Hi everyone...I'm new to the forum and want to inquire about a couple of things that stood out on my recent mri report...Wondering if it looks familiar to any of you:

1. In several places along my lumbar spine (l2-l3, l3-l4, and l5-s1) it states, "there is 2mm of diffuse broad-based disk bulging present.")

2. Also at l5-s1 it states, "mild hypertrophic changes of the facet joints are noted."

3. Overall, "there is straightening of the lumbar spine, which may be positional or related to spasm."

on the report it states, "no evidence of sacroiliitis" (for scan of si joints) and "no significant canal or neural foraminal stenosis" (for lumbar scan).

I'm not asking for an expert medical opinion and will obviously leave that to my doctors, but I am curious of any impressions any of you might have. The one that has peaked my curiousity is #2.

For the past 3 months I have been dealing with considerable back (si/lumbar/thoracic) pain that mainly affects also my left side (leg, knee, etc.) the pain is more of a deep burning type and really gets going if I walk too much (more than a mile) or stand still too long (within 10-15 minutes). I've seen my gp and a rheumatologist (who thinks it might be fibromyalgia)...However, I have concerns of things like ankylosing spondylitis or other seronegative spondyloarthropathy. My bloodwork so far is clean (a slighty reactive rheumatoid factor), negative on hla-b27, all clear on things like lyme disease, hepatitis c, etc. So i'm flying blind trying to figure out what's going on.

Any insight would be much appreciated...

All my best,

-j