Re: Fluid on knee - drain or cortisone?

[Guest guest]

Mark, I would try draining without cortisone first and see if it will hold.

Very little risk of infection with draining a knee. Its just a needle like

any other, maybe slightly larger. They pull the fluid out with a syringe. I

have never heard of anyone getting an infection from draining a knee. I have

never been told that it was a risk.

I have also had Lidocane injected in after draining, instead of cortisone ,

for immediate relief.

On Wednesday 14 November 2001 11:26, Mark Holmes wrote:

> I spoke with my rheumie today since my right knee is swollen and full

> of fluid. I asked him about draining it - he didn't like that idea

> much - was afraid of infection. Suggested instead that I should

> perhaps get a shot of cortisone into that joint. I said , " couldn't

> you get infection from that too? " and he replied no. Maybe the

> needle doesn't go in so far as with draining. Guess the cortisone

> would make the fluid go away?

>

> Anyway, just thought I would ask your opinion of this before I

> ventured forth.

>

> Thanks,

> Mark

> RA 4/98

>

>

>

> To unsubscribe, email: rheumatic-unsubscribeegroups

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

This is similar to what happened to me, left knee which got cortisone 4 times

is trashed and right knee which never had one is much much better. There was

slightly more inflammation with the left but not that much. There both were

allways inflamed to some degree for 2.5 years. I firmly believe cortisone

causes more damage than the inflammation alone, though Im sure the

inflammation causes damage for sure.

On Wednesday 14 November 2001 16:07, Bell wrote:

> Hi Mark and all,

>

> I just thought I'd add my 2 cents. :-) I agree--Dr. Franco is very skilled

> at the art of cortisone shots! Over the last 4-1/2 years he's given me

> about 5 in my left knee. Virtually painless process (amazing) and, OH, did

> I feel wonderful for awhile after! The trouble is that today that left

> knee is complete trashed. I don't have any rheumatic swelling anymore.

> I'm darn close to remission and feeling great. But that one knee that had

> the shots has absolutely no cartilege left. When I move it, it creaks

> loudly.

>

> I can't say that if I knew about this ahead of time, I'd do anything

> differently. At the time, the swelling and pain was so bad in that knee, I

> was desperate for relief. But I just thought I'd let you know what the

> final result was. I am certainly NOT telling you not to take the

> cortisone. Perhaps, like Lizbeth, you'll be lucky and only need it once.

>

> Good luck,

>

>

>

> > To unsubscribe, email: rheumatic-unsubscribeegroups

> >

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

Hi Mark,

Long time no see<warm hug>

Our dearly departed (joke!) Dr Chiu took care of my knee by draining it and

putting a steroid injection in it.

Ohhhh the relief! It worked like magic and I've never had any trouble since.

Do you have faith in your doctor ? I would be feeling a wee bit worried if

he's so concerned and would be asking myself if this shows a lack of

confidence to do it right on his part?

It's quite a skill to do these injections. I have watched Dr Franco perform

this in knees where there was virtually NO space between the bone. And the

patient felt nothing.....now that's skill!!

BTW for those of you who remember back that far, it was our darling Canadian

Janine:-))

Good luck with whatever you decide Mark

Huggles

Lisbeth

rheumatic Fluid on knee - drain or cortisone?

> I spoke with my rheumie today since my right knee is swollen and full

> of fluid. I asked him about draining it - he didn't like that idea

> much - was afraid of infection. Suggested instead that I should

> perhaps get a shot of cortisone into that joint. I said , " couldn't

> you get infection from that too? " and he replied no. Maybe the

> needle doesn't go in so far as with draining. Guess the cortisone

> would make the fluid go away?

>

> Anyway, just thought I would ask your opinion of this before I

> ventured forth.

>

> Thanks,

> Mark

> RA 4/98

>

>

[Guest guest]

> Hi Mark,

>

> Long time no see<warm hug>

>

> Our dearly departed (joke!) Dr Chiu took care of my knee by

draining it and

> putting a steroid injection in it.

