hi irish, sorry for the delay. just been trying to stay on top of this thing. Me too, haven't been on in a while either - sorry.
talking about early as kicker it began for me when i was 11 but was ony properly diagnosed when i was 30! initially it was treated as rheumatoid arthritis. and talking about losing height, i think i have lost almost 3 inches! leaves my sis and mom taller than me!You sound like my twin. Did you have the "growing pains too?" Those gnawing pains that woke you in the middle of the night?
I think my AS began when I was 11 - after a bad fall on the horse in gymnastics. I was diagnosed at, yes, 30
(see, twins - getting scared now.) but was told later that women don't get AS.
That knocked me for 6. A really bad time.
In that 'bad time' I had my second baby and I found out that I wasn't a wimp at all. I almost missed the hospital and giving birth in a nice clean ward because I was waiting for it to be agony.
Hello! AS, when it is bad, is on par with labour.
regarding a bad stomach, i really can't afford that as it aggravates my back - a vicious circle or what? currently drink 3-4 cups of ginger tea as ginger is supposed to be a good anti-inflammatory. still waiting for results though frown have also completely given upstrach as well as sugar. the cigarettes are the one i still need to beat. It sounds like you're doing everything you can. This place seems ok, somewhere to find out what works and what doesn't, a place to ask questions and have them answered - go figure.
regarding nsaids there is a good one called etoricoxib which is a lot easier on the stomach though it needs to be taken with caution if you have any heart ailment.I live in the UK, we have different tabs: I'm on Arthrotec75, Lansoprazole,for my stomach, Baclofen for the cramps,Mtx and Humira for everything else
OOOh yeah, and Co-Codamol 30/500
