I had been suffering worsening pain and stiffness from my neck and back but just thought it was the hard graft of work.
I spent a long time laid up, then working my hips and legs hard. The pain in my back was now mor apparent. My neck was goosed to.
Everything eventually took its own turn to,start hurting.
Eventually, i made my recovery from the crash and after a long time returned to work.
The pains i felt where masked by the Heavy loads of painkillers i took day to day, viox (now banned), tramadol and cocodamol cocktails.
When I eventually weaned off them i began to notice my back and neck, knees ,ankles, wrists everything was stiff, burning and aching most of the time. Foolishly, i just put most of these pains down to my crash..................
I got on with it for a few more years.
Feeling normal was a distant memory i had lost sight of a long time ago. I guess I never knew how bad I was.
Eventually, my guts started playing me up, probably the nsaids or maybe just the AS, but ibs symptoms...... Drugs had screwed me up by now.
Tiredness and fatigue were other complaints i had reported to the gp on my many visits.
Eventually, i had had enough on my neck ache, the head aches it brought.
Gp did X-ray, and said i was fine. Tested everything, bloods, but only bog standard stuff.
I now got to the point where I insisted that all my symptoms where related and pointed out that they were all symptoms of AS.
Reluctantly he reffered me to a rheumatologist.
She asked me to have mri and bloods done in advance of our first meeting.
At our first appointment in June this year she diagnosed me with AS.
Job done.
Al i had to do was wait all them years for the damage to be done and then point it out to them myself.
Good eh
I'm your typical bloke, i did nothing untill i was at the point were i absolutely needed help.
Well, now I've found it.
I start hydro tomorro. I am on route to anti tnf and fingers crossed will start the screening soon.
My bike injuries and my AS have together along with a life of hard graft, took their toll, but I'm getting on with it, what else can you do
