One of our long time posters approached me about making a 'sticky' post about success stories. I thought it was a good idea that would put these stories where new people can see what has worked for some of you.

Remember, this isn't a sales forum. A week ago we were getting three new (and now gone) posters who were selling all kinds of stuff. We can't do that here. Post what has helped you get back to your old self.
Thank you!

My journey to complete recovery after being diagnosed with prostatitis

Pre-diagnosis
Prior to being diagnosed with prostatitis, I had a previous history of being given antibiotics to treat minor symptoms that my doctor (general physician) called “Urinary Tract Infections”. However on every occasion, urine and blood tests had never shown any evidence of infection. That physician had previously referred me to prestigious Urological Surgeon for review. As part of the specialist review, they arranged for me to have ultrasounds, blood tests, and a special x-ray involving injecting a dye into my veins. While friendly, knowledgeable, and genuinely interested in helping me, the specialist was ultimately not able to add anything new to understanding my symptoms.

The Diagnosis
At 34, I went to another doctor’s office with pain in my pelvic area that had lasted almost two weeks and alarmed me because it seemed to be getting worse. After performing a manual prostate examination, my doctor diagnosed bacterial prostatitis. I was prescribed a strong antibiotic called Ciprofloxacin. I was again sent back to the specialist who discussed with me the possibility of performing a cystoscopy, although with hindsight I am glad he chose not to proceed with this given my young age meant that the risk of bladder cancer was negligible and there was limited likelihood of the cystoscopy revealing anything new about my symptoms, and there are potential risks in terms of side effects and discomfort.

Sadness
Even after 6 weeks on Ciprofloxacin there was no meaningful improvement in my symptoms. The specialist had (helpfully) warned me that symptoms of prostatitis often take quite some time to resolve so I still held out hope that things might improve with time. I felt sad about the idea that perhaps I had a bacterial infection that was untreatable and wondered if perhaps I would experience this chronic pain for the rest of my life.

The discovery
After reading online, I discovered the idea that perhaps most ‘prostatitis’ was in fact “non-bacterial” from a website. I followed up on this by ordering a book called “A Headache in the Pelvis”. It talked further about the idea that most ‘prostatitis’ is not bacterial and not a result of an infection at all. This book provided me much mental relief, as I had a new sense that maybe somehow, there was a solution out there. However the book also said that the solution would require many months of patience and daily practice for perhaps an hour every day to learn to meditate and relax the muscles in
my pelvic area.

The frustration
After six months of tolerating the pain and sitting on a special cushion at work, my symptoms were manageable but nonetheless still a real problem. And I lived with the fear that they might one day again become unmanageable to the point that the pain would keep me awake at night again as it once had. Driving was uncomfortable sometimes.

The breakthrough
About a year after my initial diagnosis, I went to a specialized personal trainer that helps train athletes for events like the Olympics. I went to become stronger to help me with my sport. My intention was to do strengthening work, but as part of my training she first began by training in a physical stretching regime called ELDOA. Within a couple of months, I noticed my symptoms of pelvic pain had mysteriously disappeared. Then we moved on to more strengthening work and I let the stretches lapse. The pelvic area pain returned. It was at this point I realized that the book “A Headache in the Pelvis” had given a fabulous pointer in the right direction that my ‘prostatitis’ was not caused by bacteria but rather chronic tension and pain in certain muscles in my pelvic area. However the book’s solution for this chronic tension (including an hour of daily meditation) was not the only one or the best one for me. I quickly learned that every time my pelvic pain returned, it could always be resolved completely resolved within 48 hours by twice daily performing two of the key stretches I had been taught by my personal trainer that only take a few minutes. Looking back, I now realize that I was doing much more of activities that put my pelvic floor muscles into tension in the months before my symptoms first emerged. Since then I occasionally get the pain back if I neglect the stretches, but I deal with it quickly and with confidence. What worked for me may not work for everyone, but I wanted to share that it works for me in case it makes a different for others somehow.

Partly bacterial but Cured with tricyclic antidepressants and others...

Hi guys,

Today after 9 months of sickness it's finally time for me to give my contribution to this forum. After being a lot, lot better and getting back my normal life, I want to help people that fight this disease as much as I can.

