Hi All,
I am a 26 year old male, in good general health. Around the beginning of october 2007 I have developed an itching and burning sensation at the tip of my penis, actually inside the urethral opening. When I had a look inside I could see a small circular, white spot that looked more or less like a thrush that you get sometimes in your mouth. I thought that it will disappear with time so i left it alone. After around 3 weeks the symptoms did not go away so i went to the doctor who took a swab out of the urethra. The results showed that i had a candida - thrush - infection so the doctor prescribed a cream and pills for the thrush to go away. They did not go away, worse they started to go deeper down the urethra. Asked the doctor, he said that i should leave it for a while and wait until the urethra will heal itself. Waited for around 2 months, the itching, burning and redness progressed deeper and deeper. Went to a different urologist, had all tests done for any kind of STD, had my prostate checked and urine sample was taken as well. Everything came back negative apart from the examination of the prostate, the doctor said that there was a 5mm white spot visible on the ultrasound test that indicated a post-inflammatory state. At that time took antibiotics for urethral infection (although the results where negative), antibacterial and antifungal cream. The redness and the white spot inside the urethra did not disappear. Actually i started to develop a few more smaller in diameter circular spots inside. Since that period I had a cystoscpoy done twice, both did not indicate any lesions inside the urethra. Before the october 2007 i have been treated for warts which were located in the pubic area, while removing them the STD clinic specialist did not say whether they were ordinary warts or genital ones - is there a difference anyway ? I had only two sexuall partners and both of them were clean, meaning they did not have genital warts so where did i get them, I did have warts before on my hands and elbows but never down there. I have asked my doctors - i have been to three different ones - whether the lesions at the tip can be caused by HPV, they said that they do not look like warts so it is unlikely. I have also tried to go to a dermatologist, she said that she can see some inflammation there but nothing apart from this. I'm using a protopic ointment now, will see the dermatologist in one month time again. Coming to a summary - I am fighting with this problem for the last 10 months, I did not get any clear answer from anyone and at this stage I will not lie I am desperate. My symptoms are as follows: itching and burning during urination sometimes without urinating as well, the symtpoms get especially worse after having sexuall intercourse - no stricture observed, urine flow normal. The inside of the urethra is red with circular lesions that look like as if someone burned some small holes in the urethra, no lumps, no tumors, before the whole incident the inside of my urethra was smooth and pink, now it's all bumpy and looks a bit like fibrotic scar tissue I have no discharge, all bacterial and fungal test came back negative, every now and then I get pain in the prostate area that lasts just for a few minutes and then is gone again. No blood in the urine. Basically from the tests point of view no bacterias or infections have been detected. Physically as /i have mentioned before the urethra looks as if it's not healing, over time I'm getting more of these hole-like circular lesions and the ultrasound of the prostate shows the right hand side of it a bit cloudy, as the doctor said a post inflammatory state. At this stage I am afraid that it might be urethral cancer, that's why I am considering to do a biopsy because i think that's the last test that I can do.
My questions are:
1.While I had the warts in my pubic area removed, can the virus attack the urethra for example by blood that got into the urethra while taking a shower ? My urethral opening is a bit wider than usal so doctors say i am more prone to any kind of infections in that area.
2. What other tests can I do ? STD, blood and urine tests all came back negative for any kind of bacterial or fungal disease.
3. Is there an illness of the urethra that has similar symptoms as mine ? I am putting emphasis on the circular hole like lesions in the urethra ?
4. How can urethral cancer be diagnosed and what are the chances to overlook it ? I am really afraid.
5. Are symptoms like this common ? Can something like this clear off over time ? Could the candida infection destroy the skin inside so much that it needs a long time to heal ?
I hope any information I have given here is more or less clear. Please if anyone can help me I would really appreciate it.