Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group sudden discomfort/stiffness in upper back, chest

many of us talk about our symptoms here. i wish researchers would consider these forums and pore over the wealth of data and information being generated here to try and find why the problem is happening. i wonder if they do?

my problem has for now basically remained the same for the past 14 months. i get gripping upper back, shoulder and chest stiffness at a mild level through the day, but sometimes it just kind of peaks and grips me tight. so much so that i start feeling uncomfortable where ever i am and totally out of focus. i also feel a bit dizzy then and my entire thought is on the stiffness i feel. it gets tighter...and i feel like rushing home or getting away from people... and then after about 20 minutes or so it eases up suddenly...back to baseline low level stiffness. this happens more when i sit on the computer for three - four hours. i have had no other issue with aches and pains so far. no lower back ache. range of motion is all normal. can touch my toes etc without any issues. but this stiffness is undiagnosed. have you felt this and just this for almost a year and a half? but yes, i am hla b27 positive. esr normal, crp normal, x rays , mris normal. heart checks normal. is this AS?

anyone?

Could be. Do you have a Rheumy? Everyone is different in how AS effects them. My Thoracic pain and stiffness came later on. My symptoms started in the Lumbar and perriferal joints. Now 40 years into it my Thoracic spine is starting to fuse making my ribs feel like they are in a vice.
Cindy

rheumy took a look and said doesnt look like as, but for your own mental peace get your si joint imaged. he said he ws sure nothing would show up but get the mri to be satisfied. told me to control cholesterol etc etc. but other orthos have told me could be AS. some have said no it is fibromyalgia or myofascial pain syndrome. yet others have said my sitting at computers and watching movies over long period s of time has caused the muscles to be busted. i really dont know.

I get this, my pain started in my lumbar spine, SI joints... but over the last year things have gotten progressively worse, well actually.. just since January, so not even a year. I get stiffness and tightness in my thoracic spine which then makes my ribs ache, to where I feel the need to massage them and stretch etc. We haven't done any imaging of this area yet, but we're getting to that, now that the CT of my pelvis and lumbar spine came back full of all kinds of goodies.

The inflammation of AS can occur in all of the spine and through the rib cage. The inflammation can also affect the nerves that travel through those areas. Costochondritis and intercostal neuralgia are two rib cage problems sometimes associated with AS. Treatment often involves NSAIDs and muscle relaxants (Flexeril). For AS, the best treatment is prevention, of which the no-starch diet is best.

--Greg

I get pain and stiffness in between my shoulders and in my neck if I sit at my computer for very long. I have tried different chairs, changed the hight and tilt of my screen, but I just can't find an answer. I get up and do something else for a while and it gets better.

@avonldy: is that the only thing that you get? or are there other symptoms too? for me, as of now (14 months) that is the only thing happening. stiffness between and on the shoulder blades, stiffness in teh chest area, kind of like a girdle tightening...and then after 20 minutes easing up. does it come off and on like this? or is the AS tightness constant?

What other treatment's have been tried here by our member's to help with the Costo? I have tried two set's of nerve block's to no avail. It has always been on the left side only and have started to notice some now on the rt.

Sometime's trigger point's set up in the Fascia right beside the point's where we all hurt and have to be dealt with with Trigger Point Release. I have a Theracane that I ordered on-line and it has been a lifesaver. I have the "Trigger Point Release" book that I bought that tell's me what do with the Theracane as well as excellent information and drawings on exactly what to do. I have a few area's though that just won't work so I have then released with injection's.

No I have a lot of other problems besides my upper back and shoulders. I have a lot of pain in my SI,hip,foot,elbows and hands. Just about every joint hurts.