What symptoms of AS do you experience?
Chronic, long-term back pain is one of the most commonly reported health problems in the United States. Not surprisingly, back pain is also the most reported symptom by people living with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA).
Other symptoms may also occur with axSpA, such as uveitis, fatigue, psoriasis, heel, shoulder, foot, and other joint pain.
I'm 65, I was diagnosed at 20. I remember it was pretty bad the first couple years but then magically went into remission most of my adult life until the last couple years. I'm going on my fourth month on generic Humira at a huge out-of-pocket expense but my lower back pain has become almost debilitating. I don't think it's doing any good. I have a MyChart message into my rheumatologist but I'm sure any effective drugs will be hard to get approved by Insurance Company too. I'm feeling rather scared and hopeless at this point. My knees are also quite affected and I'm finding the right one locking up and giving out occasionally. Scary stuff.
Wow, that sounds like such a whirlwind with your knee progressing that quickly. And now dealing with your shoulders and hips too - that’s a lot. I’m glad you’re finally on a biologic and hopefully feeling like you have a little more hope moving forward. Fingers crossed right along with you! 🤞-Kimberli (Team Member) So sorry you're having such a hard time! FWIW, Humira did me absolutely no good, so he tried a different type of biologic which includes Cosentyx and Bimzelx (which is what I'm now on), and those work much better. Humira and like biologics are TNF inhibitors, which Cosentyx and the like are IL-17 inhibitors, so they work somewhat differently and one may work better for you than the other type. Also, I didn't REALLY get feeling a lot better until my rheum added methotrexate to the mix, which really helped not only my back pain, but all the peripheral joint pain (like ankles and elbows, for me) as well. Hope that info is something you can take to your next appointment with you -- and best of luck with your journey!
Fatigue, body aches, SI joint pain, lower back pain. I have flare ups around every 2 weeks. Some a flare ups are worse than others. Sometimes the fatigue is almost debilitating, hard to get out of bed after a night of tossing and turning.
Having flares come around every couple of weeks has to be exhausting, especially when you don’t know if it’s going to be a mild one or a flare that takes everything out of you. It’s like your body doesn’t always give you much of a break. Do you feel like you’ve noticed any patterns with those every-two-week flares, like certain activities, stress, or changes that seem to bring them on? -Latoya (Team Member)
No I haven't but I do think the heat and humidity has a big influence. I can no longer tolerate heat.
Pain in my eyes, hips and scalp it feels like someone hit me with a nail
That sounds so painful. Are you on any treatment plan that can give you some relief? Warmly, Kathy (Team member)
Pain in my “sit bones”, pain anywhere in my back, pain in my right hip, brain fog, stiffness and pain when I wake up.
Thank you for sharing. Which symptom gets in your way the most? All the best, Kathy (Team member)
