That is funny you were thinking of the same think. Yes right at moment I am well. I'm crossing my fingers.
take care,
mkh9
Yes, I've seen those OTC pills that provide healthy bacteria. Funny you're mentioning it because I was planning to get some for a family member.
Thank you for the input. I hope your health is good.
Yes, I see. So, one problem I worry about is if you take too many antibiotics is getting Clostridium difficile. But you have to have been exposed to the toxin. There is no way to know either until you get it. So, one big way to get it is being in a hospital for any length of time. But you can get it in the community. But it is less likely. So, hopefully, you won't get it. There is always a chance of getting a resistant strain of bacteria even if you don't get one from using antibiotics. The best thing is of course to finish the course of antibiotics. Anytime you take antibiotics you change your normal fecal flora in your gut for a time period. I usually take probiotics for a while after (perhaps two months). You can buy these OTC. Get one that has 10 billion live organisms with several different bacteria such as lactobacillus and bifidobacteria and it will repopulate your intestines with "healthy" bacteria. I think if you had C. difficile you would have had it by now after taking Cipro.
mkh9
Thank you, mkh9. Your answer does clear up my main concern. I'll finish the 60 days of minocycline (not that I was gonna stop) -- it's just that the lingering symptoms had me worried.
I'm curious as to the general properties of antibiotics. So far I've been on cipro 500 mg (14 days in September), doxycycline 100 mg (14 days in January), and minocycline 100 mg (currently).
Is there such thing as "too much" antibiotics? Is there significant risk to my body IF the urologist puts me on a completely different type of antibiotic after minocycline?
I'll take whatever the doctor puts me on for as long as necessary. But I'm wondering the potential risk of the bacteria growing resistant or my body not holding up to the variety/amount of antibiotics.
Hi, Minocycline and Doxycycline are all types of Tetracycline. Minocycline is the most broad spectrim of the three. So, Minocycline should work better than Doxycycline. I can't see why a bacteria would be resistant to Minocycline would be sensitive to Doxycycline. It would be the other way around. Lyme's disease takes two months of Doxy or Minocycline to treat. So it could take that long for other bacteria. Treatment of infections isn't just treating the bacteria is also where it is located in the body, how deep in the tissue (can it hide out) a lot of things. So, I would continue it. But the question would be if it doesn't work in the end then I would see what the doctor has in mind at that point. Your white blood cell count was high so that does often indicate a bacterial infection. The only question is should you be on a totally different class of antibiotics or will this one just take some more time to kill off. He may have seen in his practice over time that some patients take time to clear the organism. But I think there is no way to know until you try it. That is the way of medicine. It is done that way. There are no cookie cutter answers some times. I hope this clears it up. What could have happened is that the doxycycline is not as strong as the minocycline and it didn't get killed off all the way and it came back. I guess we'll see.
mkh9
Hi mkh9,
It's been a while. Hope you've been well.
I've found no luck with the Urology Community so I'm wondering if you can shed light on this question:
I'm on Day 43 of minocycline HCL 100 mg capsule. This is based on my urologist's diagnosis of chronic prostatitis. He said no more refills at the end of the 60-day regimen. I'm concerned because I still have all my symptoms. I asked for the next treatment plan should the symptoms remain after 60 days but he didn't give a definite answer. He seemed to assume that I will be symptom-free by the time I finish taking minocycline. That'd be great but at this rate, I don't see it happening.
As a microbiologist, do you find it abnormal for minocycline to take this long to show any efficacy?
Hi mkh9,
It's been a while. Hope you've been well.
