Hi there. I have been crusing around this site for a few weeks and thought it was time to introduce myself. My short bio is as follows:

33 yrs old. Diagnosed with AS for approximately 8 yrs. Currently on Indomethacin & Methotrexate. Vioxx & Celebrex do not work. I had a flare up in July 2002 (draining kness, etc...) and after 10 mths the Metho started to help but I am still not remotely in remission. I have tried prednisone but the dose either does not work or it is strong enough to work but I feel sick 24 hrs/day. My doctor is talking about Enbrel or Remicaid but my insurance doesn't cover enough of it. I will probably wait until my wife gets coverage too.

Up until April 2002 I was still active and playing hockey (welcome to Canada). I started to complain about a pain in my neck and my doctors diagnosed me with C1/C2 joint instability. According to them this is usually and end stage symptom of AS. I have it now but the rest of my spine is still relatively flexible.

My movements are limited by pain but I can't figure out how much of it is due to loss of muscle mass over the last two years. My waist has been getting larger but my weight has stayed the same, not a good sign for my muscles.

I have been lazy about stretching and exercise. When you feel good you don't think you need it. When you feel bad you just can't do it.

I am starting off with the stretches from this site and will probably try the low starch diet.

Does anyone have any words of wisdom as to other things to try? I want to try to beat the remaining pain and work myself into remission. It has been 8 years on Indocid with brief attempts at different NSAID's. I would like to get off them all for a while.

Thanks for listening...