A.S. Face 1492: Rohan Desai
My name is Rohan Desai. I had been struggling with low back pain since 2004. It was always ascribed to pulled muscles, sports injuries or bad posture. I started having tremendous pain and stiffness in my lower back in 2012. In late 2013, I lost flexibility in my back, and my wife and I started wondering if it wasn’t just a persistently bad back. By this point, I had been through multiple bouts of depression. My fatigue and pain had gotten to the point where I had JUST enough energy to make it through a workday, and crash on the couch at 6PM.
I consulted 3 different doctors, each of who prescribed me painkillers of various kinds- muscle relaxants, gabapenti etc. None of these had a significant effect. My new PCP then referred me to physical therapy. The PT told me I should get x-rays of my back, which revealed SI joint fusion and L4-L5 fusion. I was formally diagnosed by my rheumatologist in Jaunary 2015, 11 years after the pain first started.
I was approvedforCimzia this February and have been using NSAIDs as needed.I also started yoga 3 times a week, and it has helped get me some more mobility. AS has thrown a huge wrench in my life and my plans for myself, affected every single relationship in my life, but I consider myself blessed to have an answer that makes sense now! Knowing what I have, I get a fighting chance to stop further damage and start to get back my old life.
I’m Rohan Desai, I am 28 years old, and I have AS.
Texas, United States of America
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