What ankylosing spondylitis can involve
Ankylosing spondylitis is a form of inflammatory arthritis that mostly affects the spine and the joints at the base of it. The stiffness is worst after rest, which is why mornings and long meetings are the hard part, and why it eases once you keep moving. That's close to the opposite of ordinary back pain, and it's often why a diagnosis takes years.
Fatigue is part of it, and so is eye inflammation, which needs seeing about quickly. Because rheumatology appointments are far apart, how long the morning stiffness lasts is one of the most useful things to have written down. It's a number you can say out loud, rather than trying to describe a feeling.
Symptoms checklist
Ankylosing spondylitis symptoms checklist to take to your GP
Below are some of the symptoms associated with Ankylosing spondylitis. You can print the Ankylosing spondylitis checklist and weekly diary and fill it in by hand.
See what applies to you, note how often it happens, and take it to your appointment, so the conversation starts further along. It describes your experience. It does not say what is causing anything: having many of these does not mean you have Ankylosing spondylitis, and having few does not mean you do not. Only a clinician can work that out with you.
- Back pain
- Morning stiffness
- Fatigue
- Hip or buttock pain
- Reduced movement
- Eye inflammation
- Sleep disruption
- Something else I want to mention
Print the Ankylosing spondylitis checklist and weekly diary Download as PDF
The list comes from the NHS and charity sources linked further down this page, and from what people living with ankylosing spondylitis tell us they keep an eye on. It is a starting point, not a test.
How a day can feel
If your days sound anything like this, taluvu was made with you in mind.
- “It takes me an hour to move properly in the morning.”
- “Sitting still hurts more than walking.”
- “People say back pain like they know what I mean.”
- “I was told it was a sports injury for years.”
- “The tiredness isn't the same as being tired.”
These are the kinds of things taluvu invites you to say in your own words, never a checklist of what anyone “should” have.
