Spondylitis anyone?

[trundlenut]

The physio worked out my back pain was caused by the fact that the hamstrings in my left leg were seriously tight and were twisting my pelvis and pulling on my spine and so everything was being pulled out of line then I trod on a dinosaur and twang it all went wrong.

 

By stretching out my hamstrings the physio got everything back in the correct(ish) alignment.

[Mr Ree]

I have tried many things for the lower back pain

After pain killers for four months, the day finally arrived for my NHS PHYSIO, strip off stand on left leg, stand on right leg, arms up arms down

Then went on his PC on GOOGLE, printed out back pain exercises, handed it to me (lay on back raise knees to chest, ten times three times a day do not hold the postion) NEXT

So I went to a professional Sports clinic

Here I got a microwave heater set up through my hips, then after twenty minutes, a HUGE TENS machine, pads stuck on and turn the vol up to bearable, at the samer time massaging with some sort of glass tube

When my hour was up, they said now the sore bit £60, I did not find that sore the hours work was great, and even better was the fact I could stand up and walk to the payment desk pain free :-)

Unfortunately the pain was back after two days

So I went back, this time they used a magnetron thing, like an MRI Scanner but just like a meter pipe around your hips, then the tens again

same £60 same relief, then again back to the usual

I can not see HOW it all started, I had not had any problems, just got up one morning with back pain, that got worse over a week, and been that way since

Thanks for the discussion anyway guys

Regards National

So how long have you been suffering then?

(sorry. Just re-read post #36) 

 

You still going regularly to the sports clinic then?

Great when you find something that helps and actually works. 

Edited 7 January, 2014 by Mr Ree

[national]

So how long have you been suffering then?

(sorry. Just re-read post #36) 

 

You still going regularly to the sports clinic then?

Great when you find something that helps and actually works. 

Nope, it only works for about 48hrs, and at £60 a pop I just have to stick with the pain

National

[Mr Ree]

Nope, it only works for about 48hrs, and at £60 a pop I just have to stick with the pain

National

This is were the syrtem falls down.

 

YOU find a treatment that works, but YOU have to pay?

Whatever happened to this great NHS system ey?

 

So, because it's so expensive, you will just have to carry on suffering.

Doesn't seem quite right to me that. 

Even a contribution from the state that you pay your taxes regularly into could at least make a contribution for ongoing treatment.

[slider]

Mr Ree - I forgot to say that one thing my mum found really helpful when the nerve pain really was bad was TENS - link. Ignore their statements that it doesn't work - my mum will testify that it did (although it might depend on the type of pain)!

 

Only problem she had was that due to the pain being constant for long periods, she ended up getting skin damage in the areas it was being used. That did go if she stopped using it for a period though so it was a case of balancing the pain from the nerve damage and the issues of the skin damage (open wounds etc).

I use a TENS machine and find it very helpful

[O.C.D.]

YO Mr Ree hows the old neck pain going, was thinking about ya because im going through a bad time with the spondylitis at the mo, i seem to go through bad periods for a week or two then get a wee bit of relief for a couple of weeks. Its a f*"king pain in the arse but what can ya do.!

[Mr Ree]

YO Mr Ree hows the old neck pain going, was thinking about ya because im going through a bad time with the spondylitis at the mo, i seem to go through bad periods for a week or two then get a wee bit of relief for a couple of weeks. Its a f*"king pain in the arse but what can ya do.!

Cheers geezer.

 

Never know from one night to the next how it's going to be.

Last two nights?

Crap. 

Feeling dizzy today too.

 

 3 nights prior to that, absolutely zero pain at all .

Crazy!

[national]

Reviving an old thread

I still have much pain, but this time the Doc sent me for a SCAN

 

Now confirmed I have had Ankylosing Spondilytis,  (The hips and spine are fusing together no cure) supposed to be Genetic but no one in my family has had it

Perhaps my Mum had a bike :-)

 

Ones brain plays terrible thoughts/tricks

I have genetic Ankylosing Spondylitis,  no one else in the whole history of the family has had it

My Brother has in remission Non Hodgkins Leukemia, no one else in the family has it,  They would not take me as a bone marrow donor for him, (excuse I was too old and had AS, Which I find is/was bollicks)

 

My Mum and Dad with us were a perfect family, no playing around in the 40's  NOW we are in turmoil

Why has he got that, Why have I got this, Why would they not let me be a perfect match donor (no tests taken)

 

He is in remission thankfully, I am in pain taking strong morphine

 

Both the same confirmed DNA

 

Regards National

Edited 18 June, 2016 by national

[Clunkclick]

Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine, 8th edition, 2010, p.552-553 (Crammer used by some med students) says:-

 

"Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the spine and sacroiliac joints of unknown aetiology. Prevalence: 0.25 - 1%. Men present earlier: Men/Women ratio: 6:1 @ 16 yrs old, 2:1 @ 30 years old. > 95% are HLA B27 +ve (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HLA-B27)(http://www.healthline.com/health/hla-b27-antigen#Overview1)

 

Symptoms and signs:

 

The typical patient is a man < 30 years with gradual onset of low back pain, worse at night, with spinal morning stiffness, relieved by exercise. Pain radiates from the sacro-iliac joints to the hips and buttocks, and usually improves towards the end of the day. There is a progressive loss of spinal movement (All directions) . . . . . The disease course is variable. In a few , there is progression to kyphosis, neck hyper extension and spino-cranial ankylosis.Other features include enthesitis, especially Achilles tendonitis, plantar fasciitis, at the tibial and ischial tuberosities, and at the iliac crests. Anterior mechanical chest pain due to costochrondritis and fatigue may feature.  Acute Iritis occurs in appox 1/3 of patients, which may lead to blindness if untreated (But may also have occurred many years before . . . ). AS is also associated with osteoporosis (Common - up to 60%), aortic valve incompetence (<3%) and pulmonary apical fibrosis.

 

Investigations:

 

Diagnosis is clinical, and radiological features appear late (MRI is the most sensitive). Sacroillitus is the earliest feature: look for irregularities, erosions or scelerosis affecting the lower half of the sacroiliac joints, especially the iliac side. Vertebral syndesmophytes are characteristic (Often T11 -L1 initially): bony proliferations due to enthesitis between ligaments and vertebrae. These fuse with vertebral body above, causing ankylosing. In later stages, calcification of ligaments with ankylosis lead to a "Bamboo spine" appearance. Also: FBC (Normocytic anaemia), raised ESR, raised CRP, HLA B27.

 

Management:

 

Exercise, not rest, for backache, e.g. badminton, swimming, or intense exercise regimens to maintain posture and mobility with a physiotherapist with a special interest in AS. NSAIDS (e.g. ibuprofen, diclofenac or naxoproxen, if no contraindications) usually relieve symptoms with 48 hours and they slow radiographic progression.  TNF Blockers etanercept and adlimumab are indicated in severe active AS, if NSAIDS fail.Golimumab is currently undergoing phase III trials. 

Local steroid injections provide temporary relief. Surgery includes hip replacement to improve pain and mobility if the hips are involved, and rarely spinal osteotomy. There is a risk of osteoporotic  spinal fractures (Bisphosphanates may prevent this). 

 

Mortality: Higher than expected,  x 1.5 -4( .e.g. secondary amyloidosis, heart disease)"

 

 

Long story short. Similar /linked diseases under the overarching category of  Spondyloarthritides are:-

 

Enteropathic spondyloarthropathies - IBD, Coeliac and Whipple's disease  - 50% are HBA B27 +Ve

 

Psoraitic arthritis, Reactive arthritis

 

 

"Shared features of spondyloarthropathies

 

The spondyloarthropathies show much overlap with several clinical features in common:

 

1. Seronegativity (Rheumatoid factor -ve)

2. HLA B27 association (Also in ~5% of the population, most do not have the disease.)

3. "Axial arthritis": pathology in spine (Spondylo-) and sacroiliac joints

4. Asymmetrical large joint oligoarthritis (i.e. < 5 joints) or monoarthritis

5. Enthesitis:Inflammation of the site of insertion of tendon or ligament into bone e.g. plantar facilitis, Achilles tendonitis, costochronditis.

6. Dactyylitis:Inflammation of an entire digit ("Sausage digit"), due to soft tissue oedema, and tenosynovial and joint inflammation.

7. Extra-articular manifestations e.g. iritis (Anterior uveitis), psoriaform rashes, oral ulcers, aortic valve incompetence, inflammatory bowel disease."

 

 

Another right ****** autoimmune disease.

 

It does seem, from the literature on the web that the doc's are now having some success, in stopping the disease in its tracks, with the monoclonal antibody treatments.

 

For what its worth, I have a bit of a back problem, which currently relieves itself within 3 hours of getting-up. In the past I have used various things, heat, TENs machines, physiotherapy, but none seem to be as quick acting or provide prolonged relief as taking one diazepam (As a muscle relaxant) + Ibuprofen gel (To release tensed muscles and relieve the inflammation) and a bit of light exercise - got myself a  serious treadmill for this and other issues (Mainly cardio).

 

 

 

Nick