Yet Another Odd Symptom

A funny thing happened to me in Philly the other day.... That sounds like the beginning of a joke but the truth is it wasn't funny at all and more scary than anything. Once again a new symptom reared its ugly head.

My right knee swelled up and stiffened to the point where it became quite difficult and painful to walk. And of all days I had a long walk ahead of me. I was walking down Broad Street, Philadelphia celebrating the Phillies' National League Division win. Go Phillies! It was an amazing experience except for the minor annoyance that was my knee. Why now? *sigh*.

If I didn't mention it before I'll say it again, I have a very loving and accepting boyfriend. I didn't want to ruin this experience for him and didn't want to complain so kept right on walking. This symptom however was a very visual one and when he felt how swollen it was compared to the other knee we hobbled ourselves right over to IHOP and had some dinner or breakfast depending on how you look at it. The festivites were winding down anyway and the police were out in full force blocking streets anyway.

I have experienced some slight knee swelling in the past but never to the degree that I had that night. Usually it was more of a full feeling above my knees that would go away in a couple of hours without any pain sort of like if your ankles swelled up or something. Well, I went home and spent the next day almost completely off my feet. The swelling went away and my knee popped a few times. I did some online research and discovered that a swelling above the knee might be bursitis. Those succeptible to getting it include those with thyroid disease. I had suspected as such. I kind of in the back of my head thought it was an autoimmune flareup or something of the sort. The question is what exactly does it mean? Does it mean that I need more Synthroid because my hormones are once again out of whack? Does it mean that my antibodies are finding new tissue to destroy migrating from my throat to my knee? Is it the start of a more sinister autoimmune disease like rheumatoid arthritis?

I need to ask my doctor on the next visit. I do see my Endocrinologist for a blood test in a couple of days. I'll mention this to her and see what she has to say.