Some info needed !

Bones, joints and muscles
1

Hello everyone . This is my first post and I'm hoping to get some info and help if possible

I'm a runner male in my early 40s . Still very competitive in races and train most days .

Recently two months ago I picked up a knee injury . After the MRI it was confirmed it was a meniscus tear -cartilage . I got a cortisone injection and fluid removed as the swelling was quite bad

Unfortunately 2weeks later I was back with the clinic with more swelling and pain

I had more fluid removed and was told to get some bloods tested with my doctor .

I got a call off the clinic with some news that I have suspected RA as the inflammation was very high in the body

I haven't been able to bend my knee and I'm walking with a limp. I cannot descend a stairs unless I go very slowly but I can go up a stairs . Riding a bike is impossible .

I'm in pain every morning when I wake up and I'm really stiff . It eases up during the day but I'm still limping .

Since then I've had some sensation , very mild pain in my ankle. One day I had the same feeling in my finger.

I'm heading back to the hospital soon to visit the rheumatoid clinic and discuss it with a doctor .

Is this how RA can start ? From an injury like mine .

Has anyone had a similar experience ?

Also will my knee get better . I was told I wouldn't knees surgery for the tear but it's not getting any better. Do you think the RA is preventing it from healing or a separate thing altogether ?

Naturally I will try to get some answers next week off the doctor but any advice is recommended

We are hoping to have a baby too so will I be able to take Meds that will help once RA is confirmed

Any advice or help much appreciated

Ps can you still be a sportsman with this condition ?

2

Hi there

I am a support worker and have been for about 20 years, I pulled my shoulder and was in the worse pain ever as the day went on and by the time I got into bed it was excruciating and I just couldn't sleep at all, I went to the walk in center the next day and they said it was muscle and to take Ibrufen, the pain thankfully subsided and I never had it quite as bad since.

Then it spread to my hands, thumb and first two fingers on left hand I would get pins and needles at night and shooting pains up my wrists, so painful, that when I went to the docs and had the blood tests done and referred to a rhemotologist, so I was diagnosed with RA, it's not nice at all, so the answer to your question is yes it can start from an injury but I don't think the RA is preventing your knee from healing properly, hope you get sorted out soon and your pain etc gets under control then you can get back to your running, I exercise a lot I think it helps

3

Wow, I don't know, but you have me wondering.  I hope others respond.

I atleast wanted to say a couple of things, don't let anyone give you prednisone if possible.  At first try natural remedies, anti inflammatory foods, whole foods, and most of all, really get in to relaxation of your mind, meditation, visualize and feel your self healthy and running again.

I'm not healed yet, but  am able to get moving better and have much better hope and attitude.  I don't have RA markers in my tests, but symptoms are similar. I hope to run again some day, but the drugs have set me back.

Some say autoimmune can start in our stomachs. Research gut issues. I never really had them but sometimes maybe, drank too much wine I think and serious stress that I didn't handle well, it can make our bodies turn on itself.

Since you are new at these symptoms, I hope your body will heal and you will get back to running and biking. Heal your body, mind and soul. wink 

4

I'm an avid exerciser - or was, until RA diagnosis a couple of weeks' ago. Overwhelming stess badly handled. I firmly believe I can get my immune system back in balance and overcome this. 

I agree, anti-inflammatory diet, stress reduction and positive thinking, daily meditation - vizualizing and feeling yourself healthy.

I am currently trialing TCM too - herbal meds to re-balance my immune system, eliminate inflammation and pain - and damp (damp in TCM is directly linked to rheumatoid conditions and general inbalance). Mid way through my first week, and there's a definite reduction in my feet and ankle inflammation and stiffness. Knee pain is reduced too. Hands will take longer to improve as I need to rest them (difficult with my job). 

Other helpful recommendations are for Turmeric supplements - but you must ensure you get the right ones; MSM, pineapple juice and wild cherry juice (check out discussions on this site),

Positively focused healing of body, mind, and soul!

5

Menincus is cartledge, takes minimum of 12 weeks to heal, six weeks for muscles.

How do I know this, from hard earned  ex[erience, I tore the carledge in my hip joint, when I was out exericing after my first hip replacement, local GP said to me it will be 12 weeks before that pain eases.

I didn;t believe him, so rang my sibling who is a director of nursing in a big base hospital, she confirmed exactly what the Dr said, at that point not very happy and in alot of pain, said to myself we will wait and see. At 13 weeks one morning woke up no pain, moved very carefully for a start as I couldn;t believe the pain could just be gone like that, but it was.

I few weeks later had an appt with specialist ortheo surgeon, and he said he could see the difference in gap in hip joint compared to x-rays they had when they had done the first hip replacement, knew i would need another THR as you could see the hip had arthritis, suggested it would be around the two year mark before they did replacement, done in a little over a year apart, I begged for it to be done, as I felt the damage to my good hip would impair the healing and exercises I could do after my first THR, it did slow things down consiberably.

