Ankylosing Spondylitis Support Group
Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) is a chronic form of arthritis--it is an inflammatory disease that causes joints, cartilage or other fibrous tissue (such as ligaments and tendons) to turn into bone. Ankylosing spondylitis is part of the group of rheumatic diseases. The disease is characterized by progressive stiffness, tenderness, and pain in joints. Pain can be episodic and...
My rheumatologist tested me for all autoimmune diseases, but all the signs point to AS. I read that AS has no set blood exam. My spine MRI says it all and all the pain in my lower back, left hand fingers, ribs, feet, ankles, heels, knees, elbows, wrists, I have cervical Spondylosis and the horrible chronic fatigue. Can someone help me?
I don't know much about how it's diagnosed, at the time my symptoms flared I had doctors who were very good as long as you didn't get sick so nobody did anything for a year. They were utterly clueless. I had to change doctors and do some serious complaining about care quality before I got answers. And of course, then you look like you're doctor shopping for painkillers, which is fun! But by that time the flare was so bad the only thing to do was use the biologics, which really do work. I skipped a couple of diagnostic steps and I didn't even know what the disease was until the good doctor showed up and explained it all.
I got through it by first, not taking one single bit of BS from medical staff who just wanted me to shut up and do as I was told. That's SO important!! You've got to keep on them, tell them what they're doing isn't working and don't accept it when they're vague. Second, I found the humor in it wherever I could, but that's just me. It might be a while before you can laugh about this. Just know you're not by yourself. In the beginning I felt like I was going to be in horrible pain forever, and that's really draining. But you will get through this and it won't hurt forever because eventually you'll get to a point where your treatment is working.
Good luck.