Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group AS and Lung Disease?

Thanks James...
Yep..no allergies...chronic sinusitis. Thats irritating with the asthma. Doc thinks that may be contributing to my asthma attacks but b/c I just finished antibiotics for a respiratory infection he cant tell right now. I think so. I get this bruished feeling on my temple and left side of my nose where the sinus pressure hits me worse.

I am releived about my pets. In least I know I dont need 2 of these extra allergy meds anymore. I am tired of meds. It would seem quite a few folks here with AS seem to have some sort of breathing problem or breathing condition. I hope that is not the case with you James. This breathlessness I would not wish on my worst enemy. Even laughing and playing around takes my breathe away and throws me into a coughing fit. I just wish there were something else I could do and just take it away but I think it's not leaving so I will try to keep my head up and look at it in the best way. Half of me is hurting inside and the other half is trying to march on. ...take care friend..and thank you for listening to my ramblings

lincstercredible ..if you can rock..then i can certainly keep on trying as well...

funny..the doc didnt mention fusion at all. i thought that would be his explanation. he simply said it was lung disease due to the ankylosing spondylitis...or AS lung disease..depending on what he was saying throughout the visit. he said with AS folks we have to work harder because of the inflammation in our ribs and we push a breathe out harder and faster because the ribs are overworking and want to just get that breath out and over with BUT I cant keep breathing that hard or even as a normal person after that.

i'll keep breathing lincsteroni...i have to. for my kids. for art. i love life so much and i have so much to do. i'm not ready to leave yet. and i'm asking the big guy upstairs to just help me get by. and with all the wonderful support here...i'll get by one day at a time...take care friend...hope that enbrel is still helping you out!

your pal ..buggeroni

Sorry to hear this...




My allergist just put me on Singulair for asthma, too...

hi connie...
it is so nice to hear from you...
so your ribs are fused yet they still do not dx with AS? that's terrible.
i do not believe i have any rib fusing but that was one of the big indicators shortly after seeing the rheumy years ago. i had costochondritis many times. finally i think it burned itself out and moved to where my right ribs and spine meet...and that is even worse.

that sounds terrible about the bone growth. i hope they can take care of that for you and will keep you in my thoughts. i called my family doc and told the nurse what the doc said so she is going to get the immunologists reports and notes today and see what my family doc says. i told her i need to find out what is going to happen or what tests they can perform since i read so many links here that were very helpful. i'm going to print them out and take them to my rheumy.

take care friend and dont be a stranger... buggie

hi mig...

thank you so much for the links...i am printing all of these out and taking them to my rheumy. he is on vacation right now but the nurse has left him the message and is requesting the notes from my immunologist. my family docs nurse called as well. they confirmed that the immunologist points lung disease directly from AS monster. he wants me to follow up with my pulmonologist. the thing is my immuniologist didnt even pick up on it even though he knew about AS as well. he gave me 3 different allergy meds that didnt help me one bit.

either way i feel relieved that i have an answer to my pains. i have found through the years that i started accepting some of my pains and would just ignore them just to get through the day. i have had pain in my right side for so long that i never even realized it was from the asthma getting worse and worse and obviously my lungs. this disease has done so much in so little time. my doc mentioned this awhile back but i never thought in 6 yrs it would be happening. it's a bit scary.

well, i'll keep you posted mig...hope this message finds you well my friend...

hi paul...
i hope the singulaire is helping you...it is the only thing that helped me pull through my worst asthma episode back in october. my 6 yr old is on it and it has helped her wheezing tremendously.

take care..

hi kat...
well gianna and sofie are better...we found the perfect home for her through the SA pet adoption site. we found a couple with 3 children as well and almost the same age. they had a female siamese who had run out one day and were heartbroken because they believe someone took her since she wasnt an outside cat. gianna was upset but cheered up when she saw the new owners and updates on mamma cat being quite happy. I hated having to do so but sofie has stopped wheezing at night and her asthma was terrible so i am relieved to see her sleeping through the night so well.

thanks for the info kat...everyone has given me such great links of info...this is going to help me out when i go see my doc. take care friend..

Hi Pete...
An awful thing indeed. Not something I was expecting. But I am grateful for the doctor I found and this place....so much valuable information that I will be armed with on my visit to my rheumy in a few weeks.

It really freaked me out when I heard him telling me things. I was in shock and it slowly set in lung disease...over and over in my head. I had just thought heck..i'm probably allergic to cedar or the ash trees at our duplex...nope. Couldnt be simple. He seemed very interested and surprised at the results. He'd nod and say very interesting when the nurses would check something on me. LOL. Of course nothing has never been normal with me. He told me of the cells and how there is usually none or a bunch and of course on ME..there was only ONE. And the nurses couldnt spell AS. And they had never even seen a case even the doctor had from his rheumy days. And all my allergies to meds. I felt like a little circus clown bug.

Like you ...I thought it was due to some sort of fusing happening and never thought this would happen. I hope this is not the case for you my friend. Thank you for the info. Art was very happy with all the support you all have given me and loads of links to print to the docs visits. He was stunned and speechless for the first few days. He was reading everything you all provided for me.

As for the annual check up in a couple of years...it would seem you have a bit in common with Art.. Take care my friend...

Hi there!
I am no medical doctor so unfortunately I have no idea what your case would be. I do know that I had asthma as a kid and controlled it from my mid 20's till last year when I was 37. My doc said my breathing is not of an asthmatic since I am at 165% BUT my xrays show hyperinflated lungs associated with asthma in the past...and believe ME i had terrible asthma attacks that made my life flash before my eyes and wish for the worst AS pain over the asthma attacks any day. . He was keeping the dx for asthma due to the severe GERD i have and he said he could hear my coughing all the way down the hall when I go into the coughing fits. He was shocked that I told him I was doing very GOOD compared to the way I had been the week before. He thought I was in bad shape that day.

Do you have a rheumy right now? If so who dx the pulmonary hypertension....pulmonologist? You could certainly ask for one especially if you have breathing problems. Are you on inhalers and do they help you? The advaire helps me at the 250 dose and singulaire. I think the AS lung issues and the acid reflux kicks up and triggers my asthma and it's making the lung issues worse. I think for me it's a load of things bundled up together. It would seem there is some new better scans out there to see things a normal xray cannot pick up. My rib/lung xrays always show normal unless I have asthma attack, or pneumonia or bronchitis.

Let me know what your doc says....take care ...

The pulmonary hypertension was diagnosed by a cardiologist by echocardiography. I'm on advair and rhinocort and they help, but lately I'm getting short of breath with exercise.