I do a little bit of yoga.

Just at home with a book i got a few years back.So I'm probably not doing it 100% right.I think it helped me in the long term.

Good luck with it.

Hi
Not yet. But I will try it out as soon as my latest flare has calmed a bit. Keep us posted about your experience, please! That would be nice:)

Been doing it for a month now. My instructor is baffled at how inflexible my lumbar spine is and keeps trying to help manipulate it. Still not budging.

This has also been my worst flareup yet with lots of hip and SI pain. I still cannot lay on my back and roll to the left, for whatever reason, but overall my strength in unaffected parts is improving.

At the very least, it's a great mental exercise. As opposed to most physical challenges in the day, I don't feel at my wits' end after yoga; I feel like I've had a conversation with my body.

Hey, curvedliz. Nice to read you! I really feared all the AS group has died a sudden death.:h)
But to your post: How does your yoga-teacher help to manipulate your lower spine? That must be extremely painful. I can't help it- but is that a good idea? Well, I wait until the flare is gone, before I try to force myself into movements my painlevel otherwise would not allow. I think the pain is there to show our limits.
But I really can relate to your problem. The nights are awful and I usually get up at 1 or 2 in the morning. And it is torture to try to turn in bed during a flare.
You write "(you) feel like you had a conversation with your body" after yoga. I think that is exactly what it is for and that is a great beginning, I guess. Have you thought of ayurvedic massage yet? It seems to help a lot to relax. I would do that as soon as possible if I could afford it.
Keep us posted about your yoga experience, please. I find it highly interesting for all of us. Well.....the two or three of us:)

Hey thanks for the great reply! I'm still trying to figure everything out, and it feels like a lose-lose situation. Rest doesn't make the pain go away, so through a logical process we try the opposite of rest. No winning yet.

This flareup has been here since early October. I've never had one this long! I've had a few good days, where I thought it was going away, but it's back.

Heat seems to help - and, the opposite of that, "standing outside in the rain" makes it worse - any other tips? I haven't had the chat I need to with a doc about what I can do with my lifestyle to help so I'm flying blind here! When I'm in a lot of pain, should rest be my goal? I find that those days, if I try to get stuff done, I'll be halfway across the house and suddenly can't take another step, and call over the big dog for assistance. When I'm sitting though, I get stiff. Less pain, more stiffness.

Good news is that I've graduated out of the neurosurgeon's care and into the hands of a sports medicine doc who says he'll stick with me until they've got a solid diagnosis and a treatment plan that works.

curvedliz - Rest as in lying down and doing a lot of sitting isn't good for us....it does make you stiff. But you don't want to overdo it either. I had a terrible flare last week when our temps took a plunge - the worst pain I'd had since i was diagnosed about 15 years ago - and I found myself pacing the floors a lot...not fast walking, but just a slow walk. Did it without thinking. It hurt terribly to sit down - couldn't get comfortable. And I couldn't get a good night's sleep because it hurt to lie down. Moving around a little was the best help, along with a heating pad.

Cold and rain are triggers for me. We've got rain coming tonight, and the closer it is to getting here, the worse my back hurts. Have already taken a hot shower and will probably pull out the heating pad in a bit before bed.

Unfortunately, I can't do yoga, for several reasons I think. I've tried to get into it several times and it just doesn't work for me. But easy stretching exercises help me a lot, like just bending over and touching my toes. I'm working on making a list of stretches I can do now since things have gotten bad as of late.

Just try to take it easy on your bad days...if you overdo it, you'll only take longer to get over flares! You have to learn to pace yourself, and ask for help for even simple tasks that bother you. I can't even make a bed without some help with the bending over. I actually was diagnosed by a neurosurgeon after ending up on the floor after making a bed and was unable to get up for like 20 minutes!

This is all extremely helpful - thank you! Looks like I'm not the only one getting hit hard this year. My ankle was in more pain today than it has been in the past decade.

I think I was on the brink of discovering that little, gentle activity often with periods of rest and a hot water bottle are helpful. Unfortunately, this week I have work Mon-Fri and the only evening I don't have a rehearsal (and a long drive) is Wednesday, which is the yoga-for-gimps class that I'd like to try (free this week).

Another nice thing about yoga is the breathing. Technically, lying on your stomach with a ribbon of drool coming out of the corner of your mouth is a yoga pose :) so I try to do that and breathe deeply on the really rough days.

Whow, exactly as here. At times my bed is my worst enemy! I spend nights over nights walking with my crutches around and around. Permanent fatigue is the side effect. Acupuncture helps a lot, but right now I can't go there for some reasons. It's not next door and driving can be quite painful as well. I stopped dairy 3 years ago and I have the impression my flares are less frequent. (I've always been a vegetarian and I'm told it's a good choice). I'm not rich enough to try the real alternatives, like ayurvedic medecin. It's not even available in France. What about you and alternatives? I'm constantly on the look-out. I don't think that I will be able to work as I have to for much longer. Stressy. And stress is really the first trigger for flares, I reckon.

