fibro or arthritis?

[panda60]

I've already had a washout of my right knee for arthritic joint and think my left one is heading that way - it was going a bit funny and clicking a bit before my FM reared its ugly head.

The last couple of weeks it has really flared up again and tonight I screamed out loud when I tried to get out of the chair to answer the phone. It is aching like mad now. It is usually my back and thighs that suffer with the fibro but not like the searing pain that rips through my knee. I will go and see my GP next week if it doesn't settle down, but I wondered if anyone else has suffered from arthritic pain and if differs from the fibro pain

[kraftyk8]

I would say yes to both questions, I have osteoarthritis in my knees and the pain is entirely different. Yours doesn't sound like a Fibro problem to me. You need to see your GP asap and get it investigated properly. An Orthopaedic referral will be better than a Rheumatology one as they are less likely to blame it on the Fibro. Then if it turns out to be some kind of arthritis which would be an inflammatory condition, not somatic like Fibro, it can be treated correctly.