Knee Relief

Jill01
Jill01 Member Posts: 5
edited 28. Nov 2023, 14:08 in Living with arthritis

Hi, I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis January 2020, unfortunately at same time I was receiving treatment for bowel cancer. Due to having an operation then chemo my arthritis couldn’t be treated all that was done was pain management. I have been left with a stoma which will be reversed in time, been delayed due to COVID, this has also hindered treatment. Because my op has been delayed, no date in sight, my consultant has recently started me on methotrexate, prednisolone and hydroxychloroquine and I’m not seeing any benefit. My fear now is the delay in treatment has resulted in permanent damage. My legs are swollen, my knees hurt when walking sounds like bone rubbing on bone is there anything I can use to reduce swelling on knees/legs. Thank you in advance for any help you can give!

Comments

  • Chris_R
    Chris_R Moderator Posts: 828
    edited 27. May 2022, 13:59

    Hi @Jill01

    Welcpme to the online community,great to see you posting. What a lot you are going through at the moment,sorry you are suffering .

    . You have however come to the right place to ask questions and get answers as everyone here knows what it is like to suffer from pain and arthritis and some have gone through cancer treatment aswell. I did but it was Breast cancer but Chemotherapy messed with my arthritis too so know what you are going through at the moment

    You asked if anyone has advice on trying to reduce swelling of your knees and legs

    Here is a link that may help.

    Please let us know how you get on and do go on line and chat to others on our forums.

    All the best Christine

    Need more help? - call our Helpline on 0800 5200 520 Monday to Friday 9am to 6pm

  • wazz42
    wazz42 Member Posts: 233

    Hi @Jill01

    What a tricky situation you were in. I can understand the rheumatologist staying away while treatment for cancer was going on, you might have been taking methotrexate anyway for your cancer (or a similar drug). Now there is no sign of your reversal operation, I hope the cancer has been removed at least!

    You are now on treatment for RA but your knees are still swollen. It can take up to 12 weeks for any improvement to be felt from 2 of your meds so that might be a factor here. You might also have developed osteoarthritis in your knee/s - that can lead to the noises you are hearing. It's called crepitus and it can happen for no obvious reason, I had it from my late teens but didn't develop full OA for 20 ish years.

    I'd suggest talking to your rheumy team, the specialist nurses are really good, they have the time to talk and are so knowledgeable. Often OA can be diagnosed by x-ray so that might be a way to go. Do please come back to say what the result is and whether the meds are now doing what they should

    xx