I'm trying to figure out if this is an MS thing.

I woke up this morning with pretty bad knee pain. It hurts to climb up stairs, and going down the stairs, I have to keep that leg straight and not bend the knee. Sitting in a chair with my knee bent doesnt hurt as long as I'm not using the knee to move the chair around. Standing up from a sitting position hurts, just like trying to climb the stiars.

I dont remember whacking the knee into anything, or falling on it. I was kneeling on the floor on sunday, cleaning up some stuff on the floor. (carpeted floor) That's the only thing I can think of that could have triggered the knee pain, kneeling on it and putting pressure on it while I was on the floor.

I dont know if this is a weird spasticity thing, or if it's just me being out of shape and over 40 now. (turned 40 a few weeks ago) Maybe a combination of the MS/spasticity, being out of shape and over 40?

Does anyone else here go to bed with no pain, and wake up the next morning feeling like someone has yanked a joint or two out of their sockets? (I also have shoulder pain, but it's not super bad, and doesnt hurt constantly like the knee does)

Since I woke up, I can feel the knee swelling and the area around the top of the kneecap is noticebly swollen and tingly feeling (not quite an MS tingle, feels like the tendon has been pulled or stretched) Oh, and the pain is moving up the thigh now since I sat down a few minutes ago.

I didnt have any weird charley horses last night while I was sleeping. (had half a baclofen before I went to bed because The Hug was making my back hurt)


So, does anyone here wake up sometimes with what feels like sprains or tendonitis that shows up out of the blue? I've had this happen before (first time was nearly 20yrs ago) where I'd wake up with serious knee pain. First time it happened, I was working at a McD's and didnt realize how bad the pain was until I squatted down to get some straws from underneath my cash register. (knee made a popping sound that time) I was told that was Patella Tendonitis, and that took about a month to heal.

Another time, I was working at WalMart, and didnt have any pain until I squatted down to pick up some trash on the floor and my achilles tendon made a snapping sound and I had pain shoot thru it. (that was the worst, it took over a year for the ankle to heal and was more painful than a broken bone)

Other times, I'll wake up with knee pain, no warning the day before, and the pain will only last a couple of days and go away.

I just want to figure out if this is being caused by some weird MS thing, or if my joints and tendons are just weird.

Sorry to hear about your knee pain, Erin - I hope it settles down you soon!

I am dealing with lots of knee pain in my left knee at the moment right now also. The pain is awful and because I have a chronic pain condition on top of it, it has thrown everything out of whack.

I'm not sure what is causing my knee pain but my PTs have been using a splint on my leg in PT to try and correct the Dystonia in my foot and leg and during my last PT session over a month ago, they got me walking in it and my leg kept shooting out and twisting and I recall complaining of bad knee pain so i'm thinking that did some damage but wont know for definite until I see my PT's next Wednesday.

My mum called my doctor and he said to go and see my GP to get some anti-inflammitaries and to rule out any other possibilities, especially seeing as though it's not the usual pain I get.

I posted about my knee pain in the RSD forum and someone replied and mentioned a condition called 'Patello-femoral Syndrome' as I had a lot of the symptoms. I have done some reading up on it and I seem to have all of the symptoms but obviously can't get it diagnosed until I see an Orthopaedic Dr.

The symptoms you described sound exactly like what I am having. My knee is extremely painful, especially when I bend it or move it and the knee cap also swells up and goes red and tingles. I am also noticing that I am losing my balance often and it feels as though my knee is really unstable.

I hope you can figure out what is causing your knee pain soon and can get it treated quickly!

Keep us posted on what you find out, if anything!

Erin,

I have knee pain and cracking but I have also had arthritis in my knees since my early 20s. When the arthritis was dx'd my Dr. said it was due to all the falling I had done. I fell alot as a kid and never outgrew it.

Kneeling down has been known to trigger the pain in my knees. I rarely kneel anymore.

I usually get relief from Advil.

Spasticity causes tightness and joints can hurt as those muscles are being pulled.

Yes, I have pain in my right knee. It's acting up quite a bit today, too. It hurts when I keep it in the same position for a while....like sitting or driving.

It's really, really sore when I first start to use it after being in a sitting or stationary position but it loosens up. It comes and goes. I can go for weeks with no knee pain and then out of the blue it starts again. I posted about it a while back but cannot remember the date.

Hope you feel better.

could be arthritis...esp since you were kneeling on it a couple of days ago...that triggers it for me.

It doesnt feel arthritic. I have arthritis in both of my big toes (the toe pain is worse than the knee pain actually. Feels like broken bones)

The pain in my knee feels more like soft tissue pain. Like I injured the tendons or ligaments that hold the kneecap onto the knee.

Oh yeah, did I mention that my kneecaps are weird. They're "floaters". They dont seem to be connected to the knee like they're supposed to be. I can actually move my kneecap around with my hand (that usually doesnt hurt, unless the kneecap gets "stuck" on something) Been like that since I was a baby. Think that's related to a birth defect I was born with. My achilles tendons are shorter than they're supposed to be too, which I think explains somewhat why my achilles tendon ruptured in 2001.

I'm just wondering if some of the pain I occasionally wake up with is caused by the MS, or if I'm just weird. I've woken up with the knee pain before. I seem to get tendonitis really easily. I get tendonitis in my shoulder, especially the left one, all the time. That's sore this week too, but not as distracting or painful as knee pain.

Do MSers get tendonitis more often than non-MSers?? Are we more prone to it? Because this feels more like a tendon/ligament problem, with some muscle pain.

my DH gets knee pain. he is an active guy and over does it. I am lazy, and dont use mine enough.

hope you feel better.

I have pain in both of my knees. Somedays are better than others. I tend to keep my legs elevated whenever I am sitting, if possible. They really hurt (like Kelly) when flying or driving for long distances. I do have arthritis in both knees, but they seem to be worse when I am also experiencing spasticity

Does anyone else get pain in their knees?

Yes, but not MS related, unless we want to go by my rule and blame MS for everything..

After walking around all day taking my mom to appointments, and being out in the HOT weather, I finally tried out our walk-in bathtub. (we finally finished it a few months back, but I hadnt gotten around to really using it yet)

My dad had suggested that I soak my knees (other one started to hurt this afternoon). So I got in, turned on the jets and soaked my sore knee.

Felt great! Loved it!! (love the new tub!! jacuzzi jets!)

Then I went downstairs to dry my hair and get dressed for bed. In the half hour it took to dry my hair, my knee stiffened up, and now I have a weird ache running up the back and side of my thigh up towards my back. And there's another weird, but not as painful ache that goes all the way down to my ankle.

I dont know what I did, or how I did it, but geeze, this is painful. After my knee stiffened up, I walked around the basement for a little bit to try to loosen things up.

I've got a pile of ice on my swollen knee now, and am hoping I wont have to go to a doctor for this.

I'm resting it now for the next few days. My great-aunt died early tuesday morning, and I might be going to the funeral and dont want to draw attention to myself if I'm dragging a cane or a crutch around with my knee. (I usually dont go to funerals, not decided yet if I'm going to go)

Hopefully my knee will be better in a day or two, and wont be causing me problems for too much longer.