Anger...

[lovemaryjane]

Anger & jealousy is what I've been feeling lately. A lot of testicular & penile pain has made me very jealous and envious of strangers and happy couples. I often ask why god? But I realized no man chooses the cards hes dealt. I'm in denial too, I wish this condition was non existent but it's a nightmare. I'm a younger male and my prospects of dating and starting a family are shot.this condition can be he'll for anyone but I know it's worse for us younger guys, I'm missing out and not developing any social skills and I'm missing out on my youth because of chronic penile/nerve pain. Life can be really hard sometimes...

[samgg10]

I'm a younger male and my prospects of dating and starting a family are shot.

Nope. Just on hold for a bit.

You seem like a tough case, seeing as you're expressing very strong versions of the emotions that all of us feel. Depending on how strong these emotions are, you may want to seek some sort of outside support in handling them. This is a hell of a condition to keep inside.

Also, listen to yourself. The flare's got you a little unhinged and venting and I think everyone here relates to that. But, since you wrote it all down, your words speak to how mentally skewed you are right now. In some of your other posts I can picture your chattering teeth. For you, and for most of us, chronic prostatitis / chronic pelvic pain syndrome is a mental condition with physical symptoms. Like a hack sci-fi novel, really. Because in the 'real world' you aren't supposed to feel pain for these things; it' s not fair, nobody else does, etc.

Whatever. It's real. And I'm in your boat exactly. Except last year, at peak symptom-levels, I accepted a few things. The main thing is you can't fight through this, because it keeps on getting worse and worse. I've seen people who are actually crippled by CPPS, guys who can't walk at all, and worse. It's not cancer, but it is something serious (and potentially even harder day-to-day to deal with), so you must commit to healing. Else you're as good as dead, I think.

This involves a few sacrifices. Some people have success with "moderation," but for me the important thing was cold-turkey quitting until I cut out whatever dependencies & aggravating routines I had developed over the years. So there's the diet stuff: no alcohol, no caffeine, limited spices & other irritant foods. Probably no psycho-actives, period, until you get a little more stable. Also the lifestyle stuff, which boils down to: get some exercise, don't spend too much time alone, and avoid ejaculation. Those things will keep your flares down as much as possible. Then you have to commit to the protocol, which is all about getting your head straight. Removing those shitty thoughts & regrets from your daily consciousness, learning to stop feeling sorry for yourself, etc.

That's the big story of CPPS, I think. Healing an injured consciousness. Learning to live 'at peace'. Do this and, in a year or two, the pain will gradually go away. You'll be a healthier, happier, pain-free person. Two years, tops....some people have it a lot worse.

I'm 1 year in. I gave up the parties, the beer, the girls, the caffeine, and a lot of the frills of being young. But only for a little while. I'm already healthy enough to do all of these things if I want to, and often I do. A few drinks a night would be no problem on most days. Same with caffeine, and probably drugs if I cared to use them.

My mind's in a better place, I'm more relaxed, and, no matter what I do, the pain's totally slipping away...

[webslave]

That's an excellent reply, Sam.

[critthinker]

What a great reply, Sam! I agree with nearly everything you wrote. I'm also pretty young and find myself thinking things like "How can I ever have a family?" or "Will I ever even get married?" I think it's really important to stop obsessing about the future and start living in the present. So much of this disorder is caused by our anxiety -- which is largely fueled by dwelling on the past and obsessing over the future. We don't take enough time to simply BE PRESENT. So I think the best advice is to reassure yourself that there will be a time in the future when you'll be able to have all these things (alcohol, sex, etc.) once again. But the more pressure you put on yourself in the short run, the more likely it is that you will reach that point later rather than sooner. I was feeling much better with my pain levels a year ago (which, at the time, was eight months into my CPPS) and I started dating. I ended up having way too much sex and greatly suffered as a result. It took me nearly six months to get back on track after that. Now I have to ask myself: was it really worth it? Had I taken a more cautious approach and taken things slowly, would I be 100% better today? Perhaps.

One other thing I'd add is that if you're feeling especially crappy quite frequently, you should definitely see a psychiatrist and look into benzos or something longer-term like Lexapro or Paxil. One of the best graphs in A HEADACHE IN THE PELVIS concerns the Anxiety-Muscle Tension-Pain cycle. Basically, until and unless you control all three aspects of this cycle, you won't get control of the situation. So if you're doing PT but not addressing catastrophic thinking, that's not enough. If you're taking Neurontin or Lyrica but not doing PT, that's not enough either.

