Possible Ankylosing Spondylitis

S

sadr

Member
Registered Member
Hello,

My husband recently found out that he has HLA-B27. He found out due to flare up (or two with in two weeks) It is now mostly healed and under control. He started to have mild low back pain. He described is as "pressure." It bothered him for about 5 days to a week. He has said it feels better now. But while it was bothering him, he googled HLA-B27 and back pain, and found Ankylosing Spondylitis. He is now worried that that can be a possibility. We will be going to a Rhuematologist in a few days for his eye. He may bring up how he had mild back pain too. He has looked through all the forums on here and other places. He is worried that he will get sent to Med Board and will be deemed unfit for duty. He has been a Seabee for 5 yrs. He will soon be going into recruting.

I have tried to tell him to wait and see what the Rhuematologist will say.

Anyone who has delt with this, what advice can you give?
Do you think that if he mentions his back will be automatically be diagnosed w/ AS?
Do you think he will be sent to a Med Board? And if so, do you think he may be deemed unfit for active duty even though he may just be going to recruting?

Thank you in advance for you help.
 
I assume he is seeing the rhuematoligist about iritis. If so, it seems pretty clear he has AS or some other form of spondylitis. Being referred to a MEB would hinge on the impact of the condition and the medicines used to treat it. If he does get submitted to a MEB board, contact me for more details to ensure his MEB is properly conducted for AS.

Mike
 
I know first hand about AS. It's difficult to diagnose. www.backpaintest.org may be helpful, but it's not a diagnosis. Rheumatologist diagnose ankylosing spondylitis. Most people that have the gene HLA-B27 do not have AS. But most people that have AS, do have that gene. So, it's helpful in diagnosing AS. People that have AS have a higher chance of getting iritis. Iritis is diagnosed by an Opthomologist. Iritis, HLA-B27, and inflammatory back pain are all some of the clues that could indicate AS, but that's still not a slam dunk to diagnosing AS. If he does have AS, the best source of information on AS is StopAS.org. There is no cure for AS, but there are meds, exercises and other things (ie not smoke) he can do to manage it. Best wishes,
 
Thank you all for your help. We saw the Rhuematologist. He said that as of right now, he doesn't see the signs of AS at the moment. But since he has the genetic marker for it, there is the possibility he may or may not get it.
 
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