Is this Prostatitis or am I falling apart? :(

[httpmax]

Hello everyone. (Thank you in advance if you took the time to read this.)

It has began with what appeared to be Prostatitis and now I feel like I'm completely falling apart.

I am a 35 year old male and here's how it all started.

One day I held my urine for too long and after I went to the bathroom I had severe pain in the right abdominal area. After it went away everything went back to normal. Next day I noticed I started having foam in my urine.

Few weeks after that I started having odd pain the prostate area between scrotum and anus. And shortly after that I started getting
odd penile retractions. Basically the type of shrinkage which you get when you take a cold shower.

My urination became a bit spasmatic and felt like my pelvic muscles were going crazy but still had full and strong stream.

Naturally I was panicked and stressed and paranoid and went to my urologist. The urologist gave me the finger exam and said it feels fine. He diagnosed it as Non-Bacterial Prostatitis and gave me 2 weeks of Miloxicam and 2 months of Tamsulosin (Flomax).

I went on my way and things seemed to be ok while I was taking it. After I was done I wanted a month and took nothing and wanted to see what happened. The entire time I had slight burning in the urethra but only after urination, not during. And I feel like that slight burning is what was causing my shrinkage. This entire time I kept on digging on google for symptoms and stressing my self out big time. Constant stress and worry.

Eventually I went to the urologist and he took my blood and urine and found that I had low testosterone. 240 (Minimum for my age bracket should be 265). Also for those who are wondering about the foam in my urine, the test did not show any protein in there so it is still a mystery.

In addition to all of this I started experiencing worse than usual stomach problems and bowel movements. Started with diarrhea and now kinda light brown but solid. Also its worth mentioning that I started to cut down on meat consumption since I read its bad for the prostate so I'm eating fish and other stuff for now.

After having gone through all that and mega amounts of stress, now I have poor urination, weak urine stream and also not much urine comes out per session. Definitely urine retention.

But wait there's more!! Now suddenly for the past week or so I started to develop major fatigue. I can sleep all through the night get 8 hours and then wake up totally tired and have that all day long. Feeling tried and drained.

I hope someone with similar condition responds to this. I am feeling weak and terrified and feel like I'm falling apart. Jumping to all the negative conclusions and doctors aren't being helpful.

Symptoms Summary:

1. Discomfort and pain between scrotum and anus area.
2. Burning and discomfort in urethra, AFTER urination.
3. Weak stream and urine retention but no real urgency to urinate.
4. Foam in urine. (Not protein related. Had blood and urine tested.)
5. Low Testosterone 240 (35 Year old male)
6. Change in bowel movement and digestion.
7. All day fatigue for about 2 weeks now (could be meat detox or not)
8. Major stress and anxiety due to looking for matching symptoms and causes.

Please respond if you have had similar experiences and can help possibly figure this out and fix it.

Many thanks. : (

[webslave]

Please fill out your signature.

weak urine stream and also not much urine comes out per session. Definitely urine retention.

Small (but frequent?) urination is NOT urinary retention. It is more likely the frequency that accompanies (sometimes) CPPS and (usually) IC.

Testosterone: at your age the normal minimum starts at about 255 ng/dL, so you are slightly outside the normal range. This is not usually related to CPPS, although a recent study did find a link (cause or effect is the question). It may explain your tiredness. You could use skin patches to boost your levels, or try natural remedies like losing weight (if fat), high intensity exercise, zinc supplements, stress reduction (google "boost testosterone" for more suggestions). The "constant stress and worry" you mention could be the cause of the low testosterone, BTW. See also https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29634137

It sounds like you are in the early stages of CPPS and/or IC, and the best thing to do now is read, read, read the forum. Lots of tips here on what to do.

[httpmax]

Hey guys.

8 Months ago I started having pain in the perineum which came with a handful of symptoms. Sometimes decreased urine flow, sometimes sporadic urine flow with force. Also when I had the urge to urinate, there was a strange feeling in the front of the bladder. Another one of the symptoms (and this is the strange one), penile retraction. (You may know it as penile turtling, buried penis, or shrinkage). This is the scariest one since it shrunk my penis to a really small size like it was blocking blood flow and being pulled back into the body.

The scrotum also shriveled up. Anyway, eventually, I went to the urologist he checked my prostate with the finger test and said I have non-bacterial prostatitis. (had no comment on the penis issue. ) He gave me an anti-inflammatory and some alpha blockers. Eventually, things got better and everything relaxed. During that time I did trigger point exercises and massages and things seem to have got better.

