My WORST Symptom of Ankylosing Spondylitis FINALLY Went… — Transcript

There's been so many moments with ankylosing spondylitis in my life where I remember like it was yesterday. All these different moments of the days I was really struggling. I made a video in my car a couple of years ago, 4:00 a.m. I just didn't know what to do. The low back was waking me up at 3:00 a.m., 4:00 a.m. for like a month, two months.

And I started to just go to the gym at 4:00 a.m., and I was struggling with the sciatica.

There's been so many videos I've made of just struggling. And maybe this is why I made them too, because AS is very hard to keep track of. It's very hard to know, how am I doing today? Am I doing better? Am I doing worse? Is the neck worse? Is the low back better? Is that gone? Is this better? It's very hard to keep track of it because we've had, unfortunately, so many moments where we're just really, really struggling. So, I've made all these videos to kind of see, "Whoa, look, look what happens to me this year. Look what I did differently this year." And I remember all these different times, especially when I had the sciatica where I was limping around in excruciating pain, but it wasn't just sciatica. It was the fatigue was then killing the body, and it was just a horrible way to live. It was just excruciating pain. So, I remember all these moments.

You know, and I'm making this video because yesterday someone asked me, "When was the last time you had sciatica?" And I said, "I don't remember." I haven't had sciatica. I haven't even thought about it in months. And maybe I don't want to bring it up because when we start feeling good, we don't want to say anything. We don't want to jinx it.

Me and my clients talk about this all the time, but this is for real. I have not had sciatica in a very, very long time. And that was my worst symptom of ankylosing spondylitis for 15 years since I started experiencing symptoms.

My symptoms were the debilitating sciatica, the hip pain that would shoot down into the calf or maybe very, it would make it very hard to walk, very hard to put pressure down on the foot, excruciating pain, but it would also affect the whole body. It would tighten up everything. It would make all of ankylosing spondylitis worse. The fatigue, limping around for a few days turned into a flare, high inflammatory markers, and that was kind of the process for me over the years.

Now, I was still working out and playing sports, but I would have this, it seems like, every few weeks. And then, you know, some time would pass and I wouldn't have it, but then I would have it worse and worse each time.

Now, this past year, the worst flare I ever had at, you know, 36 years old, I'll never forget it. I made a video about it. Had a virus, and I just was in an unhealthy point in my life. I was gaining weight. I wasn't doing my exercises like I should. I was anxious. I was stressed, and it caused the biggest flare of my life.

And when that happened, my flexibility was completely like I just, I couldn't move. Whatever was going on in my body, I couldn't move.

And I was starting to see, I was like, is this it? Is this what fusion's going to look like for me? Am I not going to be able to play basketball anymore? I was going to the doctor, all these specialists, and a lot of people were like, "Yeah, but you probably won't be able to play anymore." It is what it is. It's ankylosing spondylitis. You're 36, 37 years old.

This is what it is. And I almost started to believe it. I almost started to believe that that was it. I was finally going to be fused.

I was going to be too damaged, and, you know, I've had hardship over the years with it, but I've been able to stay very healthy. But this was the marker for me. At 36, I was like, this is what I see out of a lot of my clients.

This is when they start to get really damaged and fused, and the posture's affected, and this is when they really struggle. So, I said I need to do something different. I need to get in incredible shape, but not just that, I need to stay there. What I've done in the past, I've gone up and down so many times. I get in incredible shape, I feel good, and then I gain weight back, or I start just eating at night and not doing my rehab exercises. So, I said, "I'm going to get there. I'm going to stay there." So, I started to put together everything that's helped me over the years. Every single thing that's helped me with AS.