This will be a quite long message but I think it's necessary to put everything to not omit an important detail. You can go directly to the summary if you want the short story

Sorry for my bad english.

Presentation:

I'm a French guy, 30 years old.
Medical antecedents:
Phimosis (circumcision for medical reason)
Symptoms of irritable bowel when I m frustrated.
Quite anxious in general.

History :

Summer 2016:
My girlfriend is pregnant. I'm very anxious about my future life.

October 2016:

After unprotected oral sex with a prostitute, I have red meatus and discomfort at tip of my penis.
Weird sensation when I pee.
After 1 week, I go to the doc that prescribe me urethra analysis and give me doxycycline.
My anxiousness is really very high, as I fear to be infected by something and potentially pass it to the future baby.
I wake up one night with a shooting pain somewhere between testicle and anus prostate.
Next day, horrible feeling of electricity in that area not in the middle but in left side.
The glans penis became over sensitive. Just touching the top of the glans was provoking hyper tingling sensation. I thought that I had a skin problem. Started to worry about all possible STD I could have.
Analysis reveals nothing. Anxiousness fall and I feel better.
After starting to work, hyper sensitivity came again, either in my glans or in the groin area also big pelvic pain
Multiple STDs tests are negative.
Urologist think it's a prostatitis, so he give me cipro for 15 days.

November 2016:
Cipro has no effect apart from giving me foot pain after sport.
This over sensibility is continuously moving from tip of the penis to perineum in the left side.
I now see that it is not related to skin but it's neuropathic.
When I don't have this over sensibility , I have pelvic pain moving from right to left side.

Interesting thing is the pain is NEVER at multiple places at the same time. It's always moving.

I'm really bad. Feels like a zombie. My life has totally changed. I'm in hell.

December 2016
A semen test revealed nothing.
Ask my urologist to do a prostatic fluid analysis after reading about this on the Internet. Found e-coli and enterococcus faecalis. Almost no White blood cells

Urologist give me 21 days of Augmentin and Linezolid (zyvox)

I also have hemorrhoids at this time.
Took some vacations between Christmas and new year eve. Things get better during that time.

January 2017
After reading on the Internet I go to a physical therapist specialized in pelvic pain.
She told me that pelvic muscles are in tension and my nervous system is irritated. Start internal muscles relaxation.
Pain decreased a little bit but continue to come and go and move during the day.
I'm still very bad in general. Sometimes think about suicide or living alone far away.
New semen tests that reveals e-coli and enterococcus faecalis in small amount like the prostatic fluid tests showed previously.
No white blood cells.

February 2017
Go to an infectiologist. He doubt that I have an infection. Prescribe me another semen test that show only e-coli this time.I didn't take any antibiotics since last test. Still no WBC.
Pain continue to fall down a bit.
Sometimes I have pain under my hear, on cervical area, shoulder or near the elbow.
Start to believe I could maybe survive to this.
Start to take quercetin.

March 2017
Baby is born.
Go to a chronic pain specialized doctor. She explains me that sometimes brain pain path are over sensitive and we feel pain where normally we should not.
She prescribe me Lyrica 100mg /day.
Infectiologist continue to think that the cause is not an infection. However he prescribe me 6 weeks of Bactrim Forte to give it a try.
After 10 days of ineffective Bactrim, a rash starts. The doctor tells me to stop immediately the antibiotics.
Start acupuncture.
Continue physical therapy less often and externally only.

April 2017
My stress start to decrease.
Pain is stable but still continues to eat my life. I fill pain also around my left hip area sometimes. Pain now resides at 80% of the time in the left side.
Start to take cernilton equivalent ( Rye pollen)
Lyrica seems to have no effect. Doctor give me a small dose of tricyclic antidepressants called Anafranil (clomipramine) 10mg on the morning & 10mg on the evening.

