Articles

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...

Anthony from AnkylosingSpondylitis.net recently had the pleasure of interviewing one of our talented community members, Bianca. Bianca submitted a poem in our community story section, titled 5AM: A Poem About...

Editor's note: You can read Part 1 of this series here. The spondyloarthritis community has changed a lot these past few years as clinical diagnoses change, too. The common diagnosis...

A chronic illness community can be an essential wellness tool. It allows you to surround yourself with people who just get it. But it's not always easy to share your...

We live in an age where people glorify productivity at an unhealthy volume. The “hustle” can’t stop and if you do, well, according to those who lead this kind of...

I'm sitting on my bed as I begin this article. Next to me is Keegan (my husband with AS) and my 8-week-old son, Elijah. We welcomed him in November 2020...

I've been in a dark hole lately. The pain has gotten pretty intense and incredibly constant. Just when I think I'm doing ok, I go take a walk and my...

I was on Humira for 6 and a half months. I knew I should give it around 6 months to be completely sure if it was working for me or...

My wife, Stacia, and I have moved around a bit in the past decade, moving from Massachusetts to Texas to New Mexico and now to Colorado. With all of the...

Two weeks ago, I was diagnosed with interstitial cystitis. You know what they say about autoimmune conditions...you can't just have one, and I can attest to that. I already suffer...

Even with a treatment that is effective and regular exercise, AxSpA reminds me that it is still here, and manifests itself through new pain. The condition is active, it changes...