Starting pelvic treatment after 4 and a half years

[webslave]

Premature ejaculation during intercourse?

[JuanMilo]

Premature ejaculation during intercourse?

During masturbation. Also on bad days, I’m feeling pressure below the belly button when I pee. Trying not to catastrophise as that symptom comes and goes. I don’t know, this is my own personal battle with problematic behaviours as a component of my CPPS. But I’m making things much worse for myself when I behave compulsively, I feel guilty afterwards, which I know isn’t great in itself. I had a good handle on this for quite a while and I started to improve as well.

[webslave]

How often do you masturbate? Be honest.

[JuanMilo]

Before lockdown, 2-4 times a week at the very most. Now I’ve easily averaged more than once a day, possibly even twice a day over a week. The trouble is that I’ve gone several times in a day and then left myself alone for a few days. But that flares me up badly. I know it’s insanity. I don’t know why I’ve suddenly lost all control, other than being stuck at home all the time. I’ve been looking into ways to stop the compulsiveness, I even contacted a counsellor.

I didn’t have these behaviours before CPPS, but I still do have a habit of tensing up/clenching which started all this off. I realise this all sounds like lunacy. I want to get better from CPPS but I realise this is a massive stumbling block, in fact it’s making the condition progressively worse..

[webslave]

That sort of frequency will definitely cause a problem. This could denote a form of OCD. Seeking a counsellor to help is a good idea.

[JuanMilo]

That sort of frequency will definitely cause a problem. This could denote a form of OCD. Seeking a counsellor to help is a good idea.

I haven’t talked to a counsellor, but I have dramatically reduced the amount of times I masturbate now. Honestly I’ve been having some mental health struggles which kind of triggered all that behaviour. It was indeed obsessive, but the discomfort it has left me in has been enough of a deterrent to behave much more sensibly. It’s been three weeks since I last engaged in any obsessive behaviour and the pain is winding down but is still heightened compared to how I was before this.

So I’ve been stretching every day, on top of that, using the wand for some light internal stretching as directed by Gerard Greene, as well as the abdominal massage he recommended. I’m using graminex, quercetin and bromelain and I’m also walking each day and having hot baths. I’m seeing my symptoms come down, albeit very gradually. This is kind of making me think that if I’d had such a regimen when I was better, who knows where I’d be. I’ve also started to research external trigger point treatment and I will probably be moving onto the internal trigger point stuff next week on Gerard’s recommendation.

However, I am concerned about this symptom of the tightness/pressure below the belly button. It seems to come and go but I’m worried it could be the prostate. That said, perhaps it’s muscular as I can feel heightened sensations from that area like when I pass wind, I can feel it in my front, similar to the pressure that feels like my prostate. Does this just sound like CPPS symptoms?

Thank you again for your time. I probably seem like a problem case with these bad habits, I know. It seems I’ve set myself back twice during lockdown, after implementing some good practices before that.

[webslave]

Could be prostate or bladder. Discomfort just below the belly button is often bladder related. Try IC diet
viewtopic.php?f=13&t=8733

[JuanMilo]

Could be prostate or bladder. Discomfort just below the belly button is often bladder related. Try IC diet
viewtopic.php?f=13&t=8733

Thank you webslave. Would prostate or bladder pain just be another element of my CPPS that’s reversible?

Trying my best not to catastrophise in general now. I’ve just subscribed to an app called curable that educates you on pain science, it came up when I looked up Sarno. That said, obviously if there was a problem I’d need to see a doctor for then I would do.

Also Tim Sawyer recommended I look into Wim Hof’s breathing techniques. Tried it tonight for the first time and it definitely has an interesting effect, my anxiety response felt actively dampened afterwards.

[webslave]

IC is usually reversible, and yes, IC (bladder pain syndrome) is also a part of UCPPS. There is a direct link between stress/anxiety and bladder inflammation. Look at Buffington's work with cats.
search.php?keywords=buffington

[JuanMilo]

I feel like I should come clean and be completely honest about what’s caused me to be in this flare.

