Jon's Case

[Jon]

Hey New guy,

Please let me share with you my story (I know it's a bit long). This thread by gesundheit84 inspired me to post this and am happy that I finally found someone like gesundheit84 who shares many of the symptoms I have/had. Maybe we can help each other out.

February 2006: My first symptoms of prostatitis started around February of 06 while in college. I was 22 years old at the time. (However it may have started before that due to the subtleness of my initial symptoms). It felt like a tingling/buzzing/bubbling/spastic sensation. I just ignored it thinking it was part of hormonal aging. I remember one day sitting in class, and began feeling light tingling sensations in my testicles. This would continue periodically throughout the day. Each sensation would last about 3-5 seconds. On a good day, I only felt it a few times through the day and other days would be almost constant- nearly every minute in certain periods of the day. Over the course of that year it would get progressively more constant. There would usually be two kinds of sensations, small and big. The big ones I felt very easily, even if my attention was focused on something else. The small ones I would really have to put all of my attention on my groin area to feel it. They felt almost like “mini sensations”. It is possible it could have been due to overactive nerve impulses. These sensations would become the “trademark” symptom of my prostatitis/CPPS, and the beginning signals of what’s to come.

August 2007: I finally decided to go see a local urologist. He performed a urinalysis and gave me my very first rectal exam (but unfortunately would not be my last). Everything checked out normal. However, based on the symptoms I told him, he diagnosed me with acute prostatitis (inflammation of the prostate). He also set me up for an ultra sound of my testicles and it revealed some bacteria in the testes along with a small epididymal cyst and hydroceles which was not a concern. However, I’m not sure if the bacteria in my testes were the cause of my symptoms, as I will feel the same sensations in areas other than just my testes two years later. He prescribed me a 10 day course of antibiotics and told me to restrict caffeine and increase vitamin C intake to 500mg/day. At about the 2nd or 3rd day of taking the antibiotics, I felt it starting to “kick-in”; the sensations stopped along with a “cold dullness” to my testicles. It felt almost as strange as the symptoms itself but it was able to clear up the sensations and the dullness eventually went away as well. I became symptom free and went on with my life.

January 2008: I had a follow-up visit with the urologist. I explained to him that my symptoms started up again, but only very small and was not a problem living with very minor tingling sensations. He told me “you may have to live with this uncomfortable feeling.” I really didn’t have a problem living with it. At this time I began taking an herbal prostate supplement called Prostate Health by Aboca. It helped effectively reduce my sensations to a level where It didn’t really bother me very much. I would only feel the sensations occasionally.

2008: My close aunt and my grandmother passed away within 4 months of each other of this year. This was a serious blow to me and my family. I never truly experienced grieving before. To add insult to injury, my girlfriend and I broke up immediately after getting the news that my grandma had a major stroke, which lead to her demise several days later. Furthermore, I was fired from 3 different jobs and failed my major school exam boards two times I studied and stressed very hard for (although finally passing it the third time). I believe these to be contributing factors that would lead to my first major flare-up in 09.

January 2009: I began to feel the tingling sensations coming back more frequently. I continued to use the prostate supplement but the effects of it started to wear away. A couple of days later, the sensations abruptly stopped. I was relieved, but little did I know the sensations were the “eye of the storm”. I then started to feel as what was to become the “classic” symptoms of prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain.

Late January, I began feeling fullness in my bladder, even know I didn’t have to urinate. Also there was a general discomfort of my groin area, and mainly the frontal region. I also had symptoms of vasocongestion (blue balls) for long periods of time throughout the day. Characteristics of this new flare up: painful, tightness, heaviness, tenderness, swelling, very uncomfortable, “fireworks show” and CONSTANT. There was even a day where I could barley walk due to the tremendous dull pain. I had all the classic symptoms of prostatitis minus any urination problems. I remember nights crying and praying for this to be over. I could barley get any sleep, although my appetite was still good. But the pain would not leave me no matter what I tried. I tried massaging my groin, hot baths, different herbal supplements I tried from the book “Prescription for Nutritional Healing”. Any self-treatment I tried had little or no effect. I started to really worry.

On the morning of Saturday, January 31st, I was woken up by a very strange feeling, almost like the feeling of missing an exit on the highway. I began to feel my “fight or flight” response system “kick-in”. Never in my life had I experienced this in this way in the comforts of my own bed. Before I knew what hit me, a wave of anxiety hit my body. I had no idea what hit me which made me panic even more. Little did I know I was having a full fledged anxiety attack. It was probably the worst feeling in the world. It literally feels like your going to die. And I seriously thought I was, having never experienced a full-fledged anxiety attack before. I asked my father to drive me to the Emergency Room but by the time I got there, my anxiety attack nearly went away. However, I stayed there anyway to get tests done. The Physician’s Assistant gave me a rectal exam and told me my prostate “Was a little swollen”. She prescribed me antibiotics (ciprofloxacin 500mg); 20 pills, 10 days. All of my symptoms cleared, but only briefly (3-4 days). Prior to even finishing the 10 day course of medication, symptoms re-appeared almost as bad as before. I just muddled through, hoping that the antibiotics will “kick-in” sooner than later.

