Husband and wife have Excrutiating pain in both knees

[Pameline]

I began having knee pain one and a half months ago in both knees.  I noticed my right knee would give out occasionally, and was weaker than my left knee, but this has since stopped over the last month.  Now both knees are in agonizing pain.  I noticed when I knelt down on the kitchen tile, the pain was so great, I couldn't kneel on them at all.  I rolled onto my side, then sat on my rear, and contemplated how I would get up.  I knew I couldn't use my leg muscles to stand up as I tried, and the knee pain was again unbearable.  My husband came over and pulled me up.  I waited and waited for this pain to go away in my knees, but it didn't, and now my husband has it as well.  This is more than strange as neither of us have done anything to injure our knees.  Both of our right knees are swollen and deformed looking.  Mine is worse than my husbands.  Last night I woke up 3 times to change positions and each time I locked into the knee pain.  My calf on the left felt like something was being pushed down into the lower leg.  It came in waves. I held my breath until it eventually stopped. I have a AAA with a lot of plaque, and have had hip and groin pain on the left side, and I always thought this was a piece of plaque that broke off and got stuck.  My left foot is extremely swollen all the time, which was another reason I thought of the plaque. I haven't seen a doctor, because I don't think there is anything they can do for that. Anyway, this doesn't have anything to do with the knees.  This morning was the last straw.  When I awoke, I could not lower myself onto the toilet seat, as the knee pain was totally agonizing and prevented me from doing so.  I had to drop 10-12 inches onto the toilet seat, and then I could not get up.  I looked for something to grab onto, the towel bar would rip out of the wall, the counter top was too far to grab, so I called for my husband, and he was not here.  I finally put each palm under me on each side of the toilet seat, and pushed up as hard as I could, and my knees were in agony.  I've had it.  I promised myself I would go to the ER today and find out what is going on. As the day goes on, I stay seated and try not to get up, and I'm still here, because I'm afraid they won't know what's wrong.  I told a primary care doctor, well she is an NP that my knees are in agony and something is terribly wrong with them.  She asked if I would like to have an x-ray taken, and of course I said yes.  That was last week, and the x-ray came back fine.  Now I'm afraid they won't see anything or find anything if they look further at the ER.  I'm not a doctor, so I don't know what's next, or if the ER can handle it, and if they are the place to go.  I live in a small town and have health insurance but the few orthopedics in town either do not accept my insurance or they are out-of-network which I cannot afford.  The nearest large city is 2 hours away, which is why I am drawn to the ER room.  My husband went out today, and came home a little over an hour or so later.  He said he almost fell down and broke into tears because his knees hurt so bad.  Has anybody ever heard of this, or have any idea what it could be?  Do you have any suggestions?  Please respond.  We have been hanging on, and this WILL NOT go away, and I know I need to do something.
Thank you in advance for your help.
Pameline

[Pameline]

Thank you Enna, and thank you for your reply.  I have been told twice now that standard x-rays may not show everything.  An orthopedic office I called last Friday that is out of network told me the same thing.  She stated x-rays do not show all of the problems.  I know I will need to find an orthopedic specialist come this Monday, and their are many who accept my private health insurance 2 hours away.  I don't know how I'll hold up to the drive.  Makes me wish my  employer still had Blue Cross Blue Shield.  They switched to another insurance company after 42 years, and this one is proving to be quite a challenge.  Two orthopedic offices in town closed down, one is out of network, and the other does not take care of knee problems.  I was always under the impression that if your insurance company did not have a specialist for you to see in your town, they would cover whomever was not listed as a provider, but this doesn't seem to be the case.  I think I'll call the NP on Monday and ask if she can order the x-rays that will show more.  If not, I'll be driving to the big city.
Thanks again for your reply.  I can't wait to find out what is wrong and for the pain to stop.
Take care.

[Enna30]

You really need an Orthopedist to order the x-rays.  I had an x-ray done of my knee on the doctor's request and it showed very little if any deterioration.   This despite the fact that I was in a lot of pain.

I KNEW there was considerable deterioration present because five years earlier my Orthopedic surgeon told me I would probably need that knee replaced within three years!!

When I saw the Orthopedic Surgeon he ordered the "correct" x-rays, the ones that truly showed the condition of me knee.  As suspected it was overdue for replacement!

I  have no idea what your problem is, but I do urge you to get an Orthopedic Specialiost to order x-rays, as these are more likely to show the real problem.