After a while, symptoms started coming back. Also worth mentioning I may have IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) which is causing gas in the colon. So this gas started irritating the pelvic floor and every time I went to the bathroom for #2 it becomes worse. So now I'm back to where I started and symptoms are worse. Now here's what worries me:

I don't have the normal symptoms of someone with CPPS. For one, I don't have frequent urination, and the other, no one with CPPS has this penis issue that I'm having. During the good days, the penis is fully relaxed, almost too much. Some days its pulled back. But when this perennial problem flairs up its fully pulled back and small and the shrinking sometimes causes pain. (This is not paranoia. I am aware that the penis can change the size and shrivels up when its cold or to protect itself.) This is very correlated with the pelvic strain.

Does anyone have any ideas of what could be causing this? Any suggestions?
Does anyone have similar symptoms or had similar symptoms? Please share if you have.

Thanks.

[NeoKortex88]

I had the penis problem. Read my thread here. I couldn't even get erections anymore and my penis was probably 1/2 of its normal size. This was super scary. I get erections back again, strong as ever, my ejaculation shoots out like it used to just I got now pain after ejaculation which sticks around for a while. I hope I get this resolved as well.

Quote 1 from the other thread:

Hey, 2 days ago I had a feeling like a fist opened up inside my bottom area. Almost like the fist turned into a hand. I feel a lot better now. I can even get erections now manually. Which is great. Still no morning/night erections. My balls are itchy. My legs are hot. My main problem is though my itchy/burning anus when sitting. Is it possible to release these symptoms with external therapy/hot baths (and stretching) only? Should I take Quercetin? I got no urinary issues.

Quote 2 from the other thread:

Well I applied a heating pad each evening, took hot baths each day, massaged my perineum in the shower and stretched 3x daily for 30 minutes, had one internal PT session and an electro device. I was lying on the couch being miserable about my cheating life when I suddenly felt the release. Was a weird feeling and was definitely internal.

Hmm.. I am pretty sure I've got an anal fissure or something. I had that same issue for month with my first bout where I didn't know what prostatitis was. I remember my urethra did hurt for like 2 days and then I had an itchy anus for like 6 months. Damn I hope I don't have that for years now... I am so stupid.

Also I got fatigue and stomach problems.

edit: oh yeah and lower back problems... this is really a shitty ass condition

Hang in there buddy and yes its CPPS. I don't have urinary problems either. Fill in ur signature btw.

[NeoKortex88]

have u been doing stretches btw? I am really persistent with applying heat/hot baths/stretching etc.

I do the stretches from this video (which are hitp stretches I believe):

[httpmax]

Hi NeoKortex88 Thanks for responding. I have already posted a reply but I'm not sure if its still pending approval or what.

I feel like when the perineal pain flairs up I have a hard time passing gas as if there is some kind of block. Also when I have gas stuck there it irritates the pelvic muscle and the shortening of the penis starts again. I feel like the gas is having a big impact on things. And I feel like the pelvic muscle is playing games. Some times my penis is flaccid and too relaxed and other times its pulled in. I'm so sick of this and its not going away.

Are you taking any meds? I try not to because I don't want to have more stomach problems. Don't you think its strange how no one else has this penis shortening problem while having CPPS? maybe its not CPPS? I'm thinking to go for a MRI to see whats going on in there.

[ChgoGuy]

Not sure this helps, but while using a Therawand, I've had this experience where the penis will shrink when applying pressure (I believe near the prostate) then when letting off the pressure it will return to its relaxed state. Apply pressure again and it will shrink again. Its weird. I personally think there is definitely a connection between, bowel gas, stool that hasn't completely dropped and IBS. I definitely feel worse symptoms before I have to take a dump. And if I'm constipated or my bowel feels full but not ready to evacuate, it sucks for me.

[httpmax]

That makes sense. I too feel more pressure when the bowel is full and more relaxed after I let it out. I have not tried the wand yet I'm kinda of scared to dig in there without knowing exactly whats wrong. Plus I have this fear that it can break off.

What kind of symptoms are you having?

[ChgoGuy]

@httpmax - I get pain around the perineum, pain or burning in the urethra and or tip. Frequent urgency, that can sometimes last 24/7. By 24/7 I mean I can' get symptomatic where the urge is constant even when I don't have to pee. Talk about torturing somebody with that one. After 3 years, I don't know what normal urination is. Pain with or after sex that could flare up for hours or days. I have priapism that was caused by taking Tamsulosin at the beginning of this, and has never gone away even after stopping the drug. It happens when I am asleep. It will go away only after I urinate, but might surely return if I fall back to sleep. The constant erections cause pain which only exasperates the pain issues. It doesn't happen every night that I know of, but who knows what happens on those rare occasions when I actually am asleep for more than an hour or 2. Other urinary issues: Frequency, small amounts 80% of the time, dribbling. I have had zero luck with most of the medications, and they only caused more problems like urinary retention, urinating too much or not able to urinate at all. Flareups after bowel movements are common, although lately I can be symptomatic before having one.

