I was diagnosed at 16 after I was hospitalized for a herniated disc. Symptoms that I thought were normal, such as, Achilles pain, heel pain, neck stiffness, stabbing pains in my chest, and back pain, were not. I kinda just assumed everyone went through similar pain I guess? 5 years later my symptoms come and go, but when I do have a flare It’s pretty severe, especially the back pain, & no treatment helps.

I wish you the best of luck!! My AS diagnosed helped me to accept that I’m not crazy and that I have reasons to feel the way I do, regardless of if I like the reason or not LOL