Living with Ankylosing Spondylitis: My Ongoing Journey

by Clive Burkinshaw

Welcome to this section of MyTipOffs.com, where I share my personal experience living with Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) — a long-term autoimmune condition that affects the spine and other joints. This page is a dedicated space for me to document the insights, struggles, and small victories I’ve gathered over more than two decades of managing this condition.

From the early days of mysterious pain and misdiagnoses to eventually receiving a confirmed diagnosis — and everything that’s followed: medication trials, lifestyle changes, painful setbacks, and unexpected discoveries — I’ve kept learning. What I’ve come to realise is that this disease doesn’t follow a predictable path. Managing it becomes a personal journey of trial, error, and adaptation.

Here, I’ll be sharing reflections on everything from exercise and diet to inflammation triggers, vitamin experiments, migraines, and even thoughts on testosterone levels and stress. I don’t claim to have all the answers — far from it — but if something I’ve learned helps even one person feel more understood, more hopeful, or more in control, then it’s worth sharing.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope what you find here encourages you to keep going, keep questioning, and keep trying — wherever you are on your journey with AS.