David95928
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 3521
posted
After several years of reading and posting here, it seems to me that a lot of the men have had some similar problems. Because of the smaller number of men who post here, this may not have been discussed as much as is needed. I've noted the following:
MANY, both young and not, have had prostate problems
MANY have low testosterone and associated problems of fatique, problems in sexual functioning, and depression
It seems that a number have tested very low for growth hormone
In general, it has been noted that men are more reluctant to seek medical help due to both fear of feeling of helplessness and dependency, and a strong aversion to being examined "down there." This can make diagnosis and treatment more complicated. Also, the work and career issues may differ somewhat.
I'm fairly sure that there is more. Any comments?
-------------------- Dave Posts: 2034 | From CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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Lymelighter
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5310
posted
Don't forget the one everybody's "nuts" about...epididymitis! Ouch! Posts: 1010 | From Mars | Registered: Feb 2004
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posted
im 25, i got examined down there due to sexual problems and peeing problems, the doctor said there is not problem visible after and exploration and a ecography. Said that it could be caused for other disease not related with urinarie system and sent me home. (sorry for my english). Pretty nice eh, been suffering it since 2 years that is when i got lyme. Now after 2 years i just can hope it goes better with lyme treatment in which i've been only for 2 weeks, Does this issues got better for any of u with lyme and coinfecctions treatment?.
Posts: 4 | From Madrid - Spain | Registered: Jul 2006
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posted
I am now more convinced that I have been fighting this for several years.
Since October of '04 I was diagnosed with chronic epididitimytis. I wouldn't of went to a doctor if I hadn't been on a pheasant hunting trip when it flared up on me for the first time. It was all I could do to walk back to the truck.
I was told by the ER that I had an enlarged prostate and epiditimytis at the age of 28. Along with 10 days of Cipro, "Get used to it," was my medication. Funny how I felt great after the Cipro was gone and it slowly flared up every month.
If I hadn't found a new tick bite this December, I would probably still be suffering from Uro to Uro without a clue. I think that my illness dates back to '97 or '98 -- 6 years before my "boys" became involved.
I just started 1000mg Ceftin 2X day, Nystatin?, a shot of B-12 2X week, magnesium, and other vitamins. Feel terrible Posts: 20 | From Platte City, MO | Registered: Jun 2006
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posted
I just posted a couple a days ago about a BIG prostate Flair. tescicals Too. throughout my treatment on ABX things were fine. Was off ABX for 9 weeks and it appears one of the infections was hidding out in the prostate. 5 days ago in the ER,( had to go due to the pain level) they found the prostate fully inflamed.Screaming pain when they did the massage. I was put on Doxy by my LLMD and todays exam was so so much better.
I am also on testosterone, a low amount due to the lyme and dhea levels are also down.
Posts: 582 | From milwaukee wi | Registered: May 2005
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chroniclymie
Unregistered
posted
yes major men's problems but few post 1) PSA CAN INCREASE AND STAY INCREASED FOR ENTIRE LIFE. i am 52 psa has been from 4- 10 now 5.5 anything over 1 should be bx. had 3 bx, all negative for ca, but no prostate left, last bx took 25 pieces. 2)KIDNEY STONES AND INFECTIONS very common in men and women, urethral infections also very commom. ALL STONES IN AN ORGAN,KIDNEY,GALL BLADDER, SALIVARY GLANDS LIVER, PANCREAS, ALL COMMON IN LYME 3) DECREASE LIBIDO AND ED, very common with lyme . men can take ed meds viagra etc. but erection can be achieved with these meds but many times not ejaculation. this is very common with ed meds and have been told by multiple docs. this is probably related in some cases to decrease in testosterone but can also be from lyme itself. 4) many men with chronic lyme and severe dpression are on ssri antidepressants that cause the same problem as number 3) 5) Fatigue issues I have yet to figure out after 14 years of lyme but may be linked to testoterone level decrease. problem with increasing libido for myself with testosterone,is my wife is post-menopausal 58 and does not desire sex any longer ,so its a double edge sword, and the sword doesn't get used much, lol
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posted
Hi. The last week I have noticed a larger effert was needed to get and keep a stream Going.( kinda like paddlin up stream if ya know what I mean) This is the 4th week of IV meds ,Iwonder if that might tend to block up the water way.
