Just wanted to jump in and introduce myself. I recently received a diagnosis of GPA (Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis). It's been quite a whirlwind over the past six months. It all started with my left eye getting bloodshot, my ears feeling constantly clogged, and my nose being runny all the time. At first, I didn't think much of it. My eye didn't hurt, and I figured the ear issues were due to my frequent flying for work and years of swimming and surfing. As for the runny nose, I thought it was just a result of my early morning hikes. But as time went on, I started experiencing significant hearing loss. That's when I decided to see an ENT doctor (who managed to alleviate most of the symptoms) and an ophthalmologist for the irritated eye. The ophthalmologist diagnosed me with scleritis and referred me to a rheumatologist, who conducted some blood work and confirmed the GPA diagnosis.

Since then, I've been on prednisone, which has helped to some extent with symptom relief but hasn't really addressed the underlying issue. We also tried methotrexate, which provided some relief but unfortunately caused me to start coughing, so we had to discontinue it. We then attempted aziopirothene (I hope I'm not completely butchering the drug name), but it didn't do anything, and I had a setback that landed me in the hospital last weekend. I experienced fever, a headache throughout my entire head (not just around the eye area), nausea, and the return of clogged ears and a runny nose. The doctors managed to stabilize me, and now my physician is looking into putting me on rituxan. I'm currently waiting for approval from the insurance company. So that's where I stand at the moment. It's a whole new world for me.

I'm 57 years old with no major illnesses and have never really taken medication, so this is all quite overwhelming. I don't know whether to laugh or cry, to be honest. But I am thankful for the perspective that there are many out there who are far worse off than me. I'm aware of that, and I'm ready to embark on this journey, even if it means blundering through it at times. I'm really looking forward to meeting and chatting with all of you. Wishing you a fantastic evening!