>

> Ohhhh the relief! It worked like magic and I've never had any

trouble since.

>

> Do you have faith in your doctor ? I would be feeling a wee bit

worried if

> he's so concerned and would be asking myself if this shows a lack of

> confidence to do it right on his part?

I don't really know what the rheumie thinks - he's a mystery to me.

I'm dumping him for another but in the meantime.... I don't think he

has problems giving people injections of cortisone, but for some

reason he doesn't like to drain knees - in fact said that he never

drains knees. So supposedly, he just shoots the cortisone right into

the effused joint. Makes no sense to me, but that's what he said.

(he's 2 hours away so won't be doing this anyway). Can't imagine

myself how draining a knee could predispose one to infection. With

fluid coming out, kind of hard for things to be going in unless

you're using some nasty,dirty ol' needle.

>

> It's quite a skill to do these injections. I have watched Dr Franco

perform

> this in knees where there was virtually NO space between the bone.

And the

> patient felt nothing.....now that's skill!!

Well, in SW VA, I'm not sure " skill " is what you get. I suspect I'll

just be happy if whoever does it, knows the difference between my

knee and my foot.

Thanks for the reply!

Mark

[Guest guest]

Hi Mark and all,

I just thought I'd add my 2 cents. :-) I agree--Dr. Franco is very skilled

at the art of cortisone shots! Over the last 4-1/2 years he's given me

about 5 in my left knee. Virtually painless process (amazing) and, OH, did

I feel wonderful for awhile after! The trouble is that today that left knee

is complete trashed. I don't have any rheumatic swelling anymore. I'm darn

close to remission and feeling great. But that one knee that had the shots

has absolutely no cartilege left. When I move it, it creaks loudly.

I can't say that if I knew about this ahead of time, I'd do anything

differently. At the time, the swelling and pain was so bad in that knee, I

was desperate for relief. But I just thought I'd let you know what the

final result was. I am certainly NOT telling you not to take the cortisone.

Perhaps, like Lizbeth, you'll be lucky and only need it once.

Good luck,

>

> To unsubscribe, email: rheumatic-unsubscribeegroups

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

> Hi Mark and all,

>

> I just thought I'd add my 2 cents. :-) I agree--Dr. Franco is very

skilled

> at the art of cortisone shots! Over the last 4-1/2 years he's

given me

> about 5 in my left knee. Virtually painless process (amazing) and,

OH, did

> I feel wonderful for awhile after! The trouble is that today that

left knee

> is complete trashed. I don't have any rheumatic swelling anymore.

I'm darn

> close to remission and feeling great. But that one knee that had

the shots

> has absolutely no cartilege left. When I move it, it creaks loudly.

>

> I can't say that if I knew about this ahead of time, I'd do anything

> differently. At the time, the swelling and pain was so bad in that

knee, I

> was desperate for relief. But I just thought I'd let you know what

the

> final result was. I am certainly NOT telling you not to take the

cortisone.

> Perhaps, like Lizbeth, you'll be lucky and only need it once.

>

> Good luck,

>

>

Interesting and not too surprising as that is quite a few shots in

that one knee. I am glad to hear you are in remission though but it

does raise the question as to why that knee kept swelling? Were you

on the AP the entire time or were you doing something else? I am

quite leery of cortisone actually, even though I know 1 shot probably

won't do that much damage, but then if the knee swells again and

hurts badly, what does one do? Pretty hard not to repeat it since

nothing else is available to kill the pain and reduce the

inflammation. Is it possible that he could have just drained the

knee and then redrained it and redrained it without doing cortisone?

I'm just wondering if there could have been a change in dosage or

medication or something that would have reduced the inflammation

without resorting to cortisone. Of course I realize that there isn't

much out there that is fast acting. And walking around with a ton of

fluid in your joint probably isn't good either. A tough decision.

My rheumie today wanted to put me on a dose pak again but I resisted.

