Politics & Current Events
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
ankylosing spondylitis - 'know anything about it?
Apparently DH has it. He's had back issues ever since I've known him (10+ years). Sometimes it's so bad he can hardly walk (this is rare) and other times it hardly bothers him at all, but usually he just feels stiff and at least somewhat uncomfortable. We've always made jokes about his spine being a steel rod because he's so inflexible, but with this disease diagnosis, it's really not that funny anymore. If it progresses he could really be debilitated later in life and that prospect is very scary, of course.
One of the treatments he is going to explore uses a TNF inhibitor (may not be getting the terminology right--this is all new). Does anyone have any experience with this? Here is what I found on the Spondylitis Associations website:
The Tumor-Necrosis-Factor alpha (TNF-a) blockers are biologic medications that have shown great promise in treating ankylosing spondylitis. They have been shown to be highly effective in treating not only the arthritis of the joints but the spinal arthritis associated with ankylosing spondylitis and related diseases.
The most serious known side effect of the TNF blockers is an increased frequency of infections, especially tuberculosis. Thus, a TB test is usually required before starting any of the TNF therapies. A very rare possible complication is increased frequency of cancer, especially of the blood (leukemia) or of the lymphatic system (lymphoma)
The bit about cancer is pretty darn scary. Other than the obvious, any questions DH should make sure to ask his doctor about this? Any and all advice is welcome. Thanks!
Re: ankylosing spondylitis - 'know anything about it?
I know someone who has it, but I'm afraid I don't know very much about the condition. All I know is that he's 27 years old and collects Social Security, though he seems to be fine honestly.
I'm sorry you're dealing with this
TNF inhibitors are widely used for rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis and psoriasis bu blocking the body's haywire autoimmune response (to put it in very non-medical terms). AS is much less common than these other conditions, but is also an autoimmune disorder.
Because TNF inhibitors downregulate the body's immune system, there is the potential for the development of certain cancers. Cancer being an immune-modulated disease itself. There is also an increased risk of certain infections (TB, fungal infections, etc).
There is more than a decade of experience with these drugs. You may have more luck finding someone with personal experience if you inquire about one of the more prevalent disease states.