A.S. Face 1108: Rachel

A.S. Face 1108: Rachel

My name is Rachel, I’m 28. I was diagnosed with AS when I was 11 years old. It all started when I was a child. I was always at the hospital with one ache or pain or another. It got to the point where the doctors thought my parents were abusing me! (They weren’t!) finally at 6 years old I was diagnosed with juvenile chronic arthritis. It affected me on and off until I was about 11 years old. I ended up not being able to walk for about 16 weeks and spent a lot of time in hospital. That’s when I was diagnosed with AS. My dad also has AS, he was diagnosed in his late 30′s. Finally the doctors put 2&2 together and did some scans. I am also HLA-B27 positive. At such a young age I really didn’t know what AS was. I was just in pain a lot and extremely tired all the time. For a few years it seemed to go away & not bother me really. At 15/16 I has 2 operations on my knew due to multiple dislocations and a ‘growth’ that was removed. I got to about 18, then it started being more active. A couple of years ago it got so severe I was sick from work. 4 months ago I returned after 2 years absent. I take a cocktail of medication (including Humira) and have also been diagnosed with fibromyalgia. I spent 2 weeks at the hospital in Bath, receiving education on my disease and meeting other people with the same thing. I found this extremely helpful! I suppose that’s my story so far x