I have been diagnosed with Andropause by 789

Both Cipro and Levaquin are antibiotics so he must suspect that you have a form of bacterial prostatitis rather than just a mushy prostate. As you probably know, there are not many antibiotics that are effective on the prostate, it being such a complicated, convoluted organ. Regular meds just don’t reach the infected hot spots (arcini) but the two you are taking are effective. Did he do any fluid cultures on you? urine or semen?

Prostatitis can drive up PSA results; probably a factor in your last read being higher.

Good you don’t have any of the classic symptoms - urinary urgency, pain, fever, blah blah.

It will help your meds work better and faster if you ejaculate a lot. If your semen is discolored or has a bad odor, use a condom for sex.

My doctor said he suggests saw palmetto to some patients because sometimes it makes them feel better when prostatitis is active. It didn’t do anything for me but worth a try. Ditto prostate massage, but some men do benefit from that.

If your prostatitis is bacterial, only 15 days on those drugs may not do it. I had to stay on Cipro for 8 weeks before I got clear but everybody’s different.

The food side of prostatitis is highly variable and everybody seems to have a different opinion. Does coffee aggravate it? red wine? spicey foods? I felt the same no matter what I ate or avoided.

Prostatitis is a pain in the ass :) but you just have to stick to the regimen; don’t miss any scheduled pills. Keep your medications constant.

If you do experience pain (perineal, one leg, one ball, both balls, lower back) a heating pad helps but not too hot. I found that too much heat made the pain worse.

Thanks a8,

I have a doctor/friend that thinks that that prostate massage helps because you are milking the gland and pushing out bacteria along with the precum and to be sure to jack off after to clear the ejaculate out. This afternoon the urologists office returned my call and said the doc changed his mind and wants me on 30 days not the original 15 he prescribed yesterday. So its 30 days of Cipro and then another test. I hope this gets rid of it.

I dont have the symptoms and my ejaculate is the same eggwhite color it has always been. Would taking clomid to increase ejaculate help? He did do a urine sample but no semen samples.

Giving up red wine, spicy food and coffee is going to be tough for me thats for sure, even if its for 30 days. Hell thats what I live on, I’m Italian !

Thanks for the help.

789

If I were you, I wouldn’t add Clomid to the mix now. You have enough going on with andropause, without changing your body chemistry further.

Good he wants you on the drugs 30 days. Better outcome, imo, bacterial prostatitis being so tough to attack. Prior to your next visit (in 30 days?) call and ask if he wants to do a 5 day semen culture. Normal is 3 days with most labs; a doctor can ask for 5 days and chances are more likely that bugs will grow after 5 days than 3. If your semen is clear after 30 days on the drugs, no immediate worries.

Basil and oregano? Can they be bad?

Okay some further updates. I went to the urologist this morning and they said the prostatitis is gone and I can stop the antibiotics. Woohoo for that.

I had a PSA and total testosterone test done the other day. The good news the PSA was .78 which is back in my normal range but the testosterone was very low. It came in at 280.1. I have been feeling sluggish lately but I attributed that to these stupid BP medications. And I was wondering, can the antibiotics have any negative effects on testosterone levels?

Hey Bro you are the perfect example why it’s good to be under a doctors care. I can’t believe it’s back down it makes no sense. Did your doctor have a reason or did you get the doctor gray zone look.

He actually thought it was an anomoly. I have been building up to the 800+ number I had just over a month ago. He really thinks its just a bad test. My free testosterone results come in Monday. Itll be interesting to see what they come out like. If they are higher, that would show that this test was bogus.

And you’re right I couldnt do this alone.

I picked up my Free Testosterone results this morning and they were 83.9 on a scale of 47.0-244.0 pg/ml. So I am on the lower third of the scale.

So what’s up with that?

Not me. But I get tested again in a month so we’ll see. Maybe if I didnt test so much I wouldnt even realize the ups and downs of the therapy.

I picked up my testosterone results from the doctors office this morning. They are about a month old, when I had my appointment they weren’t back yet.

Total testosterone is 618 on a scale of 250-1100 ng/dl.
Free testosterone is 173.8 on a scale of 35-155 pg/nl (a bit high)
Free testosterone % is 2.81% on a scale of 1.1-2.8% (slightly high)
Estradiol is 53.2 on a scale of 25-52.5 pg/ml (again slightly high)
PSA is .851 on a scale of 0-4.0.

You would think with my free test being so high I would be uncontrollably horny but I’m not. I attribute that to being under an immense amount of stress lately, not sleeping well and the high free test is probably balanced out with a slightly high estradiol level.

Well that’s all folks. I’ll update again in the next two months.

Hey Brother

I’m glad you finally got up to a good level although high a bit. Just keep hitting the gym and that should help with the stress and it should also put those high T-levels to good use.

What does your doc think of the estradiol level in all this and does he/she want to do anything to adjust that down some?

To be honest, she blew it off cold. I was a little disappointed that she didnt followup on that more. I wish I had the test a week earlier when I went to see the urologist. I really like my doc but this is not her area of expertise. But she spends more time worrying when my cholesterol/triglycerides are 1 point over the norm than this. I don’t have a huge history of my estradiol levels either. I am going to see another doc, that lives near me and he services a good friend with TRT but the doc is not on my network for my damn HMO. So I called and told him, next week at poker he needs to do an evaluation lol. He is faxing over the test results he wants and we’ll go from there.

What do you see in the high estradiol?

Only that “high” estradiol has the potential for throwing off your whole healthier, now, hormonal equation. I don’t know if yours is “too high,” maybe it isn’t. But it’s worth having someone who knows about endochrynology to look at all your levels, including that one, to get a sense of which ways you are generally moving.

Since he’s not in your HMO system, take your test results with you. Wait until a time when you both have lousy stud hands, then both fold and go to the bathroom together; get his impressions. Then, make sure he wins the next couple deals?

Well I play poker with doctors and lawyers and they are all lousy players. This doctor is jewish a VERY BAD player so Ill have to get the other guys to just fold to get this guy to win. He lives in our neighborhood also and every year we compete on who has the most outrageous Christmas lite display. I keep telling him he would do better if he didnt just use blue and white lights and something more than a Star of David. lol.

He is sincerely a good guy and will give me the best advice he can. He has been advising our other friend for years and he’s pretty damn healthy.

Also, I know I read somewhere you can lower estradiol with some all natural stuff but I don’t remember.