2017 at the age of 33 although I have had symptoms of the disease off and on since my early twenties. It was never diagnosed as the symptoms were always associated with some type of activity such as snowboarding, wakeboarding, rock climbing, cycling. It wasn't until I was training for a triathlon and ended up not being able to walk that they ordered a blood test and found that I am a carrier of the HLA-B27 antigen. 

Yes. I take up to 1,000mg of Naproxen(Aleve) daily depending on how much I hurt and how hard of a workout I have for the day. I also take Humira twice a month. I have been on both of these medications since being diagnosed. However, I think movement is just as if not more important than any medication a doctor can prescribe. 

NO gluten. NO dairy. I also try to limit processed sugar intake but it's hard because I love cookies. I don't think we realize just how much what we put in our bodies can affect diseases like AS. 

I can run, swim, and bike just about as far as I want on any given day. Make no mistake though, it is not pain free. I have suffered through many days running and will continue to do so. There is nothing special about me, I just choose to go through the pain in order to do what I want. 

I take a very hot bath most nights. I stretch every evening for at least 30 minutes. I foam roll every evening. I ice my back most every night. These are the things I MUST do in order to keep my disease manageable so I am able to do what I need to do the next day. I also meditate 5-6 times a week for 30 minutes which I have found to be extremely beneficial. 

I could barely walk. We had a treadmill in our garage and the most I could manage was 10 minutes of walking. I began doing Sprint distance triathlons and would have to walk the run portion of every race. Fast forward to now and I have completed marathon, 50k, 100k, 100mi distances. I have also finished several half-ironman distance triathlons.

It is NOT a death sentence. You can still live a big life, it's just going to look a lot different than you thought and it's going to take A LOT of hard work. START SMALL. Our bodies don't work like they should, you need to build a solid foundation to be able to move forward. Pick small goals and celebrate small victories. You can do more with this disease than you could ever do without it, you just have to build the right mindset. And above all else, never, ever, under any circumstance, give up.