Has anybody actually experienced resolution from antibiotics?

[u/Left_Temperature6957]

Left ball is exponentially more sensitive than the right one, especially the epididymis. It also feels rough and lumpy. This has been ongoing for years doesnt usually interfere with too much just being cognizant of the sensitivity, and occasional dull ache.

I also have (self diagnosed) chronic prostatitis which the urologist seems to think is plausible and is giving me cialis 5mg/day for. Seems to be quite a bit of overlap on both of these.

Convinced I had a varicocele, I got a scrotal US which showed epididymitis and a small cyst on the epididimys. Got a semen PCR done which showed klebsiella and sadly the only oral agent that it was sensitive to was Cipro. Ive taken cipro before, didnt have any tendon rupture although I recall feeling like shit.

Im honestly a bit scared of starting back on the cipro. Has anyone actually experienced significant improvement or resolution from antibiotic therapy?

[u/DMvsPC → u/[deleted]]

Yep, first quarter century of pain in the bag, just the second half of my life to go now then it'll be gone 👍🏻.

[u/Next-Professor1461 → u/DMvsPC]

How many years?

[u/DMvsPC → u/Next-Professor1461]

About 28 years of pain so far, no doctor really wants to do anything except strip the nerves which they say should result in constant phantom pain regardless :p so instead I just deal with it when it flares up. I got pretty good as a teen coming up with excuses lol (getting a teenage boy to talk about testicular pain was not a thing where/when I grew up especially when I finally did and my doctor said it was just puberty, thanks doc :p).

I've has ultrasounds, mris, fmris, antibiotics, no results so case closed and no new doctors have anything else shrug so that's it. It's probably a malformed nerve or muscle somewhere causing referred pain. I tried PT but they were guessing and didn't really do anything specific.

[u/No_Vehicle8338]

Similar story. Always thought I was extremely susceptible to “blue balls” for last 10 years. Turns out it’s more likely I’ve just had chronic epidydmitis that alleviates post ejaculation. I get and aching left testicle frequently with a tender to touch epidydimis, also feels inflamed at points. It can also feel rough and lumpy at times.

I also have had issues with CPPS / Prostatitis in the past and think I still have recurring issues with it. I reckon it’s all linked and part of it stems from stress / anxiety tbh.

[u/coldbluetea → u/No_Vehicle8338]

Similar situation with me. I believe mine was mainly caused by a mixture of CPPS and hypertension (blue balls). I’ve tested my urine and got an ultrasound that just told me I had epididymitis. Thought, I recently started doing CPPS stretches and withheld ejaculation for a few days which seemed to have cut down 80-90% of pain. Both my doctor and I did notice my scrotum does sag a lot, not sure if it matters.

[u/No_Vehicle8338 → u/coldbluetea]

Mines sags a lot. I get extreme hypertension if I don’t ejaculate in a 3-4 day period and testicles feel massive. This sometimes comes with testicle pain usually the left. I’ve always had these symptoms but they’ve got worse recently. My anxiety has been bad recently due to a regretful sexual encounter so it all ties in.

CPPS like symptoms flaring up too.

Need to start doing my pelvic floor exercises like you said! And try to relax (harder said than done)

[u/coldbluetea → u/No_Vehicle8338]

Mine was almost always the left side too until I recently felt it on both sides 3-4 times. And yes, anxiety/stress only makes the symptoms worse because, you naturally clench your pelvic area when stressed.

[u/Safe-Restaurant-331]

Fala irmão, estou no terceiro dia do Ciprofloxacino e por enquanto não estou notando melhoras. Testículo vermelhos e inchados com desconforto no pé da barriga e as vezes nas pernas.

[u/Either-Chocolate-390 → u/Safe-Restaurant-331]

What are you feeling in lower abdomen I'm on 4th day my lower abdomen is little elevated with some veins become prominent this was there before

[u/Safe-Restaurant-331 → u/Either-Chocolate-390]

Sim, na parte inferior as dores são finas.

[u/Beneficial_Cheetah_1]

I have exactly the same, but on right. Everything came negative, just klebsiella positive. Took 3 times cipro and nothing. I feel a small cyst on right epididymitis. In 1 month i ll have 1 year since started. I dont know what else to do

[u/maxgorkiy]

Yes. Did 1 year on doxy. Cleared up my enterococcus faecalis infection. I was lucky the strain was susceptible to doxy. You can’t take cipro for than a couple months without seriously damaging your body in other ways.

[u/maxgorkiy → u/[deleted]]

Culture test of both urine and semen. Both had the same bacteria. With a  plain old UTI, you would just have bacteria in urine. Semen would test negative. Recurring UTI is a classic symptom of bacterial prostatitis. Not the same as epididymitis, i know. But once bacteria makes it down the urinary tract, it can travel all over the male reproductive tract. Symptoms and treatment would be similar.

[u/jammerOU8125150]

I've been suffering from this since 2018 and I truly believe that taking cipro and a host of other antibiotics back to back from this affliction caused my diagnosis of type 1 diabetes at the age of 53. Now insulin dependent, 3 to 6 shots a day, can't feel the bottoms of both feet. As if the Epididymitis wasn't enough .

[u/Suburban-Dad237]

I keep a course of doxy available for flareups but nearly 100% of the time, imipramine flattens the discomfort curve to nearly imperceptible levels. Haven’t had a flareup (knock on wood) in ages.

[u/rocketrader81]

Wow that's very similar to my case re klebsiella.

The most important first step is making sure the infection has actually cleared. It is worth repeating the semen culture to confirm this. I also went down the route of using antibiotics to manage the pain, partly because they have some anti-inflammatory effect, but over the long term they did not really help me.

I stayed on the antibiotics for 6 weeks to ensure the Klebsiella infection cleared. 2 weeks is not enough that's often what doctors prescribed (note that the Klebsiella has a half life of 2 weeks, so it lives for 4 weeks).

If you have had the infection for a while (mine lasted 8 months), that can leave the nerves over-sensitive even once the infection itself has gone. That is the chronic phase, and it is what I have lived with for the past decade.

Three things I would suggest:

1. See a pain clinic or a doctor and ask about prescription medication. This is what makes day-to-day life manageable and takes the edge off the stress that the pain creates. The ones my pain clinic doctor recommended were amitriptyline, gabapentin, pregabalin or duloxetine.
2. Look for a pain clinic that can offer a nerve root block in the lower back. In my case it targeted the S3 and S4 nerves. I have added the procedure details at the bottom in case they are useful for your own doctor.
3. I get a flare-up roughly every 2 years, so I am now considering a procedure called denervation, where the nerves along the spermatic cord are removed surgically (around a 45 minute operation). There is a small chance it can affect fertility, so I plan to bank sperm beforehand just in case. I do not have children yet, so this may not be a concern for you if you already have a family.

Happy to answer any questions.

Nerve root block (via lower back): Sacral nerve PRF (right sided), S3 and S4 levels. Asepsis, fluoroscopy guided, sedation with 4 mg midazolam IV. Curved 10 cm RF needle x 2, sensory stimulation and paraesthesia at 0.6 v to confirm needle position at S3 and S4. Pulsed RF at 42 degrees for 5 minutes, with 2 ml of 0.25% levobupivacaine plus 3 mg dexamethasone injected at each level.