Diary of an AStronaut

Why binary views from ‘wellness experts’ are baffling

Why binary views from ‘wellness experts’ are baffling

I felt stiff and achy today. I want to say that it's from doing a different form of yoga last night, but I don't think it was. Most of the moves were quite similar. I suspect I'm feeling it from the enormous amount of food I had yesterday. In particular, the chia...

Alcohol Free Test Update: Day 6

Alcohol Free Test Update: Day 6

SI Pain: 1/100 | Rib Pain: 4/100 | Concrete Back: 4/100 It's just shy of a week since I cut out alcohol, and I thought it would be interesting to do a diary note entry. I've gone much longer without alcohol in the past, but this is the first time I'm recording it in...

New experiment: No alcohol for 21 days (starting yesterday)

New experiment: No alcohol for 21 days (starting yesterday)

SI Pain: 0/100 | Rib Pain: 4/100 | Concrete Back: 9/100 Okay, some good news on the AS experiment front. A new test! I'm cutting out alcohol from my diet for the next 3 weeks, starting yesterday. My partner is running a half marathon soon so we decided to go booze...

Chocolate and Gluten – Mini Findings

Chocolate and Gluten – Mini Findings

SI Pain: 0/100 | Rib Pain: 7/100 | Concrete Back: 7/100 Thought I would do a quick diary entry today because I think I've had a couple of mini findings. The first is around chocolate. I've been eating a lot of chocolate courverture drops recently. They are to replace...

Brain walks and yoga aches

Brain walks and yoga aches

SI Pain: 1/100 | Rib Pain: 0/100 | Concrete Back: 11/100 Today was a pretty average day, AS-wise. There was no 'spiky' pain, but I also didn't feel particularly limber either. It was stunning weather outside, and so I went for two long walks, which really helped the...

Second fasting experiment to beat AS flare

Second fasting experiment to beat AS flare

SI Pain: 6/100 | Rib Pain: 0/100 | Concrete Back: 14/100 I was nervous waking up today. I slept fairly well last night in spite of everything. Woke 7 or 8 times but did get some sleep and got up about 7:30am. While I was lying in bed dozing, I was in pain with my left...

A difficult day today, might try fasting tomorrow

A difficult day today, might try fasting tomorrow

SI Pain: 25/100 | Rib Pain: 7/100 | Concrete Back: 11/100 It was a difficult day today. I've been on edge all week with my back, and things just really came to a head this evening when I was sitting down for dinner. I could feel the ankylosing spondylitis creeping...

Results in! Massive success from the fasting. Today I feel amazing

Results in! Massive success from the fasting. Today I feel amazing

SI Pain: 0/100 | Rib Pain: 0/100 | Concrete Back: 3/100 Today I feel great. Literally amazing! It is such an incredible transformation from yesterday where I had some nagging niggles from the AS. All of it was getting me down and my head was in the wrong place. If I...

Success with the fasting but AS fear creeping in

Success with the fasting but AS fear creeping in

SI Pain: 3/100 | Rib Pain: 0/100 | Concrete Back: 11/100 Last night I woke up a few times with that random, nudging AS awareness. I'm not sleeping as well as I did when I first got back from holiday, so it's an annoying shift backwards. When I properly woke up I was...

Fasting: Starting to come out of flare…

Fasting: Starting to come out of flare…

SI Pain: 22/100 | Rib Pain: 0/100 | Concrete Back: 9/100 Today is the first day I'm potentially coming out of flare! I had an awareness of my left SI joint this morning, but it was less than 9 out of 100 first thing. There's no other pain anywhere else and I slept...

My very first attempt at fasting to take on an AS flare

My very first attempt at fasting to take on an AS flare

SI Pain: 34/100 | Rib Pain: 0/100 | Concrete Back: 15/100 This is quite an important post. Yesterday, I felt pretty terrible from the AS. I knew that today I would feel bad as well and so I made a decision to try fasting. This is the first time I have ever tried this....

In flare right now, nearly 50 out of 100.

In flare right now, nearly 50 out of 100.

SI Pain: 46/100 | Rib Pain: 5/100 | Concrete Back: 22/100 I think I need to do another diary entry today because I am in the midst of an AS flare. I don't know yet how bad it will be, but it started properly yesterday and was probably a 30 out of 100. Now, as I write...

No SI joint pain, some stiffness, tiny blackberries

No SI joint pain, some stiffness, tiny blackberries

SI Pain: 0/100 | Rib Pain: 0/100 | Concrete Back: 50/100 Spent all day thinking it was Thursday. I think that's because I've been wishing all week that it was Thursday, and that's seeped into my front brain. Woke up feeling okay, I guess, a little bit crampy in my...

Covid echo and blackberry magic

Covid echo and blackberry magic

I woke up feeling a bit sick and nauseous. I don't think I'm actually ill or have coronavirus again. But it's weird. It almost feels even though I've recovered from it, the extra viral load I got from my friends on the weekend is just giving me a slight echo. The two...

Magnesium malate just gave me an amazing night’s sleep

Magnesium malate just gave me an amazing night’s sleep

I woke up feeling good today. Had a really decent sleep last night. Although I feel quite tired I know I slept better than normal. I am 100% putting that down to the magnesium malate. That really instantly took away so much stiffness yesterday and just made me feel so...

Someone else has ankylosing spondylitis

Someone else has ankylosing spondylitis

Woke up feeling great as I have been doing, in terms of my back, for a few days now. I have a dentist appointment at 10:15am. It was a beautiful day out and I walked to Stratford station giving myself plenty of time to get into town. The new dentist was nice. Friendly...

An answer to the mysterious eye flare (and back feels amazing)

An answer to the mysterious eye flare (and back feels amazing)

I'm coming to the tail end of another eye flare. I had to get out of bed this morning at about 7:30 because it starting going again. I had vaguely been aware that I was feeling a bit clogged up and that maybe my eye was going to be a problem a little bit before that....