My Lyme literate doctor checks many out for Baker's cysts which he says are indicative of Lyme Disease. Because this is may be an objective sign of lyme, it might be worth checking out to see if you have them....especially if a diagnosis is in question. I never knew anything about them till a year or so ago.
The back of your knee is supposed to dent inward. Check to see if when standing with legs straight, if you can feel or notice a rounded lump in the back of your knee(s)
I have never really had problems with my knees...my lyme was mostly neuro but I was surprised to see that I do have baker's cysts.
Margie
Posted by treepatrol (Member # 4117) on :
Sure its not bartonella?
Bakers cyst
Thats about the only thing I havent had
Posted by Lesley (Member # 8678) on :
OMG!!!
for two years i have asked my doctor, physio, homeopath and everyone else why i had a huge lump on the inside part of my knee..facing the other leg. I have very thin legs so it is very noticable....no one could tell me what it was...
it looks just like the picture....thanks for the info...i am printing it off and bringing to my doc today!!
lesley
Posted by daystar1952 (Member # 3255) on :
Tree Patrol......Thanks so much for the pictures. Why are you thinking Bartonella might cause it? That's interesting
Margie
Posted by treepatrol (Member # 4117) on :
Bartonella can cause these bumps also stripes like weight loss and its one of the top coinfections.
Posted by bpeck (Member # 3235) on :
I had a diagnosed Bakers cyst behind my right knee for many years. Osteo Dr. said it would only get bigger as I aged.
But then I found out I had Lyme, and it went on abx.. and somewhere during therapy it went away.
So yah- I had one. Barb
Posted by cbb (Member # 788) on :
My father had a Baker's cyst on his elbow.
Posted by suki444 (Member # 4261) on :
Do they hurt?
Emma
Posted by Tj33 (Member # 7214) on :
Wow!!! I have seen those lumps on my wife and they went away after 14 months of chemo for breast cancer... I didn't think anything about it...
She is lyme free ( all symptons are gone ) now and the cancer is gone...
Just my opinion, but I believe the chemo killed the lyme bugs as well as the cancer....
I have seen the lumps on my wife's relatives. They and she are from Wisconsin... I have always suspected they had Lyme from their medical problems but, when I mention it they laugh at me.
Thanks for fantistic information Daystar!!!
God Bless all Tj
Posted by daystar1952 (Member # 3255) on :
No, my cysts behind the knee don't hurt. In fact I didn't even know I had them till the doc drew my attention to them. They don't really look that abnormal...you just might think the backs of my knees were chubby :-)
Posted by lou (Member # 81) on :
Yes, I have them behind both knees. Showed up when the joint problems were actually getting better, which was puzzling. And still there after several years.
Posted by krazykt1 (Member # 3739) on :
Me too..behind my right knee..showed up when I was a month into abx (three years ago now) It seems to be getting a little smaller with tx...
Posted by Elizabeth in MN (Member # 8466) on :
I have one, too! Behind my right knee on the inside. My massage therapist noticed it last year. My PCP had no idea what it was. Thanks for bringing it up!
Posted by lou (Member # 81) on :
Lyme disease presenting with sequential episodes of ruptured baker cysts.
Bhambhani N, Disla E, Cuppari G.
Cabrini Medical Center, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY.
PMID: 16755252 [PubMed - in process]
Posted by lou (Member # 81) on :
Ann Med Interne (Paris). 1995;146(3):208-9.
[Rupture of popliteal cyst with belated disclosure of Lyme disease]
[Article in French]
Mouly S, Van Reeth C, Bergmann JF, Segrestaa JM.
Publication Types:
* Case Reports * Letter
PMID: 7653934 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Posted by treepatrol (Member # 4117) on :
Something just hit between the eyes Lou. After reading your ruptured baker cysts headline Those tendons I tore 2 while on levaquin and 1 just lyme before levaquin Now I wonder if these bakers cysts burst and caused to much stress and when I pressured the tendon is why they tore?
