Chronic Prostatitis?

December 26, 2014 7:14 AM

Are the groin symptoms I've been suffering from recently indicative of a chronic prostate issue?

About a month ago I went to a urologist for a dull ache in my perineum and mild burning with urination. I got a urinalysis and it showed elevated white blood cells so the doctor said it was likely a urinary tract infection and gave me antibiotics. I took them and it got better.

Last week, the dull ache returned. The last seven days have been awful - groin pain, burning after urination, constantly waking up at night to urinate and a very tender bladder. Sitting down is near impossible and walking doesn't help much. I'm sure it's prostate related.

I went to a walk-in clinic a few of days ago and the doctor said that UTIs are rare in men and sent my urine test off to a lab for a culture. Results show no sign of an infection.

I've had a very stressful year plus a lot of changes looming in the coming weeks, as well as pretty bad anxiety over the last few weeks (including some pretty awful panic attacks). I've read that this type of stress can tense the pelvic floor and cause what makes up for 90% of what is considered to be prostatitis.

Can anyone who has experience similar symptoms shed any light?

posted by Tenacious.Me.Tokyo to Health & Fitness (5 answers total)

Prostititis is hard to treat and often more than one course of antibiotics is called for. I would get into a urologist asap. You didn't mention your age, but if you are above 40 a PSA test is called for. It will be elevated because of the inflammation in the prostate, but for my ex it was a case of prostititis that pointed to his prostate cancer at age 45. I'm not trying to scare you, but this isn't something to ignore.

I speak from the viewpoint of the spouse who did the majority of the research and was the advocate for my spouse when he wasn't sure which way to turn.
posted by OkTwigs at 8:31 AM on December 26, 2014 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Edit: I'm 38-years-old.
posted by Tenacious.Me.Tokyo at 8:43 AM on December 26, 2014

Look at this thread and chase my references.

You can have a non-specific prostatitis. Cultures will show nothing. Tim Parks wrote a book about his experiences and he explicitly mentions targeting the pelvic floor muscles and trying relaxation exercises.

There is a lot of overlap with anxiety.

The chain of links I gave you explains a lot. But go see your urologist again. If your GP is accessible, he/she should be able to give you a prescription to cover you until you see the urologist.
posted by PickeringPete at 9:34 AM on December 26, 2014 [1 favorite]

Trying to relax is rarely sufficient to address pelvic floor issues, if that is what you're experiencing. Look into getting a referral for pelvic floor physical therapy. It's made a big difference for several people I know.
posted by telegraph at 9:45 AM on December 26, 2014

I had more minor recurrent Prostatitis issues recently (you can look up my AskMefi question from a few months ago if you like) and my urologist called it Prostatitis Type III, which is apparently not uncommon in high stress personality types. He prescribed a very low dose of Valium daily, and then recommended that I try to decrease how often I take it very gradually, which I have been doing. This treatment is working well for me. Hope this is helpful info.
posted by wittgenstein at 5:28 PM on December 27, 2014