posted
I am being treated for lyme but also have seen a rheumotologist and an othor doc. I have severe arthitis in both knees in all three compartments and baker's cysts on both knees. Due to knee buckling doc sent me for another MRI and the radiologist commented that the synovial fluid is thickening and needs to be evaluated. Ortho doc said the synovial fluid could thicken due to a bacterial infection but the cause won't be known till the rheumotologist draws the fluid for analysis.
Could lyme be causing the problems with the synovial fluid in my knee???????
Posts: 63 | From RI | Registered: Sep 2007
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
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You asked: "Could lyme be causing the problems with the synovial fluid in my knee?" --
Yes. Talk to your LLMD about this. I'd sure not let anyone put a needle in my knee if I already knew I had lyme. -
Posts: 48021 | From Tree House | Registered: Jul 2007
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massman
Unregistered
posted
Lyme loves knees. BUT will not be found easily in synovial fluid.
IMO typical rheumatologist will not agree w lyme.
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posted
I am not a "documented" lymie. I have had the lyme titer twice and it did not indicate lyme. The doc who treated my husband for lyme thinks I have it based on symptoms and due to the fact that I was bitten by a tick and live in endemic RI. I know lots of docs don't buy into the lyme diagnosis. I do think that I have to pursue this however. I have been told that the fluid must be analyzed so I can be properly treated for whatever is going on inside my knee. I am on doxy twice a day now. ( Prescribed by lyme doc). So, where do I go from here????????
Actually, the rheumi I was seeing stated that I should have been put on either doxy and a quinine or azith and quinine. So she is quite knowledgeable. My husband had been put on the same protocol she talked about. She does believe in lyme but just does not draw the fluid to be analyzed.
Posts: 63 | From RI | Registered: Sep 2007
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sutherngrl
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 16270
posted
If drawing out the fluid is for relief of pain, that is one thing. If it is for making a diagnosis of LD, I would say forget it. Lyme is a clinical diagnosis to be made by a LLMD.
Posts: 4035 | From Mississippi | Registered: Jul 2008
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posted
Septic arthritis can be caused by Lyme disease, and could account for the thickening of your synovial fluid. Is it clear, cloudy, or yellow? Synovial fluid should be clear.
It may make you more comfortable to have extra fluid drawn out of the knee, and I can't see any reason not to do it if that is what the doctor recommends. Your doc may want to culture it, and that may not be a bad idea either, just to rule out other pathogens. The Lyme spirochete, unfortunately, is notoriously difficult to culture though.
Since you are already on treatment for Lyme this ought not be an issue. It may be a reason to discuss more aggressive abx treatment with your LLMD. Septic arthritis is one condition that may warrant some IV abx if you're not already on it.
One of my sons had septic arthritis years ago; he also had arthroscopic lavage to "wash out" all the extra white blood cells to avoid further damage to the knee joint. I'm wondering why the ortho did not just draw out some fluid himself??
Posts: 962 | From Charleston | Registered: Jan 2002
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posted
Most ortho docs will draw the fluid themselves. Synovial fluid can be clear to a yellowish color. I have also seen it be really thick and pretty thin.
I worked passing instruments on many total knee replacements, so I have seen lots of synovial fluid.
If there is infection it is very cloudy looking, almost like runny pus(sorry about the gross out factor).
The doctors I have worked with have always drawn their own, but since you were already seeing the rheumatologist maybe that's why they didn't.
Other infections should be ruled out as they can turn septic very easily. And like
others mentioned the removal of fluid may take some of the pain away. I think LD could very
easily be the at the root of the synovial fluid problem, but if it's something else you need to know.
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