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SUMMARY concerning pain and cracking in knees.  25 responses

Many thanks to everyone who responded.

I received a lot of messages saying that they also experienced either
pain in knees or pain along with cracking and would be curious to
know if there is any link to celiac.

OTHER RESPONSES suggested that there may be other reasons for
the knee problem:

Rheumatoid arthritis is also and autoimmune disease.  Could your
symptoms be
a sign of this?
-----------------

I'm not sure what responses that you have recieved regarding knee
pain, however, I have a very hard time beliving that any knee pain can
be associated with Celic.  If it is causing problems, see a good
Orthapedic Sugen.  Chances are that it is chondromalatia which is a
softening or blistering of the inside of the kneecap.  This is common
problem as we age, especially women because how our knee tracks
on the femoral groove of your knee.  It is not a big deal for them to
clean up the debris, however, it is never wise to do the procedure until
you are having serious problems.
-------------------------------

Have you had a scan to see if you have osteo arthritis? My knees used
to crack and hurt ,yes I was diagnosed with the osteo arthritis but here
is the rub.Also moving my arms made my shoulder blades crack( but
no more)
I have been going to the fitness center after two mo at physical therapy
now for over six mo my knees don't crack or hurt anymore.
I also got the book "Prevention and Treatment of Osteoporosis" by
Sara Meeks these excerises I do at home  .I have lots of energy
because excerising does this.

-------------------
OTHERS SUGGESTED A CELIAC LINK, ESPECIALLY CONCERNING
MALABSORPTION

My knees are my best celiac gauge.   If I get a hit that is the first thing to
hurt.  Before that and before being diagnosed, I always had "glass"
knees.  Even a slight bump would cause extreme pain.  That has
mostly gone away since being GF.
--------------------------------
Hi.  I have any number of joints that hurt whenever I am around wheat
(I
don't have to eat it, just breathe it for it to be a problem).  My take on
this is that my body fights the joint material like it does wheat, as the
proteins are similar, so the body gets confused and fights them both.
Also,
I do take MSM (methylsulfonyl methat), that the body is supposed to
make on
its own, from sulfur that I am evidently not making enough on from the
digestive tract, and is used in the transfer of stuff in and out of the
cells.  It is very helpful for me.  This is the precursor of things like
chondroitin sulfate, so it your body is working at all, it should be able to
make those things from the MSM.  It not, you might want to try the
preformed
chondroitin sulfate and clucosamine HCL, and see if that helps.
--------------------------------------

my wife who's celiac had this problem until she went onto a GF diet.
After
about a month on the GF diet, the cracking and popping stopped.
Don't know
if this would apply to your situation.
-------------------------------------------

see Michael Thorn's post today  - a quote from Dr Fasano's study  as
reported
in the March 3 American Medical News on celiac symptoms -29%
reported joint
pain as a symptom. I know my daughter was always complaining of
pain in her
knees and ankles before her diagnosis, but the pain has gone away
since going
on the gf diet.
---------------------------------------

I'm not sure if I am gluten intolerant or not, but one of the reasons I
tried the gluten-free diet was joint pain, particularly in my knees.  I'm
only 30, and I do exercise.  The pain was definitely unusual and has
gone
away on the diet. I have no idea what caused it.


A COUPLE HELPFUL EXERCISES WERE SUGGESTED:

Part of it is likely celiac. But cracking knees can also happen
because of an imbalance between the muscles that hold the
kneecap in place. If one is stronger than the other, it pulls
the kneecap out of position and that causes pain and cracking.

There are specific exercises for that --
I used the gym machine where you lift a weight by raising both
feet up in a sitting position. Also squeezing an exercise ball
between your feet helps. The Nordic Track helps the most --
as long as I do that my knees are fine. Using a cycle makes
them worse!

Also, kneeling and sitting back on your feet lengthens the
muscle that is too tight, and that helps a lot.

Anyway, there is a name for the condition and it is
fairly easy to treat, but I can't recall the name at the moment.
-------------------------------------------

   Yes, I have this. A Medical article I read referred to Celiac being
associated with "loose joints", and another  referred to "joint pain".  For
me, my knees are best in the morning and worst when I'm trying to
climb the
stairs to go to bed.
    An exercise that works for me is to sit on a ledge or table that is high
enough to completely support the back of my thigh but bending my
knee leaves
my foot clear of the floor.  I use ankle weights, but you can be inventive.
I raise my weighted foot strait out until my foot and hip are at the same
height, then slowly lower the foot.  The point is to strengthen the
muscles
around the knee and knee cap so that the "loose" joint has the support
of
the muscles and less freedom to move unintentionally.
    It takes a while to build this up.  I also use a Physical Therapy
stretch loop to pull against and strengthen the sides of my knees.
    You can either tell your doctor you need exercises to strengthen your
knees, or you can ask for Physical Therapy so they can teach the
exercises
and recommend home equipment.
    I'm 56, and I've had this knee problem for a long time, but I've only
been diagnosed Celiac 4 years.

SOME SUGGESTED SUPPLEMENTS

I don't have a serious pain in the knees but sometimes they ache and
since
I've been taking Glucosamine and Chondroitin daily, I have not had
pain.
Have also thought it helped one of my fingers ( trigger finger) which
would
lock and have to manually open it from a lot of knitting.  Might just be
better because I quit the knitting, who knows. I do play a lot of tennis
so
any pain I get, the tennis is blamed. The ones I buy are from Costco
and GF
on the bottle.
-------------------------------------------

Also,
I do take MSM (methylsulfonyl methat), that the body is supposed to
make on
its own, from sulfur that I am evidently not making enough on from the
digestive tract, and is used in the transfer of stuff in and out of the
cells.  It is very helpful for me.  This is the precursor of things like
chondroitin sulfate, so it your body is working at all, it should be able to
make those things from the MSM.  It not, you might want to try the
preformed
chondroitin sulfate and clucosamine HCL, and see if that helps.


ANOTHER RESPONSE SAID THAT THEIR CONDITION IS NOW
WORSE

Yes i had an accident at work a long while ago but have recently
noticed
that since i have been told i have a CD intolerance it has gone to both
knees and is worse.

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