Due to various life stresses/demands, I rarely pop on here anymore these days; however, due to my experience I can't leave your NSAID Q unaddressed. See, I took rx'd NSAIDS for 20+ years. The upside is they did allow me to function well enough to remain actively engaged in life & raise our boys, albeit with limitations.

However, around the 15+ year mark I began to have rather significant stomach pains...which I ignored. Long story short- my gut became so damaged, not only did the NSAIDS quit working altogether, but I also developed multiple drug reactions and/or allergies & became unable to tolerate any pain meds at all - including Tylenol and pain patches as well as most antibiotics, without intestinal bleeding. I became unable to digest foods: everything I ate traveled straight through in about 45 min. I lost 30+ lbs in a space of a couple months. I was very sick, very malnourished, in severe pain & very nearly died. I seriously looked like someone in a 3rd World country who was starving. I had trouble thinking clearly and often struggled to put coherent sentences together.

Conventional treatments failed, so in desperation I went to an Integrative Med dr who put me on IV nutrition & LDN which slowed the downward spiral; eventually over a period of months of clean "eating" (mostly bone broths at the time) I ever so slowly began to improve.

Unfortunately, although my gut began to heal, my AS only worsened until I was significantly disabled with only a few joints unaffected and after more than 3 years of trying various alternative approaches (including the No Starch Diet) I finally caved in to Humira. At the time I was so very disabled & in such severe pain, it was taking my DH 5 hours each day just to get me dressed/showered/undressed, let alone help with other basic daily needs in addition to his full-time job. I was using crutches on "good days" & a wheelchair for everything else.

On the 4th day after my 1st Humira injection, by God's kind grace I put my crutches down & have never looked back. I have had to use a wheelchair at times for longer treks, and I still get fatigued fairly quickly. But I now have a completely different life on Humira. I'm able to do stairs, walk, care for all my own basic dressing/undressing tasks, pick stuff up off the floor, sit at the table to eat, lift my grands, drive myself places....basically I'm completely independent & (mostly) functional again.

Bottom line- I would never, ever recommend NSAIDS long-term to anyone on the planet. I'm not sure what my AS progression would have been like without them, but the 4-5 yr nightmare I endured is not something I would ever want anyone else to go through, let alone someone who already has AS to deal with. I've often wondered if I'd have known about the No/Low Starch Diet in the years ago before I had gut damage (dr who performed colonoscopy said my entire colon looked like ground hamburger) perhaps it would've been effective for me. Who knows? And there may come a day when my gut has healed enough that I won't need Humira. Time will tell.

AS can be quite the journey; if I had it to do all over again, I would def opt for going all out in trying dietary approaches first & foremost. If that was not effective, I would still never give up really healthy, clean, low-starch eating since it turns out there are many other health issues that can arise other than just AS & what we eat makes all the difference.

I hope you never, ever have to endure NSAID damage & sincerely hope you find non-destructive options that are effective for you. Wishing you all the best-

AS 30+ yrs
HLA-B27 positive
Crohns (20 yrs of NSAIDS controlled AS but destroyed gut)
Chronic spontaneous tearing of tendons & ligaments; limited walking ability

Humira, LDN, LSD, L-Glutamine, multi-vit, vit d, vit c, adjustable bed, every pain patch and/or topical analgesic known to man, smile Nortriptyline for pain.