Living

After Christmas I had fallen into a huge state of burnout. Not only had the holidays exhausted me down to my bones, but this burnout had also stemmed from surviving...

I’ve had two pain management procedures. First being steroid injections into my muscle spasms, a very painful experience that did not work. My second pain management procedure was Botox injections...

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, so many people have been affected by stress, the unknown, and the changing landscape. However, our ankylosing spondylitis community has been particularly affected...

Over the past year, I have started experiencing more and more remarkably noticeable finger joint pain. I’ve always had a little bit of wrist pain, too, as I am a...

I’m not a fan of mainstream self-care culture because it tends to crowd the space for essential health and wellness practices with luxury spa nonsense. This pampering version of self-care is...

Editor's note: I truly love sharing stories from people who live with ankylosing spondylitis; from the newly diagnosed, to the young, old, people of all genders, with all different experiences...

I was skimming the notes from my recent rheumatology appointment when I saw the word. “Remission.” A word I’d heard used most often to describe cancer patients, but also to...

Being told that you will have to take medication for the rest of your life is scary. What if it stops working? What if you have a weird reaction to...

I have been living with chronic pain for 4 years now. It began in 2017 when I was working as an account manager for a luxury car service, and I...

May is Spondyloarthritis Awareness Month, and we're asking you to help us bring attention to what life is like living with ankylosing spondylitis. Take part in our awareness month activities...

As someone with multiple chronic illnesses, I am no stranger to being misdiagnosed. This is usually by doctors attempting to find the latest reason for my misbehaving immune system. I...

Do your joints feel better? Mine do, and today it has nothing to do with medication. I feel better because I see the promise of spring everywhere. I observe a...

I'm not surprising anyone by saying that the COVID-19 pandemic has had an adverse effect on peoples' lives. However, I believe those of us with chronic illnesses have been disproportionately affected...

I’ve now had AS for 5 years. I’ve also had accompanying brain fog for those 5 years. Although I’ve had it the whole time, it’s recently changed. I wanted to...

Walking down the stairs, I suddenly fall to my knees and grasp for the banister. The muscles in my lower back are seizing up and freaking out and I can’t...

A few months ago my wife and I were on vacation at our little cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains. I was enjoying the peace, quiet, and the hot tub...

I don’t know where to begin with this. I felt so anxious and panicky. I felt like I was not in control of my emotions. For the past two years...

One way in which disability has greatly impacted me is how much anxiety it has caused, specifically in social settings. I’ve always been a shy individual—carefully trying to find the...

Do you have a flare-up kit? If not, I highly recommend it. We never consciously thought about putting a flare-up kit together. But what I’ve noticed in the last few...

At the end of my article "Too Disabled to Employ, Not Disabled Enough to Help", I was about to apply a second time for disability allowance, following countless unsuccessful attempts...