Re: New Diagnosed & 7 Days Post-Partum

[Guest guest]

Donna, Welcome and Congrats on the new baby!

I am glad you have found this group!

What medications are you currently taking? Were you put on any when you saw

the rheumatologist? Did you get along well with the Rheumatologist?

Do you have help at home?

Sorry for so many questions.

K

Adrienne's Mom

Adrienne age 20, spondy, hypothyroid, Fibromyalgia, etc etc etc. Great kid,

Full time college student.

..

[Guest guest]

Hi Donna, be of good cheer, most AS is eposodic in nature -- about 90 percent

and so the odds are far in your favour that this flare will pass. The odds

are also over 70 percent that you will never have another flare again. You

have to remember that most of us on this board are chronic patients. We are the

10 percent who have symptoms all the time. If you have not had symptoms until

pregnancy then the odds are heavily in your favour that this is an episodic

flare. Take care of it, don't try to ignore the pain and take the steps you

need to adequate treatment and rest; but because it has not responded in the

past to other triggers, in your case the statistics say that it will likely go

away on its own. Good luck and congratulations on your new baby! Matt

[Guest guest]

Dear Donna,

Please don't despair about your future....living with AS. In the early stages

of AS, most women will go through several months of initial symptoms before

the flare usually settles down somewhat. My initial symptoms did go on for

about 4 years, but I was able to do most things for my children. I was able to

raise 9 children very productively. In the beginning, the symptoms of AS are as

you describe...pain in the SI joints. Probably your lifting and carrying a baby

brought this disease out. Many times, AS can be triggered by injury. Be

careful about lifting your 2 year old and as you care for you new baby, be

careful

about bending over...changing, bathing, dressing the baby. Try not to lift the

heavy carrier yourself...as much as possible. This will be the hardest to do,

because you naturally want to lift and care for the baby. Lifting can be very

hard on your back...as you have probably found out. Sleep on a very firm

mattress...with a soft pillow or no pillow. Do the exercises and try to lay on

your tummy on the floor (if you can) a few times a day. After the initial phase

of the disease, I had a 10 year period during those early years...without any

symptoms in my back. Hopefully, you will also go into a remission period. My

sister did and one of my daughters did. My daughter is a nurse, so she is very

active, however she always asks another nurse to help her lift patients, etc.

She is careful not to activate any stress on her back. My sister's AS is not as

bad as mine....but she also had bad symptoms in the beginning that lasted a

few months. She has only had a few short lived flare-ups...mostly uveitis,

since then. Her first symptoms of AS up until now spans about 20 years. Her back

has not given her trouble for many years. Hopefully, this will be your fate. My

AS was not really disabling until about 15 years ago. What I'm trying to say

is this....an AS diagnosis does not automatically mean you cannot live a

productive and happy life. Even if your AS is severe...we have meds now that are

effective for most. Please keep us posted. Congratulations on your new addition.

Sincerely, Connie (granny)

Here is a link to exercises:

http://www.nass.co.uk/exercises.htm

[Guest guest]

Hi, Donna,

My children were young when I first started having symptoms and you can

do it. One of the things that helped was getting physical therapy and to

continue to do the exercises. Reading is a great thing for young

children and it gives you time to adjust to painful periods.

Pat