Knee inflammation months long

CassG

Hey guys,

My name is Cass. So I made a mistake in thinking I could get off remicade for stelara and then humira only to find out its caused an incredibly bad flare up in my left knee. This has been going on since March 2021. Humira was undetected in my body so they have put me back on remicade but my knee is huge and I cannot get the fluid down. Not with draining, not with cortisone. The only reason I can walk is prednisone every other day. Has anyone experienced long flares like this and if so what did you do?

Brynmor

Hi @CassG and sorry to hear you are experiencing a long and painful flare up in your left knee.

There is a range of personal advice and suggestions people have made in the past with the Online Community, including hot/cold compress pads, TENS machine, distraction and also personal contact with your rheumatology team/health practice or GP. As has been said in the past: "Don't try to brave it out, phone them now!"

Gentle exercise can only help although may prove a real struggle at the start - we have a selection of stretching and gentle knee exercises that you might wish to try:

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/exercising-with-arthritis/exercises-for-healthy-joints/exercises-for-the-knees/

We also have further information on remicade (infliximab) that may prove useful.

Do let us know how you are getting on.

All best wishes

Brynmor