After years of “debilitating” upper body pain,Dan Reynoldsquestioned whether he would ever feel better again.The Imagine Dragons frontman had ankylosing spondylitis, a chronic autoimmune disease causing pain through the spine, but neither he — nor the multitudes of doctors he saw over two years — knew it.
And while he andhis Imagine Dragons bandmatesare megastars now, when Reynolds was at the height of his pain in 2008 they were still in search of a label and hoping to make it big.
“There was a full year where I was just in pain and going to doctor after doctor, and at the same time trying to put on shows and move around the stage,” he says. “I remember one show where I couldn’t even move.”
Dan Reynolds.
Reynolds didn’t know if he had much of a future.
But thankfully, Reynolds’ brother, who had recently been diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis, or AS, after similar pain, suggested that he go see a rheumatologist, who determinedthat he had the same condition.
With the help of his rheumatologist, Reynolds started changing his diet, workouts and began a treatment plan that immediately worked.
“That week I saw improvements,” he says. “Once you have a treatment plan it’s like night and day. Seeing a rheumatologist was life-changing for me.”
To make AS “mainstream,” Reynolds is partnering with the Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation on theirMonster Pain in the AS campaign.
“I want people to get started on this process and go to website, where they can take a three-minute quiz to see if they have AS and hopefully get started on the process that took me years to figure out,” he says. “My diagnosis has been life-changing in every possible way just because I saw a rheumatologist. That’s why those three minutes of taking the quiz are so important.”
Dan Reynolds for the Monster Pain in the AS campaign.Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation
Along with bringing awareness to AS, it’s important to Reynolds to speak openly about his condition.
“I think we live in the age of Instagram, where everybody’s putting up their best moments and taking pictures in the best light with the best filter,” he says. “But what I think is really important is to talk about our insecurities and our pain, the things that are hard. It helps other people feel less alone. Everyone is struggling with something. If we’re all putting out a false narrative of perfection the world seems a lot more lonely.”
Reynolds says that sharing his story on social media has helped him.
“It’s important to speak out about thing that are hard, and that can actually bring more happiness and joy to your life. And you find a community in it,” he says. “I’ve had a lot of people reach out and say that they’ve been struggling with AS for years and finally got diagnosed. It hasn’t defeated me and I’ve been able to meet a lot of people and make strong bonds.”
source: people.com
