I must have been on one of my breaks when this post was posted. I too had the type of up bringing that men don't let their pain show and anyone who does is weak. I spent years hiding my pain and emotions so that even today the doctors have problems seeing how much pain I am in at any given time, but there comes a point when a person reaches a breaking point and seeks help. I spent closed to ten years going to doctors with LBP only to hear it was in my head. Then when I was to a point I could no longer move around or walk a neurosurgeon sent me for an MRI finding three herniated discs requiring surgery. During the surgery they found what they thought was my spinal canal being extremely small was a birth defect. After my second surgery for more discs a year later and not recovering a rheumatologist found and diagnosed AS. That was in 1986 and after over twenty years I have had many things associated with AS and DDD now having eleven herniated discs with spinal cord compression and tumors or nodules from AS throughout my spine.
I remember how depressing illnesses appearing for seemingly unknown reasons can be. Most find no relief by way of going to the doctors and a lot of the time the doctors make things worse through physical therapy and incorrect diagnosis. People who come to this site are usually looking for answers from others who have gone through the same or similar symptoms seeking a way out of the pain they are in. I answer a lot of questions people asked if it something I have gone through in hopes it will help them find the answer. For those answers I give you could go through my medical files and find that in fact over the 20 plus year span I did have the symptoms. As for the DDD and AS the MRI, CT scans, Myelograms I have been through over the period of time do not lie. There is no way a person can make their bones or discs look other than they appear to the techs reading the test. When AS attacked my electrical system constricting the artery to my heart to close I even got black and white pictures. They show the artery constricted and what it looked like after the stent was put in.
Some people come here to vent when they are nearing a breaking point and need the support of others who know where they are in their lives. Even if a person were to post a problem they made up or don’t have there may be others who do have the problems posted, but did not want to make a post on it in fear no one would understand. The ones who did not ask may have found the help they needed by reading the answers. Support plays a big part in the life’s of people with AS or any of a number of auto immune diseases. The people on this site are kind and compassionate enough to try to help other members through some very rough days. If the site did not exist, who to or where would these people have to turn in seeking the answers they need?
One thing you need to look at is AS affects each person differently with some having little or no pain while debilitating others. Some go through flares with a lot of pain and may be pain free for years. Stepping back to take a look at a person’s history is a lot better approach to take before trying to judge them of being something they are not. From my own experience it takes much more of a man to show compassion and kindness than to condemn while turning the other way.
Brent