If it comes down to everything, the whole body. What are things I've done that have kept me flexible? How have I eaten that have reduced that middle of the night wake-up call, 3:00 a.m., 4:00 a.m.? I was going through a period during the flare. I was waking up every night at 3:00 and 4:00 a.m. with low back excruciating pain. I was down and out. So, I started to say, "I need to put together everything. I need to increase the flexibility without causing more pain. So, if things are painful, if an exercise feels painful, I'm not doing it. I'm going to increase flexibility and I'm not just going to temporarily increase it. I'm going to stay there." So, I started to really, really put it all together. I lost weight again. Probably the leanest I've been since my 20s, right?

I stopped eating at night. 6:00 p.m., 7:00 p.m., that's it. I'm not eating at night anymore. Every time I eat at night, I wake up at 3:00 a.m., 4:00 a.m., low back pain. Stopped eating at night, the low back pain stopped waking me up in the morning. Then I would wake up more energized in the morning to get moving.

I didn't have as much stiffness and tightness in the morning. For sciatica, I increased my flexibility so much that if I started to feel the hip tightening and that maybe sciatica coming in, it was okay because I had the flexibility around it to get rid of it pretty quickly. So, the hip would bother me, I would just stretch the hip flexor, I would stretch the hamstring, it would go away. So, I wasn't getting into that debilitating sciatica because I didn't have that stiffness and tightness in the body. My body was fueled the right way, and I really was strength training in a really careful way. I was really doing a lot of the core work, the core stability, but I was just finding exercises that didn't cause pain. I wasn't pushing anything. I went through a period last year before the flare I was really nervous about my mobility, and I was just pushing exercises that caused more pain. It was making it worse. I talk about this extensively. I was trying to overly rotate. I barely rotate anymore. I barely do openers anymore. Instead, I do strength exercises. I do mobility for the rest of the body that feels good. I don't mess around with the neck because that's an area that whenever I mess around with it, it makes it worse.

So, I stopped messing with things. No pain. I'm doing exercises very slowly, very gradually, truly over and over and over the exercises that feel good, and my mobility became the best it's ever been at 37. This is a year after the doctor said or the physical therapist said, "That's just ankylosing spondylitis. It's finally caught up to you." I just said I just didn't believe it. I was in such great health with this over the years. I just didn't believe that all of a sudden it would hit me like that. So, I started to focus on different things, improve the flexibility. Sciatica, haven't seen it in months. Again, I might have sciatica again, and that's okay because what we continue to try to prove with this is that we're just looking for small improvements across the board so we can tell ourselves that it's possible. Because when you're down and out with ankylosing spondylitis, and in your mind you think you've done everything you could, and you're just saying, "What else can I do?" That's when we're done for. We can never say we've done everything. We want to try as many things as humanly possible until we see improvement in anything. In the calves, in the hamstrings, in the hip flexors, in the mid back. Try anything until you see improvement.

of people were like, "Yeah, but you probably won't be able to play anymore." Um it is what it is. It's ankylosing spondylitis. You're 36, 37 years old.

This is what it is. And I almost started to believe it. I almost started to believe that that was it. I was finally going to be fused.

I was going to be too damaged, and you know, I've had hardship over the years with it, but I've been able to stay very healthy. But, this was the marker for me. 36, I was like, this is what I see out of a lot of my clients.

This is when they start to get really damaged and fused, and the posture's affected, and this is when they really struggle. So, I said I need to do something different. I need to get in incredible shape, but not just

that, I need to stay there. What I've done in the past, I've gone up and down so many times. I get in incredible shape, I feel good, and then I gain weight back, or I start just eating at night and not doing my

rehab exercises. So, I said, "I'm going to get there. I'm going to stay there." So, I started to put together everything that's helped me over the years. Every single thing that's helped me with AS.

