Do people with pseudo-gout have to wear a knee brace?

Do people with pseudo-gout have to wear a knee brace?Over a year ago I was "diagnosed" with pseudo-gout and my rheumatologist suggested that I wear a 700 dollar knee brace. Of all the research I've done online I've never read that people with pseudo-gout were wearing a brace. Do I have something else that the doctors are not telling me. And to top it off the Colchicine and Prednisone that was prescribed have never really helped. The only relief I've ever had was having my knee drained. Any help will do. Thank you.

Craig
That is a new one to me too. I have never heard of it either.

However, there could be some other problems in your knee that the rheumatologist, may be concerned about that the pseudo-gout may be aggravating and the knee needs to be stabilized for that reason. You could try a cheap brace from the drug store. If that gives a little relief, then maybe go for the expensive one.

Lorrie
I think i can answer your question--the simple answer is that you should wear a knee brace only if it seems to help. Unless your doctor has given you a specific reason that wearing the knee brace is "necessary"....Now for the long answer. I was diagnosed in 2006 as having pseudogout...like you i had very significant knee pain....but after a year it abated. here is how my rheumatologist treated my pseudogout....he checked my vitamin D and magnesium levels...because people with arthritis often have low D, and people with pseudogout sometimes have low magnesium levels. He found I had a VERY low D level and started me on treatment with high doses of D, which i continue to take twice monthly. My magnesium level was borderline low and so i take a mg. supplement as well. I had my knees "drained" a couple of times and a steroid simultaneously injected into each knee at different times--both times the knee had swelled and was very painful--this helped a great deal. I tried colchicine which did NOT help at all. Over a period of about a year, all of my pseudogout symptoms went away. I wore an INEXPENSIVE knee brace that i bought at walmart (my doctor said it was fine) only for brief periods when i had really bad knee pain. Since all of my symptoms went away, i have a feeling that in my case the Low vitamin D was a very big factor in my getting pseudogout....i was actually using a cane to walk before being diagnosed with the pseudogout--i had a lot of unsteadiness in walking which my docs all thought had to do with my longstanding and extensive disc disease at various levels in my back--after being given vitamin D replacement, i could throw away my cane! Turned out that my balance problem was due to the vitamin D deficiency. So that is my pseudogout story....oh--one other thing, if you are taking prednisone as a pill by mouth.....you need to be VERY cautious about taking oral prednisone for more than short periods because corticosteroids like prednisone can have some very powerful negative effects if taken for a long time. My suggestion, if you don't feel your symptoms have been helped significantly, you might consider a second opinion with a rheumatologist--or with another rheumatologist if the doc you have seen is one. I hope this is helpful.

What do you think? Answer below! Gout - information, symptoms and treatments. Googout.info health information factsheet - advice on gout and its symptoms, causes and treatment, plus prevention through diet.

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