Living

I like to think of ankylosing spondylitis as a very intense personal trainer that uses the threat of my spine fusing together to motivate me to exercise. Aside from all the physical and...

I know it is not exactly breaking news that smoking cigarettes is bad for your health. However, you may not know that there are added health hazards that it brings...

Soon I will undergo right hip surgery. After a more than a year of hip pain, trying every conservative measure possible (physio, osteopath, exercises, injections), it is time for surgery...

Soon after getting my diagnosis with AxSpa (after years of waiting for a diagnosis, though), and starting my first biologic treatment (Embrel), I found my eyes very dry. It was...

In the past, doctors thought that ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and axial spondyloarthritis (AxSpA) were more common in men than women. Now, there is a growing understanding that women and men...

COVID is coming up on its 2 year anniversary. Can you believe it? I can’t. The past 2 years have been so long but flew by at the same time...

Who knew I would wake up one day not feeling the same ever again. Who knew, something I call the chronic monster, would take over my life, my body, my...

I used to loathe the idea of symptom tracking. It stressed me out to think of making a list of all the parts of my body that felt like they...

Over the last two years, I’ve had to say goodbye (or hopefully just "see you later") to some of my favorite hobbies. Struggling with chronic pain and fatigue can be...

To preface, I would just like to quickly say that no, of course we will not feel positive 24/7 while struggling with our illness. This is not one of those...

If I were told to choose one system that I didn’t want to malfunction and impede on my daily life, the digestive system would have definitely been in my top...

In many ways, your quality of life with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) depends on your rheumatologist. That’s why it was nerve-wracking when I had to leave my rheumatologist of three years...

I’m firmly knocking on wood as a write this, but it’s been 12 months without a flare. Apart from two pregnancies, during which my body decided to stop waging war...

Once a month on Fridays I have picked to have my injection day. You would say I have gotten use to it by now, but every time this day comes...

Lately, I’ve been in an endless flare-up — one of those flare-ups that change shape every day. It's my neck or my back or my hips. One day I can't...

Here in Canada, Cannabis is legal. For a while now I have been using cannabis as a way to cope with my pain, as well as helping me fall asleep...

If you live with AS or any chronic illness, I’m sure you know the feeling of what I’m about to talk about. When I’m doing well, or have a few...

As I lie here in bed, listening to a Chili Peppers record, thoughts of worries fill my head. Since I became sick, I haven’t been abroad. This is one thing that...

It doesn’t feel like a stretch to say that stress has always made my AS symptoms worse. Most medical professionals and the majority of people with AS would agree. It’s...

Fatigue is tricky, namely because it can impact so much. From your work, to relationships, social life and ability to just function. Usually fatigue is associated with high disease activity...