I started having symptoms of reactive arthritis exactly 60 days ago. I couldn’t even sit down for almost a month, and then suddenly the pain started decreasing little by little. My pain was 9/10 — I couldn’t sleep, sit, or do anything. Currently, my pain ranges from 1/10 to 3/10 on the worst days. I still wake up with a bit of stiffness in the middle part of my back, but hopefully it will keep improving gradually.
Right now, I have appointments with an infectious disease specialist and a rheumatology follow-up in about 15 days. I assume the infectious disease doctor will order tests to find out which infection triggered it. I also think it helps a bit that I am HLA-B27 negative.
I’m posting this because I’ve now gone one month without severe pain. I would consider it mild now, and it allows me to do my daily activities, often forgetting about the pain during the day. Hopefully it doesn’t come back with the same intensity as before. I’m still afraid to play soccer or lift heavy weights, but I have a pair of 8 kg dumbbells to do a bit of upper-body training.