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Alastair’s Story – from diagnosis to winning ‘ultra distance’ races
Sharing the story below is something I would probably never have done myself, but my parent’s encouragement persuaded me otherwise. Hopefully, it can provide a little hope to other NASS members and particularly the younger demographic, of which I am part, who are...
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How to do Glastonbury Festival with Ankylosing Spondylitis
I’ve just got back from Glastonbury Festival 2019 – five whole days of drinking, dancing, exploring and generally living my best life! And loving every second of it. It was everything I expected it to be, and a billion times more again! But I can’t lie and say that I...
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From small achievements to Swim Serpentine – Taking part in sport with AS
I’ve always enjoyed taking part in and watching sport even though I’ve never been particularly good at it! My Dad taught me to swim as a child and we spent many a Saturday afternoon together watching my local football team, Ipswich Town, while school holidays saw my...
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Physical and mental health with ankylosing spondylitis are more important than we allow it to be
Living with Ankloysing Spondylitis isn’t easy. I’ve tried to self manage my condition since I was diagnosed in 2014. However, my condition has worsened due to getting older. I suffer consistently with severe fatigue, sharp shooting pains & pins in both my legs and feet and tightness in my joints. Back, hip and bum pain, making it awkward to sit or lay comfortably . Making it difficult for me to live a normal life.
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An insider view on services available for ankylosing spondylitis patients
I was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis in 2014 just before I was due to start my physiotherapy degree and now sitting here in 2019, 2 years into my physiotherapy career I count that as a blessing in disguise. I have not only had exposure to services available to AS patients as a patient but also as a professional. I’m an insider. The one thing I have noticed is services vastly differ from area to area and from paediatric to adult.
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Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu with ankylosing spondylitis: a journey from agony to championship aspirations
For a very long time I didn’t know what was wrong. I went to all kind of doctors, had all kind of treatments, as probably lot of you can speak about. I had years of agony, depression, and awful thoughts. There was a 3 month period at one time, I had to call an ambulance at least once a week. I was working, but my employer had a hard time understanding me. I have been called a hypochondriac, and all sorts of awful things.Finally after 6 years of struggle I have been diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis.
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Accepting your chronic illness
I find that one of the most important things you can do for yourself as a person with a chronic illness is accepting it. Personally, it took me a few months of crying daily and Googling everything I possibly could about AS in order for me to come to a place of acceptance. I know for others it can take much longer, or much shorter, everyone is different in their journey.
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Flare Signals – your greatest ally in the ankylosing spondylitis game
Your body is not your enemy, its your greatest ally so listen to what it is trying to tell you. Listen consistently and carefully, not when it suits you best. Some people may view having limitations as being a prisoner to your own body, constantly living as servant to your body’s needs. It may seem like that to start with, however the better relationship you build with your body the more in sync you will become, learning to live alongside your illness Gremlin and not in fear of it.
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What it’s like to live with ankylosing spondylitis and depression
You might think that living with ankylosing spondylitis is already hard. When you add depression that makes it much harder to deal with. An estimated one-third of people with chronic illness also experience depression. In my case, I became depressed years before I was diagnosed with AS, but that doesn’t make it any easier to cope with.
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Dating and ankylosing spondylitis
Let me start out by saying that before I had ankylosing spondylitis, dating was already a struggle for me. It only got harder once I was diagnosed with it. In the age of Tinder, Bumble, OkCupid etc., no one really takes the time to try and understand each other, or really care about the person’s feelings behind the screen.
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