Imagine Dragons’ Dan Reynolds Reveals Struggle with Ankylosing Spondylitis
It could be argued that a musician in his early twenties is in his prime, but for Imagine Dragons' frontman Dan Reynolds, it was becoming increasingly difficult for him to perform on stage.
"I started to have some strange unexplainable pain in my lower hips and morning stiffness that came out of nowhere," Reynolds, now 31, tells Prevention.com. "It would come and stay for a long time and then go away for a week."
The pain only got worse from there. He sought answers from a number of doctors, but after various tests and a handful of misdiagnoses, Reynolds was still left with no explanation for his pain. "It just got so bad that I couldn’t plays shows, move on stage, or pick up things," he says.
When the star turned 24, a rheumatologist finally diagnosed him with ankylosing spondylitis (AS), an inflammatory autoimmune disease that can cause some of the vertebrae in your spine to fuse, leading to pain and stiffness. Symptoms can include back and joint pain, blurred vision, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and other complications.
Diagnosing ankylosing spondylitis
It’s not surprising that Reynolds went years without a diagnosis, according to Dr. Suleman Bhana, MD, FACR, who specializes in rheumatology. In fact, many people with AS battle symptoms for years before they're properly diagnosed.
"It’s not often that somebody comes into my office and we know automatically that they have AS," Dr. Bhana says. "Joint pain can present differently with AS, which is why it’s so difficult to diagnose." In other words, your knees may be killing you, while someone else’s back or lower hips are sore, like with Reynolds’ condition. It's slightly different for everybody.
In more severe cases, this type of inflammatory disease can cause damage or fusion to the joints, uveitis (eye inflammation), psoriasis, IBD, and an increased risk for cancer, cardiovascular disease, and stroke.
Despite learning he had a lifelong illness, Reynolds' stress and frustration alleviated when he learned of his diagnosis. "Obviously, nobody wants to be told that they have a disease," he says, "but I was relieved and thankful to finally have answers."
What causes AS?
The jury is still out on that, but some medical professionals think genetics may play a role. "We don’t quite know the exact reason why people develop autoimmune diseases, whether it’s rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, or AS," Bhana says. "We think it’s a very complex interaction between genetics and several environmental risks."
Specifically, the HLA-B27 gene has been associated with many cases of ankylosing spondylitis, according to Spondylitis Association of America (SAA). "There’s a genetic marker in my blood with autoimmune diseases that’s associated with AS," Reynolds says. His older brother and manger has the condition, too.
Cigarettes may also be a culprit, Bhana says. "In general, the strongest modifiable risk factor for autoimmune disease is smoking."
Treating ankylosing spondylitis
Just like other rheumatic diseases that don’t have a cure, once diagnosed with AS, you’ll have it for life. However, "the treatments are much better than they were 20 years ago," Dr. Bhana says. Reynolds can attest. "In the week that I first got on a treatment plan, I already started to see things work," he says.
AS is typically treated with anti-inflammatory medications and physical therapy to control joint pain and stiffness. In more serious cases, your doctor may perform surgery to repair severe joint damage.
According to Dr. Bhana, AS requires a holistic approach to treatment since the disease is considered a whole body condition. "There’s an important role for diet, exercise, and lifestyle changes that have to go hand-in-hand with medical treatments targeting inflammation," he says.
If not controlled, there’s a possibility of eye inflammation that could lead to an increased risk of vision problems, IBD, cancer, strokes, and heart attack, Dr. Bhana says. "With appropriate treatment and controlling the inflammation, these are modifiable risks."
Reynolds continues to have flare-ups from time to time, but he’s able to control them by adhering to his treatment plan. "If I’m having flare up, I go see my rheumatologist and it’s a matter of weighing my diet, lifestyle, and treatment to find the right balance and get me back to a relatively pain-free life," he says.
And if he has a performance, he’ll just take it a little easier than usual. "I might move a little less on stage or not jump as much," he says. "But it’s never how it was where I had to stand like a stiff board in the middle of the stage. And again, that’s only once or twice a year."
Finding support for AS
If you’ve recently been diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis, you’re not alone. According to the SAA, 2 to 3 million people in the U.S. are living with the disease.
Reynolds struggled to open up about his disease when he was first diagnosed. "I had dealt with depression since I was young," he says. "I was meeting with my therapist and we were talking about how I hold things in and don’t express myself."
But then he decided it was important to share this side of him with the world in order to help others. "We were playing a show and I was having a flare-up," he says. "I was in a room full of people that I felt connected to in the moment, and I said, 'Hey this is something I'm struggling with and maybe there’s some people who feel the same way.'"
That’s what lead him to partner with Monster Pain in the AS by Novartis. "My ultimate goal is anybody who has had unexplained back pain for more than 3 months to go to MonsterPainintheAS.com and take a 2 to 3 minute quiz," he says. The quiz will determine if, based on your symptoms, you should see a rheumatologist, and then it will help you find one close to you.
Dan, who leans on his wife, rheumatologist, and AS community for support, wants others with AS to know that "there’s a community that loves you and caress about you and has been through what you’re going through and it’s going to be okay. Become empowered, take steps, and get the help you need."
Dan Reynolds is a paid spokesperson for Novartis Pharmaceuticals, sponsor of the ankylosing spondylitis awareness campaign #MonsterPainInTheAS. Go to Monster Pain In The AS website for a quiz about possible causes of back pain.
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