Hello Christine,
Such an early diagnosis can get you feeling down, I understand, but it is good to catch it early so you can prevent any damage to your bones and joints with meds. I am 27 and was diagnosed at 25. I am the only one in my family with such ailments and my roomates are all triathletes and as healthy as you can get so I can relate to you having no one that really gets what you are going through.
I was just diagnosed with Crohns as well so I am trying not to get down at that fact that I am 27 with 2 chronic conditions, this site has helped me tremendously.
I first managed my AS pain with ibuprofen and enbrel, now that I have a crohns diagnosis I can no longer take the ibuprofen cause it is terrible on the stomach so I'm taking pentasa (another anti-inflammatory that works for both crohns and AS). It is trial and error finding the right meds and correct dosage that works for you but I promise that once you find it you will start feeling better and things will start looking up for you.
Xrays will show the progression and severity of the AS - bone spurs or fusion is what terrifies me but with treatment and the enbrel I take it is not so likely. So get on some preventative meds and exercise, it really does help, especially with the flare ups I have gotten in my neck, when I go to the gym and get in some cardio it really does help with the pain of the AS - and I like to tell myself that it is helping me sweat out some of the toxins from all of the meds I have been putting into my body.
I hope this helps, feel free to shoot me an email. I can truly relate to your story, and hope you are feeling better soon.
Best,
Jen
