Yes - about the pain being "around" the knees, on the side-ish, not the knee bone/joint itself. I wish I could remember exactly how my rheum explained it - but he said that the problem is inflammation where a ligament (?) connects to the joint, or something like that - well, it made sense at the time :) why the pain is at the sides.
I wasn't ever sent for x-rays at all.
Going downstairs, going down a hill, sitting up & down - much worse than basic walking for me too.
Byrd Feeder said:
Just finished two weeks of prednisone for my knees. It was great, but now that I'm off the prednisone, not so great. I'm hoping this is temporary, but I guess it might be another one of Uncle Arthur's permanent gifts. I hope not. Pain still feels like it's "around" my knees, not actually in the joints. It's crazy...walking doesn't cause pain at all. Getting up and down from a chair, doing stairs...all that hurts terribly. Don't see the rheumy til next month, and since she is 100 miles away, I'm hoping I get to see her even then. You never know with WV winters what travel may be like. Here's hoping I get to keep the appointment. I need to know what she says about it all. Thanks for all your responses! Keep me posted!
That sounds very much how mine started. Enthesitis it's called. Inflammation of the synovial fluid surrounding the ligament where it joins the bone. That sound familiar? My experience would indicate that the joint should be checked every so often as well.
RB said:
Yes - about the pain being "around" the knees, on the side-ish, not the knee bone/joint itself. I wish I could remember exactly how my rheum explained it - but he said that the problem is inflammation where a ligament (?) connects to the joint, or something like that - well, it made sense at the time :) why the pain is at the sides.
I wasn't ever sent for x-rays at all.
Going downstairs, going down a hill, sitting up & down - much worse than basic walking for me too.
Byrd Feeder said:
Just finished two weeks of prednisone for my knees. It was great, but now that I'm off the prednisone, not so great. I'm hoping this is temporary, but I guess it might be another one of Uncle Arthur's permanent gifts. I hope not. Pain still feels like it's "around" my knees, not actually in the joints. It's crazy...walking doesn't cause pain at all. Getting up and down from a chair, doing stairs...all that hurts terribly. Don't see the rheumy til next month, and since she is 100 miles away, I'm hoping I get to see her even then. You never know with WV winters what travel may be like. Here's hoping I get to keep the appointment. I need to know what she says about it all. Thanks for all your responses! Keep me posted!
I have the same thing. The back of my knee really hurts and something on the inner side of my knee. Definitely a tendon/tissue thing and it's my right knee too. My left knee has always been fine, about the only joint that has been! I find swimming seems to loosen everything up to a manageable level.
I'm glad the prednisone helped, and sorry that things have started to be uncomfortable again. Here's my two cents:
Stairs, getting out of chairs, getting up and down.....makes me think of things that aggravated my osteoarthritis. As you probably know, it's not uncommon for those of us who are older to have osteoarthritis - the wear and tear kind of arthritis that your poor canine companion has that has nothing to do with the autoimmune disease PsA - as well as psoriatic arthritis.
Because of the kind of work that I did, which did cause a lot of wear and tear on my fingers and knees, I had osteoarthritis problems with them decades before I had any symptoms or diagnosis of psoriatic arthritis. The wear and tear kind of arthritis is easy to identify on x-rays - at least if you're a radiologist or orthopedist. When I had my worst times with osteoarthritis of the knees, I had pain above the knees and around my knees, but especially behind the knees. Those times sometimes came when I had been less careful with my knees (failing to cushion them when I knelt to garden, not walking up and down stairs as my physical therapist showed me how to do), or after a fall onto my knees. My orthopedist would inject hydrocortisone into the joints about once a year and that would relieve the symptoms for many months.
Now, pain in my knees is a combination of both diseases.
Perhaps all the extra getting up and down with your dog has been irritating to your knees. Do you know if you have any osteoarthritis problems? Have you had knee x-rays? At any rate, be good to your knees. I hope that things go better.
While I had poorly treated inflammation in my knee from PsA my knee joint went from no sign of arthritis, in an xray I had because of soreness, to having to be replaced in just over twelve months. So my advice is if you have soreness and inflammation around the knee from PsA do everything possible to effectively reduce it asap.
Gardener said:
I'm glad the prednisone helped, and sorry that things have started to be uncomfortable again. Here's my two cents:
Stairs, getting out of chairs, getting up and down.....makes me think of things that aggravated my osteoarthritis. As you probably know, it's not uncommon for those of us who are older to have osteoarthritis - the wear and tear kind of arthritis that your poor canine companion has that has nothing to do with the autoimmune disease PsA - as well as psoriatic arthritis.
Because of the kind of work that I did, which did cause a lot of wear and tear on my fingers and knees, I had osteoarthritis problems with them decades before I had any symptoms or diagnosis of psoriatic arthritis. The wear and tear kind of arthritis is easy to identify on x-rays - at least if you're a radiologist or orthopedist. When I had my worst times with osteoarthritis of the knees, I had pain above the knees and around my knees, but especially behind the knees. Those times sometimes came when I had been less careful with my knees (failing to cushion them when I knelt to garden, not walking up and down stairs as my physical therapist showed me how to do), or after a fall onto my knees. My orthopedist would inject hydrocortisone into the joints about once a year and that would relieve the symptoms for many months.
Now, pain in my knees is a combination of both diseases.
