Knee gives way when standing up

Fran54

Hi

over the last two weeks or so I have found that when standing up initially I cannot put any weight on my right knee and it gives way and I get a dull pain in my knee. To counter act this I find that by lifting my right leg slightly and bending my knee back slightly does help. I then put my foot down and can then put weight on it and start walking although the knee is a little stiff. This seems to happen when I have been fairly active on my feet. But it occurs whether I have been sitting say for five minutes or fifteen minutes or longer. ( I also get the same symptoms when getting out of a car ) I am wondering if perhaps I have been overdoing the activities. Because of this I have only been doing my physio exercises once a day ( should be twice a day ) and some of the exercises have the same effect on my knee when I have to put my full weight onto my right knee. I am wondering if perhaps I am overdoing things and am not sure if I should stop the exercises for a while or is this further deterioration in my knee? Has anyone else experienced any of these symptoms? I am a bit concerned that I am making my knee worse and that the exercises are having a negative effect.🙁

stickywicket

It's so long since I had a 'normal' knee (as opposed to TKRs) that I can't remember all the ins and out. Certainly I remember being unable to put weight on them at first and also being unable to bend them initially on sitting.

I've always found exercises, done carefully, made things better rather than worse but a spot of physio advice would be your best bet.

jonr

Hi @Fran54,

This may sound like an odd question but may I ask if you're taking any supplements and if so, what they are?

Fran54

Hi @jonr

Yes I take Cod Liver Oil 1000mg with extra Vitamin A & D and Glucosamine HCI 1325mg with Vitamin C. These are the only two I take and I take them at a different time of day to my regular medication of Naproxen and Omeprazole. I have been taking these supplements for years and I have mentioned this to my Doctor in passing.

Fran54

Hi @stickywicket

I have had to chase up my Doctor as I am still waiting to get my follow up appointment with my local MSK practitioner. I want to discuss my x-ray results ( had knee x-ray in January and pelvic x-ray in March ) in more detail with him. I asked my doctor for further details back in April but just said he would refer me back to MSK! I feel like I am going round in circles and getting nowhere! Hopefully I will hear soon but won't hold my breath🤨

jonr

Thanks @Fran54,

So the reason I asked about the supplements is that I was suffering with identical issues as you - knees giving way, hamstrings locking up, a severe stabbing pain which would come out of nowhere to the side of a knee cap, getting out of the car, standing at the kttle or getting up from a chair. It was really painful and affecting my confidence.

I didn't think it was exercise because I've been as active as ever since my diagnosis, only swapping swimming, Badminton and Running for cycling, walking and the gym so I couldn't work out what was causing these episodes.

I take a ton of supplements and through trial and error I found it was Glucosamine which was the culprit. I did some research online and there were a few articles about trials in America where it was reported that some patients with Arthritis found it made their condition worse. Well I stopped taking it and bingo - the episodes stopped, I'd say within a week. Thing is I was probably only on it for about 6-8 weeks but since stopping I've had no more bar the odd hamstring twinge and that was 3 months ago.

Just a suggestion and I know it sounds odd but it might help, you've nothing to lose by stopping for a few days to see if there's any improvement. If not then it'll be something else I expect and unlike in my case, it could be overdoing the exercising.

Fran54

Hi@jonr

thanks for your reply. I hadn't thought that Glucosamine might be the culprit. I originally started taking it many years ago when I first had a dodgy knee and was told it was the start of osteoarthritis so I thought that taking Glucosamine would help the cartilage. Also I bought a higher strength tablet last time so that may well have contributed to my knee pain. Well as from tomorrow I will not be taking it and keep fingers crossed there is an improvement. 🙂

jonr

Hi @Fran54, it might be the Glucosamine, it might be not - it was in my case, it may not i n yours but a few days, maybe a week should shed some light (I hope!).

Fran54

Hi @jonr

Keeping my fingers crossed😊

Trish9556

Hi @Fran54

I have had a dodgy knee for getting for 30 years, it suddenly gives way on me when walking downstairs. After having it cleaned out (can't remember what the procedure was called), I was given physio with strengthening exercises and hydrotherapy which worked.

Hasn't stopped it completely but now I'm more careful and currently doing as I'm told with using my crutches for two dodgy hips lol.

Hope you manage to get yours sorted soon

Love n hugs

Trish xx

Fran54

Hi @Trish9556

thank you for your reply. It could be that I have just been overdoing it. What with the weather warming up I have been pottering out in my garden and have probably got carried away and done more than I should! I am still doing my exercises most days but today I did some walking in the morning then pottered in my garden in the afternoon so left off the exercises today. I am still waiting for my referral back to MSK and I did chase up my Doctor's about this 10 days ago. Until I get to see someone at MSK I hope they can then shed some light on this. I hope that your hips improve soon.

Take care.🙂

Fran54

Hi

I managed to see a physiotherapist today at my Doctors surgery and finally found out the results of x-rays done for my right knee and pelvic. I have Osteoarthritis in both my hips and right knee ( which I knew about ). After listening and answering my various questions I have been referred back to MSK and also being referred to ESCAPE pain ( this I discovered on one of the many threads on here ). He also said that I have been quite pro-active about my health and that if you don't chase things up you get lost in the system😕 I came away feeling more positive than I have felt in a long time and now hope that things will start moving forward for me and that I have more control over my symptoms. So I say to anyone who is waiting and waiting to hear from your Doctors regarding referalls for physio etc. keep chasing them up and do not give up on yourself. As a certain beauty advert says " because we are worth it "😁

Fran54

Forgot to say that the stiffness /knee giving way is just one of the many symptoms of Osteoarthritis.

Take care🙂

Baloo

A few times now I noticed my knees are worse after sitting around in the office and better after exercise. It's quite strange as after a while there is no clear explanation of why the knee pain comes some times but not others. When it does come it takes a while to settle down, maybe a week or two.

When I say pain comes after sitting around I mean each step is a pain after getting out of a chair. I suspect it comes from previously walking quite a distance to the doctors surgery, and becoming too inflamed.

When I say exercise I mean some leg press in the gym for the muscles, and climbing some stairs and probably resting the rest of the time. I might add the exercise has worked and makes a huge difference to confidence.

But yes, when the pain comes it kind of wipes out all the benefit of the exercise, so I think in future I will be limiting my walking distance a bit more than I would like to, as the pain it eventually causes is quite a nuisance.