u/FutureColor

I took it the opposite way. If she’s still thinking about it after three years, it’s not something she will move past easily and perhaps something she’s tried talking herself out of.

Girls rule

Yes, but this sub is going to remove my post for telling you because they hate Dr Amy Myers and anything that isn’t conventional medicine

Ugh yeah, all the specialists seem to have crazy long waits to get in too.

Have you ever tried the AIP diet? It helped me a lot. Not cured, my immune system still overreacts, but I feel a lot better. Amy Myers MD has a lot of info on doing AIP and on healing the gut if you’re interested.

Sorry you’re going through this. I didn’t know that about TNF inhibitors. Is Methotrexate an option for you?

You are beautiful. No notes.

Number 3! Easy choice!

I’m not usually a fan of a straight neckline, but the floral design is so pretty and it looks great on you. You could probably have it altered into a sweetheart neckline if you’d prefer.

It’s not that you’re not strong enough, it’s that your symptoms are no longer mild enough. You have to shift the self talk. You should also be proud of how you’ve maintained an active lifestyle and prioritized your health.

Find a well regarded rheumatologist. It would also be wise to find a therapist — you sound a little beat down and like you could use some help with chronic pain and with reframing negative thoughts. Finally, get plenty of rest, make sure you’re eating well, avoiding inflammatory foods (seed oils, alcohol, etc) and taking vitamin/supplements that fight inflammation.

What makes info go into working and long-term memory? Repetition?

Correct, female and no fusion so far.

I saw my first Dr for SI joint pain around 2006 I think? It took 10 years to get a rheumatologist referral and diagnosis though.

My daily back pain was probably between a 3-5 before making serious lifestyle changes and would climb up to a 7-8 in a flare, plus eye inflammation. After getting more serious about exercise, supplements, sleep, and diet my daily pain was probably a 1-2 which felt very manageable.

I have a similar situation with food and my theory is that if you have low levels of inflammation when you eat the offending food you will feel okay, but if you eat the food when your inflammation levels are higher, it will cause symptoms.

Yes. I have a mild case and manage with diet, supplements, and exercise. I think getting enough sleep and keeping stress low helps too. No matter what exercise you enjoy, make sure to include plenty of stretching!

It takes a lot of trial and error with diet but it’s worth it. So many diseases are linked to inflammation. Making dietary and lifestyle changes to help reduce inflammation not only helps with AS symptoms but improves overall health.

Multi Vitamin, Vitamin D + K, NAC, CoQ10, DHA, magnesium and sometimes a probiotic.

I was told that it is important to take it with vitamin K for bone health. You can find combo pills that have D + K in them or take K separately.

Cat / cow is a gooood one for AS!

Yeah, my doctor has said that to me. But diet, exercise, and supplements are cheap and beneficial to overall health. So even though there’s no data to back it, I felt it was worth a shot. They’ve helped me enough that I haven’t needed biologics.

Fortunately I don’t think I’m super sensitive to the oils, but it’s hard to determine how much will tip me into a flare. I guess I just noticed a pattern of experiencing more pain after eating fried foods or potato chips (vs homemade roasted or baked potatoes which don’t give me problems).

For me, it’s a total lifestyle thing rather than just diet. I tried the AIP diet during a particularly bad flare but I felt like it didn’t let up until I added supplements in. Still, figuring out which foods you tolerate well and which you don’t is valuable.

I had already gone through the process of figuring out that eggs, dairy, and certain oils don’t work for me when I started adding other lifestyle changes. That lead me to the best I felt: I was working out 2-3X a week, eating a healthy organic diet high in protein and veggies and low in simple carbs and refined sugars, managing stress well, and was taking a number of anti inflammatory supplements.

I think it’s worth another try!

You might need to be on it for a while and experiment to figure out if there’s something else, in addition to starch, that’s problematic for you. I believe alcohol and certain cooking oils (like canola or some seed oils) increase pain for me.

Yes. Over the years I saw some spinal / sports med Drs, but 10-11 years after my first MRI, it was an ophthalmologist who finally put the pieces together. After taking a look at my eye, he asked if I had any back / joint pain and made a referral to a rheumatologist.

Seconding this! You don’t want to wait if you’re having eye pain. Find an ophthalmologist right away. If it is uveitis, it can cause severe problems if not treated quickly.

Yes 🙌 looks great on her and I love the style — reminds me of peak Hollywood glamour. Plus the back is fun.

Look up Dr Amy Myers — she has a lot of dietary advice. Not all of which I follow, but it was a good starting place.

I’ve had improvements by eliminating dairy and eggs, and reducing refined sugar and alcohol. I only cook with quality oils like avocado and olive. I also reduced the amount of gluten I eat — admittedly bread and pasta made up a lot of my diet before. Dr Myers recommend completely eliminating gluten, but for me personally, I tried that during an elimination diet and don’t notice a big difference between none and reduced amounts.

It’s all still a work in progress and I keep learning and adjusting, but things are moving in the right direction. Good luck! Reach out if you have questions.

Sounds like a marriage issue, not a parenting question