymore. I'm sorry Carol that you had to have one so young. My pain mgmt doc told me tearing pain is nerve root pain but I don't know why it would just effect my knees (sometimes it does effect the groin and knees and then it is really bad). I have has some old high school sports injuries playing basketball and doing gymnastics so my knees got banged up. But they say there is hardlly any arthritis at all. I know what you mean about thinking before you move around when you wake up firebabe. Usually the knee pain wakes me, then I can't move without excruciating pain and I have to wait and try to move just a little and in a way that it hopefully doesn't hurt much. It is just really strange.
Posted 10/30/2007 9:17 AM (GMT 0)
Hey Marji, how are your knees doing? I was wondering if the change in the weather is causing more problems for you. I know I can feel alot of joints that didn't bother me in the summer.
love ya
carol
Posted 10/31/2007 1:16 AM (GMT 0)

Hi Carol--

Thanks for asking.  I don't know about the weather affecting them, I don't think so.  It's more that on the days I feel sick, it seems I get stiff and then they hurt to move.  If they are in one position too long it can happen I think.  That's more the cause of it.  It is worse from sunlight, after I'm out in the sun then my knees and shoulders and hands sometimes hurt.  When I feel more flulike, yucky lupus like, they hurt more.  How are you doing?

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