Just reading these messages made me happy and sad at the same time. I have had AS since I was 19 which is nearly 20 years ago - but the same scenario; the rheumys won't diagnose it until I start showing differences in x-rays (which takes about 10 years) and my AS didn't get really bad until 6 years ago. I have been told my rheumys that it is all in my head, that AS isn't hereditary (even though my mother has it and has had it for 40 years!) and that AS is extremely rare in women - go figure!
I also suffer from FM quite seriously and cannot stand anybody touching me for massages etc. I'm frustrated as I'm not from the USA and cannot receive the drugs that I read on this website - NZ is still living in the ark with a governing body called Pharmac calling all the shots which basically means they don't give a toss about the AS sufferers here because the only drugs they subsidise are the old ones. The new ones like Celebrex and Vioxx you have to spend around $50 per week on them and they aren't covered by your medical insurance!
So, as you can guess, I'm really happy that there are people out there like me who are suffering the same old same old but I'm angry at the same time because of the NZ health system which doesn't allow AS sufferers (and many other disease sufferers) to get the kind of drugs that we need to.
I'm not sure if there's anybody on this site from NZ but if there is I guess you would just get the same message.
Anyhow, thanks for letting me vent my spleen and nice to read all your messages - makes me feel that I'm not so far away after all!
Cheers
Julie