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

My 22 year old son has been diagnosed with AS. I wonder if anyone can relate to having stomach pain (ibS) symptoms before or with a flair. He says he always gets the stomach pains first and then comes the stiffness. Thank you all.

Hi Trishy welcome to KA.
Yes you will find IBS Is common with AS Ive had it for years and it usualy comes with a flair for me.You will hear from many on here about diet and how some people control there AS with diet.I have to be carefull what I eat for me its fat and red meat that upset my IBS you will get good advice from every one on here.
Take care Kevin

I had bad stomach problems since I was in my early twenties. Gas, reflux, indigestion you name it. Found out I had AS at 47. Stopped eating starch and have not had any stomach problems, not even the need for a rolaid (which did more harm than good). Changing my eating habits was the hardest thing I have ever done, but it is the best thing I have ever done. Wish I would have done it twenty years ago. I look at it as a lifestyle change not a diet. Good luck, the people on here are the best. I would not have made it without them. Feel free to have your son email or pm me, I will gladly answer any questions. It sounds like he is where I was at his age.
Darrel.

Hi Trishy,

My son Danny is 24 and has AS. He was diagnosed about 2 years ago. In and out of hospitals in excrusiating pain. Thank goodness I found this site. I do believe that it has saved Danny's life. The people here are so knowledgable and caring.

Danny doesn't have stomach problems, but has pain and stiffness. Danny started the no starch diet 6 months ago. It has made an unbelievalbe difference in his quality of life. His pain level has dropped from a 10 to a 3. Some days he has no pain!

The first week on the diet he was angry and very unhappy about all the food he had to cut out oh his diet. After the first week, he noticed such a dramatic change that he has been on it ever since. He also cut out dairy. His response after a week of no starch/no dairy was, "this is easy. I could do this if it gets me out of pain." And he has.

It took me a while to convince him to try eliminating starch. It was his decision to cut out dairy too. I thought it might be too much too soon. He said if I'm going to do it, I might as well do it all the way.

I would have him read the posts regarding the No starch diet and how it helped people.

There are many suggestions on this site for dealing with AS.

The recipes on this site are wonderful too and many links to other recipe sites. It is easy to make the change. Seems overwhelming at first and then becomes second nature. Coconut flour and almond flour make great sweet treats.

Get the Carol Sinclair book to start with.

I hope your son finds relief.

Good luck.

Laurie

Trishy you may want to look up Enteropathic arthritis and talk to your doc about it. It is a spondylitis and can mimic AS in many ways. The stomach and arthritis symptoms can flare together like it sounds like your sons is. For some treat the crohns and the arthritis goes away. Many drugs for crohns, like the 5ASA drugs are pretty mild compared to the AS drugs. Personally I think this spondylitis is more common than thought and help explains why when some of us calm our guts down the arthritis also gets better. By treating my IBD I have seen a big improvement in the arthritis in my feet and knees.

http://www.spondylitis.org/about/ibd.aspx

Sometimes the arthritis can precede the IBD diagnosis as well.

i don't have IBS but i do have gastritis. i developed bad gastritis in 1993 but not the arthritis to any noticeable extent til 1998. while the arthritis is bad even when the gastritis isn't, i have had a few major flares where both were just terrible together, so i do think they are connected. but i haven't found necessarily that if i calm my stomach, my arthritis gets better, unfortunately.

sue

Sorry to hear about your son I have to say that I have recently began serious stomach issues. Pain and regular vomiting with eating! My mother has AS also and experienced something similar as well and went on the low starch diet and it has helped her! I have seen big changes I to am starting the LSD tomorrow! I have read here that it really does help in a big way! I believe ibs and AS are connected but feel that the meds they put you on and all the meds we took previous to our diagnosis to help with pain have made our systems weak! At least in terms of our bellies! My mom and I had this discussion tonight as well so I hope this helps! This site is very helpful! everyone here understands and gives any info to help others! I think most of us would be lost if it weren't for kickinAS! Good luck

Hi Trishy,

Yes, this stomach problem happens to me too, at least 75% of the time, and almost always involves something I ate. It could be any of any the IBS or IBD symptoms for me though, but mostly bloating is my biggest complaint lately. I do have a past history of Ulcerative Colitis (an IBD), and currently I am dealing with inflamed intestines (large and small) (whatever condition that may be).

The food that hurts my stomach and leads to AS pain could be anything. I am noticing stronger reactions to wheat lately. Sometimes I can reduce stomach pains and AS pains by not eating the rest of the day.

Hope this helped,
Take care,
James

hey just saying welcome! im the wrong person to give advice so ill zip my mouth.. i am new to this too. has your son joined the site? its good to have support. if he ever needs someone to talk to PM me. its very hard to be 20 with something like this.

welcome to the site.

Sonja