What causes Wegeners?

[Birdie]

Wherever you look Wegeners is listed as cause unknown OR caused by infection.

I had a severe and totally out of control c-diff infection. I have absolutely no doubt that this is what triggered Wegeners.

Anybody else?

[Pete]

I dunno. My first symptom was an ear infection that did not respond to the usual treatment. I added a cough, night sweats, loss of appetite, and general fatigue. I was diagnosed about a month after the ear infection started. Up until then, I had been the picture of health...

[Birdie]

One vote for "cause unknown".
Thanks Pete.

[Pierre42]

When I was DX'd in Sydney they had a serious cluster of cases at the same time (from memory same number of cases in Sydney in one quarter that they'd expect statistically for The Entire Nation in one year).

The specialist told me "from this we'd imagine there's some kind of environmental trigger".

So far I'm inclined towards a combination of:
1) genetic predisposition
2) diet
3) biological or environmental trigger

[woz]

I told my Wife it was the job that I do, and the doctor told me to retire, and get my wife to get a second job. I wont repeat what she told me,
and guess what.... I am still working.

Regards Woz...

[Wegetarian]

[QUOTE=Pierre42;99645]
1) genetic predisposition/QUOTE]
I think that if you don't have the needed genes you can't get wegs. I assume that there are probably more weg's in my tiny country than in the entire continent of Africa and China combined, which shouldn't be the case if an infection can cause wegs. i saw a map on some research paper which outlined the places in the world where different vasculites are diagnosed. Can't really remember much about it, but it showed that some vasculites were common in some parts of the world and not in others.

I did read that a staph infection in your nose can trigger wegs or a relapse. I had it in my nose when I was dx'd.

[MikeG-2012]

I did read that a staph infection in your nose can trigger wegs or a relapse. I had it in my nose when I was dx'd.

Me too. Staph infection was consistently present during my original diagnosis as well as during my first flare up. Coincidence? I think NOT!

[MikeG-2012]

Mine's almost the same as Pete's, but took two years after the ear infection for me to get admitted into the hospital with more symptoms so it could be diagnosed.

[annekat]

Mine's almost the same as Pete's, but took two years after the ear infection for me to get admitted into the hospital with more symptoms so it could be diagnosed.

Mine's like Pete's but more like Mike's! The big weird ear infection that seemed to come from nowhere, and was resistant to the usual antibiotics, followed by two and a half years of sinus and ear problems, followed by lung involvement which led to a diagnosis. So could be that the ear infection triggered the Wegs, or else, as it seems to me, it was PART of the Wegs, the initial noteworthy event, and the Wegs had been triggered by SOMETHING. Two weeks before, I'd had a cold and then been heavily exposed to incense in a Catholic church, and I am not Catholic... it was to the point of violent coughing during the service. I work with clay and have been exposed to silica dust over the years, also considered a trigger. Also, I had had various ear weirdness such as tinnitus and fullness off and on for about 8 years prior to the ear infection. I had had allergies and asthma off and on throughout my life and a lot of bronchitis as a kid and occasionally as an adult. All of these I see as either triggers, symptoms, or hints at a predisposition, but not really causes.

[Debbie C]

I was fine until I moved backed to Ohio. 2 months after moving here I had a hard time breathing so a dr. gave me a nebulizer machine. I called people out to clean our furnace vents and they said the house used to burn coal in the furnace, and that the vents were black. I also a got ear infection that the antibiotics ended up giving me c-diff also ( lost 20 lbs and thought I was dying ) It wasn't until about 5 months later I found out I had wg. So I think in my case it was environmental ????? I never did like OHIO. Its weird though how a lot of us start out with ear infections.