Vasculitis treatment

There’s Nothing Quite Like Tooth Pain

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Last weekend, I had a Rituximab infusion aimed at keeping my vasculitis in remission. Then on Tuesday I started with pain in my lower jar and noticed that part of one of my wisdom teeth had broken away. I got an emergency Dentist appointment on Wednesday and had to have the tooth extracted.

Before the extraction and since, I’ve had pain in my lower jaw and face. There’s nothing quite like tooth pain is there? This actually reminds me what I’ve written about pain, in FINDING YOUR HAPPINESS:

Your Pain

Part of being alive is experiencing pain. There are different types of pain. Pain can be physical, mental or emotional. Any type of pain reduces your quality of life and will make you less happy.

You should address any pain promptly, to prevent it from getting worse and to promote healing.

Physical Pain
Physical pain is often managed, rather than cured or healed. Pain management can involve medications, exercises and sometimes surgery. Physical pain can be acute (coming on suddenly and is short term) or chronic (long term).

Acute physical pain is a sign that something is wrong inside your body. Chronic pain is caused by diseases and disorders inside your body. If you’re in physical pain, I highly recommend that you see your GP.

Your GP will complete an assessment, tests/investigations to work out the cause of the pain and work with you to develop a treatment plan.

A good example of physical pain is a broken leg. Imagine you fall and break your leg. You are in pain and seek medical attention. You have an x-ray that confirms the broken bone. You have surgery to repair it.
After surgery you have a period of immobilisation to allow the bone to heal and then have physiotherapy to regain muscle strength.

Within 3-6 months you are back to doing everything you used to do before the injury. Walking, running and dancing. Your leg is healed. You are healed.

Mental Pain
We don’t know enough about mental pain. Sometimes mental pain is managed, sometimes it is healed.

Mental pain is caused by mental illnesses. Sometimes mental illnesses run in families, suggesting that the cause could be genetic. Sometimes mental illnesses are caused by life events.

There are many different types of mental illnesses, some are acute and some are chronic. Examples of mental illnesses include anxiety, depression, bipolar and schizophrenia.

It can be difficult for a doctor to diagnose mental illnesses due to similar symptoms. Even Psychiatrists (doctors that specialise in mental health) have difficulty diagnosing mental illnesses.

Diagnosis of mental illnesses can take a significant amount of time. There’s no blood test or scans that can be completed to confirm whether an individual has mental illnesses or not, let alone which specific mental illness they have.

I would highly recommend that you see your GP if you are experiencing mental pain.

If you’re experiencing mental pain, don’t wait for a diagnosis. Start to manage your symptoms immediately, to the best of your ability.

In some cases people can fully recover from mental pain/illnesses. Whereas in other cases it is about long term management of symptoms.

Recovery from mental pain/illnesses doesn’t have set timescales. It usually takes months to years, depending on the individual and the circumstances. But every year many people do recover from mental pain/illnesses.

Emotional Pain
A conversation about emotional pain in western healthcare is not currently happening, but it needs to.

Symptoms of Pain
With all types of pain you will have a combination of physical, mental and emotional symptoms. Let me give you an example of this from my own life.

I once had severe stomach pains. They’d come and go, but were incredibly painful when present. I went to see my GP and had a range of tests/investigations. Everything came back normal.

However physically, my body always felt tight. Sometimes my chest felt tight, like it was difficult to breathe. At these times, my heart beat fast and I sweated excessively.

Eventually my GP diagnosed me with anxiety, a mental illness. I was prescribed medication and referred for therapy. It took several years, but I came to realise that my anxiety was often caused by my emotional state. Fear seemed to frequently trigger my anxiety.

I realised that in order to effectively treat my anxiety, I needed to address the fear. So that’s what I did.

Whatever symptoms of pain you have it is essential that you work out what it is and address the cause(s).

(From: FINDING YOUR HAPPINESS by Antony Simpson, 2026, pages 55-57.)

I’m currently on antibiotics and prescription painkillers. So I will be taking it easy this weekend.

Blog soon,

Antony

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Health Update: Vasculitis Remission, Blood Sugar Reduction (Type 1 Diabetes) and the Hole in the Roof of My Mouth

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I am pleased to announce that my vasculitis is in remission (see this page on Vasculitis UK for more information). This means that there are no active signs of the disease and my blood results show no signs of inflammation.