May 2017
Stress decreased a lot.
Have a lot of pain improvement . pain is now 100% in the left side. Feeling lot better between the big flares up .
Start to take melatonin 10 mg / every evening.
Do pelvic MRI scan that reveals nothing.
Sometimes have some neuropathic pain in the abdominal left area and little bit pain at ejaculation

June 2017
Things get better and better for pelvic pain.
Pain doctor tells me to continue Anafranil for the next 4 months.
Continue to take also quercetin, cernilton equivalent and melatonin.
Continue acupuncture.

July 2017
Almost no pain at all. Life back entirely to normal.
Stop acupuncture.

Summary

Symptoms by order of appearance

Red and irritated tip of penis.
Feeling of fever.
Neuropathic pain in left groin ( electric then tickling sensation)
Neuropathic pain in glans penis(over sensitivity) in top and then left side.
Pelvic pain that move between right and left side.
Pain under hear, in cervical area, shoulder and near the elbow
Pain around left hip.
Pain at ejaculation (rare)
Neuropathic pain in left abdominal area.
Important thing is I almost never had bladder or urinary problems.

Particularities of pain appearance

During my sickness I noticed weird things about my pain.
I had pain in a lot of points on my body particularly in my pelvic area but the pain was NEVER at multiple points at the same time. It was always moving.
During the two first months when I suffered a lot, doing sport or take a hot shower provoked a general tingling sensation in my body and stopped pain.
Eating a good meal, focusing on a task, spending time with friends, drink alcohol almost released the pain.
Was better when I was on holiday or when having activities where I had freedom feeling.
Frustration, anxiety, boring time, catastrophic feeling increased the pain.

Things that I think helped me to cure by order of probability

• Tricyclic antidepressants. Anafranil (10mg morning / 10 mg evening)
• Reduction of stress, force brain to be occupied by something pleasant. When have pain focus on my brain and try to trigger euphoric feeling (ask me if you want to know more about this)
• Acupuncture
• Melatonin (10 mg on the evening) / Cernilton (Rye pollen)
• Quercetin (500 mg per day)
Apart from acupuncture, I continue this treatment today

My opinion about this state.

This illness appears to be a non sense from A to Z at first, there is no really helpful tests, symptoms are always in evolution, it seems on some ways connected to sexual activities but also to brain.
Thus, doctors are really, really bad to treat it. They try to apply the same patterns they use for non chronic illness but that's not working because it's not the right approach. It's like Lyme, fibromyalgia, interstitial cystitis or other chronical states.

You go from doc to doc because they are just not capable to see things as a general illness and admitting that they simply don't know what is the root cause.
Some of them think it is an infection, they declare war to bacteria and they give you antibiotics like candies during months.
Others say to you arrogantly: "It's all in your head" but when you ask them how to removing it from your brain they of course send you to a psychologist. Which is over simplistic and a complete non sense.

Based on my story and on things that I saw on forums and research, I think this is far more complex and the cause of this may be multi factorial.

Some authors tried to describe this, it's seems there is a kind of vicious circle alimented by Infection, auto-immune and inflammatory processes, nervous system state and psychological factors.



Moreover, the persons who gave me a theory that seems quite logical and corresponding to my condition was my physical therapist who said that the central nervous system was at a moment for unknown reason going crazy, so it irritates nerves and then creating some muscular tension in pelvic muscles.
In my case it could be the infection and the stress caused by the fear of being infected and the feeling of guilty.

And also my specialized doctor in chronic pain who explains me that sometimes, we feel pain where normally we should not because of chemistry in the brain (lack of serotonin, dopamine, endorphin, etc….). That's maybe why the tricyclic antidepressants that capture serotonin are working for me but also activities that produce dopamine and serotonin.

Also the classification of prostatitis (bacterial/ non bacterial / non bacterial inflammatory) is probably not very relevant.
For example, mine could be considered as infectious because I had e-coli / enterococcus faecalis, but antibiotics were not helping.

Considering this, don't assume that my treatment is the magic recipe against prostatitis. Some people will find relief with antibiotics for example.
However I hope it will help some people that have the same "type" of prostatitis than mine.

I sincerely wish you all the best for the future, guys. There is hope.[/quote]

Got this curse about 3 years ago after eating some Indian herbs.

