karen,
as i read all of these replies, i think what i'm left with is that for some people its fairly quick and for others its a long time, so just because you haven't seen anything yet, doesn't really indicate that it is or isn't, i know i'm not ruling anything in or out yet, without a dx, it just means they don't know yet.
and though my tendon/ligament problems which are like yours seem to completely baffle all the doctors i've seen (their words, not mine....ok, they don't use the word baffle, but they do say, "i have no idea why ......") but the thing i find most striking is the only people i've ever met with severe tendon / ligament issues (-itises, pulls, tears, ruptures (thank goodness that last one hasn't happened yet)) are people with AS and people like us. i've never come across another disease (except for EDS and i'm not bendy) besides AS that causes these things and if AS can cause these things, well, then, i guess that's why i came here to begin with.......... THAT and the SI combined........
some of my doctors are saying, "not enough evidence yet to determine.......", and others say "at least you don't have anything bad like AS, just some discomfort......", and others say, "you have an autoimmune arthritis", and the list goes on. i think the truth is, no body really knows. of course that doesn't really help us much, does it? so i'm back to the "try to treat the symptoms as best i can", keep gathering evidence, and keep talking to the doctors about programs designed to uncover the unknown.
sue
