Need some advice muscle tension or what?

[concerned]

Hi Everyone,
I am posting for my boyfriend, who is in too much discomfort at the moment to leave a message. Our lives have been drastically turned upside down I am posting here because someone told us about this message board and I hope this will help us.
About 6 months ago, my boyfriend was diagnosed with prostatitis upon the urologist hearing the symptoms. The urologist did a prostatic massage, but no fluid came out so he told him to pee a few drops and he would get that cultured. culture came back negative. dr. told him it was still prostatitis and put him on medication. He has been on all sorts of medication now with no relief. He has seen many doctors and had many tests done. He had the newest test for prostatitis done. Results: no inflammation or infection at all in his body. He has had a cystoscopy, with no negative findings, he has had catheters put in to check for urine retention, and to check for ic by filling the bladder, results: nothing wrong, he has had an mri done he has had a cystometry done. All these tests and still nothing. they can't find anything wrong with him. He has completed bio feedback and he still doesn't feel better, the doctors told him that his problem is based on muscle tension and his stress.

He has been more stressed than I have ever seen him and when the phsyiotherapist gives deep muscle massages, she tells him the muscles are so tense that it is hard to massage them so he needs to calm down. But my boyfriend isn't convinced, his major symptoms are penis discomfort, a tight feeling when urninating (he says it feels like a cork of a bottle) burning discomfort, urinary frequency. he says he urinates and it feels like he has to urniate again. He sometimes has a split stream and on occassion his erections have been weakend. He also sometimes has dribbling at the end of his flow. He is convinced the problem is in his bladder althougth it has been cleared many many times by the doctors.
The doctor looked over his chart and said that all his symptoms can come from muscle tension.

We are very discouraged and anyone who can offer any explanation as to what it could be or if it sounds like muscle tension would be greatly appreciated.

I don't know what to do it is very difficult and he is going crazy with worry. We are trying to get through this together . but as you all know it is very difficult.

I don't know if I forgot anything... I hope not

thank you

sincerely
concerned

[scotsman]

Hi concerned.

Your boyfriends story is a very familar one for most of us here.

Please read through out FAQ section here: viewforum.php?f=36

the success stories section here: viewforum.php?f=5

and the chronic prostatitis / chronic pelvic pain syndrome main site here: https://ucpps.men

Regards
Richard.

[alprost]

I agree with Scotsman's above post. I'd add that he needs to see a physiotherapist who is specially trained in the assesment and treatment of pelvic floor myofascial trigger points. These appear to be the chief cause of symptoms in patients such as your boyfriend who has had everything else ruled out, and can cause pain all over the pelvis, from the coccyx to the penis. Most Urologists are currently unaware of this however.....

Check out this article for a more detailed description:
https://ucpps.men/chronic-prostatitis-is-a-psychoneuromuscular-condition

Good Luck,
Alan.

[hodologica]

Don't be discouraged; strong anecdotal evidence (no formal studies have been made) is that muscle tension treatments work very well in a large majority of cases! They work slow is the thing. They work better once one sort of makes peace with the ailment and stops thinking about how much it sucks all the time. Or at minimum, one needs to not be really stressing about it. To bolster his chances/speed of recovery, your bf really needs to:

1. accept that it will take weeks or months to get significantly better
2. eliminate or drastically reduce stress
3. practice a focused relaxation technique that produces alpha/theta [edit: I think I meant alpha/delta? can't keep em straight] brainwaves. Reeeally important. Takes some effort.
4. attempt, as far as possible, to clench as little as possible at all times
5. maybe ask the physiotherapist about stretches for pelvic-region muscles, eg the piriformis

Something I know little about but which might / might not be applicable to such urinary impediment is the drug Flomax.

All those things can be studied in the links above and/or with this site's search engine.

If he is clenching hard all the time, intrarectal massage may or may not be able to do much. It's a brief treatment that you get periodically, and can only have so much influence on the behavior of your pelvic muscles during the rest of the time. He really needs to also treat himself, 24/7. That means trying to relax himself and pelvic musculature, all the time. And practicing focused relaxtion 2x/ day.

I was extremely stressed about this problem myself, I got wound up to the point of having mild anxiety attacks and muscle tics. That was not a time when I made any progress with the ailment. Why is he "going crazy with worry?" My fear was that my problem was something gravely serious; once I realised it was almost certainly muscle tension and largely or completely reversable, I calmed down. That is, once I accepted that it was not going to be the awesomest spring ever.

