What is this urethral discomfort I have?

Kidney and urinary tract
1

i have this feeling in my urethra like something is stuck inside, i can best describe it as a friction feeling and irritation. what im wondering is is this what strictures feel like?

my other symptoms are dribbling, frequent urination, and occasional incomplete bladder emptying. i am at my wits end with this, it has been going on for a while and bothering me all day. please let me know what you think this could be.

2

I am going through the same. Did you find a solution? I have been experiencing similar symptoms for close to a month now. Good luck brother.

3

honestly man sounds like the same thing im dealing with and my doctor said he thinks it is a urethral stricture i am waiting for a call from the urologist to schedule an apointment

4

Hi all. Here is what I’ve learned. Sharing in case it helps someone, but I fully recognise that each case is potentially quite different.
I have had the same symptoms - constant feeling at penis tip of needing to urinate, some urethra irritation etc. No infection showed from urine culture and urine dipsticks always normal. Cystoscopy had no unusual findings. No bladder infection.
A few points:
Semen culture found the bug - an E. coli strain in my case. Multi-antibiotic resistant. Showed as heavy growth. This allowed the choosing of an antibiotic that had sensitivity. Microscopy showed same i.e. abundant presence of bacteria. Was simply not being captured by urine culture. This can happen. Semen culture is often not done for a variety of reasons (practical reasons as well as microbiological ones), but sometimes the interpretation of the result is very clear. Consider it with your doctor.
Try to see if D-mannose helps. I have managed to somewhat control urethra symptoms (not eliminate) with regular intake of D-mannose. This is only of benefit with E. coli. If you don’t have confirmed E. coli infection it still may be worth trying in off-chance that it is E. coli. This bug is the most common cause of UTI and bacterial prostatitis. D-mannose is a naturally occurring simple sugar present in some foods. It has various functions in nature, but here it works by binding the outside of E. coli. Hence, the E. coli can not attach to the tract, and gets more easily eliminated with urination. According to most manufacturers, it is safe to use, as the body does not use this sugar readily for energy and most of it gets eliminated in urine. Its available in health food shops. Many women use it for bladder infections. Its use in men is less common. Consider with your doctor, esspecially if diabetic.
These are just some of my experiences. I hope they are helpful to someone.

5

Hi all. Here is what I’ve learned. Sharing in case it helps someone, but I fully recognise that each case is potentially quite different.
I have had the same symptoms - constant feeling at penis tip of needing to urinate, some urethra irritation etc. No infection showed from urine culture and urine dipsticks always normal. Cystoscopy had no unusual findings. No bladder infection.
A few points:
Semen culture found the bug - an E. coli strain in my case. Multi-antibiotic resistant. Showed as heavy growth. This allowed the choosing of an antibiotic that had sensitivity. Microscopy showed same i.e. abundant presence of bacteria. Was simply not being captured by urine culture. This can happen. Semen culture is often not done for a variety of reasons (practical reasons as well as microbiological ones), but sometimes the interpretation of the result is very clear. Consider it with your doctor.
Try to see if D-mannose helps. I have managed to somewhat control urethra symptoms (not eliminate) with regular intake of D-mannose. This is only of benefit with E. coli. If you don’t have confirmed E. coli infection it still may be worth trying in off-chance that it is E. coli. This bug is the most common cause of UTI and bacterial prostatitis. D-mannose is a naturally occurring simple sugar present in some foods. It has various functions in nature, but here it works by binding the outside of E. coli. Hence, the E. coli can not attach to the tract, and gets more easily eliminated with urination. According to most manufacturers, it is safe to use, as the body does not use this sugar readily for energy and most of it gets eliminated in urine. Its available in health food shops. Many women use it for bladder infections. Its use in men is less common. Consider with your doctor, esspecially if diabetic.
These are just some of my experiences. I hope they are helpful to someone.

6

Hi all. Here is what I’ve learned. Sharing in case it helps someone, but I fully recognise that each case is potentially quite different.
I have had the same symptoms - constant feeling at penis tip of needing to urinate, some urethra irritation etc. No infection showed from urine culture and urine dipsticks always normal. Cystoscopy had no unusual findings. No bladder infection.
A few points:
Semen culture found the bug - an E. coli strain in my case. Multi-antibiotic resistant. Showed as heavy growth. This allowed the choosing of an antibiotic that had sensitivity. Microscopy showed same i.e. abundant presence of bacteria. Was simply not being captured by urine culture. This can happen. Semen culture is often not done for a variety of reasons (practical reasons as well as microbiological ones), but sometimes the interpretation of the result is very clear. Consider it with your doctor.
Try to see if D-mannose helps. I have managed to somewhat control urethra symptoms (not eliminate) with regular intake of D-mannose. This is only of benefit with E. coli. If you don’t have confirmed E. coli infection it still may be worth trying in off-chance that it is E. coli. This bug is the most common cause of UTI and bacterial prostatitis. D-mannose is a naturally occurring simple sugar present in some foods. It has various functions in nature, but here it works by binding the outside of E. coli. Hence, the E. coli can not attach to the tract, and gets more easily eliminated with urination. According to most manufacturers, it is safe to use, as the body does not use this sugar readily for energy and most of it gets eliminated in urine. Its available in health food shops. Many women use it for bladder infections. Its use in men is less common. Consider with your doctor, esspecially if diabetic.
These are just some of my experiences. I hope they are helpful to someone.

7

I have been having these symptoms since july of 2020 (mostly frequent urination every hour). dont you think if it was an infection like e coli it would have gone away on its own by now?

8

Hi. A few points, but again every case may be different. I can only share my story and suggestions (as I too benefited from this forum). I am not a medical person, but I am sure like many who have suffered this thing, i’ve read a lot about it.

  • I had my symptoms from circa June 2019 until the E. coli was isolated in March 2020, and i then received the appropriate antibiotic. Previous antibiotics I had taken (augmentin), my strain was resistant to, it was subsequently found. So E. coli can persist as a chronic infection.
  • Many bacteria form biofilms. This is essentially where bacteria embed themselves in thick layers and form a matrix of material. This is a survival mechanism, and the bacterial cells can often be semi-dormant and stay that way for long periods. In biofilms, they are often less susceptible to antibiotics and indeed the immune system. Bacteria’s tendencies to form biofilms varies between strains and species. Many E. coli strains do form biofilms and the prostate is often a place where they can accumulate.
  • Even once treated chronic infections can come back and last a long time. That is the nature of chronic bacterial prostatitis, for example. Acute prostatitis tends to behave quite differently (comes on rapidly, more severe but also seems to be more treatable).
  • Trying D-mannose may be worthwhile. If there is symptom relief it may indicate E. coli involvement.
9

hey bro, did you fix your problem 100%?

10

no. not 100% . i do have a tolerabke existience though thanks to some of these steps . symptoms managed

11

ps. D-mannose is a big help

12

hey there.
i have been having the same syptoms. i just starteeld taking d mannose and i think it nay be helping. did you say there is a way to test for the e coli? i have tested negative for everything thus far. they are wanting to stick a camera in my urethra and im very nervous about it

13

hi Nate. you have PMs disabled. Issue was caused by E. coli