Is your doctor a runner?
Find one who is. If they tell you not to run, then maybe you shouldn't. But if it makes you feel good and keeps you healthy then run.

Yup, mine is most likely genetic too - my mom has had arthritis in her legs since she was 14. I would certainly have trouble with my knees even if I weren't active, I just wonder how much worse I am making it by running 4-5x per week. I was thinking about cutting back and adding in spinning as well. The doc recommended the elliptical, but honestly, I'd rather poke my own eyes out.

I guess I have the same mindset as you - hopefully by the time it really becomes a problem modern medicine will have come up with something better to treat it.

It's really discouraging though to be this young and to have to worry about something like this. The most annoying part is that it has taken away my total zen moment. For the past couple weeks, every time I run I will hear this little voice in the back of my mind, "You may be crippled by the time you're 35."

I totally feel you on taking away the zen moment. My mom keeps telling me that I'm going to ruin my knees if I keep running, so I just don't tell her about my running anymore. She's going to need a knee replacement soon (dr. told her it was 100% chance that she'd need one in the next 10 years). I don't think she's exercised a day in her life and she's about 80 pounds overweight. I think she needs to be more concerned about her knees than mine.

I'd definitely get a second opinion if you are unsure of the diagnosis.

I'm assuming that it is Osteoarthritis you have been diagnosed with (the one where your cartilage degrades at your joints, not the autoimmune form of arthritis which is Rheumatoid Arthritis). Have you had an X-ray to show radiographically that there is narrowing of the joint space (the gap between the ends of your bones at your knee that would normally be taken up with cartilage to help lubricate movement of your joint)?

Unfortunately I would listen to the advice of your doctor if they do say to stop running. Exercise is good for improving OA, especially as if you have less weight to carry around you will be loading your joints less. However, running is pretty high impact on your joints, and may, especially if you already have a genetic predisposition, accelerate the degradation of your cartilage. The main treatments ahead of you will be painkillers, anti-inflammatories, and I would guess surgery. Joint replacements are the major treatment of end stage disease and they do work. However bear in mind that you are pretty young, and the life of a replacement is 10-15 years, and that is in someone who is relatively inactive when compared to someone who runs lots.

Giving up running may sound like something truly horrendous right now, but, if you do end up with a 2nd and 3rd opinion recommending that you do, then I would definitely think hard about it. I don't want this to sound really depressing, but it's just worth thinking about the long term health of your joints. You've got many more years left in you, and it might be good to have joints that can still have you walking around and doing other activities without loads of pain and consequent disablement.

I agree with Mary on that too. I'd hope that if your doctor was worried about it being RA that they would have referred you for tests and to a Rheumatologist. The radiographic evidence of arthritis at the knee could be primary OA, or it could be secondary degradation as a result of Rheumatoid Arthritis. I'd assumed that you'd been checked for the possibility of RA. However I'm not sure how the medical system works in the USA as I'm in the UK and therefore have no experience of the USA system.

YES!!
I have arthirtis and it was also suggested to me by my orthapedic to use the elliptical instead of running. I was also very upset. I thought it was the end of my running life. I ended up getting a second opinion by another doctor who told me that an orthapedic shouldn't really be advising weather you should or shouldn't run because it is not their area of expertise. He advised me to see a sports medicine doctor and now after physical therapy, cortisone and therapeutic massages I am finally pain free and able to run. My point is that you should see a sports medicine doctor or a doctor who knows something about running. Most doctors who don't run and/ or aren't sports medicine doctors are going to advise you not to run if you have ANY aches and pains. Also, I learned that if you took x-rays of MOST people in their late twenties and early thirties you will find some degree of arthritis...it's just part of the aging process. Good luck.

"The woods are lovely dark and deep, but I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep" -Robert Frost

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+JLG

Six years ago, I got the diagnosis of cervical osteoarthritis as my 39th birthday present (the appointment was on my birthday, lucky me), and the physical therapist advised me to stop all impact activities. So being the good little trooper I am, I stopped running and tried to pursue other aerobic activities. Tried the elliptical; didn't do anything for my heart rate. Took up spinning; that just made my thighs even huger. Became an expert at racewalking; now THAT I just totally hated, because not only did I look stupid doing it all through the neighborhood, it felt like I was going so slow that I was traveling backwards.... needless to say, the following months were sheer **** for me. I missed running, and due to that, plus other reasons, I fell into a depressed funk. I got the diagnosis in May. By the following March my husband couldn't stand me anymore, and told me to risk hurting my neck and start running again (he said it and meant it a lot nicer than it sounds ). So I went against doctor's orders and started running again.

So what happened? NOTHING. My neck didn't break. I wasn't debilitated and crippled. I ran. I worked on improving my upper body posture while running from what I had learned in pilates and yoga, and NOTHING BAD HAPPENED. Granted, I was older than you, and my arthritis is in a different part of the body, but still, take everyone else's really great advice here and get other opinions. See medical professionals that are runners. Take up yoga to learn how to carry yourself in order to minimize your symptoms worsening. Or if you have no symptoms yet, to keep them from occurring. Most important, don't give up what you love, because otherwise, what you save won't be worth saving.

Oh, and for what it's worth, since that time I've also been told I have arthritis in my foot and upper back. Probably have it in my shoulder too. I still run. My S/I is totally wonky at times, and both the chiropractor I used to see and the physical therapist I see now both agree that my running helps keep me level. It's my sanity, and I wouldn't give it up for anything.

Good luck!

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....still breathing...

E.