@A MySpondylitisTeam Member. If it is true that AS is caused by a microbe in the gut that people with the gene is sensitive to then what the drugs do is tamp down the body’s immune over response that causes the damage. Problem is he drugs also cause damage but a different damage somewhere else or in another way. The body is not affected by the microbe itself but a byproduct the microbe makes. Usually people with that gene have an over sensitivity in their immune system to that byproduct and the body attacks itself in the process. The drugs can help to a point temporarily if they don’t end up causing yet even another autoimmune disease which sometimes they can or destroy the gut etc. Probiotics don’t really work because in excess they cause SIBO. a person would have to know what specific microbes are needed and for how long and how to change that up. Most of the time in healthy people with a varied diet there is enough microbes and funguses to keep balance. Some studies say AS if from a certain microbe and some studies dispute it. They have tried dosing a single probiotic specific to kill the unwanted microbe but after time it goes back out of balance. They also tried an antibiotic and that works short term but again the imbalanced suspected bad microbe comes back. Plus antibiotics cause microbe resistance same as pesticides. It could be diet and there is dispute as to what specific plant fibers in food contribute to the good or to the bad. No one knows with certainty the causes ir how to treat. Drugs are a crap shoot. Some work some don’t and some for only a while. Meanwhile the disease can be advancing and disabling even without symptoms as it destroys the bone. Well, Pitac have fun with all this worthless gobbledegook I’m spewing. There are no solid answers at this time. Live your life and make for a good day. Get your minerals from collard greens and bony sardines and eat Red Star yeast for B vitamins, liver once a week for extra A and B’s. I mix mustard and a speck olive oil to the yeast flakes to make it taste like cheddar cheese. Keep eating your veggies and hold back on the fruit except for low glycemic ones. The Red Star yeast has the folic acid you’ll miss from oranges and is much higher in it. Good luck.

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A MySpond...

It is my great pleasure to help others get better! I hope I don't come across as preachy or pushy in my convictions. We're all smart enough to make the right decisions for ourselves. I just like to share my experiences and things I've learned just in case someone reading hasn't yet thought about the possibilities and may want to consider them.

@A MySpondylitisTeam Member, one would think. It's like some doctors want you to be sick.

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A MySpond...

I am hearing all of.you and taking it all in. I wish for each of you to find relief... this is all so hard and you all deserve to focus on life not dis ease!
@A MySpondylitisTeam Member, have you tried a low fodmap diet? I had horrible digestive issues for a year and a half. Had a colonoscopy that showed I was "fine" and they sent me on my way with no remedies. Then I did the low fodmap diet and my gut issues went away... I hope you can find something that helps! 🙂

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A MySpond...

@A MySpondylitisTeam Member, thank you for asking great questions.

My gut gets so bloated (expands 1 to 4 inches), uncomfortable, constipated with very hard stools, gassy, spasms like there's an alien trying to get out, and lightly bleeds with some foods, like wheat. Research does show that the gut lining gets inflammed from our disease. SpA diseases reflect a chaos in our body's inflammatory responses. My gut feels better when life causes delays in taking the medications. Dysbiosis, I should think so. But, practitioners aren't up to speed with scientific research.

So very glad for you and so many here are talking about this. Oversimplified, my gut feels like current medicine is barbaric.

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A MySpond...