Original Injury
In June of 2023, while working out, my knee injury began when my left knee bent too much. The pain started later that night when going to sleep. It was at that time, I also noticed some swelling.
I rested and did not perform leg workouts for a week but the pain and swelling got worse. I was having difficulty going up and down stairs at work and home. After about one month of pain and no improvements, I went to see an orthopedic surgeon.
My pain had moved to my joint and I thought I had a meniscus injury. I had an MRI done that same week. When the results came back, there was nothing wrong with any of the structures in or surrounding my knee.
I opted for an aspiration of the knee and a cortisone injection. After one week of no pain or swelling, I thought I was home free. Oh, was I wrong!
About 2 weeks after the fluid in my knee was removed, my Right knee began to swell although there was no pain. I spoke with the PA in the orthopedic office and she suggested the same treatment of aspiration and cortisone shot. We both figured the R knee issue was from compensation for a month from the L knee pain.
After another 2 weeks of no issues, my left knee swelling returned. This time it was aspirated and the fluid was sent off for analysis. The results showed a significant amount of infection in my knee. It was also during this time that my R shoulder began to be painful with certain motions and exercises.
Specialist Appointments
I was then referred to a Rheumatologist because possible causes were rheumatoid arthritis or another autoimmune disease like Lupus. Check out the American College of Rheumatology to see what a rheumatologist specializes.
I spent about 45 minutes going through the history with the new doctor; with him also asking a lot of questions about symptoms I did not realize were symptoms. He then ordered blood tests. He came to the conclusion that I had a strep virus before the original workout injury, my body fought off the virus BUT never stopped fighting even after it was gone.
This is called reactive arthritis. I am currently on an immunosuppressant medication to help my body to stop attacking what is no longer there. The first month on the medication actually caused more knee pain and swelling. The dosage was increased to see if any would change.
For a few weeks it did help, however that was short lived. Pain returned as did the swelling, however the pain only lasted a week.
As of Now…
Currently, I am still having a significant amount of swelling in my knees. I am not to the level of lower body exercises that I was before my knee injury happened almost a year ago. I am seeing the Rheumatologist again soon to hopefully take another step forward after a few backward recently.