Greetings,
47 yr old, male, had some early symptoms of Prostatitis for last 12-18 months (nothing enough I thought to go to a doctor for). Noteably: tip irritation, reduced erectile ability, anal fullness/heaviness, pelvic ache (described as feeling like I'd lost the padding in my buttocks). 14 weeks ago, had sudden onset of increased urgency, tip and urethra irritation leading to pain/swelling in testes/scrotum/perieum, pelvic floor, and eventually right flank kidney area pain. CT scan clear. Urine clean and clear. Blood testing unremarkable. Bacterial and viral STI testing clean including HIV at 2, 6 and 11 weeks. DRE unremarkable. CIPRO started at week 2 for suspected non-bacherial prostatitis and has been continuing now for 9 weeks with another 3 to go.
Recent (week 10/11) medical work-up was unremarkable with the exception of IgM being elevated which the doctor said was a non-specific indicator that my body was fighting an infection of bacteria, virus or parasite. Not to worry he said. EBV and CMV tests are still oustanding.
Worst Prostatitis symptoms (unrelenting perineum ache, feeling of bamboo sticks in perineum and scrotum, scrotum stabs during kiegal) have improved but it is far from back to what it was. Getting into a pattern of weekly painful flares followed by improvement for 3-4 days. Thankfully involved zone was decreased relative to what it became..... however it is still a literal pain in the a**.
What perplexes/concerns me is that I have symptoms not really seen on my reviews of prostatitis in all I could find on the net. Notably:
1) Short Hot Flashes (not unlike menopause). Body temp is completely normal or even low. Can range from 1 or two a day to several. Normally occur later in the day/evening. Started the week before the prostatitis but raged in the middle weeks 3-6. Now still there but much less dominant.
2) Neck lymph node fullness. LH neck node flares daily and often. My throat (see below) and LH ear canal get involved when the node goes full. Digital exam by docs is unremarkable but I can certainly feel it. It worst prostatitis flares, the node correlates to the flare.
3) Dry throat. Started 3rd day of Cipro. Continues to today. Gets to soar throat level in the middle of a flare. Managing by drinking lots of warm fluids and using a saliva replacement gel. Throat swabs have always come back negative (for whatever they are checking).
4) Thigh involvement. In a flare, I get radial discomfort from the groin area. In the worst days, it extends to the back of the knee on the backside (deffinately a LHS bias as well). Equally, the top of the thigh radiated a very specific line of ache along the inner thigh to the top of the knee. Felt like a 200 psi line was filling up my veins.
To my questions:
1) Is it common for neck lymph nodes to be involved in prostatitis?
2) Same question for the hot flashes (BTW testosterone and thyroid checked normal)
3) Anything you can suggest I discuss with my urologist when I meet back with him in 2 weeks? He's a nice guy but at the end of his working career and not the most confidence-building as to explaining/discussing treatments. Any help you can give for me to direct the next discussion would be helpful.
Nelsbb