Prostatitis and Gerd, is there a link?

I had covid back in september of 2020 since then my health has taken a huge toll on my life. I am 23 years old and about a month after having covid I got a viral infection affecting my lymphnodes that lasted about a week and went away with antibiotics during of which i had a random sharp pain in my left testicle which scared me a bit. 2 weeks later i notice my left testicles was feeling that same weird pain i had and this time i stayed for about a week and half. I thought I had an std from unprotected sex so the doctors tested me for legit everything which all came back negative thank god! After going to a different doctor and conducting a urine test It turned out i had bacteria in my urine leaving me with a UTI which was cured with some antibiotics. 2 more weeks go by and I wake up one morning with really dry lungs and air ways leaving me with a bad cough for about 2 weeks (could've been bronchitus) you can only imagine how much stress and anxiety this was putting me through. Fast foward to late december i had done a CT scan on my lungs all of which came back normal then i had a CT scan done on my abdamin and lower pelvis area where the radiologist found my gallbladder is inflammed and is sending me to meet with a gastrologist next week. Long story short i have really bad acid that flows up my esophagus and causes really bad chest pains, difficulty breathing, sometimes heart pains, body aches especially in joints and back mainly, and worst of all when I pee now especially at night its so frequent and burns when im done and feels like i have to go again and with that sometimes comes a pain in my left testicle. I have urine test and blood test all which come back really healthy so I dont know if it is my gallbladder that is causing all of this but it sounds all pretty similar to what some of you all have been experiencing and if I find anything out from my gastrologist or specialist I will keep everyone updated!

First of all, thank you all for sharing! I have been researching my issues for almost 2 years.

I am a married male, 45 years old and fit/athletic. I am a long distance runner and workout like 5 times a week. When I was 43 in May of 2019, I got this pain during ejaculation that caused concern. I got checked for a UTI and it was clear. I got a PSA test and they said that my results were high, 8.0. I then went through a variety of tests; MRI - cancer, Ultrasound on my prostate, Urine flow test, manual prostate exam, Cystoscopy, and a few others. All my test results came back clear, no issues. I did a first round of antibiotics (Amoxicillin) and everything seemed to go away. I got away from vitamins, because I was concerned about Vitamin C causing bladder pain and changed my coffee intake to low acid coffee.

As soon as I got off the antibiotics, I started having minor issues again. Then one day in June of 2020, I was running and my right testicle had pain. A few days later, I started noticing that my testicles were swelling. He checked to see if there were some type of vericoles (veins) issues, but there wasn't. Basically it felt like my nuts were heavy and it would cause a dull ache. If I lifted them up, it would ease the pain. So your boy had to go to tighty whiteys and sport briefs. So I called the doctor and he had me come in for an appointment. I got on the 2nd round of antibiotics (Bactrim) and got an ultrasound on my testicles. Everything came back clear. I finished the rounds and immediately the next day, issues were back. So I went to the doctor and he said that there isn't much else they can do, besides put me on more antibiotics. So I decided to look at my diet more. I switched to cold brew coffee, b/c it has lower acid the warm coffee. I do not have any acid reflux or IBS, but was thinking maybe I have stomach gut issues. I saw bloating here and there, but didn't take in affect what it was. I didn't write down my symptoms. I avoided buffalo sauce, spicy foods, etc and tried to focus on reducing my stress levels, which I did half hazardly. Remind you that we are in the middle of the COVID pandemic and stress is taking a toll, with work, personal, and social situations. I started trying spices again and everything was fine. I had no problems with bladder pain. In addition to changing my diet, I was researching and reading threads like this. Someone brought up back pain and how it may cause prostatitis. In addition to this issue, I was also researching why my right leg felt numb and itchy every day. I got an MRI on my back to see if I had any issues. Well, the MRI came back with herniated discs and loss of hydration in something else. I went to my chiro and she said to go see an ortho surgeon. I went to the very best surgeon here in my city. He looked at it and said these results are inflated and the areas that are affected would not affect your prostate, or bladder. However, he did solve the leg mystery. As a runner, I was stretching my femoral nerve/tendon too much. He told me to stop stretching that way and it will go away. Guess what? It actually did go away. I was excited, but also let down because I am eagerly trying to solve the Prostatitis puzzle.

Fast forward to a month ago, I have no idea what is causing it and all of a sudden I start getting these kidney pains. They would come and go, then they would be more frequent. So I go to an internal medicine doctor to see if he can shed some light. That office visit was a complete waste of time and money, except for he asked me if I am taking in too much estrogen. My wife is not on the pill and doesn't do any artificial hormones. So I decided to change the water I drink to Spring Water, so I have been doing this for a few weeks. After a few more pains, I made an appointment with my Urologist. I got on another round of Bactrim for a 2 month cycle and I am currently still taking them. My testicles are back to normal and I can wear regular boxers, for now. I got an ultrasound on my kidneys and everything is clear. He advised that I look at Pelvic floor exercises, working on my core, and yoga. I don't do this as much, but trying to do this here and there.

Current Plan:

I was also noticing just recently that I am getting nauseated after I drink coffee. I thought it was a pill (Ridlin) I am taking for ADHD/Anxiety. My psych thought that I am getting frustrated easily b/c I can't focus and it causes me to lose it quickly, which is very true. I had to get off the medicine b/c I was getting nauseated. I got on Adderall which I took before and also started feeling nauseous. So I looked at coffee and dairy. I realized I didn't have any issues with dairy, but realized on Sunday that coffee is bothering my stomach. Almost crapped myself on a run! I have been drinking tea all week and no nausea. But guess what? I decided to inflict punishment on myself and drink a cold brew expresso shot. Nausea is back in full force. Some sites say caffeine is the problem, but it isn't for me. It is the coffee acid. I still notice the kidney pains here and there. I also realize that my kidney pain is somehow related to having to use the bathroom and working out. Can't figure this one out yet. I am thinking it could actually be nerves around my muscles the squeeze the bladder, but honestly no clue yet. Once I pee, it goes usually goes away and then comes back when I have to pee again. If I hydrate a lot, I have zero pains.

So today, I am going to stay hydrated and workout. If I get kidney pains, I will realize that it is actually back pain that mysteriously disappears when I am hydrated. Insert hands up emoji. I am also going to stick with tea and reduce my caffeine intake down, which is very low to begin with. Insert hands up emoji. I will then one day, not work out and drink less water to see what happens. I am also going to try a few things individually like people said above, like focusing on probiotics, gluten-free, and reducing my anxiety. I find it interesting that the majority of us have anxiety issues. Honestly, I didn't have all these issues until my company was acquired, personal stress, and then COVID. At the end of the day, it could be anxiety and stress causing this. I have less anxiety on medicine, which is great and started taking 5-HTP (natural stress reducing supplement). The other thing that has been affecting me lately, is poor sleep. I will sleep well until 1-3 am and then I wake up to pee. After that, my sleep is horrible. Still trying to figure out why this is another situation. Everything is so random. To get better sleep, so I take an aspirin or Advil and 5-HTP, then will go right to sleep. Oh, I almost forgot to talk about alcohol. So I cut it out and still had issues, so it wasn't that. I do notice if I drink and do not hydrate, I may have some issues. However, it is not affecting me as much. I drink alkaline water to reduce some stomach acid as well and will start eating more bananas, like religiously.

I am about to test out these different things individually, maybe week by week and see how it goes. I will keep you all in the loop. I hope and pray that me going through this journey, will help as many people solve the puzzle to their symptoms as well. Cheers!

There could be a link.

Gerd can be fixed by avoiding eating wheat and yeast and taking over the counter probiotics.