Doctors finally took me off warfarin and put me on aspirin instead, so now I can treat the ankylosing spondylitis;
Ouch. Back pain is horrible. 
Me: Cymbalta, dexamphetamine, lamotrigine, haloperidol.
Plus caffeine in the form of Coke Zero.
Thanks for the hug!
Yep, it's horrible but I cope. It isn't just the spine either; it has spread to all my other joints, too. Apparently that is a common manifestation in female sufferers; the spine stays mobile at the cost of ongoing painful inflammation which spreads to the peripheral skeleton. I'm lucky I'm still mobile, I suppose. It took twelve years, from when my spine first started really hurting (at the age of 22), for the right tests to be done and a diagnosis given (and only then because it affected my eyes and, finally, a GP recognised the combination of symptoms). During that time I taught myself an exercise regime that kept my joints moving and kept to it when I had to give up the NSAIDs (because NSAIDs and warfarin are a dangerous combination). My mobility gradually became seriously restricted, but yesterday I went out for the afternoon without my 'granny-walker' for the first time in two years. Even better; I took both walking sticks but only needed one!
OK, so I wouldn't have won any races (except against Sir Les
) but it is a huge improvement.
A combination of being female and autistic meant that I never did present as a 'text-book case' for any of my disorders (which, I presume, are based on the manifestation of symptoms in NT males) so, as well as the twelve years for the Ank. Spond., it took ten years for the angina (mis-diagnosed as 'indigestion') and a whopping
thirty-two years for the atrial fibrillation to be diagnosed (mis-called 'panic attacks'!
)
That's why I am thrilled to have defied predictions* and still to be on this planet to irritate you lot!
*One GP thought I should have been dead by the age of 27…