6

Hi there,

Your story is very like my own.

I'm a tennis addict & play 4 times a week.

In November 2015 I went to the doc with a very sore and swollen knee - had MRI and was told it was an injury and got a steroid injection. Pain got increasingly worse around Feb/March and I went back & had blood tests - had RA factor but no inflamatories markers. Pain was still a problem and

in July I was diagnosed with PVNS (google it) and was told I needed an operation.

Just when chatting to the surgeon prior to the op I mentioned that my right ankle was sore & another MRI followed & more bloods. Operation was cancelled.

Then I was referred to a rheumatologist who said I have an 'inflammatory arthritis' and need to take methotrexate. Again no RA markers in blood so he says it's not difinitively RA but is treated just the same.

He said he would normally have kick started me with steroids but my range of movement was very much improved on anti inflamatories (vimovo - which seemingly is good news) so to use these until October coming with a view to starting methotrexate then (which I really don't want to do).

On the anti-inflamatories I've been playing my tennis no bother. My rheumatologist told me that when I start the methotrexate I will be playing tennis as normal and not to worry about that so hopefully it will be the same for you running.

I never asked him if I'm on this for life when I start but I'm assuming I am.

Definitely agree with Shirlee - exercise does help.

I hope all goes well for you and you keep up the running.

7

Many thanks for the fantastic replys

So the tear in the knee shouldn't be effected by the RA ? It just feels this knee won't heal and I'm getting some twinges in the other now.

The RA seemed to come so quickly really as soon as I had the injury .

Can you have a drink with those Meds . Like a glass or two of wine ?

Does RA get worse very quickly ?

As I said it's not confirmed but I do have some bloods I can stick up here if people can tell me is it very probable

8

I had surgery on my knee and it is fine ,,,,I am going to take up running cause they say working out helps , I do yoga five times a week , helps a lot but I want to step it up ,,,I also have bursitis on my knee n hip ,,,once I start moving I feel fine ,,,surgery will go fine n I believe you will get back to running just go slow ,,gentle hugs ,,I am 64 ;(((

9

I would say that your RA probably led to your injury, but who knows.. we are all so different with our disease. For myself, I was an avid runner and exerciser - at least 5 days a week including strength training. I've also had a clean diet with limited sugar, gluten, etc... I've always been at the lower end of normal with my weight, and basically an all around healthy person. The reason I'm saying this is because I don't believe an injury "leads" to RA. I've had plenty of injuries over the years pre RA to prove that. With me, my neck started hurting 2 years ago. I atrributed it to a move we made around that time. Lifting boxes, etc.. After we settled in, the pain got worse. Fast forward a bit and my feet started hurting. I was training for a long run and was convinced I had a stress fracture. I saw a local dr who told me it was tendonitis, wouldn't do an xray. Stop running  for a few weeks he said, I had already stopped for 2 weeks. Not long enough he said.. uh.. ok. He did thankfully send me to a podiatrist who DID do an xray. I already show permanent damage in my ankle bone on xray. She put me in an immobilizer, which caused my knee to start hurting. By this time my neck was really bad, and now my hands and left wrist started hurting bad too. I saw my regular GP who orderd RA test, which was very high. She sent me to Rheumatologist who ordered more tests. My CCP AB was as high as could be measured, but my CPK, ESR, and other inflammation tests were close to normal. I feel that maybe thats because of my clean diet.. ? So, end of story is that I was diagnosed with RA, and I don't have tendonitis. This was about 5 months ago. I was put on prednisone - 15 mg and tapered over 3 weeks - which by the way was a miracle drug for me. Within about 5 hours I felt better at this low dose. I also take Plaquenil and injectable Methotrexate, and folic acid. I'm finally feeling almost back to myself again, but I think I'll always have a measure of pain in my wrists, first knuckles, feet, and neck. Totally manageable from where it was. I can't run anymore due to the damage in my ankle, but I can still exercise in other ways and am always trying to find new ways to adapt to my "new" body and its limitations. You can't be on Methotrexate if your trying to have a baby, but there are a lot of other meds they can put you on if this will be your diagnosis. Whether or not you can be a sportsman will depend on if your willing to take medications that come with possible side effects but will slow the progression of this disease, which also is unpredictable and different for each person. 

This is not a fun diagnosis, but it can be controlled so that we can try our best to live as normal a life as possible. Best of luck to you!

10

Hi Gill

How do you know if your taking the right tumeric?

11

Yeah, Rheumy said take Curcumin (tumeric) but did nothing for me, the Prednisone really messed up my stomach, so Tumeric bothers my stomach.

she had said take 1500-3000 Curcumin. Also said different brands work better but didn't say which. 

