Tag Archives: prednisone

Bee’s Knees – A New Chapter Begins!

Posted on by MaryO

Original Bee’s Knees  I have been dealing with this *stuff* for 9 years now.

I was finally approved for Orthovisic and my first injection of 3 was on March 2.

I was so excited when I started this post. Little did I know. Here’s how it’s been so far:

Wednesday, March 2, 2022 I got my first Orthovisc injection.

By Thursday, March 3 my knee was 90% better

On Wednesday March 9, I had injection 2

On the 10th, knee is still better

March 11 slept 91%, no knee pillow. good night’s sleep finally

March 12 woke up with sharp knee pain – screamed

March 13 – maybe that it was 21 degrees out affected things, maybe not.  Knee hurt a little all day.

Somehow, the pain feels different than before the injections. It feels like it could be the back of my leg – maybe I tore my muscle after I felt so good after Shot#!.

March 15, Stepped out of bed sharp pain

March 16, Injection 3, final.  It felt like needle moved in my knee

And from there things go

I started having pain standing/walking again and using a pillow between my knees at night.  Many nights I took 3 Tylenol just to see if I could get some sleep

March 26, I stood up from bed, fell backwards back down. Luckily, the bed was there.

March 29, The pain was excruciating so I 3 tylenol before bed and ordered a gel band from amazon. It freezes so I can ice my knee all around. I also did some reading about pain after OrthoVisc and some sites mentioned fluid on the knee or fluid behind the knee (Baker’s Cyst). I tried to look at my knees in the mirror without much success but my DH looked and he thought my left knee, the one in question, looked bigger than the right.

March 30 – today! – I got up this morning and I could barely walk. I went on amazon again and ordered a 3-wheel walker. I tried to make an appointment with the doctor who did the OrthoVisc but he wasn’t available until April 28.

Luckily, I was able to make an appointment for today with my GP-type doctor.  He watched how I walked and determined that my knee is swollen all around.

He said “Visibly swollen with protuberance in posterior fossa. Not warm to touch. Ballotable patella.

See aspiration note below: lateral subpatellar approach enabled withdrawal of 5cc straw colored clear fluid. 40mg kenelog + 4cc lidocaine injected easily. Substantial pain relief afterward and gait improved“

He drained my knee (Arthrocentesis) some but couldn’t get a lot of the fluid out. Actually, looking at the numbers, he took out about equal numbers with the lidocaine and cortisone he injected  I suggested he install a faucet to help me keep this draining. He was hoping that it might continue to drain into the thick bandage he put on.

In his after-care notes he said “I hope that this injection and ice allow the swelling in you knee to go down. If the pain resumes along with swelling, I suggest taking the oral prednisone. Regardless, please get in touch with Dr. X (Orthovisc injector). Let me know if you have increased pain, redness, warmth, or fever. “

Oh joy!

I came home and was able to take a nap, at least. Unfortunately, I had to cancel piano students to do so. My knee is still uncomfortable and I’m having trouble walking but I think the injection and the Arthrocentesis help in the coming days.

I really don’t want to do this knee draining thing often. Even with the lidocaine, it was painful. Not the worst pain I have ever had but nothing I’d sign up for fun. My worst-ever pain day was April 28, 2006. That day was the day I learned I had Kidney Cancer, which became the reason I can only take Tylenol for my pain. My endo will be unhappy if I take that Prednisone and he is always unhappy when I get cortisone in my knee.

Hopefully soon…

Early Detection, Treatment Needed To Reduce Risk Of Death, Cardiovascular Disease In Cushing’s Disease Patients

Posted on by MaryO

Possible double whammy?

 

Even after successful treatment, patients with Cushing’s disease who were older when diagnosed or had prolonged exposure to excess cortisol face a greater risk of dying or developing cardiovascular disease, according to a recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).

Cushing’s disease is a rare condition where the body is exposed to excess cortisol – a stress hormone produced in the adrenal gland – for long periods of time.

Researchers have long known that patients who have Cushing’s disease are at greater risk of developing and dying from cardiovascular disease than the average person. This study examined whether the risk could be eliminated or reduced when the disease is controlled. Researchers found that these risk factors remained long after patients were exposed to excess cortisol.

“The longer patients with Cushing’s disease are exposed to excess cortisol and the older they are when diagnosed, the more likely they are to experience these challenges,” said Eliza B. Geer, MD, of Mount Sinai Medical Center and lead author of the study. “The findings demonstrate just how critical it is for Cushing’s disease to be diagnosed and treated quickly. Patients also need long-term follow-up care to help them achieve good outcomes.”

The study found cured Cushing’s disease patients who had depression when they started to experience symptoms of the disease had an elevated risk of mortality and cardiovascular disease. Men were more at risk than women, a trend that may be explained by a lack of follow-up care, according to the study. In addition, patients who had both Cushing’s syndrome and diabetes were more likely to develop cardiovascular disease.

The study examined one of the largest cohorts of Cushing’s disease patients operated on by a single surgeon. The researchers retrospectively reviewed charts for 346 Cushing’s disease patients who were treated between 1980 and 2011. Researchers estimated the duration of exposure to excess cortisol by calculating how long symptoms lasted before the patient went into remission. The patients who were studied had an average exposure period of 40 months.

The findings may have implications for people who take steroid medications, Geer said. People treated with high doses of steroid medications such as prednisone, hydrocortisone or dexamethasone are exposed to high levels of cortisol and may experience similar conditions as Cushing’s disease patients.

“While steroid medications are useful for treating patients with a variety of conditions, the data suggests health care providers need to be aware that older patients or those who take steroid medications for long periods could be facing higher risk,” Geer said. “These patients should be monitored carefully while more study is done in this area.”

From http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/256284.php