Seriously, I cannot walk anymore. I’ve been doing my best to get out and about each day, but this past week I just can’t. It just fucking hurts too much. Even with the cane, even if I walk slowly. The extreme shooting pain in my (front lower left) right knee makes even a short walk around the block an exercise in constant agony. And so I wonder if I should be even trying to walk on that leg if it hurts THAT bad. Because the pain ends up extending down the entire lower leg. The left knee is no picnic either, but compared to this… there’s no comparison.
I can still shuffle around the apartment, more or less. But each time I have to get up to go to the kitchen, the bathroom, whatever, I have to steel myself for the inevitable shooting pain. Even so, I’m still doing my daily chair workouts (yay! thank god for them!). But my next MRI is a whole month away (September 16th) and I honestly don’t know what to do between now and then.
Not only has this put a serious damper on my Staycation (it’s actually pretty depressing and has left me feeling all scatter-brained, unable to concentrate) I’m worried about next month. I have some tours booked in those first couple of weeks, but… a four hour walking tour? Srsly?? I mean, I know we’re not walking the whole time, but that’s an easy 8,000 steps. I could probably still do the wine tastings as it would mean ONLY hobbling down to Morales and back again. But the tours? How? Going to the supermarket almost has me in tears.
I’ve been icing the area, using different anti-inflammatory creams, keeping up with the chair exercises, but every day it’s getting worse. What I need is a proper diagnosis and then a plan of action… treatment? physio? surgery? I just need to know something. Not knowing what is happening is really dragging me down. Anyhow, just venting today because being stuck inside and the constant pain is really getting to me. xx
PS
for those asking… I can’t take anti-inflammatory meds like Ibuprofen due to my BP, and I won’t live on a steady diet of pain killers. I just won’t.
casa azahar 
Dammit. It’s not as if you haven’t been trying to get some movement on this problem for, like, forever.
Seriously, can you get a Zimmer frame? I’ve been here with my hips, and reached a point where that was the least painful way to get around inside the house. When I left the house I was never without, first, a hiking stick and eventually a pair of Alpine poles. Those cost a little more than you’d like, but if you are looking at surgery you will want them for rehab — support from both sides is exponentially better than leaning to one side on a standard cane and racking your back. Just taking some of your weight off your legs is a win.
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Today I had to go to the pharmacy to get my BP prescription filled and to look for some other kind of pain relief. I used BOTH my crutches (from back when I sprained BOTH my ankles) and honesty I couldn’t have got there otherwise. They did help. But what is usually a ten minute walk took closer to 30 (both ways!).
It’s been a year since the first MRI (on the other knee). Remember the asshole traumatologist? That was back in April. Finally when I went back to see heartless GP in June (I’d been putting it off for obvious reasons) I was happy to see she’d been replaced. At least for now. And so now I have the MRI appt, but not for another month.
Pharmacist recommended another “magic cream” called Fisiocrem. The other three I tried didn’t help at all. I came home and slapped some on after my shower and thought… wow I can already feel something… then saw one of the ingredients is menthol. Sneaky. Anyhow, fingers crossed.
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Be really, really careful with the creams. I am reading that some of the newer topical creams, which contain NSAIDs but are considered safe versus swallowing a systemic dose in pills, are very toxic to cats. https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/04/20/400994162/humans-use-of-pain-relief-creams-proves-fatal-to-felines/
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Yikes! This happened to me with the hair loss treatment. Only found out after I’d spent 100 euros on the first batch that one drop of it could kill a cat.
I don’t think the creams I’ve been using contain nsaids but will double check. Thanks for the heads up.
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I’m just coming off almost identical symptoms. For me it looks like it’s injury/inflamation of the upper anchor point of the medial colateral ligament. Not the first time for me. Unfortunately from the pain point of view, careful use and targetted exercise seems to be the “cure”. I’m doing very well now after a few weeks of horrible pain that never fully went away throigh the days and nights. But this morning I was scampering up the stairs and I’m off to walk to a play in a few minutes.
There are lots of injured knee ligament exercises on youtube. My doctor recommended them as just as good as physiotherapy 🙂
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Hey John, thanks. This sounds a bit hopeful. Kate (sledpress) also suggested it could be a meniscus tear. A quick google tells me…
“MCL tears commonly cause knee pain and tenderness along the inner side of the knee. Meniscus tears may produce a popping sensation, locking or catching of the knee, and difficulty straightening the leg.”
From that it almost sounds like I might have both (!!) but the most painful bit is the front and inner side of the knee. And yes, hurts even in bed.
Very weirdly, a few days ago I got up from my chair and – PAIN GONE. I mean totally gone. I walked all around the apartment not believing that it could just disappear like that. Then I went to bed and when I woke up it was back again.
I’ll take a closer look at the exercise vids but from what I’ve seen so far it looks like I’m doing a lot of the same moves in my chair pilates/cardio vids.
I just wish the MRI wasn’t a month away. Not having a proper diagnosis and treatment plan is just adding to the stress.
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Oooooh nooooo feel better soon! I have an autoimmune condition (they think it’s reactive arthritis but I suspect something worse (as I’ve consistently exceeded the diagnostic criteria for the L word) that constantly attacks anything I’ve injured. I stepped into a gopher hole hiking the other week and my body has been going crazy attacking that foot (amongst other things) since then. Useless rheumatologists just keep saying, take your NSAIDs…
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That sounds terrible Mel. Since Covid hit I’ve tried being sympathetic towards the medical community but lately I’m just so fed up. Unfortunately most of my “enchufes” have retired or moved on, so I no longer have the connections that used to make my experiences with doctors a bit more efficient and… well, human.
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I hope you’re feeling better, as these issues are never fun. I know how that “slow walk” feels, and it sucks. Are you allowed to seek healthcare anywhere in the EU? Because if so, maybe it’s worth a trip elsewhere to get this fixed…
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