My husband and daughters all have AS. My younger daughter has IBD and AS. Both my girls have been on biologics for years and they have been life savers. I was extremely nervous about putting them on biologics, but I can honestly say I've never regretted it. Research now does show that Anti-TNFs reduce the odds of progression in AS, especially if treated with them early. Humira, Remicade and Cimzia are all approved to treat Crohn's and AS. Simponi is approved for UC and AS but some doctors prescribe it off-label for Crohn's.
Besides Anti-TNFs for AS, you unfortunately don't have any good options. Drugs like Methotrexate and Sulfasalazine have not been shown to work well in AS, unless you have peripheral joints (joints other than hips and spine) involved. Both my daughters have been on Methotrexate and Sulfasalazine, and Methotrexate worked well but only in combination with Remicade or Humira. Sulfasalazine didn't do anything at all. My daughters also had a lot more side effects from Sulfasalazine/Methotrexate than they have had from biologics - in fact, neither has ever had side effects from biologics, except maybe being tired the day after Remicade.
The only other drugs used in AS are NSAIDs but they're not recommended for someone with Crohn's. My younger daughter's AS is so bad that she is allowed to take an NSAID even though she has Crohn's but we're trying to get her disease under control so we can get her off it. It took a lot of trial and error to find an NSAID that didn't bother her stomach.
Good luck!
