My story and eventual success

How men are beating this
Post Reply
AtomBomb
New Member
New Member
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Jun 02, 2005 2:24 am
Location: Georgia

My story and eventual success

Post by AtomBomb »

I have found many of the success stories on this forum to be useful and inspirational during my struggle with pelvic pain, so I would like to submit my own in case it may be helpful to anyone. Below I will talk about dealing with constant pain for 6 months, my symptoms, and how I found relief. I get a tad long-winded, so if you want to see how I dealt with it, skip to the end.

Last September, I noticed some difficulty urinating and some slight burning in my urethra. I thought that I may have a urinary tract infection, so I went to my doctor. He said that UTIs are rare in men, so if the discomfort lasts longer, I needed to see a urologist.

The uro said it was probably a UTI, gave me some antibiotics and sent me on my way. After a while, the urinary problems subsided, but I started to notice a pain in my rectum I could only describe as "pressure". In all honesty, it was more like tension; I felt like my rectum was uncontrollably contracting. This tension also made it difficult to have a bowel movement without straining. He said it was likely prostatitis.

Over the next five months, my uro prescribed me five different prescriptions including Bactrim and Cipro and had me undergo and IVP x-ray and a cystoscopy. Finally, he prescribed me a drug for Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

I gave up on that uro because none of his treatments did anything to ease my pain. I went to another uro who suggested that I had anal fissures causing my rectal pain and referred me to a gastroenterologist. The gastro guy said he couldn't detect any fissures, and that I either had IBS or pelvic floor dysfunction. He said I'd have to undergo some kind of test to determine if I had PFD, and then I'd have to undergo biofeedback treatment if I had it.

By now it was February, and I was very depressed. I didn't want to go through several more months of guessing games while I suffered. For months, I could hardly sleep normally. I either had to take sleeping pills, or deal with getting 3 hours of sleep a night. It hurt to sit down and it hurt worse to lie down. I was hoping and praying for relief, and I was continuously worried that something was terribly wrong with me.

Then I found out about A Headache in the Pelvis while online, and later this forum. I started doing the relaxation techniques mentioned in it, and they really helped me sleep better (It says in the book not to do the relaxation just to go to sleep, but I figured it was a good start). Within a week of doing this, I was able to get a decent night's sleep without drugs.

I also did the stretches described in the book, and I made a conscious effort to relax my pelvic muscles throughout the day. Most of all, I stopped worrying about my condition so much. The book is very clear that anxiety can fuel the muscular tension causing pelvic pain. Over the next two months, the tension and pain began to go away. I could tell my pelvic muscles were more relaxed.

There are a few basic rules I followed the months following:
1) Try to relax! Decrease anxiety and try to relax the pelvic muscles. Don't focus on the pain so much! (I know this is hard to do)
2) Avoid caffeine! (I'm slowly reintroducing caffeine into my diet, but in small amounts)
3) Stay regular! I drink Metamucil twice a day and it has made life a lot easier for my rectal muscles

Now in June, I'm 99.999% back to normal. I very rarely feel the tension returning, and even when it does it's gone in a matter of minutes. I should mention that I didn't do the relaxation and stretching techniques for all that long and I never went to physical therapy. This may be because my tension lasted a relatively short time, but I would deeply encourage those with chronic pelvic pain to consult this book. Even if your recovery takes more time and effort than mine, please don't give up!
-Atom
User avatar
CppsDad
Retired Mod
Retired Mod
Posts: 956
Joined: Sat Nov 20, 2004 7:24 am
Location: N. America

Post by CppsDad »

Not much to say here other than :P WAY TO GO!!!

Michael
This is NOT medical advice. I am NOT a doctor.

Age: 43 CPPS: 10+ Yrs Recovery Status: 80-85% Symptoms: Pain in testicles, scrotum, rectum, prostate, perineum Makes Worse: Anxiety, Tension, too much Nookie Makes Better: Stretching, Abdominal Massage (Go Theracane!), Relaxation
User avatar
scotsman
Retired Mod
Retired Mod
Posts: 1415
Joined: Mon Aug 18, 2003 4:26 pm
Location: Scotland, UK

Post by scotsman »

Great to read you've made such good progress :-D

I'll move this into the success stories forum.

Richard.
Not medical advice: Read my progress to date : Read about my W-A clinic visit

Age: 54 CPPS: 20 Yrs Recovery Status: 95% Symptoms: Pain around perineum Makes Worse: Tension, sitting Makes Better: Stretching, triggerpoint therapy, relaxation
Post Reply