(1) Yes, the urologist said it's prostatitis. At first, I was happy to finally put a name to what I've been suffering from. He came to this conclusion by: obtaining urine sample at the beginning of examination; then comparing it to second urine sample I provided after he digitally massaged my prostate to induce prostate fluid. He said he looked at both under the microsope and the second sample showed increased white blood cell count, which led him to believe it's prostatitis. I don't know why but I was kinda skeptical, so I asked how certain he was and he replied, "Almost for sure." I asked how prostatitis can explain the pain I feel in my rectum and he said that's due to their close proximity. I know it may prove unwise to doubt a doctor who's telling me something based on empirical evidence but I can't shake the feeling that prostatitis is a catch-all diagnosis for any abnormality found in the prostate fluid, and hence, while not outright wrong, too broad to be truly helpful. Any thoughts?
(2) He also sent my urine sample to a lab on 1/21/15 to be cultured. But he said do not be surprised if it comes back negative because that doesn't necessarily mean it's not prostatitis. I called back several days later and it had indeed come back negative.
(3) Yes, the pain is more intense. The throbbing is more palpable. I feel worse than before seeing the urologist. So I actually went back to him on 2/5/15. All he told me was to finish the 30 days of minocycline. He said if no improvement by then, he's gonna prescribe another 30 days of minocycline.
(4) During my long absence from this thread, I went to my primary care physician, who gave me 2-week prescription of doxycycline. I finished it couple days before my initial appointment with the urologist. It noticeably alleviated (although not completely) all of my symptoms. I'm tempted to go back on doxycycline when I'm done with my current 30-day prescription of minocycline. Could this pose any harm? Is it too much antibiotic for my system? Or should I do another 30 days of minocycline per the urologist?
Sorry for the long rant. I thought I was seeing the light at the end of the tunnel but the intensified physical pain is making me very depressed.
Thank you as usual,
elee45
Well, to answer the other question Azithromycin and doxycycline are two different classes of drugs and they are good for a lot of different bacteria. It all depends on what bacteria they think you have. Azithromycin they often use for respiratory pathogens. Doxycycline they use a lot for Lyme's disease, can use also for prostatitis, and Pelvic inflammatory disease and other things.
So they think prostatitis? Minocycline is in the Tetracycline group that treats urinary pathogens and some other things as well.
When you say you are getting worse do you mean more pain? I don't think it means the drug is or isn't working. It probably hasn't started working yet. I don't know why you are getting this much worse. If it continues I would call the doctor. It may pass hopefully.
take care,
mkh9
Hello all. Update:
Went to a urologist on 1/21/15. His diagnosis was prostatitis. Accordingly, I will post on Urology Community going forward. But I do have a couple questions in case someone can shed light:
(1) The urologist prescribed minocycline HCL 100 mg. I am to take it for 30 days. I started on 1/26/15.
(2) Symptoms held steady but on 1/30/15, I actually started feeling worse.
(3) By 2/1/15, the throbbing pain got so bad that I was bedridden the whole day. Since then, I have recovered a bit although the pain is still pretty bad.
Is this normal? Could it be a sign that minocycline is working? I intend to finish the 30-day prescription and see the urologist for follow-up appointment. But am pretty concerned in the meantime.
Any insight would be really appreciated.
Hi Niko,
Thank you for the input. I'm trying to soak it all in.
Thankfully, I've never had any discharge from my penis. In a strange way (and not saying I'd prefer it), this whole ordeal would have been much simpler if I had. That could clearly point to some kind of an STD, to which I could have a more defined plan or response. Not knowing has been the worst part of all this.
Quick question: what's the difference between azithromycin & doxycycline? Been hearing either of those two would be better that what I took (cipro).
Happy Holidays,
elee45
Hi shaunw84,
Thanks, I'll ask my primary care physician about B12 shots next time I visit him. Will also look into CMV.
What are functional medicine doctors? I've never heard it before.
Thanks for the input,
elee45
Hi Raphael2900,
Yeah, that's the only silver lining I see so far. The doctors have ruled out testicular cancer so I'm thankful. I guess what I'm dealing with is not the worst case scenario (although the pain sure feels like it when I'm going through the "severe" days).
Thanks for the input,
elee45
Hi mkh9,
Hope you've been well. I'm running out of options so probably should consult a neurologist.