Listen ,you all hang in there life with alittle bit of lyme is better than life with alot of lyme. Be as well as you can Be
buggy
Posts: 96 | From wi | Registered: Jan 2003
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posted
I'd like to say it has been a really hard year but not the way I would've liked it to be. I know, pretty poor joke but it's the truth.
I was having big time problems this time last year and for months getting and maintaining an erection. Pretty embarrassing but I decided to ask for help.
I tried Levitra and it helped with sex but after using it I really felt horrible for a couple of days. I felt like I was herxing and guess what, if you read any of Marnie's posts (I know they are tough to understand but right on the money)it looks like Levitra, and the others may actually kill lyme or affect other avenues to help kill it.
Anyway, for all of you guys experiencing this problem,rest easy because with proper treatment it will reverse. I'm happy to say that everything is working fine now but it was a long tough year.
All MyBest, Scott
-------------------- BTW - I am NOT a medical professional - just speaking from MY own personal experience. Posts: 266 | From Philadelphia | Registered: May 2005
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posted
I responded recently to a post about this topic also.
For me this is how my whole situation started. I thought I had chronic prostatitis for a long time.
For about 6 months this was really the only problem I had. I worked on many different ways (not many anitbiotics) to get this resolved and really never got much help.
Eventually this kind of went away and was replaced with chest pain / shaking / trouble breathing / heart issues / stabbing pains in the hands feet and head / and many more odd symptoms.
After many Dr visits and 6 months of time finally got diagnosed with Lyme thanks in part to this board.
Have been on treatment for only 8 weeks and still no huge improvements. The prostate issues though for me have manily disappeared. Once in a great while some of that pain returns but always seems to go away within a day or so.
I thought when all I had was the prostate issues that was the worst thing that could happen to me. Now I wish that was the only symptom I had again. Life has been very hard with Lyme and all the variouos symptoms as of late.
I would definitely say prostate problems with men are part of the Lyme symptom tree.
Brewer
Posts: 11 | From Waukesha, WI | Registered: Jan 2006
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posted
The men that I know with lyme all seem to have joint or arthritis issues more so then the women. Has anyone noticed that males seem to repsond better to treatment then women? Just curious if anyone had any thoughts on this.
Posts: 547 | From Maryland | Registered: Mar 2005
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David95928
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 3521
posted
Part of Lyme lore is that men do respond better to treatment. I don't know of any research on the subject.
-------------------- Dave Posts: 2034 | From CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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posted
When I went to my urologist with the delema of my recent prostate flair, I told him that my LLMD suspected ehrlichia due to some other indications. I asked the urologist if Doxy would be a good med to get into the prostate and he said yes. I have been on the doxy for about 9 days and am getting some good resolution using this at the moment.
Posts: 582 | From milwaukee wi | Registered: May 2005
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posted
Hi all. I am new to this forum, but I thought that I would share what I wrote on another website to introduce myself:
Hi to all my fellow Lyme survivors!
I'm a 29 year old male who lives in New York City. The last 100 days have been extremely hellish. After going to numerous doctors and tests (MRI, EMG, bloodwork, etc.), I'm finally being treated for Lyme disease by a seemingly intelligent LLMD in Connecticut. Like many of you, I didn't even care that I had a nasty disease...the nonstop pain was sooooo bad that I just wanted to get on antibiotics immediately!
