Replacement knee pain and stability

[Cherryblossom12]

I have developed pain and difficulty with weight bearing through my replacement knees. One was done in 2014 and the other 2019. I have had insufficiency fractures on both distal fibula and tibia. These healed and I inject desnosamab for osteoporosis. Has anyone had similar difficulties? Many thanks

[Madmusiclover]

Sorry can’t help but that sounds awful. Hoping someone knows more.

[Cherryblossom12 in reply to Madmusiclover]

Thank you

[springcross]

Hi Cherryblossom. I can't help you with that except to say that you could try the Bone Forum for advice on the Denosumab, there are some knowledgeable people on there who are very good. Good luck. x

[Cherryblossom12 in reply to springcross]

Good suggestion thanks

[stbernhard]

Hi Blossom, I feel for you, but have no advice. I had a replacement in 2019 and only get connective tissue and tendon problems with bearable pain. I hope you find something to ease your pain and strengthen you leg muscles.

[Cherryblossom12 in reply to stbernhard]

Thanks for your support

[Hezekiah]

I wonder if there's a replacement knees forum anywhere......perhaps there should be? My neighbour has had both his done, and seems very happy with the result.

[Cherryblossom12 in reply to Hezekiah]

Maybe I will look into it

[Kags1068]

Hi Cherry blossom

Sorry you've had such a difficult time. I see that you've had the disease for a long time. I'm a long-termer too.

I've had knee replacements for 16 years, and whilst I occasionally get some soft tissue/muscle irritation, I've never particularly had pain on weight bearing (and definitely not ongoing).

Did your fractures occur during the surgery, or at some other point? I've had a number of stress fractures (ankle, pelvis, spine, ribs) as a result of years of steroids, and they have all occurred spontaneously. At the moment I'm struggling to recover from a femur fracture I got from a fall in January.

What I'm wondering is, have you had any other fractures due to bone weakness? Can you tell if the pain is muscle/soft tissue, or possibly bone related? Do you only get the pain on weight bearing? Does it improve with rest? I ask because when I had repeated fibia stress fractures, it felt very distinct from muscle/soft tissue pain, improved with rest, didn't ache too much when I wasn't using the ankle, but very painful to weight bear. I'm not trying to suggest you have developed another fracture or anything, but could something like that be a vague possibility? Is it worth getting some advice - especially if it worsens? I'm not sure if this is a new symptom for you? If it's ongoing and not worsening, more likely to be soft tissue perhaps? Either way, obviously I'm only going on my previous experiences. To be sure, I would try and get some medical advice if that's possible for you. Do you have a good relationship with your rheumatologist?

I also had Denosumab for a while, but hadto stop as I couldn't tolerate the side effects. Waiting for a deision on what's going to be next! Hope the Denosumab is suiting you.

I hope those ramblings may be of some use to you! Not sure what else to suggest. I hope you manage to get the problem sorted. Best wishes x

[Cherryblossom12 in reply to Kags1068]

Thank you so much and sorry that you are a long term RA also. It never goes away even after forty years. The steroids have caused so many problems. I’ve had them for nearly the same length of time at high doses initially. Yes I’ve had about ten spontaneous fractures spine metatarsals and tibia and fibula on both sides

I think you maybe right and it could be a series of fine fractures. I’ve seen a knee man ( mine has retired as replacements 2014) The x rays ok so a nuclear bone scan next to see bone quality. Hey ho and on we go! Just with more painkillers!

Best wishes to a fellow sufferer

[Kags1068 in reply to Cherryblossom12]

Thanks for your kind reply. Unfortunately you are absolutely right - this disease never seems to go away no matter how much we hope it might! We do get trapped with the steroids, don’t we? Sort of a have to live with ‘em, and can’t manage without ‘em type situation. The recurring fractures are a real nuisance (to put it mildly)! I hope you’ve been given some bone strengthening treatment - even though they can have some unpleasant side effects. I hope the nuclear bone scan gives some answers. As you’ve probably experienced, often plain x-rays don’t show these types of “osteoporotic” fractures - except sometimes months later. I’ve been sent away from A&E a number of times after being told there’s nothing wrong, only for my rheumatologist to order an urgent MRI and every single time there’s been a fracture. Even when I’ve explained this at A&E, sometimes I’ve still been ignored. Grrrr! If only they would listen occasionally! Never mind.

Best wishes and good luck with getting things sorted 😊🤞