BPH and prostatitis.

Hi Craig,

Thank you for your reply and in taking the time to read my post.

I am 62 and my brother, last October, was diagnosed with cancer. He had his prostate removed in November.

I shall have to wait and see what is advised/discovered when I see the urologist next month. It is 'reassuring' that others experience the same symptoms as sometimes you think such 'odd' sensations cannot be real.

Many years ago I went through a period of similar symptoms, not quite as severe but troubling, and eventualy had a cystoscopy which revealed the lining of my bladder was 'very red'. Like you I was prescribed antibiotics over an extended period, two months I think, and that did seem to do the trick. I am thinking this BPH has upset the apple cart again.

I hope your course works and that you will soon find some relief from this nagging annoyance which can take over your life.

Best wishes.

I am sorry to hear about your brother, unfortunately these things can run in families. If your brother has had cancer then you may be at risk as well. Try the simple stuff first you know then maybe if that doesn't work then a scan of the prostate may be needed to make sure nothing sinister is going on. I hope it is just BPH or Prostatitis. I say that like they are no big deal but they can be every bit as debilitating as cancer. In the long term BPH can even be fatal as kidney damage can occur, so BPH shouldn't be taken lightly. Either way I hope you feel better soon. It is amazing how such a small organ can cause so much pain and distress.

Hello Lou,

Thank you for taking the time and trouble to reply to my post.

Has the PAE worked for you? Are you in the UK? If so where did you have it done, NHS or private?

 

I had my PAE done at the Vascular institute of Virginia in th US by Dr. Bagla.

I have had very results only after 3 weeks with much better flow. I had very slow flow especially in the afternoon that is now mostly resolved. I am hoping to stop the Flowmax pill  (1) at some later date,  but will wait a while longer to try top the medication.

Best

Lou

i have had prostatis for 15 plus years and have had numerous courses of cipro and othor drugs, ect. while it is worth a try, it is not very likely to cure this infection, that has been my experience in any case.

this is a very challanging condition to successfully treat.

good luck 

lou

In your case are they sure it is due to infection from bacteria? I have heard that it isn't uncommon to have a fungal infection causing the problem but urologists never culture for it. One has to see an infectious disease specialist for that. If mine doesn't clear then that is my next stop. If bacterial and antibiotics are not working I have heard that they will inject antibiotics directly into the prostate. Ouch! but if it works it may be worth it.

i have have had the prostate fluild tested but no infection found, this is also not uncommon, been dealing with condition for decades. at this point not sure what i have and as you well know the are a number of classifcations of prostatitis.  you may get lucky and knock it out with drugs but do to the fact

that our prostate is built like a spong geting enough drugs where you need them is very difficult to do. i never tested positive for fugus. i have read about that treatment as well.  a guy in NYC does it and i think a guy in california does the injection, not covered by insurance. wish there was a clear path to treat this condition but as you said there are a number of prostatitis conditions which you may have or they coexist together.

That is the problem there is a lot of chronic forms of Prostatitis that no bacteria show up and because doctors never test for fungus it is believed that many of these cases may be due to fungus or maybe a low grade bacteria that doesn't show up. If you were to have sex with a woman that has a fungal infection it is probable that one could get the fungus in the prostate. This has been the case for me as my wife had a fungal infection a couple of times we had sex. Food for thought.

Yes Lou I agree 100% I have done the same thing, and it seems like it is never cured, just beat back some.

I had a PAE done in Jan of this year in hopes thst it might help, and promptly got one heck of a prostate infection. So Im not sure its possible to ever get rid of.

I too have had this problem for many years starting in my late 20's. I am now faced with having to have a psa test and I will not take it because it will be high due to prostatitis. So PSA doesn't make sense for me. Not sure how I would know if I have Prostate Cancer or Prostatitis. The symptoms are similar even bleeding. So what. does one do to be screened for prostate cancer. I guess I will not.

maybe an MRI might work

Possibly but when. At what age will insurance pay for it? Maybe it will be rutine to have transrectal ultrasounds every two years. Oh, what fun that would be. God help us.

It can be so bad. I hurt like crazy from that tiny organ. Who knew it could cause so much pain. I just hope the antibiotics work or I am screwed. It isn't fatal but it feels like it. It can sure reduce quality of life. I can't even have an orgasm that feels good. It just hurts now. Painful sex, Yes Please! 

hang in there, from someone who has had this condition for decades, there will be better times ahead. take your meds, they may well do the trick

all the best

Lou

the new MRI technology has very good platform for looking at the prostate

Hi Joe,

Thank you for your reply to my post.

I suppose I will just have to wait until I have my appointment and see what is discovered. Do the antiboitics work for you?

 

Yea, it has to be 3T tesla high resolution. With this they can get a good look at the prostate but try to get insurance to cover it and one has to find a center that offers this kind of MRI. I am all for it. I think that this is a better way to look for cancer in men and also better for guided biopsy which can be done with only one or two needle sticks rather than the current 12 to 18 core poke and hope approach. Saturation biopsy is a terrible thing to do to a guy. I would never have one.

you seem to have the facts down very well and I would agree, I would rather have a target to shoot at then just bombing the prostate with biopsies.

All the best

Lou

I was given a urinalysis as well as they checked prostate fluid however they were only looking for white blood cells in it. I am on prednisone so it is possible that it may have blocked this response or I have the non bacterial type. I wish they had done a culture on it. My doctors office isn't that sophisticated. So I am being treated for this with Cipro but really have no idea if it will work or not. I have a bad feeling it isn't and I will end up at an infectious disease specialist or getting a biopsy done. So I hope this works.

It makes sense to me for a targeted approach rather than multiple cores. Unfortunately my urologist still does the poke and hope method. It would seem that the insurance also doesn't want to cover MRI guided because they said that MRI has shown no benefits over ultrasound. Yea right. You watch they will be covering it in the near future. Insurance companies don't care what we go through just costs. Targeted will be the norm in the near future. It is way more accurate and there is less trauma.

theres a doc in Sarasota florida, Wheeler I believe that does MRI scans and biopsies for 2500.00. Not covered by insurance. You might want to check into this. Proir to,  have you had a free PSA and or pcs3 test?  they would give you a good likelyhood of cancer. If I were you I would have those tests and wait on a biopsy until it is more clear there is an issue. PSA testing is too incomplete and not reliable.

Lou

Yes Stephen they do usually work fairly well, I just have to take them for a long time. But this time, I have tried 10 days of Cipro with zero results, and 2 weeks of doxycylene with no results. Now I am on the 4th day of a different one and seem to be getting some relief. Would have been nice if my doc had done a culture on the fluid when I first went in.

Not really planning on having a biopsy done but if I don't get better it might be something they need to do to figure out why I am not better. I hope this will clear with antibiotics. I can't imagine being like this for the rest of my life. The pain is terrible and sometimes I can't urinate. It scares me a bit. I doubt it is cancer. I would be more inclined to think fungal infection due to being on prednisone.