Anyway, my first test (ELISA?) came back negative, and I haven't seen the results from Igenex yet, but I'm being given antibiotics based on a clinical diagnosis and muscle kinesiology (that I apparently failed). I have had some odd symptoms over the last decade like eczema, swollen lymph nodes, sleep paralysis, rashes, prostatitis, adult acne, eye infection, sinus infection, racing heartbeat, anxiety, cold feet, etc. Fun, eh?! However, believe it or not, none of these things were terribly alarming to me and they were all treated individually.
This April, after finally being treated for my nonbacterial prostatitis with Aleve, I started to develop constant muscle twitching in my calves. This quickly spread to every single muscle in my body. I also had some heart palpitations and liver area pain. Then it went downhill very quickly. I started getting burning muscle pains and sharp, stabbing pains everywhere...and I do mean everywhere -- scalp, tongue, eyes, nose, fingers, toes, torso, there was no place I didn't feel pain. I also started getting abnormal sensations like water dripping down my leg, very painful electric shock sensations, hot wax/internal bleeding sensations, bugs crawling on torso and arms (which I've actually had since 2000). If that weren't enough, I also started to have involuntary jerking of fingers, toes, even entire limbs and then my knuckle joints got stiff. Oh, and I forgot to mention that I had a strange headache in January, located in the back of my head that lasted for 4 days. I remember thinking it was strange, because I very rarely get headaches, it lasted for so long, and due to its location. Then, starting in February, I noticed that little scratches and bruises would leave scars, that normally would heal in a day or two.
The neurologists said everything from anxiety to post-viral syndrome to a simple case of fleeting neuralgia. I tried every painkiller, and nothing worked. I saw many similar posts on other website's forums where doctors quickly dismissed their patients. I knew that something was definitely not right...the pain seemed so urgent, decisive, deliberate...like an active infection was taking place...not something "post" -viral. Plus, I was getting worse...not stabilizing and certainly not getting better.
Not only was I taking an NSAID (which can cause worrisome changes in the body), but I was also changing my sleeping schedule around (and, therefore, not getting very much sleep). I was also eating a lot of sugar. All of these things probably suppressed my immune system, allowing the Bb and company to take control. However, I must admit that I'm still not 100% sure this is what I have. Could it be a parasite, active virus, mold, other bacterial infection, or something like connective tissue disorder, sarcoidosis? For now, I'm just trying to concentrate on letting the drugs do their thing and hoping for the best.
I've only had these extremely severe symptoms for about 110 days, but it has felt like a lifetime. My doctor thinks that I may have gotten Lyme (he believes I am also co-infected) in the mid-90s in college in the Hudson Valley. I am currently on 300mg minocycline, 800mg cedax, and 400mg plaquenil daily. He also wants me to take CoQ 10, fatty acids, magnesium taurate, an A.I. formula, glucosamine msm, and acetyl-l-carnitine. I've read conflicting info regarding glucosamine and magnesium. Anyway...I've been on mino for only 17 days, cedax for 13 days, and plaquenil for 9 days. My doctor wants to see me again in 6 weeks to see if I need to go on I.V. antibiotics, but even though I may have had this for a decade or more, he seemed quite optimistic regarding my neuralgia symptoms going away in the near future. I haven't herxed at all (I hope this isn't a bad sign...I read that SOME people don't herx and gradually get better). Believe it or not, I started to feel very slightly better last week (already!), but today (and last 7 days) I felt like I did before I started taking antibiotics. I guess I don't really have a specific question, but I just wanted to introduce myself to the group and get any suggestions/advice, concerns, or comments about my situation.
I always considered myself to be very good at dealing with pain. I remember after running my first marathon that people were asking me how the pain was. That pain was NOTHING, a piece of cake compared to the nonstop, many different types of pain, creepy abnormal sensations, no sleep for many nights in a row, etc. that I have just endured (and continue to endure). For those of you who have pushed forward and survived the same kind of thing that I am dealing with, I bow to you.
Thanks for reading. Lyme camaraderie...gotta love it. ;P
Best, madhattan
Posts: 33 | From New York | Registered: Aug 2006
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