Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group My backbone is giving me fits!

Okay, so normally the majority of my pain, flare or not, is my hip area (SI?), and my neck, with pain here or there depending on what I'm doing at the time. But for some reason, my entire backbone is inflammed; it hurts to stand, it hurts to sit, it hurts to lie down. It's not a stabbing pain, except for an occasional twinge, but a dull ache, a pressure that is extremely uncomfortable. Is this just my AS attacking yet another spot or should I be more concerned. I have no insurance, so I'm not on anything other than ibuprofen. Any ideas? Baths seem to help a bit, but the pain comes right back; the ibuprofen dulls it a bit, but then the pain comes back. It has been like this for a couple of weeks now and seems to be getting worse.

Just when you think AS can't screw with you any more than it has, it does. Yuck.

Hi Pete - Inflaamtion. Enthesisis. Nasty. Get it ost of the time... Unable to sit back against anything hard n my back - has me squeaking! Sleeping at night can sometimes be diff: seems to depend on how bad the ole back is playing up, that AND the lower right side ribs + jolly ole costo Oh yes, and, IF it fel solo (!) little Miss GERD. Quelle symphony of symptoms...BAH!

Ibuprofen send me into a real gut problem. I take Celebrex 200mg for the inflammation and a breakthruogh pain med: fave being Remedeine: 20mg Dihydrocodeine & 500mg Paracetamol. Does the trick as nicely as anything else I've ever taken. Takes the edge off and can get some sleep. But ususlly wake up around 4hrs later. Ho-Hum.

Otherwise I take Naltrexone for everyday use. But IF flaring, then...doesn't *always do the trick.

Same like my AAKG/J - NOs + Jiaogulan. Which I take for elevated BP, but which also has anti inflammatory effect as well as.

Back stuff and AS go together. Spinal inflammation. Happy little condition aint it? (Rhetorical )

Hope you can sort - and yes, hot soak does help as indeed does a hotty waterbottle.

Molly C
Keeping on Keeping on

hope your doctor can give you stronger meds....

sue

Alas, I have no doctor as I have no insurance. I'm on the waiting list for a state-run deal here in Pennsylvania, but it's taking forever. I'd like to try LDN as apposed to Enbrel and the like; I really don't want to open myself up to infections/cancer/things worse than AS, if there is anything worse.

It's not really sensitive to the touch or in leaning against things, it's internal. It's as if a score of people had their hands wrapped around my spine, from the butt-bone to the neck, and were squeezing; if I alleviate the pressure in one area, it shows up in another. If this new thing is not just flare related, I'm screwed. Even if it is flare related, I'm still pretty much screwed.

I can sure relate to the "internal" aspect of it, and the fact that pressure from outside doesn't seem to be the cause of it. And every time if I thought the pain was in one particular place, and would develop a theory like "It's my tailbone, I've got a broken tailbone!" The next day it would be the SI joint, which meant that my previous theory was all wrong.

This current economic crisis is putting other things, like universal health coverage way down on the list, that isn't helping for relief, but I think there will be progress

I've been on sulfasalazine for about 5 months now, certainly no miracle has taken place, but it is a low-cost, less risky thing than the biologics for you to try- it's helped others here, some people call it SSZ, if you search for more about it-

Thanks for that, Dow, if I ever get a doctor, I'll ask him/her about my options, unless I'm fused by then.