Sounds like what I went through when I had horrible back pain for years and years and doctor after doctor told me this and that and some even said fibro crap. It wasen't until my spine was almost totally fused that they finially figured out that I had a SEVERE case of AS. Continued bouts of Iritis may have given them a clue. I tell you this, I wanted to die I was in so much pain and for years I could not get an answer for what was wrong with me. I actually went into severe depression for two years. The darkest Two year period of my life. One doctor even told me my back pain was caused by going from air conditioning into the hot Florida heat many times during the day. I wanted to slap the jerk for such a stupid comment. I don't know what was worse the AS pain or the pain I got from all of the worthless doctors I had. I finially found an excellent doctor and I have been under HER care for over ten years now. Thank God I found her, she was the one who told me I had AS.