Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group question about this symptom please

Can AS cause a feeling like your pelvis just Locks up. My son complains of this and also a feeling like there is a boulder resting on his lower spine. Thank you

Not sure about the pelvis being locked but I do have pain in the groin, inner thighs and pubic region. I can relate to the boulder or pressure sensation, like something is crushing your back or it feels like I'm in a vice. I think that comes from the ribs being inflamed. Stretching from side to side helps and also laying on a large exersize ball on his back helps open up the spine and ribs. I believe everyone with AS should do this every day.

Hi Trishy, yes, AS can make you feel like your pelvis is locked up, soon after I started having SI joint problems I noticed that I had lost my range of motion in the the whole hip/pelvic/lower back area, it was like watching someone with no rythym dance, nothing moved independantly anymore and is still that way...but I have lumbar spine fusion too...I hope your son finds an answer and welcome to KA!

I get this as well. Usually upon waking, and if I'm on my feet for too long.

AmberUK

Sometimes (more in the past than recently), when I pivoted quickly, one side would lock up suddenly from pain and I felt like I was going to fall, or at the very least, I wasn't going anywhere for a good minute. Then pain subsides, and I could walk again. This was so common that I didn't think much of it, just waited and went on.

Hi Trishy, and welcome to KA!

Yes, the sensation of being stiff, frozen or locking up is a common symptom in AS due to inflammation, with the pelvic area and hip joints being common sites. Usually it's accompanied by a great deal of pain (but not always). I have fallen, sometimes right out in the middle of the road because of it and had that same 'boulder' resting on my lower spine and later, on my sternum too as my disease progressed upwards.

Has your son already been diagnosed with AS, or are you in the process of searching for answers to what might be causing his symptoms? If you are still in the process, a referral to see a Rheumatologist could prove worthwhile.

I hope we can all help to answer any other questions you might have.
Glad you've joined the group.
mig

Thank you all for writing. When he started to get symptoms last year, he ended up laying on the couch for over a month. Waisted alot of time after being sent to a urologist by a gp and told his symptoms were prostatis nonbacterial. Then he was diagnosed with chronic pelvic pain syndrome . Sometimes he says it feels like his shoulders inbetween back are splitting apart. He also was referred to a gasto &given a colonoscopy. But he always had Ibs and after all the levaquin he had bad diahrrhea . So after many months of me trying to tie his symptoms together the word AS kept coming up and I mentioned this to him. Finally got this new doctor who he just went to this week because all the symptoms are back again. It's always there he said but now it's again worse. This doctor off the bat suggested that he could have something called Ankylosing Spondylitis. And that he wants to rule out that first before going on. But he is only a gp so he never ordered that gene blood test . He ordered a metabolic panel, lipid panel, cbc and urinalysis. Thought he woould get tests that see if there is inflammation like a sed rate I think? My son also had xrays from when this all started. It was normal . But this new doc did not suggest MRI which I believe might show the AS in its early stages. But he did order different kind of xray that is oblique and lateral. Maybe it is more powerful to show more? I know it's more radiation which little concerned about. He will go this week to have blood work and xrays done. We're really hoping we get to bottom of this once and for all. I even suggested that just maybe it's just stress and anxiety and he tightens up. Stress can cause so many symptoms. At this point I hope they find something concrete. Will let everyone know what happens. Thank you all again.

I hope that he is okay and doesen't have AS. Hopefully all he needs is a good chiropracric adjustment and massage. If he does, this site is a great resorce for him.

this really doesn't sound like "just stress".

sue

Hello and welcome to AS.

It sounds like this doctor is being quite thorough in his quest for answers regarding your son. However, I recognize too well some of what you describe him as experiencing. If this doctor truly suspects something like AS, or another form of inflammatory arthritis, then please urge him strongly to set up an appointment with a rheumatologist for a firm and proper diagnosis. A GP can only take this so far.

Hugs,