February 2009:
Medicenter Visit #1: The anxiety attacks were non-stop. This was going on for several weeks. I couldn’t sleep, I felt nauseous every time I tried to eat. My quality of life was going downhill. I remember a couple of late nights where I literally couldn’t get it up! I would try to think of the most attractive girls possible just to test my erection, and I was thinking “oh my God, I will never be able to get another erection again!” Furthermore, the prostatitis was still raging. I would constantly feel this uncomfortable feeling (like a golf ball directly behind my scrotum). I Went to my local Medicenter and nearly begged for more antibiotics, which was the only thing at the time that helped me. She prescribed me antibiotics (100mg Doxycycline), 10 day, 20 pill course of treatment. The antibiotics weren’t being effective. And just being this way for even a day was simply horrific. Time slowed down. Minutes felt like hours, hours felt like days. It was pure hell.

Medicenter Visit #2: I couldn’t take it anymore. I was hitting my breaking point. I felt I was going to lose my mind and turn into a basket case if this kept up any longer. I’ve always been a nervous person, so for this to happen to me was simply horrendous. I decided to go back to the medicenter and get anti-anxiety medicine. If I can help it, I try not to take drugs, but in this situation I was desperate. The doctor at the medicenter prescribed me Xanax (0.5mg). I took 1 pill and within 20 minutes. The anxiety started to lift away from me. I was able to get my appetite back. I fell asleep and got some much needed shuteye. For the first time in nearly a month, I was starting to feel more like myself again-normal.

March 2009: March was a slightly better month for me. The anxiety episodes became less of an occurrence and I was able to get back to my everyday life. I decided not to use drugs to balance me again. Now that I was feeling better, I would now be able to concentrate on more on the cause of this- my prostatitis. I went and got another ultra sound and revealed just some hydrocele, no bacteria. The discomfort was still there and I was still having some anxiety over it. I looked on the internet to try to find some alternative treatments for prostatitis. I then stumbled upon a testimonial, claiming that a treatment called “broccoli soup” worked wonders for this person. I was skeptical at first, but nothing else that I tried was effective and if I couldn’t get relief soon, I would go right back on the antibiotics, which I didn’t want to do. So I tried the broccoli soup one night, and the next morning, woke up feeling much relief! I was amazed! Although I still felt some discomfort, it did significantly reduce my symptoms by at least 80%! I began making this soup daily, and has now become an integral part of my treatment plan.

April 2009:
I am currently finding more treatment for my prostatitis. I do have flare-ups from time and time for unexplained reasons which sometimes trigger “minor” panic attacks, but I have developed thicker skin and have gained much more control on my condition. I can even get an erection now without a problem! I don’t know when it will just “fade away” but for now I am continuing to be consistent in my treatment and become more knowledgeable about prostatitis. My ultimate goal is to become symptom free for the long-term but right now my goal is to simply make the necessary changes in my life to subside the pain and inflammation to a level where I can lead a normal life.

I still do feel the tingling sensations but it “traveled” from my testes to my upper thighs and perineum. I have continued tingling sensations in my perineum, scrotum and buttock areas. If anyone can share some insight on this, particularly those who have had similar problems as I shared.

Thank you

-Jon

[webslave]

Hi Jon, very classic case you have there, welcome, read the paper on panic here: http://ucpps.men/1/

[Jay]

Hi Jon,

I just wanted to welcome you to the boards. Very sorry to hear of the difficult time you've been having. As Webslave has already noted, your story features many of the typical chronic prostatitis / chronic pelvic pain syndrome hallmarks.

Crawling, itching, tingling and so forth are common complaints (I occasionally suffer from them). As a non-doctor, I suspect that they could be a form of sensory neuropathy caused by muscular spasm. Nerves do very strange things when it comes to CPPS. For example, I occasionally have a flare of tactile allodynia on my lower buttocks/perineum/thighs. Loose clothing and lidocaine patches have helped with these!

The pain of chronic prostatitis / chronic pelvic pain syndrome is problematic, but as you've discovered, your own mind can be a large contributor to the problem. It's very important to prune stress from your life, and to simply take time for breathing and relaxation. Most of all, realize that you are not in a hopeless situation and that many guys have found their way back to relative normalcy.

I would suggest that you thoroughly read over the main website and the forums, particularly the success stories section of the latter. A little inspiration goes a long way.

[Hacksquat]

Jon, your case resembles mine. The way the symptoms "travel" around the pelvis is really annoying. As soon as you have sort of accepted or adjusted to one symptom, it changes for something new.

About anxiety and panic over this, I still have problems some days with what you describe as "mini" panic attacks. I have been reluctant to try benzo, but maybe that´s what I need until I have learned to cope with this in a natural way. How often do you take them?

Also, I´m interested in the broccoli thing, please post a link to where you found out about this.

[graeme]

I tried the broccoli broth for nearly month noon and night never did a thing, although it was claimed as a cure on the prostatitis foundation site

[carld]

You can read my starter list to help you get going...


Best

[Jon]

I tried the broccoli broth for nearly month noon and night never did a thing, although it was claimed as a cure on the prostatitis foundation site

Hey Graeme, I'm sorry that the broccoli soup was not effective for you. Furthermore, the broccoli treatment was far from a cure anyway, it just took the edge off for awhile. But I found it interesting that NAIDS did nothing yet a vegetable was far more effective.

Also, I've had my share of treatments that had little or no effect on me either, particularly many of the nutritional and herbal supplements out there that I've tried. It is simply trial and error to determine what works most effective for the individual. Everybody's different and I sincerely hope that other treatments work for you

[Jon]

Also, I'm interested in the broccoli thing, please post a link.

https://ucpps.men
Hope it helps hacksquat!!

-Jon