I have taken Vicodin for my AS but it bounces me off the walls and makes my heart race. It is supposed to last for 6 hrs. but I am still hyper - to the point that I can'tr sleep - 14 hrs. after one pill. So I settle for rapid release tylenol (kidney problems) and a heating pad. If you can take NSAIDS, Advil liguid gels are fast and effective.

Yes and yes, i have managed to ingore the fact that my pain level is so high for the last ten years thanks to Hydrocondione, without which I would not be able to go to work or get any sleep.

Being on medication for the rest of my life is still something that I am coming to gribs with myself. I find that is most helpful to keep a close eye on what I'm taking and discuss all medications with my doctor. If you are taking a prescribed pain killer than OTC medications can be highly dangerous. Not to mention the more likely you are to getting ulcers from having AS.

I have ulcers and the years that I took OTC's made them near deadly. All pain solutions should go through your doctor but I recommed this line of treatment.

Actually narcotic painkillers don't work as well as good old Aspirin when it comes to Spondylitis. It's an NSAID like Advil or Tylenol but with fewer side effects. I take "Ascriptin" which is Aspirin buffered with Maalox so the it doesn't hurt my stomach.

There's something else that works wonders for spondylitis: Vitamin D and L-Arginine. They help control pain and inflammation and of course, you can't forget about exercise. It's the best thing you can do to slow the progression of the disease: walking. stretching, yoga, massage therapy....

But let me be perfectly honest. You can never expect to be 100% pain free with spondylitis. No matter what we do or what we take we will always have some pain and stiffness. It's just something we have to learn to live with, as depressing as it is.

Have you tried physical therapy?
I start on the fifth. I've been in and out of PT since 2005, after a car accident.
In late 2005, I went to a physical medicine doctor to finally get some answers about my true injuries.
He sent me for a different kind of PT (one which focused on pain relief, stretching and gentle strengthening) and to an osteopath (who ended up discovering that my autoimmune markers were elevated).

I am happy to say that 95% of the time, I no longer suffer from the pain that made me seek treatment last year. However, I also deal with the pain of my autoimmune condition.

Aside: Long term use of potent opioids can cause pain to feel worse than it is. I forget the pharmacokinetics of it, but it does not have anything to do with dependence or tolerance. It effects the way your brain processes pain. Are you on anything besides the biologic and peroxicam to deal with the inflammation? A DMARD perhaps, or even a low dose of prednisone?

"Actually narcotic painkillers don't work as well as good old Aspirin when it comes to Spondylitis."

This is not true in my case. In fact, it seems to be the only thing that can help me break the crippling fatigue associated with my AS. When I have a flare up, I seem to need the big guns as being misdiagnosed and having AS treated as a disk herniation, led to gratuitous use of narcotic analgesics on the part of my doctor, and myself. Things have changed a bit, I'm not slaved out to pills but i have just about 0 quality of life without them. this is my current dilemma, in fact. Please advise before it's too late because I fear going back to narcotics but they seem to be the only thing that allows me to live a somewhat functional life.

Angelenajean,
I KNOW you don't want to hear this but, exercise REALLY helps with the pain! Also if the embrel isn't working, try something else! Oxy is VERY addictive. I talk Sulfasalzine, Vimovo (naproxen w/stomach med), Robaxin (muscle relaxer)Tramadol during the day and Hydrocodone at night. I KNOW the pain is terrrible, but moving really helps. Try swimming or water aerobics, very low impact, but helps w/the pain!

I've have AS since I was 14 now 57. Seeing a Runy along with a Pain Management group has been the best for me.They send emails that each other know what going on, so drugs don't get mixed etc.
I get Epidurals every 3-4 months. Those trigger point injection & epidurals have done wonders to block the pain. I no longer use a cane too.The pain meds are from my PM doctors. Plus they also find it important to get sleep.As he told me sleep is a strong part of the healing process.during a Flare-up.
PLEASE BE VERY CAREFUL USING OXYCONTIN! I was on it for years then ended up in the ER with a intestines blockage and needed to have surgery to remove 6ins. I was told it from the Oxycontin..

The short term answer, yes. The long term answer, no. The problem I found with narcotics (specifically I have taken percocets) is that the first time you take them you feel great and the pain is stopped in it's tracks. But you quickly build a tolderance for opiods, and need more and more to get the same relief. Eventually, any relief you encounter is offset by a sort of 'rebound' affect. The pain when the opiods wears off is greater than the original pain you were in. So you need another dose just to counteract this affect. You end up needing opiods just to feel 'normal' and you lose track of whether you're in pain because of AS, or you're in pain because the opiod has worn off. It is a viscous cycle that leads to opiod dependency and addiction. As for oxycontin - I have only ever taken it twice - it is like percocets on steroids! I have known enough people who have become addicted to this drug, and become addicted in a hurry. It was advertised as non-addictive, but it turns out it is one of the worst addictive drugs prescribed in North America. So much so, that State and Provincial governments in the USA and Canada have forced the drug manufaturers to stop provising it in it's original form, and only making it in a form where it cannot crushed down to be used for a quick 'high'.