Tried: brocolli treatment, curcumin, NSAIDs, myofascial butt massage, chinese doctor, magnesium, diet changes

What made it worse: eating red meat, chili peppers, tomatoes, sex, cycling

Did not get anywhere until about 2 years ago. Then it randomly improved a lot, still pain when walking, could not have sex more than a few times a week. Went to a homeopath (royal homeopathic hospital in London - Peter FIsher) after a few months the pain had gone, but my nerve pain in joints got worse. Did not go back to the homeopath, it isn't a placebo trust me...

I now live symptom free most of the time, but I cannot cycle that triggers it again. Limiting sex to once every few days just in case, but no pain, rare discomfort. Nerve pain is annoying, but I am free of the degrading pain in the prostate region....

Chris

I am very interested in ELDOA, but I found that only a few people in the world know the method. Is there any material or stretches you can share that specifically helped your pelvic pain?

I gained relief using NAC - N-acetyl cysteine, initially 600 mg 3x/day. Now just need 400 mg 2x/day. I cap up my own and use calcium hydroxide 24% by weight to neutralize the acidity. Most people can tolerate it ok as is. My prostate is asymptomatic but I do have vas deferens discomfort. I started this in April 2016. See the full post here: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1663

For over 16 years I suffered from chronic prostatitis. I visited over 20 doctors and urologists through the years without any real success. All I ever received were negative tests for anything specific, countless prescriptions for antibiotics - which seemed to help but never completely cured me - and one doctor who told me it was all in my head. Ozone therapy, acupuncture, saw palmetto – nothing seemed to work. Over the course of the last 4 of the 16 years my PSA numbers started ramping up. After my PSA results passed 4 my doctor said it was time for me to get a biopsy. I could not believe that poking a hole in the organ that I was having trouble with and creating a pathway for bacteria was a good idea. I was getting beyond desperate.

It was then that I was thankfully introduced to http://prostatitis.org/redirect.php?lin ... loodiq.com and took a blood test – blood chemistry is unique for each individual - and for the first time received a report of what all of the numbers in my blood test really meant. Based on the results of my blood test and the accompanying interpretation, it was evident that key nutrient deficiencies were creating problems for the prostate organ. For years I had known I was low in Vitamin D and iodine is difficult to come by in my diet, but never had anyone made the connection between nutrients and prostate health. The interpretation provided with my blood chemistry gave me a pathway to improved health – and something that was totally under my control.

Within three months after starting the recommended supplements to support the prostate and adjusting my diet, my PSA numbers started dropping and the prostatitis went away. For the past three years I have been pain and antibiotic free. PSA numbers have stayed under 2. My quality of life today is dramatically different than what it was before learning about My Blood IQ. Supplements – the right supplements - are working for me. I hope they will work for you.

kiwiguy - what are the two exercises?
would love to try them myself
Please PM me

thanks very much

how do we personally contact a member?
i'd like to ask kiwiguy for the two exercises he has found successful

Admin Note:
I apologize guys. I had a family issue pop up that took me out of Internet range and I was gone for about three hours.

As to contacting a member - Click on his PROFILE and then in the middle left, you'll see a button to PM the member.

Where do I find a member's profile?

ADMIN NOTE: http://athleticproductions.net/images/Profile.png

Why PM? Why not share with the rest of us who are suffering and may benefit from such exercises.

Hi ADMIN ,

I would like to make a suggestion.

This is a great idea of a post (though sad how few actually have positive stories to share).

However, I would prefer if this post only included the actual success story from the original poster.

Over time , some posts become quite long because of the exchanges of communication. Some of it , may be useful but alot of it is not and makes it difficult to get to the important bits of the post. David88 .. common cause of prostatitis being a good example.

Naturally , people will have questions.

I would like to see this post to be used as a reference and for members to post a topic separately to discuss and exchange communication in more detail.

What do you think?


ADMIN NOTE: Let me think of how to work this.

Hi ADMIN ,

I was just reading through some of the stories in the 'it works for me' section. I would like to know how the foundation got hold of these stories? As this section is not part of a forum how did these people get the story across?

Forgive me for asking but are these all genuine? They all seem quite old.

