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Chlamydia but it's not?

Several months ago I had a burning sensation and some itching at the tip of my penis. A week or so of it not going away and then I tested positive for chlamydia, negative for gonorea.

Received Azithromycin which did nothing to my symptoms. The next week I received doxycycline which did nothing for my symptoms.

Since then I have tested negative for chlamydia and gonorea 5 times. The burning and itching is almost entirely gone but 2 months ago I was diagnosed with epididymitis. The pain has been with me since then. Still testing negative. I went to a urologist who did a visual inspection then ran more tests including HIV, syphilis, and hepatitis. All came back negative.

There was a period of 2 weeks shortly after the doxy when I was nauseous and felt like I would pass out every time I ate something. Just mentioning this as I'm not sure if it's relavent.


It's now 4 months since my initial diagnosis and the pain in my scrotal area still has not gone away. I switched to briefs from boxers last week but I'm not sure it's making a difference.

I spoke again with my family doctor who has ordered the chlamydia/gonorea testing again. They think it could be reactive arthritis as I have developed lower back stiffness and am experiencing stiff knees as of late.

I haven't had sexual contact since my diagnosis and all chlamydia tests have been urine NAAN.

If anyone has any useful information, please share. I've been living in a constant state of anxiety with this for several months now and it feels like this will never end.
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Avatar universal
Hey bro,

Ive had the same symptoms(ish) and diagnosed with CPPS a couple of years ago. Massive flare up in September so ill list below to try to help you out with what I figured out...

Discomfort on tip of penis and base,
Discomfort on urination but usually in morning or dehydrated,
Clear discharge,
Left testicle pain (diagnosed with Epididimitis)
Back pain,
Also had blood in urine and treated for UTI early on.

Meds ive taken since September (start)..

14 days Doxycycline x2 a day
5 days metronidazole x1 a day
10 days levofloxcin after the metronidazole ran out
Azithromycin 2 tablets day one then 1 tablet a day for 3 days(500mg and 250mg).
Co-amoxiclav 3 days a day after azithromycin

a week or 2 later

Azithromycin 2 tablets day one then 1 tablet a day (500mg every day for 3 days).

All STI tests came back negative INCLUDING Mycoplasma. I questioned about Ureaplasma but the doctor said one of the tablets would have sorted out that. Im doubtfull looking at guidelines but cant go any further than that.

What have I found out?

I have figured out that if I have hard stool or constipated I get a semany discharge in the toilet bowl. After research this suggests it could be normal prostatic fluid where the stool is pushing on the prostate. I took a laxative and sorted that bit out. Since then the clear discharge through at the day seemed to have eased up. I occasionally still get discomfort in the tip of the penis but this seems to be more than I think about it which could to me, indicate it is stress and anxiety related.

The pain in my testicle is constant and am yet to figure it out. I have some strong anti-inflammatory (starts with M..). I have stretching more incase it is related to CPPS and find there is moderate success but I will keep trying!
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For both of you, one thing that seems to really help consistently with CPPS is eliminating caffeine. I don't know - give it a try, if you drink caffeine? May help.
I don't drink much coffee. 2 small coffees a day. I'll try your suggestion.
207091 tn?1337709493
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Did your urologist do an ultrasound and look at your prostate? Do a finger exam and feel it?

I think that needs to happen if it hasn't already, or maybe a cystoscopy. I think you're clearly negative for chlamydia, but that doesn't mean you don't have something happening in your prostate.
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I had a testicular ultrasound which is what confirmed the epididymitis 1.5 months ago. There was no further examination. All the docs have seemed to not think anything is wrong and things should be getting better.

I have noticed that in the last while I feel sick when I have to make a bowel movement but feel better afterwards. Maybe that's causing prostate pressure but I'm not sure.

The pain seems to be specifically in my scrotum.

Are there any specific conditions you think it could be so I can dive into some reading?

Thanks so much for replying, even though it's hard not to be vague on your end, every little bit helps.


