Should I be concerned

Hi, I
'm a 30 year old mother of two.
About 5 years ago I had alot of trouble with my legs so I went for some tests.  I was diagnosed with some form of arthirtis I'm thinking its rheumoatoid.  But, also was diagnosed with chondromalacia patellae in both knees.  The left is way worse than the right.  I decided to not take the inflamatory meds.  The reason is all the health risks that are associated. I have weakness and fatigue in my legs from doing little or nothing at all.  I burise easy on my legs and if I bump my left knee it stays really sore for a while.  I also, have an old injury below my left knee that has left a hole in my leg.  You can feel where the muscle has pulled away.  I had a bone scan done back 5 years ago and I worry that I could have something else wrong with me.  Some days are worse than others but, I'm just to young to feel this old.  I take over the counter pain meds but, should I see a doctor on a regular basis.

[txsilver]

I understand your concerns about taking some of the meds for RA.  You should definitely have check ups to see how the disease is progressing and be under the care of a rheumatologist.  You may want to move to prescription strength NSAIDs or even look at some of the other treatments such as plaquenil.  Of course, you should investigate the possible side effects of the medications and weigh out the risks to determine the correct course of action for yourself.