Thanks

ADMIN NOTE: I only run this part of the site, but I think those were put up before this forum was put up and run under the kind of admin actions we do now. Prior to me stepping in back in 2010, the spammers, scammers, and clowns kept taking it down.

3 days taking N-acetylcysteine (NAC) - 600mg 3x per day. Feeling 95%+ better. Can't believe it.

Great!
What were your symptoms, how long did you have the condition, and why did you just make an account on this forum yesterday on the very same day you posted your magic cure?

Fantom451 - see my other post with all of my details.
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2149

worked out last night, still feeling okay, but slightly worse again last night. just taking it day by day.

Not a magic cure. I was very anxious about feeling better - not hopeful it would last.

I actually agree with Pritesh that we should keep this thread just for success stories and follow up to success stories (for example if someone decided something didn't work a few weeks later). That would mean changing the title of the post to include this info, or the first post, or the admin would have to delete the extra comments. If it is 100 pages long it will be difficult for people to get through. I don't know what other people think?

I have registered with this forum purely to share my success story. I did a lot of reading here when my pain was at it's highest, but now that I am symptom free I feel it is important to give other sufferers hope. I, like many of you, thought this problem would never go and I would have to endure life with it.

It seemed to come on fairly quickly and I cannot attribute it to any particular event. The pain was at it's greatest when I was sitting. If I had a week off work and didn't sit at my desk on or the train, the pain subsided, but as soon as I was back at work, it came back. I don't put this down to stress, because since the Prostatitis has gone, I have had some very stressful events in my life, but it hasn't come back.

I went through the usual tests. I had an MRI which confirmed my prostate was slightly swollen. My Urologist took a sample of prostatic fluid (that was a horrific experience) and found no virus. Despite that he put me on 6 weeks of Cipro, which made no difference.

I tried Saw Palmetto and Quercetin, neither of which helped.

So what did get rid of it after 18 months of agony? I started running. I cannot be sure that this was THE reason it stopped, but the pain went around the time I started. And now, if I don't run for a week then I can start to get a small tingle of pain back. The other thing I am religious about is not wearing jeans, and I never put my wallet in my pocket - this has the effect of tightening my trousers and putting pressure on my perenium.

The other comment to make is that if I don't ejaculate for maybe 2 weeks, then I can start to feel some minor pain coming back. Conversely if I ejaculate too often - say every day, then this can tend to make it sore.

Finally, I never sit on a regular bike saddle. I bought a prostate friendly saddle, which is in a "U" shape. This ensures I don't trigger the start of symptoms.

Having read so many forum posts, I am sure there are people who cannot imagine this helping them - indeed I've read that some people find that running triggers their symptoms.

Regardless, I just wanted to let people know that my Prostatitis has been gone for nearly 3 years without medication, and I put this down to running. So, there is hope and I am evidence that this horrible condition is something that can go away.

Good luck out there.

Hi Fantom

Actually yes. The ELDOA stuff is interesting but actually the stretches that have made the biggest difference for me are adductors (several stretches are needed to really reach the different parts of the adductor muscle). Also hamstrings help but they take time to stretch out. Stretching hip flexors also helped although they are hard to learn to stretch.

Youtube has a lot of ELDOA stuff

Is there a name for the particular ELDOA exercises so I can look up on YouTube

Thanks

You can get over this. It gets better!

My story:
At 34, the day after intercourse, I experienced some mild burning. I didn't think much of it, but a few days later I developed a fever, fatigue, and a sore throat. I went to urgent care and got some antibiotics, thinking it might be strep. A few days later, in addition to the fever and fatigue, my perineum felt sore, like somebody had punched me down under. In addition, I felt like I had to pee all the time and had burning during urination. Went to my GP, checked for STIs - clean. Came back to my GP, told him I thought I had prostatitis and he prescribed Cipro for two weeks. That worked, temporarily. The Cipro likely cleared the infection fairly well, but after, urinary frequency came back as did the burning sensation. I went on like this for a few months, thinking it could never get better, but it did.

