Hello everyone - hope you are all ok.
Does AS feel like your back is swollen on the inside of your body - mainly like your spine is swollen.
When I have flare ups I have pain in the mid back which can be terrible and stiffness which is awful and I feel like I need to stretch my back backwards - that is arch my back backwards and I can feel the stiffness and the muscles in pain/inflammation as if they are cramped and extremely tight and I’m stretching them out.
But I also have bloated feeling in my abdomen at the front which can be very bad at times and a feeling like I’m retaining water- not sure how else to describe it. It feels sometimes as if there is a swollen feeling up from my belly-button up to my throat - but it is not at the surface - it feels as though it is deep inside as if my spine and stomach/oesophagus are extremely swollen leaving no room almost in my abdominal and chest/rib cavity area.
Does anyone else have this??
Thank you.
Yes I have the same issues. I have blood work out now getting tested for almost everything with the exception of AS, if it all come back negative I’ll ask for this test.
Hello - I hope you have some good news with your tests.
I am also being tested now - just waiting blood tests and then looking at Sacroiliac xray and mri scan.
I don’t think bloods will show any inflammation in my blood as I have had them done before and they showed nothing.
Will the HLA-B27 be positive? - i am not sure but I have a feeling it will be negative. I’m not sure why I think that but I just have this feeling.
My pains have been MUCH worse in the past when I was heavier, getting less exercise, and my GERD was much worse. Since lockdown, more exercise seems to have helped a lot as has more prolonged periods of eating healthily. I definitely feel more exercise and my diet impacts things long term.
When I am bad I feel yes I definitely must have AS but then on good days I feel I am able to handle it better and feel I can’t possibly have AS. It is VERY confusing.
I have recently taken more painkillers and they seem to help - I may test this theory going forward while I await these tests.
The bloated feeling seems to come on when I have the thoracic back pain - I’m not sure how that is possible.?
i get this. i font have a dx yet, but AS has been mentioned. I’m trying to get into a rheumatologist. it’s been going on for years. it’s blamed on my endometriosis, fibro, anxiety, and gastric surgery. now, it seems, as though I might get to explore other conditions. I was silenced for too long and had to get a cardiologist to make a referral .