12

They put me on Sulfasalazine because I drink wine.  No alcohol with MTX.

also on plaquenil, but honestly I still have the pains in mornings and evenings/nights.

I'm on restricted diet, only weight 112 lbs, had lost 25 lbs. but inflammation still hanging on. I got Polymyalgia Rheumatica overnight. Had Ben extremely stress with family issues and climbed big set of stairs 100 times to move out a really bad person from my father's house. The stress and overworking arms and hips did me in. 

This is is why I recommend meditation and blissful living now wink 

13

Justgettinby,

how on earth could you have started on 15 mg Prednisone and tapered in 3 weeks and got off??? I'm going on 1 year and 9 months. The side effects are so bad, I can't wait to get off. Really screws with your Adrennal glands!!! And more. I'm down to 1 mg now. 

14

Gill, would you send me book title in a PM, private message? 

15

Well, my rheumatologist who prescribed them wanted me on 15 mg for a month until he saw me next, but I'm a nurse and knew I didn't want to stay on them that long unless I HAD to. So, with his approval I was allowed to do a taper if I was feeling good enough. I took 15mg for 5 days, 10mg for 5 days, 5mg for 5 days, and 2.5mg for 5 days then off. I wasn't on it long enough for it to affect my adrenals, and my dose was never that high. It's a miracle drug but I know better than to stay on it long term. I've done 3 rounds of it this way since my diagnosis, and fortunately right now it seems like the DMARDS are now kicking in, so cross my fingers that I won't need it again for a long time.

I hope your able to get off them soon, I do understand why you needed it, believe me. I just couldn't believe how fast it worked for me. It offered relief when I thought maybe dying would be a better option than feeling that bad.

16

Hi Shirlee 

Checkout this helpful discussion topic: Turmeric 95% curcumin.

I haven't done any research into best brands at this stage, but Martin and others in the above discussion can help with this, I'm sure.

Positives

g

17

The year before I retired, I started noticing that whenever I sat for just a few minutes (I was a chemistry teacher unacustomed to sitting due to the job) I had pain in the bottom of both feet when I walked. It would subside after a few minutes. So I went to my podiatrist and he insisted I had a broken bone (in both feet?) and kept x-raying them. Then he sent me to a physical therapist. AFter 550 bucks worth of orthotics, which did not help, he threw in the towel.

Suddenly, the large knuckles in both hands felt "like someone had dropped a piano" on them. Went to my GP. He sent me that day to a rheumatologist. Best thing he ever did for me. I was diagnosed with RA on the spot.

So, yes, RA can appear just "like that". But with the proper care it can disappear as quickly as it came on. That would be remission, which comes and goes. 

Interesting disease.....

18

Yeah, the onset of my PMR, I couldn't get in to doctor for 30 days (it was Christmas time) and I too thought I might die, starting think of my will. 

But the Pred only reduced my pain maybe 30%.  Sure wish I had got off of it. 

Thanks for for sharing and glad you are having better results. 

19

Hi!  I am 39 and until RA came suddently this February was running at least 24 km a week and surfing at least 3 times a week, plus cycling, swimming, and yoga.  My knees both suddently started hurting one day in February and and when they didn't heal after a few weeks of not running or surfing I went to a physiotherapist.  She gave me exercises etc and while she did notice that I had fluid under my kneecaps (swelling) she thought this must be from an injury.  Nothing was helping and then both my wrists started up and I realised all was not ok so went to the doctor. I ended up so crippled, neck, hips, fingers, feet, ankles, jaw, shoulders, knees, voice box (there is a joint in there!!!), and still 7 months later cannot wear shoes due to bumps on my feet.

However!  I do have two helpful bits of info.  One is that I belong to a Facebook group called Runners with Rheumatoid Arthritis which is incredibly helpful for people in our position.  You can search it up.

Two is that, while I eat incredibly healthily and actually always have - no sugar, processed foods etc, and now take Turmeric, Biotin, and Fish Oil daily, I do believe that the RA drugs whilst nasty are really needed for most people.  I am tapering off Prednisone which got me walking and working again, am still on the maximum antiinflammatories and panadol.  Methotrexate, which is not working 100% for me is finally after 12 weeks working enough that I have been able to start surfing again.  I know that I will run again when I get the inflammation down, but running on inflamed joints causes microinjuries (my rheumatologist says) which can lead to permanent damage.  So I am waiting on running (not that I can wear my running shoes anyway).  Swimming has kept me fit, even at my worst of struggling to sit in a chair or drive to the pool.

All the best, it is a shocking and horrible adjustment, but thanks to modern medicine we have a real chance at getting back to 100%.

 

20

What's TCM and MSM