Dan Reynolds: Chronic pain and inflamed joints (ankylosing spondylitis)

[Head Empty 25,072]

Eight years ago, Dan Reynolds was on the cusp of stardom — but his health was in turmoil.

Reynolds, the frontman of Grammy-award winning band Imagine Dragons, tells PEOPLE that at age 21 he began to experience “debilitating” pain that forced him to cancel shows.

“It felt like someone was drilling my nerves,” he says. “It was right when the band was starting to have minor success — we were starting to sell out small clubs, and we were playing these very active shows and it started to make me have to cancel shows.” He adds, “I couldn’t get on stage. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t sleep at night, I couldn’t perform without standing perfectly still. I couldn’t sit down for more than a half an hour.”

The vocalist consulted a rheumatologist to see if he had ankylosing spondylitis, a condition that two of his siblings suffer from. Ankylosing spondylitis, often referenced as AS, is a chronic inflammatory condition of the joints that can lead to extreme pain and in the worst cases, spinal fusion.

"I didn’t want to admit to myself, or to anybody, that I was struggling with a disease.”

Now, after opening up, the singer says he’s not sure what he was afraid of — and that he’s ready to help others feel the same way through This AS Life Live!, an online, interactive talk show for patients with AS, hosted by patients with AS. “For me, I really wish that there was a place that I could have gone to where I was seeing a direct community. People talking and saying, ‘These are the things I’m feeling. These are the ways that I’m combatting it, and it’s working for me. ‘”

Although Reynolds is now in remission, he says that life with AS is a “constant and life-long battle.” He shares, “There’s not a day that goes by that I’m not combatting it in some way.”

https://www.yahoo.com/news/imagine-dragons-frontman-dan-reynolds-130016914.html

 

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I decided to post this after reading Gaga's instagram post about her chronic pain, because it really makes me think about all these amazing artists and how much all of them are probably concealing the things that they don't want us to see. When you see people like Gaga or Dan Reynolds live, you'd never guess they're in pain. It just goes to show how you can never judge a book by its cover. Hopefully their story and the stories of others can help those who are still struggling to get through their own pain.

[ZiggyZiggs 30,058]

 

[Killa 17,461]

This is my dad's and uncle's disease. Poor him, my father also suffered from this when he was 23 i think. It was so severe he could barely leave his bed for a whole year and the hair became completely white.

I'd have to say Gaga probably doesn't have such a severe condition. Pray for him, his movements will be halted and the pain is horrible.

[DeanWinchester 41,390]

7 minutes ago, ZiggyZiggs said:

 

Either this or a mock up of "looks like chronic pain etc is the new thing" I expected as the first reply

GGD is a mess 

 

OT: i hope they find a good maintenance therapy that work

[Killa 17,461]

46 minutes ago, ZiggyZiggs said:

 

Not me thinking she looks godly in silver and demanding in my head for a great photographer to take photos of these sessions.

self slap activated*

Her feet are divine