I'm perplexed as to whether the fatigue and the other pains are completely separate issues. They very may well be and I hope all this could be figured out.
I have not lost any weight. In fact, I've gained some since this started happening because I've become pretty sedentary due to the pain & discomfort.
Thank you as usual,
elee45
As a stop-gap, you might want to consider B12 shots. It could give you a boost of energy.
You might want to get checked for CMV.
Also, as far as parasites, the tests that the typical MD does aren't very good. They use out-of-date testing, unfortunately.
You want to find a doctor that has access to a molecular testing for these.
Try to find a functional medicine doctor. They are good at the perplexing in my experience.
Be well.
I'm not an expert, but I'd consider ruling out testicular cancer based on some of these symptoms. The timing may just be coincidental. Men in their 30s are most at risk.
Hi ellee45.
Happy Holidays.
In response to your message, I will give you my opinion, however, I think mkh9 has offered you some solid advice.
The first thing I would rule out is a yeast infection.
The easiest way to self-test is to do a coconut oil trial (topical), since coconut oil contains antifungal agents which can break down fungal cell walls upon contact, however, it is usually a numbers game. If the underlying processes in your body, which promote yeast overgrowth (excessive intake of carbohydrates, antibiotics, stress) are not addressed, any positive results would be likely short-lived.
The other concern would be is false negative results (besides testing too early), which may put you at increased risk, since you would not be treated for an STD, should it be indeed the case.
Consider doing a search for Chlamydial Conjunctivitis, a different type of
Conjuvitis cased by Chlamydia, in regards to your eye symptoms.
Any infected fluids from the genitals might cause this if they come in contact with the eyes. The symptoms are not as pronounced as in other types of Conjuvitis and there's very little redness associated with CC.
Do you have any discharge from your penis?
Pathogenic Mycoplasmas in general are notoriously difficult to detect and this would be the case of Genitalium Mycoplasma, which by the way would not be targeted by the cipro and the same thing goes for Chlamydia.
Dr. Garth Nicolson, an expert in Pathogenic Mycoplamsa Infections and part-time contributor here at med-help suggests doxycycline, as a first line treatment for such infections, but, you can do a search for this to get more details.
My final concern is low thyroid function-the standard serum thyroid tests only indicate...serum levels and NOT function. Ask for Free T3, Free T4 &
Reverse T3 , for proper thyroid function testing.
Your cells in order to heal, require adequate thyroid function.
Even at sub-clinical levels of hypothyroidism, efficient healing of the cells, is a huge challenge.
Hope this helps.
Niko
The other other comments I can say is maybe you got some kind of injury and you should get a CT scan to check it out and/or see a neurologist to check for nerve damage. The injury would be separate issue. But that wouldn't account for the fatigue. But the CT would show if there were any tumors or abnormalities. Also, have you lost a lot of weight.
mkh9
Hi, Well I'm glad all the tests are normal. But then I'm not sure what is causing your problem. You don't have any lumps in the testicles or any area in the "boxer short region" right? Too bad they didn't do a urine culture. I know they can pretty much tell from the urinalysis though if you need one. I guess this is getting out of my league. I hope you can figure this out. Let me know if you find out what is going on. If you think of anything else or vice versa let me know.
mkh9
Hello all. Hope everyone's having a good holidays. Update:
Met proctologist for my stool O & P exam results. They couldn't find anything wrong.
Went back to general practitioner and tested for the following:
Venipuncture
GC/Chlamydia, RNA Amplified
Comprehensive Metabolic Panel
Lipid Profile
CBC w/ automated Diff
Hemoglobin A1c
Hepatitis B Surface Ag
Hepatitis C Antibody
Treponema Pallidum
TSH 3rd Gen.
T3, Free
T4, Free
T4, Total
Testosterone, Total
Urinalysis w/ Microscopy
HIV COMBO Ag/Ab, 4th GEN
Everything came back negative/normal. Meanwhile, all symptoms I described in my original post have intensified. Especially the throbbing pain of the anus and testicles. Now I really have no idea what to do...
