Prostatitis

[cokelvr]

Anybody had this? How long did it last and what treatment did you go though?
I just forund out I have it that is why i ask.

[jgp]

Prostatitis is an inflammation of your prostate, that can be cause by numerous causes, but likely infectious. Consequently your prostate enzymes will be reved up, and markers such as PSA (used in screening for prostate cancer) will go up. This is not to suggest that you have cancer. See a urologist. A course of anti-inflammatory drugs and perhaps antibiotics will be prescribed and will likely take effect within 7-14dys. Actual time to remission depends, but the important thing is to try to pin point the cause, and eliminating it. You can discuss that with your urologist.

[bill96ab]

just want to add that if you have chronic prostatitis, you can be on Abx for 6 weeks or better.

[alpo]

There is some good information in the posts above.

The current guidelines for treatment of acute prostatitis recommend a 28 day course of antibiotics for outpatient treatment. Medicines like Ciprofloxacin or Bactrim are usually the first meds used. If it is chronic, the treatment can be much longer - 6-12 weeks. There is some conflicting evidence that drugs in a class called alpha blockers may have some role in certain types of chronic prostatitis. As is stated above, you should see urologist for this.

[cokelvr]

I am on a 30 day treatment of Levaquin and my PSA's came back normal. That was good.. Thanks for all the input.

Kurt

[Jay Francis]

I'm on a sulfa drug called Bactrin for 45 days, two tablets a day. It takes longer for antibiotics to work on the prostate because of its location.

[cokelvr]

After the first 3 days I did feel better. But then major relapse. The last 2 days have been bad again. Normal? Only been on the meds for 7 days now can't expect too much yet I guess. Tonight is not too bad. Hope for the best....

[Daoust]

I'm not sure if what I have is prostatitis or not, but lately I've been getting these really deep, sharp pains in the rectal area. It's deeper than my anus, but not my stomach. Perhaps if I knew my anatomy a little better I could speak more intelligently on the issue. All I know is that I get these sharp pains every once in a while, like cramps but shorter and much more sharp, and I don't know what's going on. They hurt like a bugger and nothing I do makes them go away. They just go on their own.

Is this prostatitis? Does anyone else know what I'm talking about??

[alpo]

Daoust,
It's difficult to diagnose a lot of things when you have a person sitting right in front of you. One day tele-medicine may be feasible, but right now this intra-web thingy doesn't work well for diagnosing patients.

There is a VERY long list of things that could be causing your discomfort. Without knowing a lot more, it would be impossible to give you any more idea what it could be. I'd recommend making an appointment with your primary care physician so that they can ask more about what you are experiencing.

[Daoust]

I appreciate your feedback, alpo. Unfortunately, I don't do the doctor thing very much. It's not a phobia, its just that the only way I will go into a hospital is if I'm carried there or brought there on a stretcher. I hate the long waits, and I hate thinking I'm sick and having it turn out to be nothing... It's childish, I know. It could cause me a lot of problems if I really was in trouble with something not immediately detectable, but I am what I am...

[alpo]

Daoust,
I hear what you are saying. Even though I am a doc myself, I really don't like going to doctors either. It is very easy to understand why people don't like coming to see us.

Having said that though, I can't tell you how many times a week I see patients that we see patients who we can just shake our head at because we can't do anything for them. If they had come to the doctor when they first started having problems, we might have been able to do something. It's really sad sometimes because people often have serious problems from things that are easily treatable if addressed earlier.

If you continue to have problems, are older than 50 or engage in sexual practices which might put you at risk -- go see a doctor. It's better to waste an afternoon at a doctor's office than miss something that could be addressed before it becomes a big problem.

Just my $0.02.

[denim]

Originally Posted by Daoust

I appreciate your feedback, alpo. Unfortunately, I don't do the doctor thing very much. It's not a phobia, its just that the only way I will go into a hospital is if I'm carried there or brought there on a stretcher.

As Alpo said, it may well come down to "get over that or die". Your choice.

[Tarl Cabot]

Originally Posted by Daoust

I appreciate your feedback, alpo. Unfortunately, I don't do the doctor thing very much. It's not a phobia, its just that the only way I will go into a hospital is if I'm carried there or brought there on a stretcher. I hate the long waits, and I hate thinking I'm sick and having it turn out to be nothing... It's childish, I know. It could cause me a lot of problems if I really was in trouble with something not immediately detectable, but I am what I am...

You've gotten some good advice here. My dad adheres to your philosophy, but he's also experienced gallstones and kidney stones.

You'll want help if you've got either of those. I can assure you, you'd rather have lithotripsy than pass a kidney stone.

I'm not a physician, and the above is in no way a diagnosis. It's just an example of when having a physician mess with your private parts is the MUCH lesser of two evils.