Oh I hate bed. I hate it so much! I have a real hard time rolling over in bed, it's the most painful thing! After I broke my spine, we were very lucky and bought an amazing bed on clearance pricing. I can't imagine the World of agony I would be in if it was that awful old bed we had.

I also hate bed, and sometimes glare at it with disdain, because it means once I get in, there's a 1% chance I'll feel human the next morning, and a 99% chance I'll wake up crippled. It's hard to look at a place of rest/rejuvenation like it's poison. I'm sure it doesn't help in the long run, but some nights I postpone going to bed as long as I can.

I went to the yoga classes and was in so much pain by Friday I was nauseous. Also got a call from the Dr who was cc'd on my bloodwork. She wants me in ASAP, and the receptionist right off the bat said I had anemia that needed attention. This is very new, I've never had problems with iron, not even as a vegan blood donor.

I'm super limited in what I can get for treatments money-wise. It was a horrific year for me last year and I'm just thankful I have an almost full time min wage job right now. I'm going to talk to my doctors about getting a designation for person with disabilities so that things like alternative treatments and even normal treatments can be within my means. I'd rather be in a situation where I don't have that designation, but as it stands, I qualify. And that's a tough pill to swallow.

Hello Liz,
please don't say that's a hard pill to swallow. It is as it is and there is nothing bad about accepting some aid. I find it rather astonishing that most of us are still functioning. Especially with "bed-phobia" :). It's defenitely not only the pain that cripples. It's the side effects like permanent fatigue that makes it difficult to master the necessary tasks. So, if you are entitled to some help, just take it (not as a bitter pill! )

Bed-phobia - I love it! You're right, it is what it is. It's harder to explain to others than it is to explain to oneself, I think. I still don't fully understand where my limits and boundaries are, and I know it's difficult for friends to know where they are from week to week too.

By Friday I was cooked! Came home from work and slept 2 hours. Doctor said all my inflammatory markers are within normal parameters but I have no ferritin reserves. Concert season is picking up and rehearsals have already begun. Between that and all the extra tests and doctor appointments, I'm in for a rough ride!

Apparently carrying very big dogs is still within your limits. I can manage my very small cat :)
Seriously- the limits make themselves very clear: Either I'm able to move, either I'm not. The tricky part is to anticipate the flare ups. The bloody things should come on a fixed shedule, should they not? It would be much easier to plan them in. My planting season will begin in two weeks. I'm curious how I will manage. Right now I'm rather fine. Despite the psoriasis that seems to come frequently with the AS package. We were discussing the immune-system on another forum. It seems our immune system should not be too strong. Does that mean we should drink and smoke in abundance? :)

Haha that is an old picture! But I have taught that dog how to pull me on a bicycle with her harness - she is a sled dog mix. I did used to be very strong and I still am when I don't have flare ups. One trick I do with that dog is she climbs me and she lays across my shoulders. I could do squats and lunges like that too :)

I see my specialist this Friday the 14th to go over some x-rays, blood work, and bone scan. He also ordered me a gadolinium injection mri. Have you ever had one? The letter says I'll be under anasthetic and heavy pain killers... On one hand I'm excited to have some relief but on the other, what are they going to do that's so painful?

Gadolinium injection? I'm awfully impressed by the word alone! Sounds vaguely like a flower, does it not? No, I never heard of it before and can't even imagine what it is good for. MRI, of course I know pretty well. Had it for the head a couple of times. Really noisy stuff, though. And sice I'm slightly claustrophobic I did not appreciate the whole affair too much.
Did you not ask him what they will do? I always do. I'm too nosy not to. Last time I had surgery for some minor tumour thingy, I asked to put the thing in a bag for my cat. A kitty-bag, so to say. The nurse nearly puked.
Keep us posted of how it went, please. Especially the flower injection.
Are you sure it's a dog? It has a bear-like expression! And either YOUR head is very small, or HER'S is very, very big! :)

I meant to ask before, so you find that you are sick from things like the common cold and flu less often than others? We have had several rounds of bad bugs cone through at work and my boyfriend is on his like... 6th head cold this season. Not even a cough or runny nose for me. But when I do get sick, I'm SICK. Like, I got shingles when I was 15 sick.

The dog's head looks so big because of her silly haircut :p she's only 60lbs.

Gadolinium is a radioactive contrast dye for mris. I read into it a bit... It's a big needle infected straight into my SI joint and I should be in pain for 4-6 hours afterwards. I knew I was going for another mri bit when the notice came in the mail it had a few extra steps to it and I need someone to drive my drugged up butt from one hospital to the other! Injection is at one and mri at the other. I don't think I'd like a bouquet of Gadolinium for the occasion :)