Hello everyone on KA!
Thanks to everyone who so kindly welcomed me on my first post back in... Feburary?
Everyone's advice was really helpful. Based on it all, I approached my great-uncle to ask him about AS. I let him know about my symptoms (SI joint pain radiating out to the hips, fatigue and joint pain (feels like having the flu in a way), unintended weight loss, etc.). He said I sound pretty much like he did when he was my age, too, with minor attacks here and there for a couple years followed by a big one. He repeated what many of you said: "Get thee to a rheumatologist!" I did discover that I was mistaken in my earlier post, though; apparently, he is HLA-B27
negative, as is my mom. I can only assume his dad and uncle, who also had AS, would not have tested positive for that gene variant, either. So, I'm not sure how that will play itself out.
In the meantime, the pain is ever-present (68 days now), sometimes worse, sometimes better... sometimes much worse. Last weekend, unexpectedly, I was at an 8 or 9 out of 10 on my personal pain scale. I wound up getting an IM steroid injection from my general practitioner, and the pain subsided back into the 1-2 range a couple hours thereafter. I saw the physical therapist again a couple days after that, and he and I mutually agreed to end our meetings; he reported back to the orthopedic surgeon on my improved flexibility but total lack of pain relief, and I got to see said surgeon today, and he said he wants to refer me to... a rheumatologist.
I politely informed him I'd already made arrangements to do so -- alas, there are like 3 rheumies within a few hours of here, and they are all booked solid. I'm still waiting to see mine by June at the latest. The surgeon noted that he was opposed to surgery in my case, citing that my pain seems to be in manageable levels after a steroid shot, and asked if I would want a corticosteroid epidural for longer-term pain relief; this is actually something my uncle had suggested, as well, stating that if the pain were to disappear entirely afterward, then I may well have AS (can anyone confirm this?). So, I'll be having that done next week Thursday. Maybe with it I can continue to work and go to classes and not feel like such [*bleep*] when things calm down after a hectic day in the pharmacy.
Again, thanks everyone for your helpful advice, particularly everyone who referred to the diet section; that is very useful information!
I don't know if I have AS yet; and while I hope I don't, I hope more for a diagnosis so proper treatment can begin.
--DWK