And not the levaquin after all? and 1 tore while I was just on a normal abx. Levaquin penitrates deeply maybe thats whats going on?
Posted by treepatrol (Member # 4117) on :
pq Frequent Contributor Member # 6886
posted 27 June, 2006 11:14 PM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Someone inquired about this in a different thread. courtesy of georgia(the real one) on sci.med...lyme J Clin Rheumatol. 2006 Jun;12(3):160-2.
Lyme disease presenting with sequential episodes of ruptured baker cysts.
Bhambhani N, Disla E, Cuppari G.
Cabrini Medical Center, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY.
I have bakers cysts - my LLMD told me at my last appointment that is the only swelling left anywhere. Previously I was a swelling machine. She thinks they will go away eventually and I had problems with a knee tendon too when I was on Tini and Zith.
Posted by MarsyNY (Member # 7766) on :
Gee I was just looking for what might be causing tiny very itchy red bumbs on my arm when I stumbled across this post.
LLMd asked me if I had Bakers cysts on my first visit, I said no. Figured I would know if I had them. I had no clue as to what they were when I answered. Anyway I have them on both knees.
The back of my knees hurt so bad for a couple of weeks before I started antibiotic. Was thinking tendonitis. That went away, the reverse knees are still here..
Posted by von (Member # 8333) on :
Arm pit picture. Was that a person with bartonella or was it a baker's cyst? Can you get baker's in your pits? They are just below a joint.
???? I have lumps in both arm pits. They are much smaller then the picture. (maybe 1/4th the size)but in that same spot. My regular PC said they were polycystic breast tissue. But I am wondering.....
Posted by Kayda (Member # 10565) on :
I think I have Baker's cysts on both knees!
Do you know anything about fatty lipomas???? Are they cysts, too? I've had a few removed and they return.
My mom & grandfather had lipomas, too. Maybe we all have/had Lyme.
Kayda
Posted by Robin123 (Member # 9197) on :
Sigh -- this is what I'm going through -- and what I want to know is, how do we know whether it's a lipoma or a cyst?
I had surgery on a growing lump in my thigh and it was an unencapsulated lipoma. Now it's spreading again and causing 24/7 knee pain. I am using an icepack 24/7, alternating with waving a red light machine over swollen areas. Other pain relieving tips?
I also have had lumps growing everywhere in my calves and behind my knees. The Ultra mangosteen juice has successfully softened all the new lumps but not the oldest lipoma one.
I don't have a clue about the lipoma issue. Why does the body start making lipomas, either capsulated or unencapsulated? I don't think there's any science on it.
And how do we tell if we have Lyme arthritis? I don't have anyone medical to go to to tell me what's going on.
Basically, there are painful ripples spreading around my left knee. What kind of a symptom is this? How could we begin to find out what's happening? Any suggestions appreciated! Thx.
Posted by lymex5&counting (Member # 7202) on :
Okay, I'm confused. By the pics I imagine a nickel sized lump that you can palpate and more to one side.
What I have is on the back of both knees where
peoples' usually are concave, my skin swells out
(Convex)like it is swollen. It is about a 2" in
diameter circular or more oval I guess like an egg.
But I always thought
the lymph glands there were just filled with
more fluid (backed up) or something. I thought it
seemed less swollen after MDL - Manual Lymphatic
Drainage. Myself and
3 Dr's think I have Bartonella. Only test
positive thru EDS, ART and by symptoms when on a
Quinolone. No positive test and haven't started
Rifampin yet.
So what is your opinion do I have Baker's Cysts?
Thanks, lyme x 9
Posted by bpeck (Member # 3235) on :
Stop guessing & go get un-confused- go have an Xray. Mine was the size of a baseball. Had it for several year- but It completely went away. Barb
Posted by lymex5&counting (Member # 7202) on :
Okay sometimes I get such tunnel vision being on
this site. I forget to do google searches.
