Epididymitis - views/thoughts?

Weird. I double-posted because the website wasn't showing my first post...

Anyway, yes, there's that heavy, dragging feeling to the scrotum, which is why it's recommended to wear scrotal support or at least tight underwear. I've been wearing this uncomfortable sh!t for over two months and that sensation has not gone away. Thankfully, I'm not feeling the worst pains anymore. However, I still can't wear normal underwear, walk, run, lift, bend, have sex, or most anything that causes my right testicle to ride up and give me a pelvic/abdominal cramp.

Does anyone suffer from shooting like pains around the area?

Well, probably, but you have to be more specific as to what area it is and where does it shoot up or down to. I mean, I have what may be termed as intrascrotal pain (or area around the testicles) that shoots up the pelvis and sometimes to the lower abdomen and back. When it did that, it was pretty intense - I'd say easily a 7, 8, or even 9. This is what landed me in the ER three times thinking I had testicular torsion, kidney stones, or appendicitis.

Nowadays, the pain and discomfort is mostly intrascrotal: below, behind, and above the testes. Sometimes, it may go as high as the pelvic region, but it isn't doubling me in pain. I also have pain and discomfort whenever I have an erection or half erection at the base of the penis and rarely at the tip, which seems to innervate and make my prostate twitch a little. This prostate twitch freaks me out into thinking I have prostatitis, but it may just be a normal reaction that I had not noticed before.

I got my latest urinalysis back and everything came back normal. They tried to culture it and nothing grew. Yay me hahah.

Seems to be like lower back. Top of my legs and in behind and back of testicle and groin area. Me and the Mrs went for a chlamydia test today. To help me and piece of mind. Wait 2 weeks...

Two weeks for a chlamydia test? Those take one or two days to get the results. You're not having frequent, difficulty, painful, burning, or tingling urination, nor did you mention about having discharge, so it doesn't sound like a STI/STD. Still, you definitely want every possible test to rule things out. Do you have painful ejaculations?

One test I have not asked for is a DRE (digital rectal exam) to check my prostate. I wince at that sh!t, but prostatitis has a lot of those same symptoms. The doctor feels around to see if the prostate is swollen and tender; they also check the prostatic fluid in the lab.

Right now, the best thing you can do is follow the treatment regiment strictly, which means you should abstain from sex and masturbation, bed rest for about a week (no activity whatsoever, wear scrotal support, take hot baths, maybe a cold compress on your scrotum (with lotsa cloth in between, of course), and take your meds at regular intervals (do not skip or stop taking them). I'd suggest to do these as soon as possible.

I am the guy that had the left epididymis and testicle removed and the pain started in the right side as soon as the stitching healed. I took all of my records and ultrasounds to a doctors office that they told me it would take a month to get into see but I left them there as he was in surgery. Later on about two hours later they called and said he wanted me in his office on Wednesday at 10 AM. Maybe he saw something that was missed by the other urologist or I am going to be a test case but either way I am hopeful he might have a better plan then "see you in six weeks after you take all the antibiotics" and then when that failed I went under the knife. I went to the ER and they put me on a morphine drip for 15 minutes which is the best I have ever felt. I will keep posting about what the new Dr. says on Wednesday. I am scheduled for a nerve block on Tuesday but might put that off until after the Wed meeting.

 

Be careful with the operation. There are several different ones and mine was a complete removal of the left side only to have the pain come back just as intense on the right side and all tests are negative. I even paid to have my own viral tests and they were negative. I had asked that when they did the surgery and have the parts that they check them for any organism that might have caused this and they did not. I WAS REALLY MAD THAT THEY DID NOT EVEN TAKE THE TIME TO TRY AND IDENTIFY THE CAUSE OF THIS AND IT COULD HAVE HELPED MANY MORE. I have noticed Xanax gives some relief and fairly quickly so that makes me think it is over nerve stimulation which is why I am going for a nerve block.

Bluetaylor,I had exactly the same thing, I don't think it's a Std.
Anyone who has the nerve block injection please let us know how you get on with it ,I would have it if it works.
My Doctor did tell me they are other things he can try I just wish he would come up with something that will stop the pain , as I've told you before I've now had this for just over 2 years..

In my one my delirious pain episodes I've exclaimed to wanting to have my testicles removed just so the pain would go away. It's been over a month since then and the pain has subsided considerably. I only feel reverberations from it in the scrotum, so I'm glad I grilled the urologists about the surgery and took the time to consider and read about the other options they were not offering me.

If I have surgery, I'd want it to be exploratory first and to take an epididymal biopsy to check for the disease-causing agent. The second surgery I'd choose to have would be to have my testicles re-aligned within the scrotum (if that is actually possible... orchiopexy?). If they find nothing in the biopsy sample, then it could very well be neuro-muscular, so that instead of urologic surgery, I may need to see a neurologist or maybe even just some physical therapy combined with accupuncture.

I'd take Xanax after and go for a steroid shot first if nothing has been working up to that point. If the steroid shots don't work, then I'd consider a nerve block. If the nerve block works, then the surgery I'd read up on is the microsurgical testicular denervation. This is some pretty extreme stuff near the end, but, then, orchiectomy is as f***ing extreme as it gets. I hope they at least gave you a prosthetic, man. That is one of the instances where I'd sue the f***ing surgeon for malpractice to have his license revoked or at least place sanctions on him (hey, it's the American way!).