[concerned]

Thank you all very much for your posts. It was very kind of you and it helped a lot. I have been telling him these things but maybe now that someone else has said it, he will believe it. And things will start to calm down with him stress wise.

Thanks
Concerned

[MastCells]

Concerned,

You've gotten some great replies already. I would just add that your boyfriend should give quercetin a try.
See: https://ucpps.men/quercetin-and-prostatitis-CPPS

And here are some other treatments worth considering:
https://ucpps.men/prostatitis-tips-things-that-help-and-hurt
https://ucpps.men
https://ucpps.men

[SickofCP]

Just to add my 2 cents:

1. It's important psychologically to know that the problem is not in his penis. When you feel that awful burning it's hard to believe that the problem is not where you are feeling it. But it's referred pain. I found that it helped psychologically to know this, and eases the stress.

2. He is lucky to have a girlfriend like you that is caring and helpful to his condition.

[hodologica]

By the way yer lad appears to be pretty much the exact person that the book "A Headache in the Pelvis" was written for. Many here consider it required reading for all of us sufferers, and it definitely seems like something he should read.

[concerned]

Hi everyone,
Thank you again for all your posts, they are very positive and helpful. I really appreciate that so many people take the time to read this and reply to it.
Oh one thing that I forgot to mention is that he has a redness on the tip of his penis. He says that it burns right at the tip where the urine comes out. The redness was the first thing he noticed back when this all started and with it, along came the tightness and discomfort.
He has used so many creams on it and while some creams help the texture or redness go down a bit,it never goes away. I was afraid that maybe he had an irritation from rubbing or something and then when he used some of the creams they were too harsh and burnt the skin or caused it to hurt even more. Does anyone have an explanation for this?

When he visits doctors, (they can't always see the redness because it is not at its worst then), they tell him it is nothing and to not worry about it cause it will go away but he says he knows his body and that it is related to all of this. Is redness common with this?
His physio therapist said she thinks it is red due to the blood flow because of his tenseness. Is that a possibility?

As far as the quercetin goes, does it have to be a specific brand? or do some brands work better than others? cause I know he was taking quercetin for a little while but I don't remember the effects of it or if it did anything for him. A pharmacist told me that sometimes you have to try around until you find the right brand cause all of them are a little different. Does anyone know if this is true?

I better end this now but thank you all so much for reading and responding. I apologize for asking so many questions but he just want to find some answers that he doesn't feel he is getting from anywhere else.
Thank you
sincerely
Concerned

[webslave]

Oh one thing that I forgot to mention is that he has a redness on the tip of his penis.

Very common symptom. Ignore it.

As far as the quercetin goes, does it have to be a specific brand? or do some brands work better than others?

I would only use any accredited quercetin product or ProstaProtek. See
https://ucpps.men/

Quercetin actually has been studied in this disorder.

[uksufferer2]

The others on here are much more knowledgeable ... I am only just starting on the road to recovery (I hope) but I have found warm baths help to relax the muscles.
I also did a short course of valium (carefull with addiction) - not for depression but it has the side effect of relaxing your muscles - and cheers you up
I have found that once I could realise that the cause of the pain is not to do with needing to pee most of my urinary problems have gone and I just have the pain.
placing something cold between my penis and scrotum relieves the pain.

good luck

[SickofCP]

placing something cold between my penis and scrotum relieves the pain.

I would think that something cold would not be helpful in the long run. Heat relaxes, cold tenses.

[concerned]

Thank you again for your posts.
I know he has tried hot baths and they have helped sometimes and other times haven't. I have tried to get him to maybe sit in a hot tub for awhile because I am told it is very helpful along with gentle stretches immediately after. He hasn't had time to do that yet, but hopefully he will. Also about putting something cold on there, he tried ice on the tip but not anywhere else. Thanks for the suggestions.
You all have been very helpful.
thank you
concerned

[darwin]

2 things I like to relax and help the discomfort:
Massage from a caring partner,
and lie down with a pillow under my knees. For some reason, putting a pillow or 2 under my knees allows me to be much more comfortable. Maybe it takes pressure off the pelvis to elevate the legs, I don't know.

Did he change his diet yet? No pop, no OJ. That was key for me.
Also, does he sit a lot at work? I bought a tempurpetic seat cushion and cut a hole out of the middle where my pelvis sits. I no longer get discomfort near the end of the work day, or at least not nearly as much.