Since I know you guys have all the answers.
Mayo says it is the texture of a water balloon.
So I would say YES I have them.
Posted by mvcynthia (Member # 10583) on :
I also have a bakers cyst behind my right knee. I just finished 28 days iv rosephrin and it is still there. Chrio. relieved my severve headache last mon. As a last resort I went to him as pain med. was not working at all, even after they gave me something stronger. I am sooo relieved and looking foward to meeting my lyme md next sat. How long do I need to be off abx before I can send my blood to igenex? Thanks
Posted by KP (Member # 9488) on :
A Baker's Cyst was my first indication of something wrong in my body.
Do they hurt? Oh Yeah! At least mine did - it was nauseating pain until I finally got a cortisone injection and they drained the cyst. It tested negative for Lyme, but they didn't test for co-infections. And since it was early on and I hadn't yet researched tick-borne illnesses, I didn't know to ask.
Karen
Posted by treepatrol (Member # 4117) on :
I have a cyst now it on my thumb little but I can shove it around dosent hurt.
I think its what I have now is Ganglion cyst not bakers cyst.
ganglion-cyst Posted by treepatrol (Member # 4117) on :
I have a strong suspicion bakers cysts are caused by brucellosis.
Posted by psano2 (Member # 11711) on :
Have any of you actually had the fluid drained from one of these cysts? If it doesn't contain fluid then it's probably a gumma.
Posted by daystar1952 (Member # 3255) on :
In my original post I mentioned that the baker's cysts behind my knees were not causing me any problems but now it appears as if fluid from the cyst in my left knee may have seeped out around the knee joint?
It is now difficult to walk and bend my knee without pain. Just trying to see if others think the two things are connected. I had this happen once before and after a few weeks it got better and the knee pain went away. As long as I can hope it will go away....I can deal with it
Posted by glm1111 (Member # 16556) on :
Burgdorfer found Filarial Worms in the ticks and as an aside found the spirochetes.
All of the attention has gone to treating borrellia and the fact that Filarial Worms could be an even bigger problem has been virtually ignored. Why?
Microfilarial worms live in the lymphatic ducts and can progress to elephantiasis. They can obstruct the vessels causing the surrounding tissue to become enlarged.
Possibly bakers cysts? I think this could be a real possibility.
Want to tell you that my Bakers Cysts of 17 years went completley away after about week 4 on IV Rocephin. It has been a year and they have not returned.
For me, definately caused by Lyme. Bb loves synovial fluid.
Feelfit
Posted by daystar1952 (Member # 3255) on :
Thanks for your responses! I wonder if antibiotics kill these worms. Another researcher has told me they are finding these worms in ticks. Hmmmm
Posted by bpeck (Member # 3235) on :
Bakers cysts are swellings inside the knee - and yes they can be from Lyme. They're also called popliteal cysts if you want to research it.
I had one for a long time in my right knee.. and it totally resolved and that kee is fine.......now with my Lyme relapse I have one in my left knee ( Have I said Lyme sucks?).. I'm on DOxy now to see if it resolves.
Barb
Posted by cindy_leigh (Member # 3514) on :
I have one in my knee. Can't see it visually, only on MRI.
Posted by treepatrol (Member # 4117) on :
up
Posted by feelfit (Member # 12770) on :
My bi-lateral Baker's Cysts have returned 2 1/2 years after they had resolved with IV rocephin.
Pereviously I had had them for 17 years and after 4 weeks on IV rocephin they were gone....not very encouraging that they're back now..
Has anyone had the fluid aspirated and tested for spirochetes?
feelfit
Posted by karenl (Member # 17753) on :
I had one behind the knee.
My grandfather got a big one on his arm at 95. he also got suddenly blind on both eyes and got then parkinson. Except for this he never was sick in his life or took any medicine.But he did a footbath every week with salt only.
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