The disease can present in very different ways in different people depending on the severity and the organs involved. It is not uncommon for patients to have had mild symptoms for months or even years before seeing a doctor at all.

Common general symptoms include tiredness, loss of appetite and aching muscles and joints. It is very common for GPA to affect the ears, nose and sinuses causing blocked nose with some bleeding, crusts and blood clots. Deafness is also very common due to inflammation in the ears as is pain in face or headaches due to sinus inflammation. The eyes can also be involved.

In some patients the kidneys can be severely affected which leads patients to go to a doctor with symptoms of kidney disease. Other common symptoms include:
Lungs - breathlessness, wheeze, dry cough or coughing up blood
Skin - rashes, ulcers, and necrosis (death of tissue)
Eyes - red (blood shot) eyes, painful, dry or gritty eyes, visual loss or other changes in vision
Bowels - Diarrhoea, bleeding and abdominal pain.
Nerves - loss of sensation, weakness, unusual painful symptoms in the hands and feet and rarely paralysis or stroke