Hi mkh9,
Thank you for the clarification. Yes, I'm sure it's highly unlikely that what I'm suffering from is any of the things we've discussed in the recent couple posts. But it's good to know the differences.
I'll be picking up a stool sample kit soon. Thereafter I'll be seeing my proctologist for the results. I will update the Community as to what happens.
Thank you as usual,
elee45
No problem with regard to me "being in a hurry to answer questions." I do feel a responsibility for this site. I don't like it being "un-manned" (even though I am a women, LOL). Because Some questions are urgent. I try to get someone to cover when I have a vacation. Anyway, yes blood parasites and tissue parasites are much different in the way they attack the body and the pathway they gain entry. Also, these usually are in certain countries. The U.S., Europe and UK. don't generally have these. But we are starting to get some because of travel and the influx of immigrants. So when you talk about the intestinal parasites such as amebiasis and giardiasis these come mostly from contaminated water. The blood parasites such as malaria, or a Tsetse fly or black fly for other diseases like African sleeping sickness or elephantiasis. Fresh water in some areas can give you Loa loa which infects the eye and so forth. There are also liver flukes and a lot of other things. We actually have some Triatomid bugs here in the U.S. that came probably from Honduras or Central America. This can give you Chagas disease. Anyway, so if you travel to South East Asia or to Central America etc. or Africa or even the Carribean, Mexico etc. you could be exposed to different parasites than you would get in the U.S. You can get hook work here too and some other parasites. I don't think you got these infections from the people that are from other countries unless you got bitten by a mosquito from their luggage. It is not likely. I just asked because people write here world wide. I am just giving you some information because you asked not because I think you have these things.
mkh9
Hi mkh9,
Hope you're having a good weekend. Thanks for responding during the holiday. You probably have a lot of people clamoring you for answers regardless of time/day and I'd hate to add to the fray. It goes without saying that even when I pose questions, I don't mean to put any onus on you to answer quickly. You're volunteering & devoting personal time to these questions, to which all I can say is thank you.
Just one question about your latest post: You mentioned "blood parasite," which makes me wonder if that's different from parasitic infections like amebiasis & giardiasis. i.e., is there a difference between infections of the intestine (which I understand amebiasis & giardiasis to be) and "blood parasite"? Sorry if this questions sounds so stupid as to reveal my complete lack of knowledge regarding anything remotely related to biology.
Thank you as usual,
elee45
Hi Elee45,
I just got back but am really tired. I will just say for now that can't hurt to get the EBV just realize the results may show past infection and may not be the cause of your problem.
Also, you don't really have the symptoms of lyme except for the fatigue. You could tested anyway. Yes I know quite a bit about it.So, if you have any questions let me know.
Regarding parasites, get a stool ova and parasite test done and that is about it. If they don't find anything and you haven't travelled out of the country it is not likely you got a blood parasite here in the US, unless if you are not from Central or South America or asia or Africa. Then we can discuss other things.
mkh9
Hi mkh9,
Thanks for the detailed info on EBV. I'm in my 30's so even if I get tested for it, I won't get just the mono spot test. And although fatigue is the only symptom I have that's associated w/ EBV, I'm in no position to assume/overlook anything. Abundance of caution + desperation may be enough to justify any diagnostic I do from here on out.
Follow up questions:
(1) I forgot to mention as one of my symptoms that I'm always parched. I just feel constantly dehydrated even though I drink a lot of water.
(2) Do you know anything about lyme disease? Wondering if that could be the culprit since I believe they can spread in the bedroom. But I've never had any rashes or bite-marks.
(3) Of all the diagnostic testing we've discussed, could any of them detect parasitic infection? Beginning to think that I may have parasites burrowed in my rectal region caused by the sexual encounter.
Have a great holiday and talk to you afterwards. Take care.
Thank you as usual,
elee45