This is thanks to the excellent care of the Specialist Doctors in the NHS and the Rituximab infusions provided by the NHS.

All of the care I have received from NHS Staff has been nothing short of exceptional. Staff have been kind and compassionate. They have delivered safe, high quality and evidenced-based care.

The care has been driven by clinical need, without staff having to worry about the cost and without me having to worry about my ability to pay. I am beyond grateful.

My blood sugars have continued to reduce with my Hba1C currently being 52. My Hba1C was 58 in February 2025 and 99 before that. My Medtronic insulin pump (the MiniMed 780G) has played a massive role in this reduction, but so have better diet, increased exercise and loss of a bit of weight.

I have come off all medications, apart from insulin. This includes medications for high blood pressure, high cholesterol and mental health medications. I have made a number of changes to my life to become the happiest that I have ever been.

The hole in the roof of my mouth has gotten slightly bigger, now being about 1cm in size. However given the improvements to my overall health and the fact that the vasculitis is now in remission, the surgeon is keen to repair the hole in the roof of my mouth in the coming months.

That’s about it for my health update. Write soon,

Antony

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Year In Review: 2025 Blog Posts, 1 Article and 2 Books

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This year, I have written, edited and published 52 blog posts, 1 article and 2 books. Here are some of the best posts, information about the 1 article and 2 books, in case you missed them at the time they were originally published:

In January, I published The Heartbreaking Story of Matthew Shepard. The story of a young student who was tortured and then murdered for being gay in America.

The brutal murder of Matthew Shepard gained international news coverage at the time. I was reminded of his story because of Donald Trump’s targeting the LGBT community with his rhetoric.

In February, I published my Z-VIRUS Powers: Map of Anglesey. This post is about my Z-Virus Powers novel, a story about a zombie apocalypse where some kids develop supernatural powers.

The wonderful array of young characters (some with powers and some without) decide to go on a quest for the cure, after their powers that once aided survival are now becoming destructive.

In February, I also published my Health & Future Plans Update: A Dramatic Reduction in HbA1c thanks to Medtronic Insulin Pump. I shared my dramatic reduction in my HbA1c blood test result due to starting the Medtronic Insulin Pump. It really has been life changing.

I shared my future plans for the year, most of which I am proud to say happened.

This included my plans with family and friends. It also included my plans to release Z-Virus Monsters, the next novel/installment of my Z-Virus Series.

In March, I published my FREE article, Influential UK Gay Men. This was an article all about UK Gay Men I find to be influential in society.

Just some of the men included in this list were: Mark Ashton, Jonathan Bailey, Rupert Everett, Paul O’Grady, Alan Turing.

There were many others, with the article dividing the gay men into categories.

I concluded by writing that there probably wouldn’t be a gay man who became Prime Minister of the UK in my lifetime, which I found sad.

In March, I published a post about Refreshing A Money Bowl, which was very popular. I also announced that I had secured a new job.

In April, I published a post titled: How Would You Survive A Zombie Apocalypse? It was a short blog post about the essential requirements for survival in a zombie apocalypse and was used to promote my two books: Z-Virus Powers and Z-Virus Monsters.

I also published a short blog post about the 10 Books I’ve Read That Have Stayed With Me. Each of these books has a special place in my heart. I linked previous reviews of these books in this post. Some of the books on this list include: Mum Can You Lend Me Twenty Quid? By Elizabeth Burton-Phillips, In His Secret Life by Mel Bossa, The Neuroscientist Who Lost Her Mind by Barbara K. Lipska and Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank.

In May, I rebranded My Royal Navy Friend book with a new title (Funny Emails To My Friend) and with a new book cover. I published a post about why I rebranded this book here.

The decision to rebrand the book was driven by feedback, suggesting that people assumed that My Royal Navy Friend was about the Royal Navy. The book was never about the Royal Navy.

My Royal Navy Friend was about maintaining a friendship with a friend who followed their life long dream of joining the Royal Navy through funny, entertaining and occasionally serious emails. So I rebranded, to better reflect what the book is about.

In June, I attended Leigh Book Fest, which was a huge success. I also attended an event a Middleton Library, where I donated some signed copies of my books to the library.

