Hi
I hope you guys can help me as I am struggling at present.
I am a 32-year-old male, 5 foot 10”, normal healthy body weight.
I am looking for some advice as to what I could be experiencing, if it is prostatitis and where I go from here.
I am going to post everything just so it helps with understanding what may be going on!
At the age of 26 I began taking Propecia (Finasteride) for male pattern baldness. I took the tablets once per day for (1mg) as prescribed by a well-known high street company who specialise in male pattern baldness.
I took these tablets for around three to four years. One of the first things I started noticing was suddenly I began to get clumps in my semen, they looked like little jelly-like clumps in amongst the liquid… no unusual colour, but jelly like in nature and they look almost like little grains of rice mixed in with the normal liquid semen. It was very odd and freaked me out a little. I mentioned to my GP, who informed me that semen comes in all types of consistencies and I had nothing to worry about. I wondered if it was to do with the Finasteride but he reassured me he didn’t think so and I had nothing to worry about. I must also mention that my hair responded extremely well to the treatment and looked great, nothing wrong with it at all, I was so happy!
However, after 3 to 4 years, I did notice that I had a lowered libido and my girlfriend also worried about me taking it and if it could cause any long-lasting problems for me. We agreed I would stop taking it.
After a year to eighteen months or so of being off the Finasteride, my hair began to thin again and this caused me to get depressed and worry (I hate it!). My girlfriend said if it made me feel better, try the Finasteride again as she could see how much it was making me sad. So I started taking the tablets again, but just once every other day (i.e. 1 mg every other day). Again, my hair got much thicker which made me far happier.
However, after about two or three months, I started getting a pain in my left testicle. It didn’t hurt if I touched it, but was just a dull aching pain that was there all of the time. I went to my GP, explained everything, he did not believe it was due to the Finasteride and told me he would refer me to a urologist. In the meantime, I was given two weeks’ worth of anti-biotics (Ciprofloxacin) and sent on my way. This never really got rid of the testicle ache.
My appointment eventually came to see the urologist. He gave me a digital exam to feel my prostate and said it felt quite normal but he thought I may have prostatitis. He told me to see my GP again to get a six-week course of Oxytetracycline. He also booked me in for an MRI scan on my testicles. I also asked the urologist about the Finasteride and he said that because I had taken it for a few years, he did not believe it was that.
I had my MRI scan two days later and it showed I had an infection in my left testicle (orchitis). As a result, I was referred back to my GP for anti-biotics. Upon seeing him, he said he didn’t think he should prescribe me Oxytetracycline as that’s for a prostate infection or inflammation and that wouldn’t clear up the infection in the left testicle. I enquired as to whether the infection could be a result of the Finasteride or as a result of prostatitis and he said he didn’t believe so and I could keep taking them and he saw no reason for me to stop. As a result, he prescribed me a three-week course of Doxycycline. I took these and after the three weeks, the testicle ache remained and was no better. I returned to my GP and he this time prescribed me another three weeks’ worth of anti-biotics, this time Cefalexin.
Finally, after three weeks of these anti-biotics, the testicle pain went away. However, about a week into taking these anti-biotics, I began getting some new symptoms that have not gone away and this has now lasted for around two months. I am getting a tingling / stinging / cold / wet type feeling in the tip of my penis. It is pretty much constant (can feel it now) and has been there every single day, bar about two, for a couple of months now. I notice that when I urinate, it doesn’t sting, but afterwards it seems to get worse, like urinating has irritated the tip of my penis. It is a weird feeling, sometimes as weird as it sounds, it even feels a little like something is ‘stuck’ in the end of my penis in the tubes! The penis looks normal and isn’t sore to touch or red or inflamed, but this tingling sensation just will not go away. I spoke to my GP about it on my last visit, informing him that the testicle ache had gone but that I was now getting a strange tingling / stinging feeling in my penis tip and he said it was odd and was probably a result of the anti-biotics and that the Oxytetracycline shouldn’t do it – but the feeling has persisted and clearly shows no signs of going away! I asked if it could be as a result of prostatitis, to which he replied he did not think so.
It also makes me feel a little like I need to urinate and even when I have been, it still feels a bit like I need to go and just tingles all the time. I don’t have any trouble urinating, it comes out in a steady stream and doesn’t sting or hurt. But burns a little afterwards and then continues to tingle. Sometimes it feels like it is cold as well and a wet type feeling sometimes too.
I am having no problems getting an erection or anything, but it is affecting my sex life because when your penis tingles and you feel at times like you need a wee, even though you don’t, you do not feel particularly in the mood for it! A couple of times, I have also had very bad stinging in my penis after intercourse and it has lasted a good couple of hours afterwards and makes me feel like I need to urinate constantly afterwards. Every time I urinate and think I have finished, I have to go back to the bathroom and urinate a little dribble again, and this lasts for half an hour or so. That’s happened on two occasions after intercourse.
Usually, when I wake up in the morning, I get the tingling feeling, but it seems to get worse as the day goes on. I sit on a chair in an office all day for my job from 9-5 (like most of us!) and by the time it gets to the evening, my penis is usually tingling and/or stinging like crazy!
I am seeing my urologist again on June 9th, but, in the meantime, any advice that anyone can give would be greatly appreciated. I go on the holding the following day, so really wanted to get this resolved because I don’t want this to ruin my holiday! I am not in pain, but the tingling penis feeling is driving me insane!
Thanks so much for any advice.