What worked:
1. Cipro likely cleared the infection, but the infection really messed up the muscles and nerves of my pelvic floor. I read a bunch of stuff from Dr. Niel Shoskes. Not an endorsement, but he is one of the few urologists who has significantly studied prostatitis. Bottom line: post-infection being cleared up, residual effects in the muscles and nerves of the pelvic floor can remain pretty messed up, sending weird signals and sensations from pelvic floor (i.e. frequency, burning)

2. Pelvic Floor Therapy - if you don't know what it is, google it. If you live in or near a major city, there is likely to be a pelvic floor therapist near you. Find one that has worked with men before. This is really what saved me. They gave me trigger point therapy for the affected area over 6 sessions, once a week. They also provided instruction on stretches and exercises to help keep the pelvic floor and surrounding muscles strong and stretched. I still do these nearly every day and it helps. After a few months of pelvic floor therapy and continued practice of the exercises shown, I was at 99% normal and still am.

3. A perineum cushion - I got one for my car and work. It's just a big seat cushion with a hole in the middle and there are many you can purchase online. This greatly increased my comfort when I was symptomatic. Also, practice good posture when sitting and standing, it helps your pelvic floor.

4. Avoid bladder irritants while you are symptomatic. They only make things worse. These are things like alcohol, spicy foods, etc. You should also strive to eat well and exercise. Exercise provides blood flow to the affected area, which can help. Only exercise as much as you feel comfortable. I walked and ran.

5. Yoga. I do power yoga. It strengthens key muscles. It emphasizes stretching and relations. It incorporates many of the same stretches that my pelvic floor physical therapist had me do. Child's pose is especially helpful, as is happy baby.

This is what worked for me. I hope it can help you too!

Prostatitis started at age 48 with all the burning perineal pain, frequent urination. Cured at 57

Psa bouncing up and down wildly from 2 to mid 7’s. Went to 6 different urologists

Endured cystoscopies , biopsies, ct scans mri’s nothing ever found thank god no cancer as fear of that loomed

Coincidently I seemed to have gut problems when my prostate pain was at its worse.

Went to a gastronoligist for colonoscopy and endoscopy. Diagnosed with fungal / candida / sibo(small intestine bacterial overgrowth on biopsies taken. Evidently this irritated the urinary tract and prostate or I had fungal / candida overgrowth in the urinary tract.

Took a course of xifaxin for the sibo. Then followed up with nystatin and fluconazole for the candida/fungal. And I follow a lower carb low sugar diet. Now I am symptom free and sleep 8 hours through the night without getting up to pee.

Along with the low carb low sugar diet I take a caprylic acid dietary supplement 2 or 3 times a week. This supposedly helps the digestion and kills off the candida that uses sugars to survive.

My opinion is that non-bacterial prostatitis is gut / sibo/ fungal related.

What do I think caused this?? I think it was antibiotics specifically cefdinar. I was on a business trip and had a horrible sinus infection in 2008. Doc phoned in a prescription of cefdnir for that. After that was when prostate symptoms started. Then urologists for yeArs kept throwing other antibiotics at me. Which made it worse.

My Prostatitis Journey and Cure

How It Started - May 2016
In May 2016 I started getting a dull pulling kind of pain in my right testicle. For about 10 days before this pain started, I had a bad throat infection that took almost 3 weeks to resolve. The pain was not too bad initially so I ignored it thinking I must have pulled a muscle. But even as days passed, it did not go away on its own. I knew nothing about what this could be, so I searched my symptoms online. Thats the first time I came to know of the term "epididymitis". I found many possibilities of what could be causing the pains, most of which were sexually transmitted infections. I decided I should get tested to see if I have something to be concerned about, though I could not think of any plausible reason for it. I got blood and urine tests done for a full STD panel (chlamydia, gonorrhoea, HIV, syphilis, HSV 1 and 2), and they all came out negative. And yet, I was only feeling worse. While I was waiting for my results, the doctor gave me a single dose of 1gm Azithromycin. A month after my pain started, I also started getting a low grade fever on a daily basis. This was a confusing situation, and I decided it was time to go to a specialist urologist.

