Hi
I have RA and I freaking hate it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My rheumy told me I have bakers cysts behind my knees caused by the RA.....had anyone had experience with these darn thing that can help me.
Hi gramma. I'm not sure how much you've learned about Baker's Cysts yet. I don't have them, myself, but I do have Rheumatoid nodules, which are painful too, so I can sympathize at least a little.
Here's some info, if you need it, and good luck with treatment! http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec05/ch074/ch074g.html
I have Baker's cysts too. I have not had them drained. They seem to get larger if I over do, and then slowly get smaller. They are very painful, but hot compresses help.
Did your doctor give you any kind of special brace to wear? He should have. Aggravation is what causes the cyst to grow larger. A baker's cyst is simply a fluid build up. If you immobilize your knee, and keep off of it, your body will "drink" the fluid off your knee. I have 2 immobilizers and I get the cysts all the freakin time. The sooner you catch them and give your knees a rest, the sooner they go away. The bigger the cyst, the harder it is to bend your knee and the more painful it becomes. You SHOULDN'T need them drained, unless it gets too big. Ask your doc about a brace.
LindaB
No the damn disease is not controlled...I was in a clinical study for orencia...and metx and had to be taken out because of liver problems. Have now been on arava 20 mgs and enbrek 50 mfg no real reliefgramma, seriously talk to yoru doc about some kind of splint or brace. You joints need a chance to heal the cyst. Just give him a call and ask about it.I had bakers cysts behind both knees when I was going through the early stages of my arthritis. I never had them drained or removed, but they haven't bothered me since I had my knee replacements. I guess I can't bend my knees far enough to make it uncomfortable. Now I have a big cyst below my hip full of fluid the ultrasound tech said looked like leaking from my burisits. I have to call my rheumy today and make an appointment to see about all that. I'll do that this afternoon after I have my bone marrow aspirate. When my RA was at it's worst i had Baker's Cyst and had them drained about
3 or 4 times over the course of a couple months. And although it was VERY
painful during the actual aspiration but the next day i could walk without
much pain and it was totally worth it!!!
Good luck
Lisa
>.< Oh man I'm telling you guys, if you catch these thigns early enough, you can make them go away. It's nothing but fluid that your body WILL "drink up" You just have to STOP using that joint for a few days. All of this draining stuff sucks. I've never had to get one drained. I dunno. Maybe mine aren't that bad? But I don't understand that because I get at least one a month. You can tell when you're getting them on your knees because if you cup your hand behind your knee cap, it feels like you've got a ball lodged in there, and it's usually very warm, and hurts to push on. Here is an EXCELENT article on them. The self care things you can do if you think you're starting to get a cyst, and then most likely it will go away on its own.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/bakers-cyst/DS00448/DSECTIO N=1
I have had a ganglion cyst on my wrist for about 10 years, but have never been told that it is related to my arthritis. Is it?OOOH! I have a ganglion cyst too! I had been told that it isI've had bakers cyst behind both knees in the early stages of RA before it was well controlled.
I had a shot of cortisone in both knees years ago that relieved them. They mentioned draining them if they continued to be bothersome....but luckily I never have had to do that.
Haven't had the problem in years now.
[QUOTE=RASara82]OOOH! I have a ganglion cyst too! I had been told that it is
related. I can tell
because when my RA flares, it gets bigger. Is yours painful at
all? Mine wasn't for a long time, but has definitely been
bothering me for a few months now. I want to get mine
removed.[/QUOTE]
Yes, mine hurts sometimes, but not always. It's gone away a couple times from hitting it accidentally, but it ALWAYS comes back. I've had people come up and ask me, "Is your wrist broken?" I'm seeing my RD today and I'm going to ask him about it (along with the other laundry list I plan to ask him). I'm hoping to talk him into Enbrel, but I'm not holding my breath.
Yes; hold your breath.....and believe, believe, believe.
Kind of like; I think I can, I think I can....I think I can! I really do believe a positive attitude goes a long way toward helping these medications work. Sure it's not 100%; but when you go into something thinking "This isn't going to work either" it usually doesn't.
Well, RD said the ganglion cyst is common and don't worry about it, then he moved on so I didn't get to ask anything more about it (such as, is it fine to have it for 10 years?). BUT I didn't talk him into Enbrel, he increased my MTX to 15 mg instead. He has an approach of treating this with the least scary and least expensive and move up from there. So if I do get there, it will be a while. But hopefully, the higher dose of MTX will make a difference.I know that ganglion cysts are usually harmless, but if theyHi, I'm new here...Diagnosed Jan 05.
I suffered these in both legs last year. One calf was @ 4" bigger then the other, very painful, the cyst ruptured and it was drained. What a relief....Other then that it was a case of elevation & rest, although a fine line between rest and moving, as the scan showed it was putting pressure on a vein and they were afraid of a DVT too!
Hope you get this sorted...