Rheumatoid Arthritis Support Group
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, inflammatory, multisystem, autoimmune disorder. It is a disabling and painful condition which can lead to substantial loss of mobility due to pain and joint destruction. The disease is also systemic in that it often also affects many extra-articular tissues throughout the body including the skin, blood vessels, heart, lungs, and...
No... I'm not referring to Rice Crispies cereal! LOL
I'm curious to know if anyone else has this "problem", especially in the mornings/after waking and more specifically, in the knees.
I am 5'7" weighing in at around 310lbs. I am what the medical field would call "morbidly obese". I've NEVER been "normal" weight in my entire life. Even when I was a kid. I have pictures as young as 2 when I was "overweight". It has been something I struggle with everyday.
In my adult life, the smallest I have EVER been was around 265lbs and that was really in my "teens". I have been more consistently at or around the 300lb mark for the past 10 years or so. Gaining here, losing there, but not really making "lasting" progress with my weight.
I'm always curious about my knees. Lately, my knees, hips and lower back have been worse than usual. Now, when I wake up, I honestly sound like the little guys (elves???) on the Rice Crispies box! SNAP, CRACKLE & POP!
Every step I take brings some sort of auditory reaction, usually a popping/snapping. Stairs are becoming an issue for me as I can now feel my knees "grinding" with each step. I try to avoid them as much as possible now. It is so bad, my husband has put his hand on my knee as I walk up hill/stairs and he can FEEL the "grinding". It almost made him vomit. Imagine how I feel!?!?!?!? I feel it EVERY time, but from the INSIDE!!!! :/
I'm wondering... Is this more an issue caused by my obesity or RA?
I have also noticed my hips popping more. This isn't usually painful, but others can hear it and I can "feel" it from the inside. The popping in my knees is most common after waking/being stationary for a while, but honestly, it's progressing to other times of day/activity.
Help!?!?!?!?
I'm curious to know if anyone else has this "problem", especially in the mornings/after waking and more specifically, in the knees.
I am 5'7" weighing in at around 310lbs. I am what the medical field would call "morbidly obese". I've NEVER been "normal" weight in my entire life. Even when I was a kid. I have pictures as young as 2 when I was "overweight". It has been something I struggle with everyday.
In my adult life, the smallest I have EVER been was around 265lbs and that was really in my "teens". I have been more consistently at or around the 300lb mark for the past 10 years or so. Gaining here, losing there, but not really making "lasting" progress with my weight.
I'm always curious about my knees. Lately, my knees, hips and lower back have been worse than usual. Now, when I wake up, I honestly sound like the little guys (elves???) on the Rice Crispies box! SNAP, CRACKLE & POP!
Every step I take brings some sort of auditory reaction, usually a popping/snapping. Stairs are becoming an issue for me as I can now feel my knees "grinding" with each step. I try to avoid them as much as possible now. It is so bad, my husband has put his hand on my knee as I walk up hill/stairs and he can FEEL the "grinding". It almost made him vomit. Imagine how I feel!?!?!?!? I feel it EVERY time, but from the INSIDE!!!! :/
I'm wondering... Is this more an issue caused by my obesity or RA?
I have also noticed my hips popping more. This isn't usually painful, but others can hear it and I can "feel" it from the inside. The popping in my knees is most common after waking/being stationary for a while, but honestly, it's progressing to other times of day/activity.
Help!?!?!?!?
The snap, crackle, and pop feeling you have is definitely outside the bounds of normal. Perhaps your the cartilage in your knees has cracks in them or even worse, the cartilage may be gone. The cartridge in your knee has the function to ensure your joints movement is smooth. If you truly didn't have any cartridge left, you would be considered 'bone on bone' which is painful and causes a crackly, popping feeling.
An X-Ray wouldn't be very useful in this situation. You really should think about having your general practitioner, orthopedist, or a rheumatologist assess the situation and, if appropriate, order an MRI or a CT scan.
You didn't mention if you had any or other joint pain or swelling. If it is your knees alone that are giving you grief, the possibility exists that you are dealing with osteoarthritis in your knees.
Osteoarthritis is considered to be caused by "wear and tear" on your joints, especially your knees. If you are carrying around extra weight, this would be one contributing factor that falls under the "wear and tear" category.
A lot of people on this board with Rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disorder that is chronic, painful, and affects much more than just the joints, also have osteoarthritis as well as RA; myself included.
The pain caused in your knee is your body's reaction telling you that something isn't working correctly.
Best of Luck,
TheWino
I have OA along with my RD. My knees pop something fierce. I'm sure it's due to my being overweight, and I am trying to work on that.
Mine is worse on stairs. I just take them slow and easy if they can't be avoided.
Your weight may be the cause on your joints/bones...have you seen a specialist to MRI your interior walls :) ?
My wife always knows when I am walking into the room because she says "Hey crackle". :-)
I called and spoke w/the nurse who spoke with my Rheumatologist. He said "could be" related to the RA, but could also be chondromalacia patella. He said if it is chondromalacia patella, he will start w/an injection (I'm assuming Cortizone?) at my next follow-up, unless it gets worse and I need to get a shot sooner. :(
I have popping issue's as well I could never sneak up on someone they always hear me coming. Sometimes it hurts but not always, the pain depends a lot on if I have a lot of swelling or not.
It's a hard road no matter how you look at it. We live in a toxic processed food environment where companies spend millions researching how to keep us craving... keep us addicted. I still struggle with the cravings - even after winning a workplace loser contest this year. And so much of our inflammation is caused by those very same foods.
Good luck and God bless
Tami
Lynne
I have started doing more walking lately and trying to look at it from a "medical" perspective vs. "you're fat and ugly and you need to lose weight" has really helped me make it a priority.
Now, if I could just bring that "medical" mentality to my eating habits, I think I will be on the right track to make some changes. It is hard when you have NEVER been "normal" weight/size.
I truly DON'T know what it's like to NOT be fat! It's just how I have ALWAYS been since childhood. This IS "normal" to me and it's hard to retrain your brain.
I'm just hoping I can get enough weight off soon enough to keep my joints (knees) from getting even worse. We'll see!
To your question, I have talked with all my dr's and they all agree that anything I can take off is better than carrying it, so 'ole Bluedogs2 gave up a lot of his favorites (that's ok - it was mostly junk food and kale) I feel better and my joints don't hurt quite so bad. Is the joint pain related to RA - OPINION I think so, but I have so many other problems at the moment, they (the problems) are really putting the doctors to task as far as diagnosis and advanced meds go. "Ole Bluedogs2 is just peculiar, I guess - at least that is what MBDs2 says.
Be well and Peace to all
Bluedogs2