One thing about AS is it has taught me to have compassion for others.  I look at life in a whole new way.  I try not to judge people... I don't know what their life is like until I've walked a mile in their shoes, just like others don't know what mine is like.  I've learned to love people for who they are and not who they're not.

Hi there! I was fortunate enough to be dx by my first rheumy by my 3rd visit. 1st visit he said I had an inflammatory arthritis but had to find out which one and rule out everything else. So I didnt search long. The silver lining for me would be that although physically I am in pain 24/7, I have accepted my disease and I refuse to let it take over my life. I went through the what the heck is happening to me phase! Then the is this normal or AS related stage. And of course adapting to the horrible flare ups. For the last 6 years it has been persistently one big flare that never ends. Just worse some days than others.

It has literally made me a stronger person physically, emotionally, and mentally. I learned to slow down as I was always in a rush. As a mom of 3 I make much more time for my family. I was dx shortly after the birth of my 2nd child. I dont sweat the small stuff anymore. Waste of time. I try to do as much activities alone or with family to help the joints. Sitting in bed feeling sorry for myself wont take the AS away and it will make me much much worse. So I'm doing more now than I did when I was a teen and first had spine issues.

I am not good at gardening because of my hands gnarled up but I still force myself to get out and water my lawn. Very therapeutic. I hobble to the library with my wee ones when it's a semi decent day. I love my life actually more now in a crazy sort of way. Still have to take pain pills, muscle relaxers, and all that not so good stuff but I work through it as best I can because I  refuse to give in. I wont let it consume my life.

I had some fantastic pain free days with remicade but it almost killed me after awhile from the serious damage from suppressing my immune system and causing me pneumonia a few times and recurrent respiratory infections and asthma flareups that were horrible. So I chose to live without the remicade..bite the bullet and work with the pain meds I have and do a little kravmaga for stress relief. I've had this dreadful monster on my back for over 25 yrs now and i'm gonna be 42 soon so I dont plan on letting it take lifes pleasures from me if if I can help it. :)

Take care and hope this helps!

My silver lining is that my family doctor, a brialliant man, was able to DX me immediately. As soon as I told him my symptoms, he said "I have a hunch... Give me some blood and I'll get back to you". His next call was to tell me that I had AS.

The only other positive was being able to find so many people sharing their experiences on the internet. I don't take very good care of myself and I suffer greatly as a consequence. Maybe my latest monster flair that I am currently going through will be the impetus to make me reach out more and to seek better professional help.

It was actually nice to get a dx.  For years I thought I was just being a sissy, too hard on my body,  getting out of shape, etc.  I went through about 13 years of pain without a dx, wondering why me, why was I getting "so old" so quick?  I was a huge jock, but playing a hockey tournament (4 games in 2 days) out of town is what made me realize something truly wasn't right.  A year later I got a dx and it gave me some direction, some understanding, and relieved some of the emotional stress of not knowing.  AS sucks, and I'm getting worse and worse, but I feel slightly better knowing it's not in my head, I'm not just whinning or quiting hockey because I'm a p**** now.  I don't succumb to it by any means, but I do ease up when I need to, and lay down when I need to because I know it's not just in my head and going to go away one day.

I've got fancy medical words I can use to tell people why I hurt like hell and won't be doing painful stuff.  I've got a medical answer for my mother why I had to go into early retirement, and need her to just accept this.  And 1 year ago, I got Humira, which has been helping a lot.  Also got a service animal, and I love, love, love having the legal right to take him everywhere with me; his unconditional love and physical assistance are huge parts of my support system.

Someone just suggested a book.  I think it is called Imflammation Nation.  He said the results were great!  I'm heading to the book store tomorrow.  I have known for the last few months that certain foods affect me badly and have been taking those out of my diet and it has helped a little.  So I'm very excited to check this book out. You may want to too... The idea that a person can wake up with no pain is just unheard of  to me, but apparently that was his results.