I’ve been single since this started and I often have online fun with girls as a means to satisfy my urges. Usually I ejaculate 2-3, maybe 4 times max a week, but when I find a girl, I’ll end up indulging several times and causing myself pain, often going for a few hours as well. This would inevitably cause a flare for a few days, then I’d leave myself alone and recover pretty quickly to my baseline. I usually wouldn’t bother with that for a few weeks or months after an episode and I’d be relatively fine. Tbh I was relatively lucky to be where I was at with my symptoms, it was relatively mild for the most part.

I’ve been learning a language and I’ve been talking to a native speaking girl. I’m not one for long distance relationships, but this blossomed into a romantic thing and she may be coming to my country in the future. This is part of what spurred me on to actually start treating this condition. I started stretching although I did had some flaring, my erections felt better and I had some feelings of normality for the first time in ages.

I started to have online fun with her after a little while and that morphed back into these bad habits. Instead, where this would be a random girl I’d talk with for a few days, this is someone I talk to on a daily basis. So I’d be going for several hours with this girl and then sometimes several times a week. I’d experience mini flares and have hot baths to wind them down. Needless to say, this was bad enough for the CPPS to begin with.

This next part takes a lot to admit. Talking to this girl, it kind it reminded me how I felt when I was younger, that women tend to be able to enjoy sex a lot more - intense full body orgasms, multiple orgasms etc. This bothered me because I’m thinking - how is it fair our experience is ‘lesser’? So I did some reading and found men saying prostate orgasms are the route to serious pleasure in men. I actually had an old aneros sitting around in my draw I got a few years into CPPS because I heard of the apparent medical benefits of prostate massage, I’d never used it though. So I tried it out and it was an experience tbh, in parts my abs involuntarily seized up, spasmed etc. The next day, I was flaring, but it wasn’t that bad. It didn’t feel like it would take much to get over other than abstaining for a few days.

That said, as I told you I’ve been having some mental health issues surrounding all of this and I started to be very OCD with masturbation. Going multiple times in a session. Far too many times.

I used the aneros a couple more times and also in the meantime kept masturbating far too much in that same fashion. I felt I couldn’t help myself. That’s when I noticed the tension/pressure under the belly button and why I was concerned about it being my prostate. I think it was after the last time I used the aneros that I really noticed I was having some pretty bad premature ejaculation on top of the discomfort/pain I caused myself.

I mainly was/have been having pain and burning in my abs, especially after sitting, pain in the perineum, pressure feelings around the bladder/prostate, pretty bad irritation after urinating and premature ejaculation. I’ve been treating myself as I described in my other post, including stopping the behaviours that caused this (only ejaculating 2-3 times a week). I’d say I feel maybe 50% better. A lot less irritation in my urethra, my perineum feels much better, the feelings in my abs are much better, but still a sensitivity around my bladder/prostate. The premature ejaculation is troublesome. After abstaining a few days, I don’t really have it, but if I go again the next day when the irritation must be somewhat reignited from the previous day, the PE is back. I’ve only ever had PE once before and that was induced by one of the online binges I mentioned earlier. So obviously, on some level I’m concerned about it. I’ve also had some burning after ejaculating, things just don’t really feel quite ‘normal’, even if ‘normal’ was CPPS before this.

I know how this sounds - like I’m my own worst enemy. What I will say, is I don’t think over indulging was the primary cause of the CPPS for me, but I suppose it doesn’t matter what got me here.

I’m doing my best to wind down this flare, I’m being much much less compulsive, perhaps the only thing left to do is not ejaculate two days in a row. I’m stretching every night, massaging my abs twice a week and doing some light internal work too, as well as taking quercetin, bromelain and graminex. I’m using the curable app for chronic pain which has written exercises - I realised last night how many negative emotions I have surrounding sex and how that could well play into this condition for me. I want to engage with this all fully, it’s hard not to catastrophise a bit and worry I’ve damaged my prostate or something like that.