I hope I didn't miss anything.....

The thought of using the wand is intimidating for any guy I think. But when you get desperate enough, and you feel you've been tortured enough, you just say f@#k it. Trust me when I tell ya, CPPS is more intimidating than that wand. Your body will tell you whether you are doing it wrong or not. The only uncomfortable spot is when it goes near your prostate in the vicinity of 12 oclock. That's the area to avoid with trigger points. It's not that bad. Worrying about what others think is the worst part of it, and they don't need to know.

[httpmax]

@ChgoGuy you are listing all the stuff that I had 8 months ago. and I also took Tamsulosin. And I also had that prolong erection which feels like its there all night long. But in your case, I would recommend doing the stretching in the video above. Those stretches helped me a lot. Make sure to find the stretch which addresses some muscle in the pelvic area that becomes painful when you stretch it. Do those in the morning and at night and your erection thing will stop happening. Also an occasional ejaculation helps although recently I get lots of pay after the ejaculation for days I'm sore.

But the gas and the needing to defecate really irritates my issue. Ejaculation too. I have not yet tried the wand. However when I went to the urologist many months back and he did the finger rectal exam, the inside walls had no pain so I'm wondering if I need the wand at all.

[ChgoGuy]

However when I went to the urologist many months back and he did the finger rectal exam, the inside walls had no pain so I'm wondering if I need the wand at all.

I'm not sure that the rectal exam would be a good indicator of whether you need it or not. He's checking the prostate during the exam. He's not going to tell whether there are any taut bands of muscle in there. I've gone to PT on days when I wasn't having any real symptoms that day, and yet she could still feel some tightness, usually more so on the left side. Then there were days when she found the muscles relaxed, and then the next day - "BAM!!" it was all back. That rectal exam IMHO - means little if anything regarding what those muscles are doing.

No way around it! That wand still may have to become part of your routine...

[httpmax]

I'm curious, do you have foam in the urine? Ever since this entire thing started, i begin having foam in the urine. I have checked the urine and the kidneys but so far no explanation. I wonder if there is any correlation with CPPS.

Thank.

[ChgoGuy]

Yes I do, and I have had it for years! Foam in the urine can indicate protein in your urine, which isn't a good thing. Time and time again, multiple doctors have indicated that there is no protein in mine, but then give zero information why the foam is there.

I have a question for you. After sex or any form of ejaculation, is your urine foamy or frothy after the first few episodes of urinating directly afterwards? I know mine is. I'm not a Dr. and the pelvic area including the genitals is very complicated of an area, with all the nerves and muscles. Anyway... For a long period of time, I have wondered if there is a weakness or defect for some men in the area, that small amounts of sperm are being released into the urine (or the other way around) - maybe even into the bladder, and not only is this causing irritation, but foamy urine? Like I said. There is no explanation why the urine is foamy for me any other time, but foamy urine does exist after ejaculation. Is there a link? Is there something else going on down there that the geniuses with an MD after their name haven't figured out? IDK! But if there is sperm getting into the urine stream and causing foamy urine, and it seems this is happening to guys like us without explanation, then wtf is our urine foamy?

[httpmax]

@ChgoGuy WTF? is right. I have started having foamy urine ever since this ordeal started and it never went away. I checked my urine for protein but it didn't show any. I don't know if its the semen leakage or not because I have it all the time sometimes less sometimes more but foamy all the time. Not my doctor or my urologist had anything to say about it. Now that you say you have it too, there's definitely some kind of correlation with CPPS. Although I googled it countless times and no-one with prostatitis or CPPS has every listed foamy urine as one of the symptoms.

[ChgoGuy]

Just to be straight, I've had foamy urine longer than I have had any **chronic** pelvic pain. But, I was having uncomfortable ejaculation problems for years leading up to this. Perhaps it was all a sign of something brewing and more to come (pardon the pun). I've heard weird things about women who had debilitating pelvic pain after sex, and I've heard stories how there are woman that are allergic to their husband or mates sperm. So I started to wonder, if there was an allergic reaction I was getting with my wife - IDK... Then the bomb hit, and now I have the whole package. Now I do have an enlarged prostate, but most days I pee in small amounts and with other problems, and days like today I piss like I was 18 again - although pretty frequently and still in somewhat lesser amounts.

Sorry I went a bit off topic, but none of it makes sense.