Hello everyone ,

I posted this on the ASK CUREZONE team as well, but then, I figured I'd post it here too, can't hurt...since I've read so much lately on osteo, and how it seems to affect the leg and behind the knee ......

This all began on Dec. 18th, when my LEFT leg knee joints (inner and outer)became very achy (more than usual) and very stiff (again, more than usual, becasue those joints are usually achy and stiff), and began to FEEL swollen ...the reason I say FEEL, is because the joints didn't look swollen from the outside .... I also noticed by the next day, there was a sort of squishy pocket of fluid on the front of the knee, and around the back ... now the back of the knee however, wasn't like just a "cyst", it was as if the whole back part of the knee ( the soft area back there) got swollen...(I've actually had that before over the years, but it's always smaller and goes away quicker with no pain either)......but this time, the back of the knee area (NOT THE LEG) got swollen ....so, this went on for about 5 days, and it was so hard for me to even walk, because the inner and outer joints of that knee (left leg) felt so so achy and sore ....now, as for some history here.....I've had those knee joints feel achy, stiff, and just plain crappy for a while now, probably about 3 yrs or so...so that could be osteoarthritis I suppose ... it's been hard for me to walk up my front steps, I have to take one step at a time (due to the left knee) ..so, see, I've had left knee issues for a while now ...but on Dec. 18th, things sort of reached a head I suppose ..I didn't do anything to my knee or leg, so I guess it flared up due to osteo, or maybe the way I get in and out of my car (I have a very small car, and I hate it! it's very cramped and you sit with your legs sort of pushed together) .......

Well........anyway, after about 5 days of walking around limping like a pirate on a Disney movie (due to the pain of the swollen joints, NOT any pain from behidn the knee).....I was left with the swelling ON THE BACK OF THE KNEE .....well, ok, I've had that before, I thought. BUT, then, "things" started happening.............things like, pains BEHIND THE KNEE, deep inside there, .... stabs, jabs, sort of like cramping feelings, aches, pains ...whatever~ ..now, it also would (and still does, but to a much lesser degree) either shoot up my thigh or down my calf....OR, my calf alone would have these little cramps (slight), OR, I'd get these shooting pains on the inside of that left leg thigh ..... to say the least about the terrible aching on the thigh muscles .....

Now, :I'm 54 yrs. old, in in perimenopause....which means my hormones are going nuts ....I'm well aware that peri (due to the drop in estrogen, which is a natural anti-inflamatory in itself) can cause terrible leg aches and pains, and I personally know 2 women who have BEHIND THE KNEE pains similar to mine....but I still have that swelling.........I've researched BAKERS CYST, and it kind of seems like that, but yet, not. I know a Bakers Cyst can give you pains behind the knee, and up the thigh as well ....

The ;thing that freaked me out, was that I also read about DVT ....... and how similar it can be to the symptoms I'm having .......... yet, from all the posts I've read on MANY DVT forum sites.....it's amazing how broad the symptoms can be! Some people dont' have ANY pain at all....and some do ....some peoples legs swell up, and some don't....some people have GREAT pain, others not as much...yet, the blood clot is still very much there! I posted on one of those forums, and a nurse practioner answered me and said that it didnt' seem like DVT, because the pains are on and off, and NOT GETTING WORSE ........ok, but....on another DVT forum, it was mentioned that the pain CAN come and go....as it's building up.....geez!

SO.........if anyone here is familiar with it, please please post .....I'm driving myself with fear .. I've spoken to my dr. on the phone, and he thinks it's just muscular, and WON'T do an ultrasound! That's nuts!
That's another thing they said on those DVT forums.....that many of them had been told by their dr.'s that it was "just" muscular, and it turned out NOT TO BE!!!!!!!
I went to the ER back when this first started, and they refused an ultrasound as well, saying that if I had DVT, my leg would be red, swollen adn hot and I'd be in terrible pain...........well, guess what? NOT NECESSARILY SO!!!!!
I told them i had read up on this myself, and that I knew better, but once again, I was dismissed as being an overly worried woman!

So.....I'm on my own .......if anyone here has any help, advice, or any experience with this, please post!
What can I take that is natural, that would keep my blood thin (I think garlic is one), and is there a way to break a blood clot apart NATURALLY, with any particular herb or whatever? I'm sure nature has a way of dealing with this.

Once again, my leg is NOT hot, red, swollen, and the pains come and go....either behind the knee directly, or up the thigh and down the calf...not usually at the same time either....it HASN'T GOTTEN WORSE ..... yet, I read on one of those DVT forums that people actually walked around with this leg aching for 2 mos. thinking it was something else, and it was a DVT .........it also feels very muscular, and as if the muscles are pulling........I don't know.....help!