I hate sitting for any length of time. It triggers bursitis and radiating pain down the back of my legs, and low back pain.For many years before being diagnosed, my family would chuckle as I always had to use a pillow on our hard wooden kitchen chairs. They don't chuckle now!
I cannot sit on hard surfaces at all so I take a pillow or temperpedic cushion with me everywhere I travel--car, plane, to church for pews, to the movies, etc. But I still travel long distances as I go to watch my 15 year old son ski race across the country, or visit my extended family in Virginia (we live in Ontario, Canada now) and I love to travel, but sometimes it IS agony when I do. When driving, I try to stop every hour and stretch. I also have a car with heated seats, which helps me immensely in the winter. Plane travel can be a killer, especially if crowded and long. I wish I could afford First Class. When I flew back from Hawaii to Toronto once, I was in such acute pain they had to take me out by wheelchair, as I couldn't even walk and I was only 42 years old. Embarrassing! I will take tramadol or tylenol 3's for pain (have a bit of codeine in them) but it doesn't help that much.
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Just diagnosed in 2013 with AS after 25 years of pain and seeing over 22 professionals (family docs, rheumatologists, orthopedics, chiropractors, physiotherapists, etc). Am on sulfasalizine for now, as the same week I was diagnosed with AS, I collapsed with myocarditis, and cannot use Humira until my heart is fully healed. Am HLA-B27 negative and FEMALE.