I understand where you are coming from.  My silver lining is to know that God is cradling me even though I want to push everyone and God away when I am in pain (which is most of the time now).  I had a friend with MS.  I used to think she was out of her mind when she would say that she used to crawl up and sit in God's lap.  How clever an imagination for such a young runner who was deteriorating in front of our eyes.  It helped her to stay sane.  After all her husband would go out running and she was there at home and had to find a way to accept and deal with her disease.

Another silver lining is that I am forced to stay very active now and exercise.  If I do not stretch and exercise I cannot deal with the pain.

To me, the Silver Lining is now knowing that all the craziness that goes along with AS is coming together. It's not a myriad of different illnesses, but one big one. Now knowing that my immune system isn't what it should be and that I have to look out for certain things that happen and different signs my body gives me.

For me, getting the diagnosis was actually the easy part. My sister had already been diagnosed so I went in and told the doctor that I wanted to be tested for HLA-B27. Then I kind of went in the back door of going directly to the rheum and seeing if I was spondy-positive.

It has only been through online research and groups like this one that I have really been able to piece it all together. But I'm sure that is how it is for all of us here. This whole experience has enlightened my entire family on the obvious family history of back pain that goes back several generations at least.

Silver lining for me was getting a firm diagnosis on my very first visit to my Rheumy! Although it is hard to deal with at times, having AS has given me a different perspective on a lot of things and I also feel my tolerance for pain is stronger with other conditions because AS just dulls it out. It was nice to know it wasn't all "in my head" as Dr's had previously suggested!

My silver lining....learning to ask for help and being patient waiting for it...learning self patience & acceptance...learning to make plans in pencil, easier to change... Understanding the difficulties in life that others face...forgiving those that don't understand...(I can't fight their ignorance).....realizing that my kids grew up being more tolerant of others that weren't like them and handicapped in some way or another...realizing that my kids knew that opening doors for others wasn't just a polite thing to do.....enjoying the things I can do, when I can do them....enjoy looking at the things I did when I could do them....take pleasure in small things....being grateful that others can host holidays, along with the pre & post holiday clean ups!  That's my list for today!

While I would never have chosen the path my body has led me on, I would not now change it.  I have been introduced to entire communities of people I didn't know existed - the chronically ill or in pain.  I have learned to change my priorities and ride the wave of my life - hard thing for a Type A control freak.  While I can't see where my life would have gone without this, I know I am thankful for the things I have learned over the past 13 years.

My rheumy told me that for whatever reason, people with AS are far less likely to get AIDS and also hepatitis I think too.  Go figure.

I will say my silver lining is having a diagnosis, I have had chronic back pain since my beautiful daughter was born.  The doctors just all shrugged their shoulders and said that I was a mystery. I know I am lucky to have a diagnosis so quickly but I had to fight for it.  I had to push and push and push. Thanks to my ORthopedic surgeon (who i've seen for years for knee problems) he doesn't even do backs he ordered a CT scan and a bone scan for me.  The bone scan showed the "typical" inflammation for AS. SI joints, Illiac Crests and heels (hind feet)  so he refered me to a Rheumatologist.  
It has increased my understanding and compassion for other's, because you never know what someone else is going through.

As so many of us have such a long wait, I had 8 years, you do start to think you are going mad- just to have a diagnosis and there fore the correct tests and meds. To also be able to do your own research, to know what to do and what not to do etc etc.

It does, of course, change  your life forever. Both in terms of your own future and your outlook. You also quickly find out just how strong you are, I have found most people found an inner strength they never knew they had.

So you end up with the choice-sit at home feeling sorry for yourself, or getting on with it and doing the best you can and being the best you can be, in the circumstances.....

I am so blessed to have a diagnosis after 2yrs of searching (very minor in comparison to most folks on this discussion board). My mother has a funkiness (not AS) and it has been over 25yrs and they have no clue why she has funk. Thankfully, she has no pain either. I could imagine going through life knowing something was clearly wrong, but no one can tell you why or help you.

It now take nothing for granted and I am living/loving life.