AS or RA what's worse

[Claudiaboscamp]

Anyone know what's more painfull and harder to manage RA or AS?

[Philip]

Strange question lol, only a person with RA & RS would be qualified to answer that one plus the fact that we all have different pains even with the same diagnosis.

Good luck

[helixhelix]

Impossible question! Both diseases are variable and can be mild, moderate or bloody excruciating.

[Eiram50]

I have AS and peripheral AR - just a world

Of pain and I cannot say ones worse than another x

[Hidden]

I don't have either, I have psoriatic arthritis. However I've always taken an interest in posts and info. about AS as it is in the same 'family' of diseases as PsA.

While I agree that it's impossible to compare diseases I do get the distinct impression that it's very important to control AS due to the kind of damage it can cause to the spine. I think that is why AS patients may qualify for biologics rather quickly.

[oldtimer]

I can't answer that question. I can tell you that, for me, the pain from having a fracture is less than the pain from RD - because I can compare them myself, but people's individual response is always different. I can't see the point of it either - having a disease is not a competition!

[Claudiaboscamp in reply to oldtimer]

Only reason I asked was before getting diagnosed never heard of AS, I was looking for a comparison to something I know, Also after reading people's comments, they are saying it's difficult to get Biologics, which I could of started immediately, which scared me, now I'm realizing I think most people on this site are Brits

[Hidden in reply to Claudiaboscamp]

Oh hun, you didn't offend anyone. Yes, it was an odd question to ask....but not upsetting .

To tell you the truth, when I got diagnosed with RA, I remember saying to my hubby that RA is better to have than MS... Strange thing to say I must admit, but I assumed there was a "cure" for RA, because of all the biologic commercials on American TV...how wrong I was.

Yes, the majority of people are Brits as this is a UK site. This is the best support groug in the world. I am grateful that these wonderful Brits welcome us.

Take care

Sue

[Claudiaboscamp in reply to Hidden]

Thanks Sue❤️

[nomoreheels in reply to Claudiaboscamp]

Generally it's not so much that it's difficult to get biologics Claudia, for those in need of them that is. The difference is the NHS is 'free', by that I mean it's free at the point of treatment, we do pay for it through National Insurance contributions & tax. Because of this we have specific guidelines to follow which say we have to have tried & failed on at least 2 DMARDs & have 2 DAS scores of 5.1 or higher taken a month apart before being considered to be eligible for biologics & funding applied for. This is because of the expense of biologics, understandably because if everyone with RD was initially treated with biologics at say £10,000 per year the system would go into meltdown!

The site is run by the NRAS, a UK charity, so the majority are in the UK but we welcome people from all over not specifically the UK. We have quite a few members from the US now & it's interesting learning how things work in a different country though it's helpful if we know where you're based as you've realised treatment can be quite different from country to country. You will have to get used to our ways, not everyone gets the British humour straight off! Anyway I hope this explains & you enjoy being here.

[Claudiaboscamp in reply to nomoreheels]

Haha, British humor, I'm learning all about it today, watching Ladies of London, Bravo tv, also Lisa Vanderpump, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, great lady, she often talks how people don't get the British humor, as you can tell I'm a total coach potato today! Because I'm at my Chicago home for the holidays, next week back to Florida, nice & warm, I feel so much better down south, it is interesting to hear from other countries, how they work things with health care, I'm really torn about going on biological Meds, how long do they take to work, side effects etc.....

[nomoreheels in reply to Claudiaboscamp]

Do you know what's even more humourous, I've never seen those programmes you mention & don't recall what used to be on Bravo! I watched Real Housewives of Atlanta once, didn't make it to the ad break it was that good lol. I miss more temperate winter weather, so do my joints. Even though it probably wasn't the temperature it's likely to be in Florida it's got to be better than the cold, frosty mornings of NW England, even worse the winters you can get in Chicago. I have a girlfriend who married an American & lives in Ossineke MI, she's often snowed in, was even on her wedding day one Christmas Eve.

I'm not on biologics but reading on here if they're going to work for you they seem to do so quickly, more so than DMARDs anyhow. I hope whichever yours is you respond well without side effects. When you know which it is you could always write a post here to ask for experiences of it?

Enjoy the warmth of the Florida winter, does that make you a snowbird?

[Hidden in reply to Claudiaboscamp]

I think I get where you're coming from. When I first got ill I was convinced I had RA, which wasn't a bad guess. So by the time I was diagnosed with PsA the familiarity with RA I'd already got from the internet did indeed help as the diseases are similar. But at first it wasn't as easy to find good info. about PsA as it is about RA, so it took a while to learn enough about it to feel well-informed when making treatment decisions etc.

Going by what I do know about your condition I would be keen to start biologics. They may seem scary but I don't personally think they're any harder on the body than any of the other drugs we take for inflammatory arthritis, in fact they may be a little easier on it than many. With all these diseases a key aim is usually to prevent joint destruction and clearly potential joint destruction in the spine is not something to be taken lightly. Sorry if that sounds a bit full-on but if I was diagnosed with AS tomorrow I'd be very glad indeed that I'm already taking Humira. And anyway, of course it's your rheumy whose advice will count most. I think if you can find a good forum for AS, a positive one that focuses on evidence-based treatment, then that's all to the good too.

[Claudiaboscamp in reply to oldtimer]

Did not mean to offend anyone

[dhall54]

One of the rheumatological registrars said to me that out of all the rheumatological diseases AS is the best one to have... An odd thing to say but it made me feel a bit better 😀

[Eiram50]

That gives me hope! Dud he say why this was so ?

[nomoreheels]

Hiya Claudia. Personally my approach would be to not compare, if you have one or the other & not both that is! Is there a particular reason you'd like to know, are you questioning your diagnosis? It's just that my thinking is is it helpful to bombard your brain with info on something you don't have? I find it best to concentrate on what I am battling, only because both diseases are blinkin hard in the early days before your treatment is working fully & you need all your strength to keep going. Plus each one of us is affected differently so it's not an easy question to answer really! Maybe once you're settled into your regime & responding well then do reasearch & comparisons of other autoimmune diseases.

If you're not like me then as a start these two links may help, they both give good simple overviews of each disease, nhs.uk/conditions/Rheumatoi... nhs.uk/Conditions/Ankylosin...

[Claudiaboscamp]

Thanks love your name😂

[FabulousMartini]

I have both and they are both hard to manage and both painful. They both keep me awake at night. I can’t say which is easier or harder. I just wish someone would come up with a good painkiller so I could get on with life!