If and it comes down to everything, the whole body. What are things I've done that have kept me flexible, how have I how have I eaten that have reduced that middle of the night wake up call, 3:00 a.m., 4:00 a.m.? I was going through a

period during the flare. I was waking up every night at 3:00 and 4:00 a.m. with low back excruciating pain. I was down and out. So, I started to say, "I need to put together everything. I need to increase the flexibility without causing

more pain. So, if things are painful, if an exercise feels painful, I'm not doing it. I'm going to increase flexibility and I'm not just going to temporarily increase it. I'm going to stay there." So, I started to really, really put it

all together. I lost weight again. Probably the leanest I've been since my 20s, right? Um stopped eating at night. 6:00 p.m., 7:00 p.m., that's it. I'm not eating at night anymore. Every time I eat at night, I wake up at 3:00 a.m., 4:00 a.m., low

back pain. Stopped eating at night, the low back pain stopped waking me up in the morning. Then I would wake up more energized in the morning to get moving.

I didn't have as much stiffness and tightness in the morning. For sciatica, I increased my flexibility so much that if I started to feel the hip tightening and that maybe sciatica coming in, it was okay cuz I had the flexibility

around it to get rid of it pretty quickly. So, the hip would bother me, I would just stretch the hip flexor, I would stretch the hamstring, it would go away. So, I wasn't getting into that debilitating sciatica cuz I didn't have

that stiffness and tightness in the body. My body was fueled the right way, and I really was strength training in a really careful way. I was really doing a lot of the core work, the core stability, but I

was just finding exercises that didn't cause pain. I wasn't pushing anything. I went through a period last year before the flare I was really nervous about my mobility, and I was just pushing exercises that caused more pain. It was

making it worse. I talk about this extensively. I was trying to overly rotate. I barely rotate anymore. I barely do openers anymore. Instead, I do strength exercises. I do mobility for the rest of the body that feels good. I

don't mess around with the neck cuz that's an area that whenever I mess around with it, it makes it worse.

So, I stopped messing with things. No pain. I'm doing exercises very slowly, very gradually truly over and over and over the exercises that feel good, and my mobility became the best it's ever been at 37. This is a year after

the doctor said or the physical therapist said, "That's just ankylosing spondylitis. It's finally caught up to you." I just said I just didn't believe it. I was in such great health with this over the years. I just didn't believe that all of a sudden

it would hit me like that. So, I started to focus on different things, improve the flexibility. Sciatica haven't seen it in months. Again, I might have sciatica again, and that's okay because what we continue to try to prove with this is that we're

just looking for small improvements across the board so we can tell ourselves that it's possible. Cuz when you're down and out with ankylosing spondylitis, and in your mind you think you've done everything you could, and you're just saying, "What else can I

do?" That's when that's when we're done for. We can never say say done everything. We can We want to try as many things as as humanly possible until we see improvement in anything. In the calves, in the hamstrings, in the hip flexors, in the

mid back. Try anything until you see improvement. Jot that that down and that's the direction you go in. So, once I started to see improvement in my flexibility in areas that I just couldn't seem to improve them. The hip

flexor, the hamstring, the core strength. I couldn't seem to ultimately improve it because the exercises I was choosing was causing more pain. So, I was choosing things very slowly, gradually, and I became incredibly strong, incredibly flexible, and that's why the sciatica vanished.

That's why I got the symptoms drastically went down, and that's how I got to the place I am today. But, it's the small incremental changes, improvements. For me, it was diet, not eating at night, calories in check, quality protein, quality food, but

nothing extreme. Just very small improvements across the board led me to to get more lean, lose weight, which made the exercise easier, no low back wake-up call in the middle of the night, more energy in the morning. In the

morning, I had a great routine to get me going, and then I'm flying. I'm just I'm feeling incredible, right? So, bottom line is whatever stage you're in, keep trying everything.

Different ways to strengthen, stretch. If things aren't working, if things aren't changing the body, get rid of them. Try different things.

And that is for everything with ankylosing spondylitis. Continually Continuing to try different things, and don't let people tell you that's it.

That that's it. That ain't that's It is what it is. Never let anyone tell you with ankylosing spondylitis it is what it is. We can't live that way. We need to get healthier. The healthier we get, the better we feel, no matter what.

Focus on getting healthier and I promise symptoms will start to reduce and you'll keep going. See you next time.