This is something very few people understand, much less can relate to. My girlfriend has been very supportive and tolerant with my bouts of pain and deep depression (she's the only person I've expressed my thoughts of suicide...). Her's, my family's, and friends' support has been integral in my not choosing to give up.

One thing I'm really afraid of is that this is prostatitis. The thought of that has hijacked my mind and it's been weighing on me for a few weeks. I think the nervousness from that is causing my latent sexual dysfunction and frequent urination episodes. Oddly enough, I can still orgasm, but it's while soft. So that's a couple of more things to ponder on. I just hope I'm not aggravating this more by freaking myself out.

Welshguy... Have any of you guys experienced slight swelling on the far side of the testicle? I told my Doctor I have this and his reply was oh yes you will have swelling with inflammation ,plenty to say about it but no cure fore the pain.
I would really have the Nerve Block injection if it worked,anyone who is going to have it please let us know how you get on with it..Cheers

"Swelling on the far side of the testicle"? What side do you mean? Below, behind, or above, or some other region in the scrotum? I think you mean epididymal swelling, which is what happens with epididymitis. You might also experience some swelling and irritation on the spermatic cord.

I have swelling below and behind the testes (i.e., the epididymes) - sometimes it gets better and sometimes it gets worse. I can feel a kind of induration or possibly another cyst on the "tail end" of the epididymis of the left testicle. The right testicle's epididymis can also swell up. It can feel uncomfortable when anything rubs up against those parts of my scrotum.

The only type of swelling that should really concern you would be if you start getting an abscess or if your testis is swelling (or shrinking). At this point, the doctors should start doing something - anything - to prevent that from getting worse.

JCA. Yes epididymal swelling it seems worse today,do you have good and bad days with it? I can really feel it..Welshguy

Aye, I have that swelling come on and off every so often; I wouldn't say it's painful, but it's very uncomfortable with a little bit of pain. It used to freak the hell outta me because I didn't know what it was and I used to choke on ibuprofen whenever I saw that. My testicles looked "pointy" because the tail ends of the epididymes were swollen. Anyway, I THINK, it's the epididymes swelling... you are definitely better off asking your GP, of course. Whenever you get that swelling, WelshGuy, take a photo to show your GP or urologist.

Nowadays, I try to ignore this swelling/discomfort. I think it is exacerbated when I am sexually aroused. In that instance, I handle that by masturbating a little bit and then sitting in a hot water bath for at least 20 minutes. I don't know whether that works or not, but I just feel better overall. What worries me the most is what I've been saying all along: The positioning of my testicles within the scrotum. It probably worries me more than the pain itself.

Which leads me to think we both might end up using all of our options and we may have to decide to remove the epididymes. I forgot, but I don't know if you have this on both sides, WelshGuy. If I recall correctly, you stated you are 50. Do you plan on fathering any children? I just turned 34 and the prospect of sterility sounds a bit daunting, to say the least, although, ironically, I've always said I didn't want children. Funny how that reality is now knocking at my door. I think psychologically I don't want the choice to be taken away from me or that the inability to father children makes me less of a man... it's weird. Even funnier is that my current girlfriend is done having children, so all signs point to me not having any issues getting the surgery (whether it works or not).

As far as conservative treatments that you still have, you could try:

- massages: not in the perverse kind of way, but deep, tissue massages on your lower back, abdomen, and pelvis.

- accupuncture: unconventional, but a few people could swear by it.

- physical therapy: exercises to strengthen your muscles in the area.

- chiropractor: I'd use this last, as I trust the results from massage and PT a lot more. I usually find people getting kind of addicted to going to the chiro.

- pain management: more pain meds... and injections.

Hey, there is a 50% chance to get better, so one could see it as a "glass half full" kind of instance. I know it's hard to be optimistic in light of the fact we're all afflicted with a very enigmatic, seemingly incurable disease. The nerve block is not something that can be considered willy-nilly, either, you know? There are side effects to that stuff, too, as there are side effects to steroid injections (the side effects can even be permanent). Hell, there are side effects to the overuse of anti-inflammatories (which I started to get before I quit taking them) and antibiotics (I'm still recovering slowly from the last mega dosage of that sh!t).

This is why I stress to everyone here to take lots of notes, keep as many records from your doctors' visits, take photos and draw pictures/diagrams to show your doctors, and write down all your questions prior to seeing a specialist, so you don't forget. One has to become a bit of an expert of their symptoms and an advocate for their health (hence, a little scepticism is healthy... doctors don't know everything, they practice medicine). I think knowing more about your condition, you will be calmer about it... and, in turn, you might actually feel less pain because you'll be able to handle things better.

Lastly, you need to have a strong support group! I have to say this time and time again. I've been able to deal with the pain and discomfort because I have strong support from my family, my girlfriend, my friends, and my work colleagues.

JCA. Thanks for the good advice.
What made me mad was the fact I was waiting over 6 months to see the urologist and he played the whole situation down telling me as soon as I feel the pain coming on take 2 paracetamol ,I only wish that was the answer ,I told my doctor after I had seen the urologist I was expecting some kind of wonder pill off him as you know Paracetamol will not work for this condition .
2 years one month I've now been like this.
I live in hope that someone will have the cure for us.
I already have a child and don't want anymore.
Take care JCA and keep in touch mate. Welsh guy

Well week of anti's done and although a slightly better feeling it still wasn't gone. Went back to the docs this morning who had another feel and still said my epididymitis was a little inflammed so now on a week of cipro