Articles

Having children was never my top priority in life. Being a teenager, talking with my girlfriends about life plans, we had different views. Most of them wanted kids for sure...

Editor's note: Please speak with your doctor before starting any new exercise program. A foam roller is a wonderful piece of exercise equipment that can be used in multiple ways...

It’s one of those days, one of those days where the pain and fatigue to take over. Standing is too difficult. The fatigue makes me dizzy and the pain, well it’s...

There are times when life with arthritis feels more like a trip to a shabby little haunted house than I'd like to admit. You know the kind I mean. They...

Are you something of a curmudgeon? A chipper person hopes you'll say something like, "Dawn, how can you even ask that? I'm an eternal optimist shooting hearts from my eyes...

The 2020 holidays really affected me negatively, worse than years prior. Family at the house (albeit only 5 of us), over-spending, cooking larger meals, and ingesting sugar, salt, and alcohol...

Before we knew they were called "flare-ups," I knew my husband, Keegan, was experiencing something like I'd never seen before. Except for maybe seeing a Youtube clip of a woman...

Unlike some of my peers with ankylosing spondylitis, my first scan showed undeniable evidence of the disease. Bilateral inflammation and erosion in my sacroiliac joints were found, and a positive...

Finding a restful night sleep with axial spondyloarthritis can be so hard. Between painsomnia, finding a comfortable position, and worrying about your next flare, drifting into dreamland can feel downright...

Axial spondyloarthritis has taken a lot from all of us who have it. The life we thought we were going to have, the hobbies or passions we have had to...

I’m in a somewhat unique position as an ankylosing spondylitis patient. Not only am I a patient, but I’m also a chronic illness advocate and a medical writer. These realities...

One of the hardest things about living with a chronic illness, particularly a degenerative one, is that you are always grieving for your older selves. As the years go by...

It's funny how chronic illness works. It really forces you into the present moment, in a weird way. When you're good and pain-free (or at least having minimal pain) you...

Dear Steff’s AS, Hi, it’s me, Steff. I want to write you a letter to air out both my grievances and my thank you’s. Sometimes I think you were sent...

I was diagnosed with AS while I was an English teacher. From 2009-2017, I had the great privilege of teaching high school students how to express themselves, how to appreciate...

A chronic condition like AxSpA comes with many different challenges and symptoms. Fatigue is one of the most common ones across people’s journeys. It can have a big impact on...

Painful life experiences can take a toll on your physical and mental health. We know that stress and trauma raise your risk of illnesses like drug and alcohol misuse, mental...

While doctors may prescribe pain medications for AxSpA, like NSAIDS, not everyone wants to take these prescriptions long-term, and some people don’t like the side effects of pain medications. Fortunately...

We all are on a different path and stage on our journeys with AS. Some of us with more symptoms or a faster progression, some needing to take anti-inflammatory and/or...

When I was in graduate school, my life was messy. I was working at a bookstore that undervalued and underpaid its employees, I was dealing with the toxicity of a...