bilateral knee pain after catching a "chill" - rheumatoid arthritis? chondromalacia patella??

Here we go again. In the clasp of DOUBT.

I have been trying to be patient and “ride out” the pain but the pain seems to be much more determined than I am and the worry is consuming me.

This is what happened:

I was traveling in a car and a blast of cold air (AC) was blowing on my legs for over 3 hours without me noticing it. My mum is currently dealing with a cancer diagnosis and it is, unusually for me, making me less aware of my own needs, and less focused on my own body sensations - hence the delay in noticing the cold air. When I did, the bottom half of my legs, including my knees, were ice-cold to touch and my knees started hurting. They have been hurting since, for 2 weeks already.

Now, I have a history of knee pain.

It first started in 2011, when I was 36 years old and had an injury (my boyfriend lied on top of me and pushed on my kneecap). With one leg in a protective brace, I then injured my other knee when I tried to raise myself up from the floor whilst bearing all my weight on that one "good knee". I heard it crack really badly and it started hurting too.
(Prior to that, my knees always cracked when squatting but caused no pain.)

X rays did not reveal anything besides "misaligned patellas”.

I was told to rest both my knees but no amount of rest got rid of the pain. It became chronic.
Between 2011 and 2016 I saw a number of knee specialists because of the pain. I was diagnosed with "chondromalacia patella” and/or "Patellofemoral pain syndrome.” Perhaps they are the same thing.

The rheumatoid factor test did not point to a rheumatoid condition.

One doctor told me that the injuries were not the cause of my chronic knee problems, they just brought my knees' inherent "faulty" structure to my (and the doctors') knowledge. The pain would have come sooner or later anyway, he said.

Different doctors gave me a classification of either Wiberg type 2. or type 3. patella.

When I asked a knee specialist this year if, judging by my fresh X-rays, I had arthritis, he said “NO". He suggested what others did in the past: to use chondroitin and fish oil to help the cartilage and to do some stationary biking. I did that years ago and it did not seem to do much for me.

He also indicated the only person he knows who operates on cases like mine but he wasn't sure if that is the way to go.

In 2016, still having frequent bouts of knee pain, I opted to have an injection of hyaluronic acid put into one of my knees. It seemed to have helped (psychologically, I liked the idea of a knee lubricant) and for almost 4 years after that, neither of my knees (not even the one without the hyaluronic acid lubricant) was causing me any major concern (I have other more dramatic body symptoms to deal with). Having said that, I don't do squats or kneel much because that DOES bring on the pain.

But now, in 2020, following the AC incident in the car, my knees are hurting again and are worrying me.

I don't know what to make of all of this. It makes no sense to me that a blast of cold air could produce strong bilateral knee pain that lasts as long as mine does (2 wks).

It makes no sense to me that misaligned knees cause pain for a period of time (bouts of it between 2011 and 2016) and then seem almost totally fine for almost 4 years. (2016 to 2020) If they were so badly aligned, and arthritic, would they not hurt all the time?

I don't really want to contact my knee doctor because he knows nothing about TMS, he will prescribe supplements, injections, physiotherapy, even surgery, and I don't really want to take that route anymore because the medical route never helped me in the past.

I feel that it would help me if a knee expert (meaning a doctor or someone with a knee TMS experience) told me that my symptoms do not suggest that my pain is inevitable due to a structural cause. It would help me to know that a blast of cold air can provoke the symptoms I am experiencing but surely not for this long! It would help me to know that if I have symptoms, still, the cause is most likely my mental and emotional state, not the physical one.

I'd appreciate your thoughts if you have any experiences with arthritis, knee pain or "catching a chill".

Sorry for the length of this "call for support".

 

I had a similar knee issue (left knee) that had me limping and dealing with back pain that moved around.

Cold Weather was VERY irritating for me while I dealt with the limping and back pain.

I had MRI's and x-rays done neither showed anything structurally wrong...

I did have a cortisone shot in my knee but it HURT and didn't help in the long run...

Later I did learn what I was dealing with after reading Dr. Sarno's "Healing Back Pain"

I re-read the book and did the 42 Structured Program and my knee pain hasn't returned...

It's possible your knee pain is TMS based on what you wrote about it recurring sporadically...

I never visited a TMS doctor but the Structured Program helped me a MILLION to move past my pain...

 

Thank you, Velvet_Hidden. That is very encouraging! I guess I should get down to doing the program. I started it once upon a time and then I left it because I am oh so tired writing about me! Uffa.

 

No Problem

I'd share this as well....

If you find it hard doing the SP

It may be more convenient to write a list

Accepting everything in your life that may be hard to accept now and from the past...

writing "I accept " whatever you need to daily and reading over the list daily...

This helped me to move past random RSI pain in my right hand that wouldn't let up even when I

attempted to journal daily last year...

 

❤️thank you. That's a good tip, too. I personally believe that acceptance is a large chunk of the puzzle I am missing. Still resisting so much ...