Hiya Pluto from another Aussie(go Aussies!!!)
Reading your scan results is a bit like reading my own, if you throw in a bit more calcification, degeneration and a few more spinal levels!!! Sounds to me as if your disease is all in your spine, NOT YOUR HEAD!!!
I was diagnosed with Scheuermann's Disease (Scheuermann's Kyphosis)at 19 y.o - from your scan results it sounds as if you might have started that way - typically T9-12 is the worst area - with anterior vertebral wedging, endplate abnormalities and Schmorl's nodes.
Now at 48 y.o, after years of NSAIDs, and increasing levels of pain and severe episodes of sacro-iliac pain and sciatica, I have morphed into an "Undifferentiated Spondyloarthropathy" diagnosis, because I am HLA B27 -ve. MY ESR and CRP are borderline(upper limits of normal range) and my rheumatoid factor is mildly elevated - so who knows what gives???
If your dad is known to have AS, I should think that any rheumatologist worth his weight would look at your scan findings and join the dots... You need to go to a rheumatologist ASAP - where do you live?
In the meantime, I could highly recommend you read up about the No Starch Diet - it has proved to be a Life Saver for me! I still have pain (not surprising, given the degree of damage in my spine and sacral joints) but I have greatly reduced both my pain levels and amount of meds I need through the MIRACLE of the NSD!!!
Louise in Melbourne