I published blog posts about the importance of Finding Joy and my new old car.

July seemed to be all about animals, in some form or other.

My bengal cat, Dylan, sadly had to be put to sleep.

I had a fantastic time visiting Blackpool Zoo, sharing plenty of photos in a blog post I published.

You can see other recent photos on my regularly updated Photos page here.

In August, I published a post sharing the incredible story of Jonas Salk. In The Story of Jonas Salk and The Polio Vaccine, I shared Salk’s story of the development of the Polio Vaccine.

What is inspirational about this man, is not just that he developed the polio vaccine. But that he chose not to patent it. This meant that anyone could reproduce the polio vaccine without any payment to Salk.

If Salk had patented his polio vaccine, it would have made him several billionaire dollars. But he chose not to and in doing so, helped it become more widely available to the whole of humanity.

In August, I posted a blog post titled: Unsafe Places to be a Gay Man, detailing the places it isn’t safe to be an out gay man in the world.

To balance the above blog post, I later published a blog post titled: Safer Places to Live for Gay Men. In this post, I focused on places that are safer, more accepting and with better legal rights and protections for gay men in the world.

Safer Places to Live for Gay Men is a blog post I am really proud of publishing. I hope gay men looking for places where they are safer and more accepted in the world find this post. I hope they find this well researched blog post useful.

In September, I shared photos and essential information related to two castles in South Wales, in my published blog post: South Wales Castles – Raglan Castle & White Castle.

I also published a blog post explaining that despite on-going treatment for Vasculitis, I am the happiest I have ever been.

In September, I published a post titled: The Power of the Subconscious Mind.

In this blog post, I explain what the subconscious mind is, how it operates, how it communicates with our conscious mind and how to heal a troubled, disturbed or traumatised subconscious.

I give ways to help heal the subconscious mind and explain that it takes both work and time.

But that the hard work is totally worth the benefits of healing the subconscious mind.

In October, I published a blog post about the dangers associated with Emotional Support from an AI (Artificial Intelligence) App.

Dangers included: No Empathy, False Connection, Emotional Dependence, Bad Advice, Can Reinforce Negative Thoughts/Feelings/Behaviours, No Safeguarding, Lack of Emotional Growth & Data Privacy Breeches.

Given the dangers, as a minimum this apps should be regulated, if not banned.

In October, I also published this blog post: Zack Polanski, The New Leader of The Green Party Is Someone I Would Like Add To My Influential Gay Men Article.

Zack has seemingly appeared from nowhere to become the leader of the Green Party. In this blog post, I state that I wish I’d have known about him when doing research for my Influential UK Gay Men article, so that he could have been included in it.

In the post, I discuss Zack’s appeal, share his story (as available online) and state that I may have been wrong about there not being an out gay man as Prime Minister of the UK in my lifetime. In fact, I hope that I am wrong.

So there you have it. My Year In Review: 2025. I wonder what 2026 will bring?

Write soon,

Antony

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Vasculitis Treatment: Rituximab

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The Vasculitis flare ups had been getting more and more frequent. More painful. So when my blood test results can back abnormal, I can’t say that I was surprised.

In the next month, I’ll be having two infusions of Rituximab, two weeks apart.

Let’s be clear about the aim of this treatment:

It’s to try to slow down the progress of the Vasculitis. Not to treat it or cure it. Just to slow it down.

What is Rituximab?
Rituximab is a drug that essentially kills certain white blood cells that make up the immune system.

Side Effects of Rituximab Treatment Include:

  • Fatigue
  • Nausea / Vomiting
  • Gastro Issues – loose bowels or constipation
  • Rashes / Hives
  • Hair Loss
  • Headaches
  • Swelling caused by a build up of fluid
  • Allergic Reaction – causing a high temperature and potentially difficulty in breathing
  • Weight loss
  • High blood sugars
  • Anxiety / Agitation
  • Dizziness
  • Mouth Ulcers
  • Sweating

But the big one is an increased risk of getting an infection. Infections that the body would usually be able to fight off, it won’t be able to. This means that any infection could become quickly life threatening and potentially kill me (if not treated promptly or if I am just unlucky).

It’s a scary time. But whatever I think and feel about it, its got to be done.

Hopefully write soon,

Antony

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