Some of this could be from the epididmytimitis, like the feelings with a bowel movement (though that would likely be pain, not nausea).

https://www.healthline.com/health/epididymitis#symptoms

Epididymitis can also last a long time - sometimes as long as 6-8 weeks, maybe longer. Doctors tend to not tell patients that.

Since things are not getting better, you need to continue to work with your doctors. I don't think you need to continue to test for STDs, but maybe you're due for another ultrasound.

How were you treated for it? Have you only taken the azithromycin and doxy? Was it one week of doxy? That was a few months prior to the epididmytis diagnosis, correct? Can you be clearer on that timeline? Are we talking 2 months? 8 months? Longer? Epididmytis has many causes - yours may not have been caused by the chlamydia.

The recommended treatment depends on what caused it. You can see some here - https://www.cdc.gov/std/tg2015/epididymitis.htm and here - https://www.aafp.org/afp/2016/1101/p723.html



Early October is when I engaged in a risky act. A couple weeks later I began to have some discomfort; itching at the tip of my penis and burning during urination. I waited a few weeks from then hoping it would go away but it didn't.

Went to the walk in part way through November and they assured me it was just a UTI and gave me a prescription for that. I insisted that they screen for gonorrhea and chlamydia and the results came in a week later that I was positive for chlamydia. Went to a different walk in with my results the next day and was given a single dose of azithromycin.

A week later it was early December and my symptoms had not improved so I went back and was given a prescription for Doxycycline 100mg twice daily for 2 weeks. Symptoms did not improve and this is around when my scrotal pain began.

The day before the last dose of Doxycycline, the testicular pain was bad enough and the itching/burning had not resolved so I went back to the urgent care and was given an ultrasound. This is when they told me I have epididymitis and referred me to a urologist.

The week of Christmas I visited the urologist who's intern saw me and gave me a physical examination. He saw nothing wrong and had no info to offer. At my request I was tested for hiv, syphilis, hepatitis, and again for chlamydia & gonorrhea. All came back negative.

I began taking a regiment of garlic, vitamin c, vitamin d, zinc, and turmeric around this time. My guts felt terrible and the scrotal pain and intermittent pain during urination were still present. Once I cut out the garlic my guts felt better and burning during urination is still present but less than it was before.

I switched to briefs from boxers about a week ago and this seems to provide a bit of relief, though the scrotal pain is still regular.

I have a follow up ultrasound coming up so I trimmed my genitals with a razor yesterday and applied moisturizer to the area to assist with skin irritation (something I have always done). This morning there was a milky discharge I milked from the tip of my penis. I'm not sure if it's from the moisturizer as this is the only time I have ever experienced any discharge in my whole life. Last night the pain in my testicles was coming in and out more severe than normal. Since the discharge it feels much more normal and it could just be a brief break in the pain as I have experienced other brief intermission in pain over the past couple months but I hope they are related.

Currently I have the start of a sore throat, have been hedging trouble sleeping, and still the scrotal pain lingers.
The sore throat I'm not concerned about in relation to an STD unless you performed oral sex on your partner. It would be unrelated. Trouble sleeping could be anxiety.

The only thing I'd wonder is if you've been tested for mycoplasma genitalium.

https://www.webmd.com/sexual-conditions/mycoplasma-genitalium#1

https://www.cdc.gov/std/tg2015/emerging.htm - scroll down a little more than halfway

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/8/19-1806_article

https://www.bmj.com/content/367/bmj.l5820

It's not easy to get tested for, but ask your urologist.
I don't know if you're in the US, but there is a new-ish test for it - ask your doctor.

https://www.self.com/story/mycoplasma-genitalium-sti-test
I've had a feeling it could be m. genitalium. Problem is that in Canada, though it is just as common as chlamydia, there is only one facilty in the country that will test for it. One needs to get their doctor to send a sample and I've been pulling teeth to get things moving as they aren't educated on the matter.

This whole thing has been so frustrating, it feels like I'll never get better. I really appreciate you trading the time to write back to me repeatedly. I'll do my best to remember to post another comment explaining what happened if things ever improve.
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