Small update. I had my shot today. I was ecstatic to feel almost total relief from the anesthesia. Unfortunately, it made me notice my knee and hip pain more. The anesthesia has already worn off, and I'm feeling about the same amount of pain I always have. I'll monitor the situation closely over the next week and see what happens.

I talked to my primary care doctor today for the first time since I got my MRI results. She was unsurprisingly much more open to giving me pain medication; she even apologized for it taking so long for me to get some. I understand that she didn't want to give a 22 year old narcotics without proof of pain. I could have been any other drug junkie. After telling her all of my symptoms, she seemed to agree that ankylosing spondylitis could be a very real diagnosis. She ordered blood tests to test for the blood marker that is found in 90%+ of AS patients. I know this is a back forum, but I've been having pretty bad knee pain and hip/groin pain for at least a year, so I'm getting X-Rays and MRI's done on those areas soon. Also, I'm getting my cervical spine imaged, too. I'm not expecting more than some basic DDD being there, but it does hurt quite a bit, and problems with the spinal cord up there scares me.

I finally feel like I'm getting somewhere with all of this. I don't want to make this my personal blog, so I'll try not to clog up the board with unnecessary posts. I'll still be checking daily for any advice you guys may have, though (I still really, really need it!). You guys are awesome!

Whoa....what a minute! You had all of those degenerative changes in your spine with severe central stenosis....at the age of 22? Something is missing or afoul...??

You are about the right age for AS; I am assuming you had a positive HLAB27 on your labs, when you speak of a marker? Usually a panel is run along with that...including ANA, CRP, sed rate and rheum factor (sometimes CBC if RA is suspect as anemia is associated with it). Did you have those too? Sounds like you'll soon be visiting (or should be) your friendly rheumatologist!

Yep, I'm only 22. And the pain started when I was barely 21. Like you said, all of my symptoms fit AS -- I'm the right age and gender, I have the obvious back pain, I have symptoms of costochondritis, I'm having joint and tendon issues with my knees, hip, feet, and hands, and more. I've done a ton of research on AS and I actually suggested to my primary care doctor that we should explore AS today and she agreed. I just had blood drawn today to test for the HLAB27 factor. I'm assuming they will check the sedimentation rate, but I didn't ask. I had a blood test done to rule out RA a while ago, and I was at least cleared of having the RA factors.

I thought I would update you guys on my situation. I had the discectomy surgery about three weeks ago to shave down that disc. The neurosurgeon said it was one of the worst cases he's ever seen, and he was surprised I could even walk. He told me there was only a 60% chance the surgery would alleviate the pain in my back, and it seems like I'm in the other 40% right now. I'm still hopeful that after six weeks (the recommended recovery time), the pain will be gone, but as of right now, I'm still feeling about the same amount of pain I was before the surgery.

I've got a follow-up appointment in a few weeks, so we'll figure out what's next for me. I was in immense pain for about a week after the surgery, so if he suggests a lumbar fusion, I'll probably decline it. I don't want to go through that again. Of course, there are other negatives to having a lumbar fusion at my age as well.

The last thing you want after a surgery is more surgery. I hope that you get better, and that pain goes down. It takes awhile in the best of situations after surgery to feel a bit better. I had bad pain for weeks after, then it start to feel better. I sure hope that happens for you. ginnie