Hi everyone,

I was diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis last year and it really destroyed my world. I was 21 and training to be a professional dancer so it felt like everything I'd been working towards was gone.

The past year I've worked really hard to get my illness under control with medication and lifestyle changes. I'm back dancing and training to achieve my dream. The plan was to try a biologic injection but recent imaging has shown that I don't have active inflammation anymore and my… read more

I have been on Sulfasalazine for about a month. Just one 500 tablet. First two weeks were good. Then stomach and intestinal issues started. They were really bad today and my back and neck were hurting bad as well. How long do these symptoms last?

An if so has it helped with the pain , numbness, an tingling...

I wear sunglasses but it just tones it down on a sunny day compared to the right eye. I have excessive redness in which no drops alleviate. Does anyone have this problem and is it related to AS at all? Grazie

My neuro is absolutely against spinal cord stimulators and ablation, I didn’t ask why he was against ablation. But he said they seldom get the spinal cord stimulators in the right place. If the placement is good it might work. He said the technology has not advanced where they can position the probe into proper position because if a person lays on a table they can’t tell where the weight bearing pressure is to place it effectively and if they stand the person up there is 100 pounds of whatever… read more

I have ADHD and I have never been able to sit around or be in the same place very long. Now that I am in constant flare state where the pain is outweighing the fun of doing all the things people do, like running to a store, going to sporting events for kids, going to school meetings, making dinner, cleaning the house, etc. How do I accept that I am going from a fulltime well-earned and wanted career and mom (with little support from the other parent) to a slug that has to disappoint my child and… read more

I've been diagnosed with AS for about 10 years now, I'm doing pretty well and I'm taking a break from biological drugs, but now I'm in a relapse and for the first time I've experienced numbness in one foot and under part of the sole of the foot. Never had this before, very unpleasant. Exercising, normal weight, can't find an explanation for the numbness. Did MRI in 2014 which then showed fused SI joints. Should I worry about AS affecting nerves in the spine? Should I ask for a new MRI? Here in… read more

Looks like I might be getting a cold or even the flu… First time since I’ve been on sulfasalazine and I’m too late to ask my rheumatologist this question today, so wondering what y’all do when that happens? I will check in with her tomorrow, but would love any insights for those of you who gotten sick while on sulfasalazine.