Something is wrong I duno what ? Left testi , groin and Possibly Prostate :((

[Bobo_]

Dear Doc

I had pain in my left side and left testis  for over 4 months
I have been on Doxycycline for 2 weeks than a month later again on doxycycline for another 2 weeks I had penicillin shot once, I also had my testis scaned for cancers ,
Doctors were treating me for EPI, I had HIV test done clymedia ,gonorrhea test done
All were negative
I went to another Uro and he said its Prostate infection so here I am
Now for past 2 weeks I am on Cipro 500 RX once a day for 3 weeks total,
Unfortunately cipro is not helping also I have been staying away from having intercourse
With my wife just in case

Descriptions of pain:
The pain is not sever I would say on scale 1-10 and 10 being the worst
I would say my level is at between 3-5 very often that whole area is little sore or maybe
Sensitive.
Pain usually is more active one day and goes away the next day
Pain tends to be in the left side , groin possibly base of the penis and left testis.
More specific location is if you take your finger to center of the base of the penis and
Turn your finger 45 degrees that is approximate location of some of my more aggressive pain.

Questions:
What do you think it could be?
Could this be related to an STD?
What tests would you perform on a person with similar problem?
Could this be related to prostate?
Could this be cancer?
Any more feed back is very much appreciated

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

Whatever is going on, it isn't an STD.  Conceivably an STD could have triggered it (e.g., gonorrhea, chlamydia) but would have been cured by the treatment  you have had.  You may have prostatitis, or "pelvic pain syndrome" (cause unknown).  Neither prostatitis nor anything else is likely to be a serious health threat--discomfort without danger.  It certainly isn't cancer.  Many people with such symptoms probably just have anxiety, which can greatly magnify otherwise normal body sensations. I suggest you continue to follow up with your urologist and follow his advice.

Sorry I can't be more helpful.  Best wishes--  HHH, MD

[NoFear]

Hi Dr,

I found an interesting article on viral load levels and the increased risk of HIV transmission.  I will put the link below but was just wondering what your thoughts of the following 2 paragraphs were.  I was confused by them.  Does it say the per act risk of transmission with someone of the highest viral load levels increases 27.7 times as stated in the first paragraph, or increases from an average of .11 per cent per act to .23 per cent per act as stated in the second paragraph?  Sorry to interject this persons e-mail but felt it was quite an important link for you to view!!

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3634/is_200109/ai_n8983834

Paragraph 1:

The risk of transmission climbed sharply and steadily as viral load increased: Compared with men and women whose viral load was less than 1,700 copies per mL, those with a viral load of 1,700-12,499 copies per mL were 16 times as likely to transmit the virus (rate ratio, 16.1); the rate ratio rose to 27.7 for individuals with a viral load of more than 38,500 copies per mL. An infected individual with genital ulcer disease was at increased risk of transmitting the virus (2.6), but no other STD-related factors were associated with the risk.

Paragraph 2:

Overall, the probability of HIV transmission was 0.11% per act of intercourse. The probability was higher for individuals younger than 30 (0.13-0.17%) than for those aged 30 or older (0.06-0.09%), and it rose as viral load increased (from 0.01% at the lowest level to 0.23% at the highest). The age pattern was the same regardless of viral load, and the viral load pattern was the same regardless of age. Similarly, the probability of transmission was higher among those with genital ulcers (0.41%) than among those without (0.11%), and this pattern held across levels of viral load. Infected women appeared to be more likely than infected men to transmit the virus (0.13% vs. 0.09%); the researchers note that while this difference was not statistically significant, it is consistent with incidence data from Rakai and with findings on transmission in other developing countries. No difference in the probability of transmission was detected between the two virus subtypes that are responsible for the HIV epidemic in Uganda.


Sorry again to interject this persons entry, and thanks for your consideration.  Will be fascinated to hear your response!!  And thanks for such a non-fear based and greatly informative web site.  Keep up the great work!!

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

New topic, not appropriate as a comment on an unrelated thread.  Feel free to post in a new thread.

HHH, MD