Pain in left knee just above knee cap?

[aoife47]

Almost every night I have pain in my knee right above the kneecap. It's an intense tight, pinching feeling, very hard to ignore when I'm laying or sitting down, but when I'm moving/standing up it eases. I don't feel it throughout the day, only when I lay down at night some days. It doesn't make a difference keeping the leg straight or bent, and heating pads don't help much either. I'm not an athlete or a very active person (definitely not a runner) and I'm not overweight. I try not to kneel very much because I bruise very easily. It drives me crazy at night when I do have the pain and I'm not sure what to do about it.

Also, I don't know if this is related or not, but sometimes I'll have a different pain in my knees, like right below the kneecap. It'll feel less like tightness and more like the bones of my legs are sitting against each other wrong. This will start happening out of nowhere some days, and I have to be careful about walking because if I put my weight on the leg in the wrong way it'll send shooting pains throughout my body, and sometimes my knee will want to give out. Happens in both knees, and I haven't noticed any related activities for the days it happens.
Does anyone ever experience something similar? Is it normal? Any ideas on how to deal with it?