Unsuccessful Treatments - July to October 2016
In July 2016 I went to a urologist who came highly recommended by doctors known to my family. I explained my symptoms to him. He then conducted a digital rectal exam (DRE) on me, and told me I have a condition called prostatitis. He put me on 10 days of Doxycyclin, and told me I should be fine. 10 days later, I had no improvement, so he changed my medicine to a 4 week course of Ofloxacin, and said this ought to work. I went back to him 4 weeks later with no change in my symptoms. His response was to extend my course of Ofloxacin by another 3 weeks. I started to feel like a lab rat - he was just guessing what was happening to me and how to treat it. By this time, my symptoms were a persistent low grade fever, pelvic pains, flank pains, pains post ejaculation and frequent urination. I was researching the internet everyday to figure out more about this condition, how to correctly diagnose it and then treat it. This forum actually really helped with that. I decided to take a different urologist's opinion, one who might be more open to testing for pathogens rather than throwing different antibiotics at me. It took a lot of searching to find a urologist who agreed to a doing a prostate massage followed by a post-massage urine culture. Unfortunately, this too came out sterile. He recommended I take a 1 week course of Cipro and intravenous Amikacin to kill off any pathogens that might be causing my problems. In my mind, I was clear - this was the last shot I was gonna give to antibiotics. If this didn't make me feel better, I would look at other treatment options. 7 days or oral Cipro and IV Amikacin later, my symptoms had only become worse and I knew I needed to find a different solution.

What Finally Worked - Nov 2016 to now
What finally worked to eliminate my pathogens was phage therapy. I came across phage therapy when I was researching alternate approaches to eradicate a bacterial infection. I travelled to Georgia in Eastern Europe for the treatment. My semen and prostate fluid were cultured (for the first time), and four pathogens were Identified - Enterococcus Faecalis in my semen, and Staphylococcus Aureus, Staphylococcus Haemolyticus and Streptococcus Mitis in my prostate fluid. Based on the sensitivity of the standard phage medications to the cultured pathogens, I was given phage medicines. I was taking them orally, through rectal suppositories, and via a urethral procedure done at the clinic by the urologist. My persistent fever went away within 4 days of starting the phages. My pains started to get better in a few weeks - the first time this hit me was when sitting for a 1.5 hour dinner was not as uncomfortable as it had become in the past. The improvement in symptoms was not linear - urinary frequency and pains would go up and down, but the long term trend was one of improvement. Equally importantly, lab tests showed that the infection was getting better - WBC count in the prostate fluid and semen was coming down and cultures were showing that one by one the bacteria ware getting eliminated. The challenging pathogen was the Strep - it was resistant to all the standard phage medicines and needed a custom medicine to be prepared.

My Condition Now - Dec 2017
I am currently taking phages for my last pathogen - the Strep. 3 pathogens - Staph Aureus, Staph Haemolyticus and Enterococcus Faecalis have all been eliminated. It has taken time (1 year) and multiple visits but I am confident that the worst of the problem is now behind me and the last pathogen will be eliminated by the time I finish my phages. My prostate size has reduced from 24gms (Oct 2016) to 14 gms (Nov 2017). Symptomatically the low-grade fever is gone, the pelvic pains (around the pubic bone) are gone, the flank pains are gone. The only symptom I have now is occasionally a dull pain in the right epididymis. Somedays if I drink a particular tea or juice, I get frequent urination. Overall if I had to put a number to my recovery, I would say I am 90% better compared to how I was 12-14 months ago.

Supplements that have helped
Chewing cloves of raw garlic - this helped a lot with the epididymitis pains
Raw ginger - I have read this helps with inflammation. Can't say for sure if it has worked for me or not but I continue to take it.
Bee Pollen - Same as ginger
Saw Palmetto
Zinc
Vitamin D3

My take on this condition
In my case, the prostatitis and epididymitis were clearly caused by bacterial pathogens. As these have been eradicated, my symptoms have gotten better. I believe most cases of prostatitis and epididymitis are caused by microbial pathogens (bacteria, fungus, etc) and they need to be eliminated for the sufferer to be able to fully recover. Exercises, stretches, diet modification and supplements can help to manage and improve symptoms, but you need to get rid of the root cause of the problem to get a lasting cure.

