Hi Amy, i agree with Marnee. You can have non-radiographic AxSpa, which means you have all the symptoms but no damage. You can be diagnosed at all ages. In your case an MRI is better then X-rays. MRI shows inflammation and damage.

What treatment to choose is up to you. Get informed about all the different possibilities and choose what suits YOU. There are a lit of articles on here about medication and treatments.

Personally, I have chosen medication (immunosupressant: rinvoq), because i don‘t want more joint damage and severe inflammation. It is the only medication i take and i don‘t need any pain medication. I figured once the damage is done there’s even more pain and i will be in permanent need of pain medication. It’s been a long road of trial and error before finding the right medication that works for me, but it has been worth it.

Keep your stresslevels down. With meditation, breathing techniques or supplements with ashwaganda for example.

You can do a lot with diet as well. I eat no industrialised foods, no starchs and no pork and no sugar. There‘s a lot out different diets out there.

And stay active!

If you have any questions, we are all here to help.

Good luck to you and don’t forget: you’re NOT alone

Hello! As far as I know even if they can’t see damage you can have Non-Radiographic Axial Spondyloarthritis, which means you have all the symptoms but damage is not seen yet. Sometimes, that can progress into Ankylosing Spondylitis.
The treatments are basically the same. We have had people in their 60’s and 70’s just get diagnosed. So it does happen.
I have had it since my late teens early 20’s and was diagnosed last fall, at 44.

Good luck and take care. 😊

Hi Karenmeister. https://www.amazon.com/Beat-Autoimmune-Reverse-...

Yes,diagnosis can take years. I spent 20 years with doctors who could only suggest I had Fibromyalgia. In 2017 a new rheumatologist tested me for Halb27 and I was positive. Look up the connection with hlab27 and the bacteria Klebsiella and the molecularly mimicry with consuming starch. There are plenty of studies and info on pubmed but at least in the US docs seem to boo hoo the idea and promote drugs. My inflammatory markers seem normal also. I haven't shown progression in my si joints but do have abnormalities so they are monitoring. It's a challenging thing to find out your food triggers....I am still searching. Best of luck with your journey!

You are very welcome.. we all have to find our way with this disease… i’ve added you to my team by the way so we’re able to find eachother when needed.