Hi I was wondering if anyone can answer a question
for me? I know alot of you have great knowlege in
alot of areas where I'm quite new to it all.
The thing is i have been having really bad pains in my
hands mainly knuckles and fingers (joints especially)
the pains i have put down to my AS but they have got
so bad today i went to drs and he is sendin me for
x-rays on both hands and some blood tests as he said
it could be the start of Rheumatoid Arthritis.

What my question is, is can you have both conditions
at the same time?

Thankyou for reading this and any answers would
be helpful. Cheers

I have both, AS and degenerative arthritis, I think you can have as many as you want....lol....ouch!

chez,
elmer is right, many of us have several things going.

my understanding is that once we beat the kleb. bug, other things will get in line also...

Hi, chezsunny:



The antigen for AS occurs in about 8% of the UK and US population, but for HLA DR1/DR4 (RA susceptibility) it is over 30%.

About 2% of the people attending the Middlesex AS Clinic had both RA and AS; it is possible, but rare.

In differential diagnosis, there is an AGE GAP for disease onset of about 20 years, so depending upon Your specific age, but also on whether or not a history of UTI, AS plus RA is something to be considered.

Chances are better, however, that the AS is not being controlled properly and You seem to be on some hand-me-down drugs developed first for RA.

The website Dr. Joseph Mercola has developed has some good guidelines to help control both of these diseases.

Good Luck,
John

Very possible to have several right nasty comorbidities though not so usual: AS; RA; PsA; Lupus; MS. Now, John (Dragonslayer) posted a great list of some 200 more 'usual' comorbidities that can co-exist with our jolly wee friend AS... And let us not forget heart problems and that other nasty (in about 46% of AS cases, according to ASAS/EULAR) IBS/IBD and another wee gut friend, crohn's ! AS is 'such' fun...NOT!!

Thanks for all your replies.
Heres hoping x-rays are clear and the ENBREL injections i start in two weeks help with the pains.........
fingers crossed...( or not as they hurt too much) lol.

Gosh - do the injections themselves actually hurt? No one has ever mentioned that before. Yes, some have found site punctures as being stinging, painful but not the actual injection. How horrible. Good luck for two weeks time then...

Hi Molly
When i was having the Humira injections they really did hurt
and afterwards the redness and itching was unbearable thats why i'm
nervous about starting the Enbrel .
The one thing that helped me through giving myself the injections
was my gorgeous 4 year old son Cody who sang songs to me whilst
i did them so it wouldnt hurt mummy so much...bless him hes my
little star.
Thanks for the good luck, i'll let you know cheers.

Bless Cody. I could not give myself an injection, ever... Anybody who 'can' has my accolade. Learnt the other month that dental students have to learn to give 'themselves' mouth injections as part of their training. Strewth !

Hi there
I have AS, RA, OA and an undetermined type as of yet in my hands and wrists.. Oh Yes I am told that I also have MCTD.
So as others stated you can have other joys with the AS.