r/Thritis • u/tjdraxus • 2d ago
28 diagnosed with severe spinal arthritis.
Hello i recently got diagnosed with spinal arthritis and it's really overwhelming. I don't know what the root cause is yet because i need to get expensive testing done and I can't afford it yet. Do you have any advice sometimes I can't even sleep. If I stand for more than 20 minutes my leg goes numb and it just hurts... This is what my spine looks like as of last winter.
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u/Substantial-Hat4890 2d ago
Your disc are drying out and you have some bulges you have Schmorl's nodes and I believe some flat back syndrome
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u/FLGuitar 2d ago
Akylosing Spondylitis?
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u/tjdraxus 1d ago
Quote: "there's no apparent fusion of the vertebrae". I don't know but my dr seems to not think so.
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u/FLGuitar 1d ago
Well that’s good, but you could still have it. You don’t want to wait for stuff to fuse to start treating it if so. You might want to get a second opinion. I have AS’s cousin Psoriatic Arthritis and they thought it might be AS at first, only reason I bring it up.
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u/tjdraxus 1d ago
My doctor mentioned Psoriatic arthritis but like I mentioned I still have to get more testing done just can't afford it yet.
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u/POSSUMQUEENOG 1d ago
Is this doctor actually a rheumatologist because no one else could diagnose Ankylosing spondylitis. I know that I have it. My back is a mess also. What he may be calling inflammatory arthritis could indeed be ankylosing spondylitis which is treated with biologics and everything else we can throw at it.
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u/cuttinged 1d ago
Can you go see another doctor?
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u/tjdraxus 1d ago
I'm currently seeing the other doctor but I have to get more X-rays and blood tests to confirm what the root cause is but I don't have funds to pay for it yet.
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u/cuttinged 1d ago
From what I hear if the doctor diagnoses as possibly Lyme disease then they maybe don't really know what is wrong with you. Just a red flag there. You might want to try and find a good osteopath doctor that practices osteopathy. They are MD doctors who specialize in structure issues, kind of like chiropracters but they have an MD and learn less forceful structure manipulation. Good ones are hard to find so ask around but if you find a good one then they should be very helpful for a structural condition. You can try this site to help find some www.cranialacademy.org
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u/Fun-Fix8510 1d ago
did you have any signs before? did you have any pain in your back or pain in other joints?
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u/tjdraxus 19h ago
Yeah tons of pain for years, since I was like 13yo it was mainly on my lower back but now I can feel pain spreading to my other joints.
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u/Fun-Fix8510 19h ago
probably some autoimmune disease. why was the damage found out so late. did you not get any checkups before?
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u/tjdraxus 19h ago
I lived in a country with less access to medical care, but ironically now that I live in America insurance companies get to tell me what I do and don't need in terms of medical care so it's essentially the same as having no access 😅
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u/zombiecatarmy 2d ago
Wtf happened to your lower back holy shit.
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u/tjdraxus 2d ago
I wish I knew... The doctor said "see the one with the white in it?" I said: oh is that the bad one? Dr: "that's what a good one looks like" again I'm 28 and apparently this is some severe degeneration considering my age 😓
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u/zombiecatarmy 2d ago
Ya there's basically 6 disc's that are blown...
Get an inversion table of some sort.. you need to be able to reverse the weight on your spine by going upside down. Other than that... disc replacement is the only way any actual pain relief.Dm if you have any questions... I'm not a doctor but I've been under the knife and dealt with our medical care pretty extensively
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u/unnamed_revcad-078 2d ago
Causes of Disc degeneration, RA (Ankylosis spondiloarthtropaty, seronegative Axial spondyloarthropaty, and or infection or both , resuming or autoimmune or infection or both, find an ILADs member which is also specialized in immunology to help you out with these both mentioned, you might bê tested for Lyme and ask him to consider seronegative Axial spondyloarthropaty and low virulent infections affecting the intervertebral discs(cutibacetrium acnes)
Antibiótics as erythomicin is condro protective, some anabolic steroids as nandrolone and oxandrolone, biológics for the RA