I'm 47 year old male from central Pennsylvania. I don't know if I have wegeners or not.

History:
I have asthma, allergies, IGA deficiency and cronic nasal problems. I also had many benign cysts removed from my abdomen.

I would get congestion, sinus infections and the sinus problems would trigger the asthma. They would put me on prednisone and antibiotics and my sinuses would clear up until I stopped the prednisone. I have had sinus surgery 3 times to remove nasal polyps. About 10 years ago I bent over and felt my ear close and I suddenly lost all hearing in the right ear. I went to the ENT and was given prednisone and antibiotics and most of the hearing came back. Over the next few years this kept happening and each time less hearing returned. My ears would not drain because the fluid was so thick. I eventually lost all hearing in my right ear.

I was fitted for hearing aids, but they just made the drainage worse. I went to Hershey to see a specialist in conductive hearing loss. She said I had polyps in my ears and did a tympanomastoidectomy on my right ear. It did not help.

Several years ago I suddenly lost all hearing in my left ear. Now I was completely deaf. Went to ENT, more prednisone and some hearing returned. I was eventually sent to vocational rehab for my hearing loss. They referred me to a otoneurologist. His first thought was you have wegeners. They did blood work and said we can't say you have wegeners due to the lab results and the fact you have no major organ involvement. He belives it is autoimmune related and said he has seen 2 cases like mine. He did surgery and I now have BAHA implants on both sides and he also did a tympanomastoidectomy on the left ear.

He sent me to a rheumatologist and they did more testing and said they couldn't diagnose me with wegeners. They did belive it was autoimmune related and started me on methotrexate because of the fact that every time I stopped the prednisone, my sinuses and ears would flare up. I started the methotrexate the first week of January 2013, and I have not needed the prednisone since. My sinus symptoms are much better and the drainage from the ears has not stopped, but it is much less.

Now for the past couple of months I have been having arthritis symptoms. Pain and weakness in both hands, pain in both knees, both feet and left elbow. I'm not scheduled to go back to the rheumatologist until early March. It is an 8 hour round trip to see her. I could not find a rheumatologist around home that would treat me without a positive diagnosis. I did schedule an appointment to see a local rheumatologist for the arthritis, but I can't get in until early January.

So, I don't know if I have wegeners or not.

Ron