Good Morning all,
I hope you are all safe and well. I wondered if anyone had any experience or knowledge about swollen knees or fat knees as I have so eloquently titled this post!!
Has anyone had reasonably bad swelling, over a period of time, knee/knees but when checked by medical professional there no fluid? What does this mean? Is it still RA if no fluid - I’m sorry if I sound really silly!
Thank you x
Several of my joints could be called 'fat' and it's not because they have fluid that could be drained off. The actual tissues themselves are swollen because of the inflammatory process. You can also get extra cartilage or bone formation around the edges of the inflamed areas.
Ah okay, that’s incredibly helpful thank you so much. I was really confused as I just automatically thought it would be fluid so was really puzzled. This makes sense though and thank you for sharing your experience with me.
I hope you are managing to stay well both in the current situation and your own health concerns x
I have always had 'big' knees, since dx in 1971.
I have a fat knee, which has been very bad this past week, I hope it is settling down. The trouble with one fat knee, you can’t wear skinny jeans any more.
Aww bless you, although I haven’t been able to get skinny jeans on for a while unfortunately just too painful! Leggings have been the way forward 😂 I hope your knee settles down, take care xx
I’m quite early on in my journey but have suffered with my knees pretty much since the beginning too. Take care xx
Prior to being diagnosed with RA, I only had one swollen knee. It came overnight out of nowhere. I'm seronegative, but my diagnosis came quite quickly, despite it not being in any other joints. Over the last three years, it has spread to my other knee, both ankles and my toes.
Thank you for taking the time to reply!! I know what you mean about moving around your body, I just feel like I’m trying to learn so much at the minute and struggling to make sense of it all. Take care xx
I had this too. about 9/10 years ago I suddenly started getting a puffy right knee. It was huge. No real pain or stiffness. It went on , on and off for about 2 weeks and then never happened again. shortly after that the Raynaud's started and got worse over time.Then I started to get bruised and puffy elbows. I showed them to my GP at the time who didn't know and didn't care.
was diagnosed after a Doppler scan March last year and interestingly it's my elbows which are my most constant pain and have recently been getting worse. Neck and upper spine is the most debilitating though. It reached a peak a couple of weeks ago but seems to have settled since then.
Oh that sucks! Hopefully it's going to get better for you soon. My knee literally tripled in size overnight and by the evening I could barely walk on it. Lots of painkillers and a supportive GP helped a lot!
I have what I call ‘potato knees’! They aren’t so much fat or squishy as really lumpy and misshapen. As if my kneecaps are more like a potato. Really lovely!
But more seriously, I have had squishy knees from fluid and inflammation over the years but they are now damaged and have bone changes so they look swollen but are hard and solid. Mine is caused by RA but ends up being secondary osteoarthritis changes (because of the RA).
I have incredibly fat knees which go down a bit further down my legs as well. My husband laughingly said they are like flower pots as they go up and bigger as my leg goes up (If that makes sense). At the moment I am having to wear compression bandages because of having cellulitis and an ulcer on my leg but they keep rolling down. A nurse has to come out to dress them regularly but I always have to call one of them out earlier because they are working loose and rolling down.
Last week a very unpleasant nurse came (all the others I have seen have been very good and kind) and she told me it was my fault the bandages didn't stay up because i have strange shaped legs. I replied that I was sorry about that but it wasn't my fault about the shape of my legs. She was a person with a very bad attitude. She also squeezed my leg really hard just above the ulcer and it made me cry out. None of the other nurses have ever done that. When I cried out, she said "Oh come on, it's not as bad as that." I told her that it was and that she wasn't the one feeling it.
Sorry to have rambled on here.
Wow - what a horrible nurse. Hope you can forget that nasty experience soon x
Thank you LoneEra. I felt I just wanted to tell someone. xx
Oh I’m so sorry you were treated like that! As if you haven’t got enough on your plate at the moment. I had a very similar incident with a GP, complete lack of empathy and no bedside manner at all!!
Thank you for you reply, it’s so helpful to just hear from people who can empathise. Take care xx
I am sorry to hear that Rolo. You would think that doctors and nurses want to help people and be kind when they go into a caring profession but it makes you wonder sometimes. I remember some years ago taking my Dad to an appointment about his dementia and the doctor was really unkind and inpatient with him and I ended up having to ask him the questions.
Just not good enough! It is already trying enough when going through health concerns without unkindness!! Xx
Really, when a professional treats you like that you should make it known. there is just no need for it. when I had my C section I had similar treatment from a midwife who literally accused me of 'making it all up' when I said how much pain I was in (went on to have an infection inside which was missed). Normally I wouldn't have said anything but something kicked in and I plucked up the courage to make a formal complaint.
I was visited at home by the Director of Midwifery and it all came out; how filthy the ward was, dried blood on doors which was not cleaned, dirty bath, midwives stinking of cigarettes and handling my baby.
I know I really should complain about her but my husband says not to as I might get myself a name for making complaints as I have already make complaints about other things in the past. Like you I complained about a midwife and about the way the ward was run when I had my son over 30 years ago. I have also made various other complaints over the years as really some of the things that go on are disgusting.
No you need to tell this nurse as she doesn’t know the pain your experience. I have done nursing myself and you always assess the patient pain ,?as for knee mine is puffy , just had X-ray and I have dislocated my patella, took over a year to find that out. Good luck all
I have knees that look sort of swollen from the outside...but are massively swollen on the inside. So sometimes only an MRI can tell the extent of the internal swelling.
Once I asked for a knee aspiration and the GP said it wasn’t that bad. I begged and begged and eventually they took 60ml off the knee. They apologised afterwards.
Had the same a few weeks back too. 45ml came off and they’d told me it “looked fine” from outside.
So don’t judge a knee by its cover 😂 x
Knee
Rheumatologist visit and steroids plus knee support
