Kimmydawn,

I just wanted to say that I have read through this thread briefly....I agree with the advice that Bobbi and Kathi have given you...I think you can see by my signature that I have a cervical fusion at C 4/5,5/6,and 6/7...I always get just a little nervous when people recommend chriopractic care to people with cervical problems without first sending them to either an OSS or NSS...Had I gone to a chiro first I might be paralyzed from the neck down..There are good and bad chiropractors...and... If I had gone to a chiro that did not know enough not to do an adjustment he could have done a lot more harm than good......My cervical problems were so bad though that with just one adjustment he could have caused irrepabable harm...so please see a medical doc first...My OSS doc warned very, very strongly about staying away from a chiro...Some people are helped by a chiro...but it depends on the problem and only a doctor can determine that.

I am 28 years old and have to lean against a wall to bend over to put socks on etc.. Now I just wear slip ons. I've been telling my doctors of my back problems since 1995 (when I was 15) and, I believe primarily because of my age, physical issues were pretty much dismissed instantly.

I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia when I was 17 and have deal with that off and on. It's been getting particularly bad recently and my SPINE hurts... I get weakness in my muscles.

I ALSO hold my shoulders high. The muscles in my neck and shoulders are constantly hard and sore from doing this... I'm not sure when that started, but I also have anxiety and I just assumed that was the cause.

I went to the OHSU Comprehensive Pain Center where I was asked a battery of questions (after filling out 15 pages of paperwork about my pain) by a nurse practitioner. After about the third question it seemed that she was disinterested... this happens to me with a lot doctors, partially because of my age and partially because of my mental conditions. I got my chart notes from the very first visit with my current GP and it referred to my "psychosomatic symptoms"... He didn't even test for anything! He, like most doctors I've seen, ASSUMED that because of my age that the pain must be in my head or because of my weight or fibromyalgia.. etc.. there's always an excuse.

If I spend too much time upright (usually in a chair is worst) my neck muscles get weaker and weaker until I'm sitting in my chair with my chin resting on my chest.

I also have a "buffalo hump" just under the base of my neck. I've mentioned it to several doctors and they all said it was just a fat pad and nothing more. They wouldn't listen to me when I told them it changes sizes etc.. sigh...

Anyway.. you aren't alone and I'm looking for any advice I can get as well. :-(

Anybody have any info on getting disability? Been struggling with that since 2004 as well...

Thanks everyone.

This may be a long-shot, but I think something still worth asking, V-DubChick:

Have you had a HLA-B27 test?

I heard nearly the same as you and at nearly the same age; when my spinal probs. had progressed terribly, my rheumatologist referred me to a psychiatrist because he (rheumy.) had wanted to chalk everything up to psychogenic whatever. $700 later and... hmmm, psychiatrist didn't discern signs of psychogenic whatever. And... the physical probs. persisted.

Advance some years, and a doc-friend suggested that my doctors order the testing for HLA-B27. I had the tale-tell indicators for Ankylosing Spondylitis or AS. Sure enough, the lab test came back positive. My doctors, either not wanting to believe or hoping to dismiss it, order a repeat on the test. Again, positive.

I think that, at times, and depending on the doctor(s), age (or youth) can be a detriment to accurate dx. Some of the tests that docs would not hesitate to order for some are just not considered for all - with like symptoms. Too, sometimes, it takes a periodic repeat on tests for the tests/results to actually display the things that enable doctors to make an accurate differential dx. (Take sed rate testing, for instance.)

Thanks to all the diddling around my doctors did - for about a decade - my spine is total crap, and I'm disabled. I both loathe and love my w.chair (because it does provide for more independence). But, if I had my way, I wish that the docs would have been more astute and ordered the darn'd test that is one of the main staples in dx'ing AS.


Keep on those doctors. Some times, it takes guiding them so that they believe it is their idea to order appropriate films, etc.

I have felt for many years that something is wrong with my spine and of course all my pain was either due to fibromyalgia or depression.

When I read your post I started to cry... I've been researching a very broad spectrum of my symptoms online and something I see over and over again is ANKYLOSING SPONDYLITIS ... I didn't think much of it at first, but because that particular disease keeps popping up repeatedly in all my different searches... I swear I'm seeing it EVERYWHERE! and it was just all of a sudden it appeared and it's not going away. 6 or more months ago I started seeing it and talked about it to my husband alot just because it's fun to say the name (maybe not so much if you actually have it.. :-/). But it keeps popping up and I feel like my gut is telling me this is a sign that I need to have that looked into.

I know that AS is not a very common disease and I know that it's even more rare for women to have it than men. If anybody would have something rare, it would be me though.

I am going to call my doctor tomorrow morning and ask if he will order the HLA-B27 test. Honestly, I'm scared ******** to have it done. Every time I tell my doctors I'd like a particular test or I think I have a particular illness they just assume that I'm a hypochondriac. What these assholes don't get is that I'm the only one who feels my pain.

Thank you very much for the information... I am glad you sent me this because now I am motivated to actually have the test done.

Thanks again.

I don't really know how "rare" or the true rate of incidence of AS in females. One prob. with the data available to patients, as I see it: The known stats are likely skewed because, more often than not, there is a huge delay in doctors dx'ing AS in both males and females; it's estimated that 10 or so years is the general delay rate. Too, men's health problems have historically been taken and treated more seriously and swiftly than women's, i..e., heart disease.

I'm sure that, in your searching, you came across info. to this effect:

Results of HLA-B27 may be a part of the puzzle because many who test positive never develop AS; and, many who test negative can still have and develop AS. The testing, along with family history, symptoms, imaging results, etc., can help doctors make the determination and dx.

Mine should have been a no-brainer for doctors (had the HLA-B27 test been done eons ago). My body and symptoms? As testing displays (quite consistently): bilateral and symmetric, including the SI joints. Time was not working in my favor, since much of the stuff did not show up in customary X-rays, bone scans, etc., for years. But, when it did, it was with a vengeance, and quite progressive.


Please, don't worry about what doctors think of you; it could be that time might also be the missing key - in that things not displaying now could in the future. Sucks, I know, yet I'd not rule it out.

The same rheumatologist who farmed me to a psychiatrist years ago apologized profusely when I was re-referred to him after the HLA-B27 results. I'm not one to "rub" things in, so I had to do what was best (for my own peace of mind and well-being) and stated that he not overlook the possibility of AS in others. When everything is leading to AS, it's not going to hurt doctors to order all the tests in the arsenal to rule in/out various, possible conditions.

To this day, my rheumy. doesn't speak much with me about the boo-boo, and that's okay. I understand the ICD-9 coding he ships to my insurance, and AS stares me in the face.

Hang in there .

Hello,

I am not a doctor but have the same problem. Here is a website that I found that explains the conditon and the symptoms. You will have to put in the http and the :// before what's in the parathesis, the site will not let me post a link to the website.(backandneck.about.com/od/conditions/p/reversecervcurv.htm)
I hope it helps. It took me a while to find but now I at least know what it is. Hopefully know that you know what it is called, you can get more information on the subject. Good luck.