The first one was great, but after I went off it, I flared badly. See

no point in repeating that experience unless I know for sure that the

methotrexate I am on is going to kick in again. Pretty easy to get

on that slippery prednisone slope (as Geoff has mentioned) and tough

to get off. Plus with diabetes , it gets very complicated. Got a

call in to the ortho doc - will see what he has to say.

Thanks for sharing!

Mark

[Guest guest]

on 11/14/01 3:07 PM, Bell wrote:

> I'm darn

> close to remission and feeling great. But that one knee that had the shots

> has absolutely no cartilege left. When I move it, it creaks loudly.

>

> I can't say that if I knew about this ahead of time, I'd do anything

> differently. At the time, the swelling and pain was so bad in that knee, I

> was desperate for relief. But I just thought I'd let you know what the

> final result was.

I've never had an injection into a knee, but I do know what my

rheumatologist said:

Yes, cortisone is thought to contribute to cartilage deterioration. But you

have to weigh that against how unchecked inflammation is going to cause

cartilage deterioration. This one doc says the two are more or less a wash,

except unchecked inflammation is much more painful.

Jean

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 11/14/2001 8:28:56 AM Pacific Standard Time,

mholmes@... writes:

> Guess the cortisone

> would make the fluid go away?

Cortizone can destroy joints. So the guideline if your gonna do it is no

more than 3 shots per year in same joint. I was offered a cortizone shot for

my hip but turned it down , but I am a stubborn cuss and a Doctors nightmare,

mostly.

[Guest guest]

rheumatic Re: Fluid on knee - drain or cortisone?

> Interesting and not too surprising as that is quite a few shots in

> that one knee. I am glad to hear you are in remission though but it

> does raise the question as to why that knee kept swelling? Were you

> on the AP the entire time or were you doing something else?

> Thanks for sharing!

> Mark

>

>

Hi, Mark,

I was on the AP the entire time. In fact, I've never been on any other

treatment. Thankfully, I discovered Dr. Brown's book very shortly after my

symptoms began (even before official diagnosis). I'm not sure why that one

knee kept swelling. After a while, I was feeling much better every else

except that darn knee. I talked to Dr. Franco about draining it, but he

said that he didn't think there was anything in there to drain. An ortho

doc

I saw agreed. They both said that instead of plain liquid, I had the

equivalent

of a " soaked paper towel " under the skin. (It was swollen tissue.)

P.S.--I'm diabetic too, and the cortisone sure didn't help in that respect.

Got so dehydrated once from high blood sugars, that I actually blacked out.

Not fun.

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Mark - A few years back I had fluid at the back of the knee....(baker's

cyst). I saw an Orthopedic Surgeon. He explained that when there's a

problem with the knee it weeps (like an eye sheds tears) but the fluid has

no place to go. When the knee problem clears up the swelling goes away. He

treated me with NSAIDS and after an MRI showed a torn cartilage he scheduled

me for arthroscopic knee surgery. In the meantime I wanted to travel to New

Zealand (saw our own dear Lisbeth). The doctor gave me one cortisone

injection to get me through the trip. It worked really well and I didn't

have any trouble while traveling. At surgery, he didn't have to drain any

fluid as it was already resolved. So maybe that's why this doctor of yours

doesn't want to drain....he figures the cortisone shot will take care of it.

BTW the old-time family doctor I worked for for more than 15 years had a

strict rule......a limit of 3 (three only) cortisone shots in a person's

lifetime. Hope you get some relief no matter what route you chose. Judy

(deejay)

rheumatic Fluid on knee - drain or cortisone?

> I spoke with my rheumie today since my right knee is swollen and full

> of fluid. I asked him about draining it - he didn't like that idea

> much - was afraid of infection. Suggested instead that I should

> perhaps get a shot of cortisone into that joint. I said , " couldn't

> you get infection from that too? " and he replied no. Maybe the

> needle doesn't go in so far as with draining. Guess the cortisone

> would make the fluid go away?

>

> Anyway, just thought I would ask your opinion of this before I

> ventured forth..

>

> Thanks,

> Mark

> RA 4/98

>

>

>

> To unsubscribe, email: rheumatic-unsubscribeegroups

>

>

>