Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group undifferentiated spondyloarthritis

Hi, have undifferentiated spondyloarthritis, symptoms same SI pain, chest stiffness, eyepain, IBS etc, does low starch diet work for this also?

Inky do u have the same?

Hi, coldbreeze:

Many people without the HLA B27 antigen, but with confirmed stages of AS (which is probably USpA, also), have responded well to the LSD/NSD. Behcet's, Crohn's, and Reiter's can also be treated with varying degrees of success; the root-cause and mechanism in the majority of these diseases is the same.

From Your symptoms, it is apparent that You could have "Pre-AS;" a status of active disease before the permanent damage of SIJ fusion and other obvious end-stage signs.

HEALTH,
John

Probably ..... put it this way - I am HLAB27 negative, so many doctors I've seen in the past 30 years don't like to give an AS diagnosis.... Mine started as Scheuermann's Disease that never resolved fully,.....then Sero-negative Polyarthritis.....then Undiff Spondy...then when I started getting the bony bridges across several spinal segments it was possible AS, then my mildly elevated Rheumatoid factor went up even further and I started having involvement in my hands and feet: my rheumatologist said "maybe Rheumatoid Arthritis - but let's not worry about the name, let's just treat the disease".

Whatever you want to call it, it's not "classic textbook AS" but the No Starch Diet has helped considerably since I started it 4 years ago. It seems to have come a bit unstuck the past 9 months or so - still keeping much of the spinal, hip, SIJ and rib stuff at bay, but the new development of the involvement of the hands, fingers, ankles and feet has my lovely rheumie wondering if it is co-morbidities of AS AND Rheumatoid arthritis or just non-stereotypical AS (I am female - we are known by many to be contrary beasts!)

I have started methotrexate and that has helped the pain to abate, but I still have synovial joint swelling in my ankles - makes Dr E suspicious about the RA sneaking onboard...

I was dxd with RA, although I am seronegative for RF, just based on visibly swollen joints ,elevated sed rate, C reactive protein and high CCP.

The NSD has worked wonders for my SI joint pain, if I stay away from the starch.

Then just recently, I was hoping to get my swollen knee and elbow better. I juiced for a week just fruits and veggies with a juicer then my elbow actually straightened out, it was damaged as my rheumy said and stuck bent for two years. It had two big nodules on either side and they are gone and my elbow is completely straight after TWO WHOLE YEARS OF BEING STUCK IN BENT POSITION , the nsd does really work. The only thing I did different was juice and stay away from starches, dairy, and nightshades. I also am catholic and got anointed by my parish priest which I know helped too.

As you can tell I am excited I am feeling better, I was in such bad shape for so long and now things are looking up for me.

Hi coldbreeze, I joined this site just so that I could respond to your post :-)

Approximately 1/3 of people with AS will get inflammation of the eye (uveitis/iritis). It is usually easy/effective to treat with drops, but if left untreated can lead to permanent eye damage. Symptoms may include redness, pain, sensitivity to light, watery eyes and blurred vision. If you have any of these, you may want to see an ophthalmologist. If you tell your health provider that you have USpA & suspect you may have iritis, you should get an immediate appointment (within 24 hours); the ophthalmologist will use a slit scope to look in your eyes. My understanding is the slit scope is the only way to dx iritis. so be insistent.

2/3 of ppl with SpA don't get this, but it's just something to check out if you get eye pain.

Wishing you many pain free days.