I personally do not believe in the non-bacterial prostatitis theory, unless it happens due to an injury. According to me, a root cause has to be there to cause inflammation in the prostate and surrounding areas. When doctors give the diagnosis of non-bacterial prostatitis, it is possible that the correct tests are not done, or indeed, that tests are not done at all. In so many cases where antibiotics are prescribed and tried and the prostatitis sufferer does not recover, non-bacterial prostatitis becomes the convenient diagnosis for the doctor to give.

In my case, the pathogens were resistant to the antibiotics I took. I guess that's why my symptoms never got better despite taking all those antibiotics. The other issue with antibiotics is that they don't seem to be able to reach the prostate in adequate concentrations to kill the pathogens. Phages have worked out well for me as they don't have a problem getting into the prostate, and they replicate at the site of infection. That makes them a good option to eradicate infections in difficult to reach places of the body.

I know many people here are looking for ways to beat this condition, and I hope my story helps you out. You can email me (pranav711@gmail.com), or message me here if you have any questions or are considering phage therapy for yourself and want to talk to someone who has gone through it. I knew no one who had undergone this treatment one year ago when I went for it, and I know how much I needed someone to answer all my questions and worries. So feel free to get in touch.

Hello, having read the messages I have ordered NAC N-Acetyl-Cysteine 600mg 120 Capsules from Amazon. I am really looking forward to it!

I was diagnosed with chronic nonbacterial prostatistis in the spring of 2016 for roughly five months. I'm now 100% better now and it's never coming back.

What I tried:
1) Two antibiotics (doxycycline and sulfa drugs) - saw some slight initial improvement, then nothing
2) Supplements (ProstaQ did nothing)
3) Pelvic floor PT/hip realignment: Was encouraged by the stories on here and was convinced it'd do the trick. Worked for a week and a half, but quit working after I thought I became misaligned again. Despite weeks of additional pelvic PT, I only got worse with time and I quit believing it would work for me again. Was sure I'd irritated some nerve or something was being pinched.
4) Prostate massage: tried this with the pelvic floor PT and nothing happened
5) Active release therapy/Chiropractor: found a paper where this had worked, but my sessions with a ART-trained chiropractor had no effect.

I also tried muscle relaxers, to help what I thought was a tight pelvic floor. Was placed on codeine at one point after a desperate visit to the ER, but that didn't even work after a while.

What worked:
After realizing that my symptoms were so varied and made so little sense (and confused how I experienced near complete relief with PT, but when I thought it wasn't working, the symptoms came back), I began to wonder if it was a mind-body problem. Always thought it was weird how stress could make it worse, and relaxation could bring the pain way down.

Saw a few accounts of people who'd taken the approach with good results, so I decided to give it a try and followed some programs over on the TMS forum (I took a slightly varied approach, focused less on deeper emotional work, but more on getting over the fear and preoccupation with the pain). I also tried out the STOMP program (available online) from the Swedish Pain Center in Seattle, where I made an appointment.

I came to see my pain as learned 'neurogenic' pain (similar to how people have phantom limb syndrome). Treated the pain with indifference and within a month, my pain significantly declined. Wiithin two months, I was having entire days pain-free. Pain-free days turned into pain-free weeks. It was very hard work, especially at first, but early successes encouraged me to keep at it.

And now I'm cured and my life is back to normal. I'm pain-free and the only time I can bring on the pain is when I think back about how the pain used to feel, but it goes away as soon as I shift my attention. Think it's my brain opening up those old neural patterns, but I have the confidence and ability to shift my attention away from it again.

I gave away my donut cushions. I sit on concrete. I've rode my bike over 30 miles. I drink beer, eat spicy foods, have sex. I experience stress and the pain doesn't return. My life is normal again. Was going through my internet bookmarks the other day and found links to these various forums, so I figured I'd post an update. I always wondered if someone figured out some way to beat this and never posted an update.

Strangely, I've had the mind-body pain creep up elsewhere, trying to get a foothold. It hasn't. For instance, I've had 'tendonitis' in my foot that goes away after running on my foot for a few minutes (my body is seriously strange) and after cursing it in my head telling it that it isn't real. The mind is an odd thing.