Anyway, I know I’ve written a lot here. Webslave, I don’t expect you to pick through all of this. I suppose the main thing I’m bothered about here is worrying whether I’ve done damage, but then again, I don’t see why addressing the muscles would have positive effects if I had done that. After I do the ab massage, the internal stretching or have a hot bath I feel a lot of relief.

Okay so yeah, I’m embarrassed to admit these things. I do have feelings of shame and anxiety surrounding all this, but I felt compelled to be honest with this community, especially when I’m coming here asking for advice.

[webslave]

No, you've almost certainly not damaged yourself via Aneros use or excessive masturbation. The fact that you are concerned about that is just another symptom of the fact that you are somewhere on the Anxiety-OCD spectrum, and treating that could be key to recovering. The worry, excessive masturbation and social isolation (that leads you to interact mostly online with females) could all fade with proper treatment.

[JuanMilo]

Thank you for the patience and understanding Webslave. Honestly, you deserve a f***ing medal for what you do here. I almost didn’t want to come clean as I thought you might say the opposite of what you did there. It’s relieving to read that, but as you say, I mistaken address this anxiety. That’s partly what the curable app is supposed to do. I saw one guy on the curable FB group say he completely got rid of his pain from the program. There’s a story on the app of a guy who actually attended the clinic with Dr Wise as well. He improved but still he symptoms and used curable after to bring his pain down to minimal levels.

In reality, I think the ‘prostate’ symptoms I have are coming from my abs atm. As a side note, I don’t think the Wim Hof breathing was good for me, as it engages your abs, but I have seen a couple of guys say it really helped them.

Also, my brother found this from the health service here in the UK, it’s a bit old, but the second to last section discusses pelvic floor dysfunction, trigger points etc

https://www.surreyandsussex.nhs.uk/wp-c ... elines.pdf

Thanks again for your help webslave. Apologies for the second long comment in a row!

[webslave]

That's a very good document, although outdated and incomplete in many respects. I like this flowchart:

flowchart-eu.png

[JuanMilo]

That really is great - I will have to research some of the terms but that really helps me further appreciate how this condition is a self feeding cycle in so many ways!

[JuanMilo]

I just wanted to document a small breakthrough I’ve had. As I said I’ve been using the curable app for a few days now and it really is enlightening.

They have a core section of education on pain inspired by the likes of Sarno and the work that has come after him. They discuss how negative emotions are experienced in the same regions of the brain as pain and how negative emotions around and towards pain add to the self reinforcing cycle.

The lesson that I just did was on forgiveness, which may sound a bit spiritual and new age. But I think this may play a large role in the recovery of many CPPS patients. Often, we’ve been kicked from pillar to post by the medical community and that is a large source of trauma for many of us. Having a pain condition by itself is enough to cause people to foster a victimhood complex (something the app includes as pain reinforcing behaviour), let alone being continuously let down or even neglected by those who were supposed to help us. I think forgiveness could be an important aspect of our healing journeys.

In hindsight, I can only imagine how tense I was during those first few weeks when the pain wasn’t going away. When i was insisting the pain was bad to the doctors and they wanted to say everything was normal.

On top of this, the app talks about large life events being a potential trigger for pain, such as the breakdown of a relationship. Well when CPPS started for me, I had the potential UTI I’d caught from sex with the girl I was seeing. I was so very low when the pain hadn’t gone away for a month - and then she dumped me. I harboured some seriously negative feelings for her and I still do now at times - 9 years on. I’m beginning to see how these negative emotions likely really kicked off CPPS for me - and this is without mentioning all the other predisposing factors I had before it happened to me - insecurity, negative emotions around various aspects related to sex, practicing kegels, traumatic episodes growing up.

I feel I’m unraveling this condition, or at least why CPPS has happened to me.