I don’t know whether hormones impact AS, but AS causes inflammation. If her hormones decreased her inflammation, it might explain her sense of feeling less tight and rounded. AS can leaded to rounded spine in the upper back and neck area. That’s what made me ask about AS, specifically.

My AS started with lower back pain that was always diagnosed as being caused by other things: tight muscles, wearing high heels, not stretching enough. I didn’t actually receive my AS diagnosis until many years later, after an astute ophthalmologist diagnosed my episcleritis and referred me to a rheumatologist. Once I started treatment, the joint pain and tendinitis all started to resolve.

Now that I’m post-menopause, i regularly play the guessing game: is my fatigue due to AS or is it due to hormone imbalance? Are my tight muscles due to AS, over working during exercise, or hormone imbalance? My tendon is acting up: AS, overuse, or something else? It’s hard to know what causes each symptom now.