Perhaps all the extra getting up and down with your dog has been irritating to your knees. Do you know if you have any osteoarthritis problems? Have you had knee x-rays? At any rate, be good to your knees. I hope that things go better.
Had an x-ray three weeks ago which showed nothing in my knees, according to the nurse. So I figure the inflammation is in tendons/ligaments because soft-tissue inflammation rarely shows up on x-ray. I also called my PT, and he concurred. He said to ice them (brrrrrr!) Funny, I told him the knee would occasionally hurt when driving, with my leg outstretched and toes pointed...like you would reach to touch the accelerator with the ball of your foot. I can feel something sort of twist under the kneecap and holy toledo, it will light you up! That's when he said ice to reduce inflammation. He also advised moving the car seat closer toward the front of the car so I am not sretching so much to reach pedals. (Does he know how short I am? lol) He also said, "you know it's the PSA and it's time to get serious about doing battle with it." Rheumy was concerned (yay!), wants me back a month early for re-evaluation (okay, good) and may increase my MTX (WHOA!).
Need2Heal, you are describing it perfectly...under my knee cap and around in back. That back of the knee pain is killer!
Sorry all of you are dealing with this, too. Won't see the doc for about five more weeks, but if she offers anything helpful, I"ll post. Thanks for your comments...at least I'm not crazy. About this, anyway. lol
Poor puppy (and poor you!). Have you tried Cosequin DS for your dog? http://www.smartpakequine.com/dog-joint-supplements-593pc.aspx This is my "go to" company for horse and dog stuff- they are super wonderful!! (I don't work for them or anything). Massage therapy can be a great relief for both of you as well- if you can find someone who is in training it can be a good money saver. What about a kneee brace for you? I have one on right now by Futuro- it has the umm, joint thingies on either side of my knee and really helps. Maybe a cane or something to help on the stairs and getting up? Good luck- it is so hard when you are trying to take care of someone else and your own body will not cooperate. You sound like a really great dog owner btw- lucky doggie!
Grant…a bonescan will show inflammation in it’s early stages, even before you have pain. Took a few years for the pain to start in some if the joints my scan showed were inflamed. I don’t understand why they aren’t done more often. It won’t tell you which type of arthritis it is but will show all the joints that are inflammed long before the damage shows in an xray…plus who wants to wait until it’s damaged to find it!! I was dx very early due to a bone scan…didn’t even believe them when they said most if my joints were inflammed because there was no pain at the time.
Kyra, thank you for the dog stuff site! We can never have too much dog stuff. lol I looked at the site and did some reading about cosequin. We have tried glucosamine with Maggie before, but not this particular combination. We'll surely give it a try; she needs our help! You mention massage. You know, I wish we could arrange this for the dog. We are in a very small town. I do the best I can trying to provide it for her, but I don't know enough about doggie anatomy to be of a great help to her, I'm afraid. But, she enjoys being rubbed on, so it counts for something.
As for myself, yes, I love massage therapy. Funny, but I never considered a cane for getting out of chairs. Thank you so much for this suggestion! I cling to the banisters going up and down the steps at home, and, fortunately, we do not have steps where I work. YAY
I am amazed to read all these posts of people experiencing the same kind of knee thing I am. Most people I mention it to think I'm nuts. I'm also very sorry to hear of so many people in this kind of pain.
Thanks again, everyone, for posting suggestions for both maggie and me. We both appreciate it!
Grant, psoriatic arthritis is typically diagnosed on a clinical basis, based on patient complaints and physician's observations. Doctors will look for specific patterns of disease (which joints are involved and the type of changes, if any, that can be seen). They also assess for the presence of psoriatic skin lesions, nail changes, swollen and tender joints, multiple joint involvement, inflammation where tendons/ligaments attach to bones, and sometimes, genetic markers such as HLA-B27, which can also be seen in ankylosing spondylitis. The joint changes of PsA will be seen on x-ray only after damage has been done, and may not be visible in early disease. Blood tests will be used to rule out other types of disease processes. PsA is seronegative, meaning there is no single diagnostic blood test for PsA. Many times, the diagnosis is one of exclusion, meaning, if it isn't this, this, or this, then it must be this. It's frustrating, like everything else about this disease.
Grant said:
If PsA is not detectable with an X-ray image, are there alternate tests that confirm PsA?
Oh, yes. My knees are being the biggest problem. During a bad flare the backs of my knees will hurt badly. I have to put ice on the back of them, but it only helps a little. My doc has been poking around on my patella tendon, he said that the PsA can get into it. My knees hurt bad when things are not going well. I describe it as they feel like they are full of broken glass. When they are acting up, I can’t do stairs. I started Cosentyx two months ago and it seems to help them. I have had to skip Cosentyx for now because of some bronchitis and my knees are the first thing to start acting up. I did get some CBD cream with a little capsisasin in it. It helps some, but is $50 an ounce. MY hot tub helps a lot, but I can’t get in it until this cough goes away.
Before I went on biologics, the tendons just above the knee would often be worse than the knee joint itself. I’m guessing they would tear or something, as they would bulge and look the most ridiculous shape. Eventually they would go back to normal.
Knee pain at the back, especially please notice if there is a bulge in the back of the knee, it has a medical term and is connected to psa had it at the onset before treatment results knocked it out. In my case initially meth and cortisone and patrol and ultimately cosentyx. I now no longer have the pain or the bulge on my knees.