My belief is that there are both natural and pharmacological solutions to each of these three areas. I think Sam pointed many of them out well, but here they are organized in terms of each aspect of the cycle:

Anxiety
Medical: Benzodiazepines, SSRIs targeting anxiety
Natural: Vigorous cardio exercise, meditation, deep breathing

Muscle tension/Nerve sensitivity
Medical: Physical therapy, nerve blocks, Botox (only try these last two once you've exhausted other options)
Natural: Hot baths (30 min minimum, preferably an hour)

Pain
Medical: Drugs like Lyrica, Neurontin

Personally, I think the single greatest weapon in this fight is vigorous cardio. Why? Because it hits not one, not two, not three, but FOUR areas at once:
1) reduces/eliminates pain through release of endorphins
2) increases energy level/decreased fatigue
3) lowers feelings of depression
4) reduces/eliminates anxiety

The best I've ever felt in the past few months have been the times I've managed to play basketball for an hour. Unfortunately I broke my foot the second time, and now I can't do any vigorous cardio for a few more weeks!

The best analogy I have come up with involves three faucets symbolizing anxiety, muscle tension and pain. Imagine that all three faucets are on and that all three are on full heat. If you tilt one of the faucets toward the cold setting, it's not going to make much of a difference in how hot and how intense the pressure of the water is. But if you manage to turn the knobs halfway on two faucets, NOW you're getting somewhere. The water in the sink is going to be of a smaller amount and cooler. I think the key is to basically have the patience to realize that eventually the faucets will all be turned off but that this 1) takes a considerable amount of time and 2) can involve lots of starts and stops. When I reflect on the periods in the past two years during which I felt no pain, I realize now I was doing very specific things during those periods (the things I describe above). When you're in pain, it seems like you'll never get out of it. But once it starts improving, you start to change your outlook considerably.

[samgg10]

Personally, I think the single greatest weapon in this fight is vigorous cardio. Why? Because it hits not one, not two, not three, but FOUR areas at once:
1) reduces/eliminates pain through release of endorphins
2) increases energy level/decreased fatigue
3) lowers feelings of depression
4) reduces/eliminates anxiety

Great post, and I want to second this. For some reason 'moderate' or even 'soft' cardio is heavily promoted here, or it seems like, and vigorous is either overlooked or (tacitly) discouraged. But I've had this same experience.

I do, and have done, very vigorous team-sports cardio 3 times/week. More if I can. Even at peak symptom levels, or during a flare, the pain is totally gone by the first minute of the game and stays away for 1-3 hours afterward. Also, over the period of my condition I have not noticed any sort of 'pain hangover' from this sort of activity. In fact, the next day is more likely to be a 'good' day than a 'bad' one. This is regardless of pre-game or post-game stretching regimens...probably I stretch slightly less than the average guy, even.

[lugnut]

For you, and for most of us, chronic prostatitis / chronic pelvic pain syndrome is a mental condition with physical symptoms.

That's it in a nutshell, isn't it (no pun intended)?

[critthinker]

Personally, I think the single greatest weapon in this fight is vigorous cardio. Why? Because it hits not one, not two, not three, but FOUR areas at once:
1) reduces/eliminates pain through release of endorphins
2) increases energy level/decreased fatigue
3) lowers feelings of depression
4) reduces/eliminates anxiety

Great post, and I want to second this. For some reason 'moderate' or even 'soft' cardio is heavily promoted here, or it seems like, and vigorous is either overlooked or (tacitly) discouraged. But I've had this same experience.

I do, and have done, very vigorous team-sports cardio 3 times/week. More if I can. Even at peak symptom levels, or during a flare, the pain is totally gone by the first minute of the game and stays away for 1-3 hours afterward. Also, over the period of my condition I have not noticed any sort of 'pain hangover' from this sort of activity. In fact, the next day is more likely to be a 'good' day than a 'bad' one. This is regardless of pre-game or post-game stretching regimens...probably I stretch slightly less than the average guy, even.

Yup, I've noticed that when I work out vigorously for 15 min, I don't get much pain relief. But when I up it to 30 min, I definitely feel it!