Diagnosed in Feb this year.
Guess I should count myself as very lucky as it has been caught very early and compared to the experiences of many other sufferers, I have nothing to complain about. I actually feel a bit of a cheat. In reality though, I am just beginning to come to terms with WG. I am finding it hard to accept that I can’t do the things I could do just a few months ago. Still, after 3 months I can nearly pronounce it!!!

History.
I was a quite fit male of 54 years, an average runner who knocked out 30 miles a week on a regular basis. Completed marathons in under 3hours 20min and who was training to run Paris & London marathons this year (April). I was picking up the weekly mileage in September 09 and there was a slight thought in my mind that this is tough! (I thought it was just age!). In October my wife and I went on a 5 week vacation.

Second day in, (Singapore) I started to get a stuffy nose. I thought hay fever, as it was spring over there and tried the usual cures. This did not work so started hitting the cold/flu remedies to no avail. Moved through Australia, New Zealand & the States getting advice form pharmacists etc, tried a lot but still no improvement. By this time my nose was running like a tap and I felt personally responsible for global warming via the number of trees required to keep me in tissues!

My hearing in my left ear started to go and by the end of the holiday had gone completely. I also had continual headaches and general un-wellness. Whilst in NZ I had agreed to run a half marathon with a relative which I did. I was lucky that she was a lot slower than me so managed it quite well.

When I arrived back in the UK (December) I left it a week or two to see if things improved. My running was rapidly getting worse and by January I could not run a mile. Tired all the time. I now had a bloody crusty discharge from the nose. Sensitivity around the scalp which meant it was uncomfortable to wear glasses/hats and sore eyes. So off I went to the Doctors. He tried antibiotics and a variety of remedies which naturally failed to improve things.

I drive trucks for a living and work both day and night shifts. I started to struggle with the night shifts. Starting at 6pm, I would have to pull over to sleep by 8pm as I was so tired. My eyes would not focus when the bright headlights were coming towards me. Snoring got very loud and bad – sent to spare room! Went off sick! All in all quite a worrying time for me.

Anyway, my Dr referred me to ENT and was seen in early February.
Here I struck gold. Mr Resouly from Queen Alexandra’s Hospital, Portsmouth, sent me immediately for the right blood tests and hey presto, the diagnosis was there! Passed straight over to Rheumatology where, along with a couple of armfuls of steroids I was started on 20mg Pred & after a gradual increase 25mg Methotrixate. Loads of other tests but luckily all clear. Able to return to work quite quickly after initial treatment.

Was asked to start reducing the pred by 2.5ml a month in March. After the second reduction all my symptoms were returning so have returned to the 20mg dose again. (after advice.) Should my current medication remove all symptoms to enable a potential drug free remission?

Currently symptoms have receded again but not all gone. Again is the advice to contact Rheumatology to see if I need to increase the pred/change medication?

I’m a bit of a workaholic and am always on the go. Find I can work quite hard for half a day but always feel rough the next day. Also been trying to get my running going again as weight gain is a problem.

From the other threads on the forum I see that I am going about things the wrong way and should be reducing exercise. Trouble is running is important to me (weight, stress reliever, social,) that I am very reluctant to give it up. I’m a lot slower now and only going up to 3 miles maybe twice a week. Am I really harming my chances of a speedy remission? Should I be looking longer term and stopping it for a while?

I know this sounds a minor issue in comparison to how other WG people are suffering and I do hesitate before asking.

Your site has indeed given a lot of answers to questions that I have and I thank you for this. Other sites have managed to scare me quite considerably but yours is by far the most friendly and straight talking I have found. A fountain of great knowledge and advice .
thanks.