Hi Oksana,
I think the new neck pain could definitely be due to AS, unless you have done something obvious recently that may have caused an injury. I guess that is the bad news, AS can jump to a new place without warning and will not always ascend the spine as predictably as much of the literature suggests.
The good news is, in the early years with AS, it is likely to disappear from your neck for months (or even years!) and go back to attacking whatever is normal for you.
If I remember correctly, I think I was 21-23 y/o when AS decided to attack my neck for the first time, right out of the blue. I was on a vacation and didn't know what was going on, it was excruciating, and lasted for about 2 weeks. It was a driving vacation with me as the only licensed driver.
We had to delay our planned date of return because I could not turn to look left or right without extreme jabbing pain and just holding my head up was painful.
I hope the neck pain leaves you alone soon - it can be horrid.
