Men's Health

[HyperdimensionalApe]

That's not quite true. Prolonged use can increase the risk of side effects such as thyroid problems.

I would argue that those are because iodine needs other co factors; B2, selenium, zinc.

 

[Redrock12]

I just remembered about D-Mannose. I don’t think I’ve had a urinary infection before so it didn’t immediately come to mind.

I’ve ordered it in powder form which will arrive tomorrow. I’ll take a teaspoon of it each day.

FWIW, I was taking 2 tsp 3 times per day, and it cleared up the infection within about 5 days. You can't od on it, so even if one does overdo it dosage-wise, there's no side effects. It's a sugar derived from cranberries. Hope I'm not being repetitious.

 

[Redrock12]

Very good idea. You can take a teaspoon of it in water every hour if you want, but do take it more than once a day. You could also ditch the cipro and see if the D-Mannose works on it's own. If it's a common or garden UTI, then D-Mannose will deal with it in short order.

Guess I was being repetitious. Sorry @T.C.

 

[Z...]

Managed to get the antibiotics changed. Doc’s prescribed Co-Amoxiclav instead.

It’s not Bactrim, but at least it’s not a flouroquinolone.

It’s a pretty safe one. But do
Make sure to take few weeks course of good probiotics after you finish .
Edit - i just saw Gaby said the same

 

[RAFL]

As this here is named "Mens Health" I want to share a story with you, that fits somehow into this topic.

A few years ago, a good fried of mine lost his job. In my company we've been searching for someone in the hotline. So I was able to bring in my firend into this company.
After a few months he became ill. An abscess near his testicles started to grow.
Within a few days it grew so fast that he had to go to hospital. It got so big that he lost his testicles.

Why am I telling you this?
We now know that it was a combination of an abscess and previously unknown diabetes. The very rapid growth was due to the diabetes.
My sister works as an A&E nurse and she told me that this is not uncommon.
My friend got fired by my boss, today he has to take insulin + testosterone.
Now the interesting thing is this:
We tried to figure out the cause. I can't remember the book, but there was one that described his situation as a physical manifastication of an inner disagreement. He needed a job, but on the other side my job offer was too much for him. He wasn't able to handle the position he had, but was also, programmed by our society, in the urge to work. This inner conflict created the problems in his physical body (going left means going on with something I don't want, going to the right means quitting the job, stay in the middle means doing nothing and growing up the problems [in the middle of my body]).

What I want to highlight here is:
If you are having problems in this area, go to the doctor, as soon as possible! Even if you feel ashamed.
Plus, think also about your inner world. Is there a conflict you don't want to challenge?

 

[T.C.]

You might want to take at least Lactobacillus rhamnosus and saccharomyces boulardii (especially if you get diarrhea) once a day, two hours after the antibiotic.

I’ve got the diarrhoea

I have these already. They don’t have the second one, but they have the first.

Will they be adequate or should I get the one you recommended?

 

[Gaby]

Will they be adequate or should I get the one you recommended

That's a great one, but to reduce or eliminate diarrhea, it will have to be saccharomyces boulardii. It's known as brandnames ultralevure or florastor. It reduces the chances of pathogenic clostridium difficile in your gut from the antibiotics.

 

[Dylou]

Sorry, T.C., to hear about your health problems. I hope that the antibiotics will soon have the desired effect and that we'll soon have good news from you.

 

[T.C.]

That's a great one, but to reduce or eliminate diarrhea, it will have to be saccharomyces boulardii. It's known as brandnames ultralevure or florastor. It reduces the chances of pathogenic clostridium difficile in your gut from the antibiotics.

Okay. Thanks, Gaby.

 

[gottathink]

Hope you get this sorted and thanks for sharing. That would be terrifying for any man.

There is also a more benign form of testicular pain that you can get, which has a similar dull ache but no enlargement and no obvious problem with the testes themselves. It's usually caused by some problem or tightness in the circuit surrounding the root chakra that runs down from the lower back, through the glutes and into pelvic floor. Sometimes certain movements like heavy bench pressing can trigger it.

Best solution is to do some deep stretching work focusing on the hips, the hamstrings/lower back, inner thighs, pigeon pose for the glutes etc.

Stretching these areas is also of great benefit for general energy flow and sexual health. Sometimes you'll be walking around for days with super tight PC muscle and will feel, quite literally very up-tight, but stretching properly can relieve it quickly.

Hi Carl
Are you able to provide some references or further info on that? It’s good knowledge in my clinical practice to be aware of. I usually work with people who have been through the medical system get the all clear but still have pain.

 

[T.C.]

I’ve finished the course of antibiotics but there’s no change in the size of my testicle and the dull ache is still there.

I got my letter through for the scan, which is on Sunday 14th of this month.

I’m going to get back in touch with my doctor on Monday and see what they say.

(Added: Oh, and the probiotics recommended by Gaby cleared up the diarrhoea the same day; my stool has just been a bit looser than normal.)

 

[hlat]

Did the d-mannose arrive?

 

[Benjamin]

I’ve finished the course of antibiotics but there’s no change

I'm just proposing this, having thought of it last week, wondering if this isn't an infection at all? Could it be something that has been dormant in your system for a long time and, what with all the work you have been doing on your self, that, whatever it is, has emerged to be dealt with?

 

[T.C.]

Did the d-mannose arrive?

Yes. I’ve been taking it every day, too.

 

[T.C.]

I'm just proposing this, having thought of it last week, wondering if this isn't an infection at all? Could it be something that has been dormant in your system for a long time and, what with all the work you have been doing on your self, that, whatever it is, has emerged to be dealt with?

I’ll see what the doctor says. The scan’s the next step in the process for me, now. I’ll get that done and see what comes of it.

To your point, any ailment we might suffer from can probably tell us something about ourselves. The affirmation that Mari quoted resonates with certain things I’ve been exploring in myself: “It is safe to be a man”.

It links in with stress and anxiety I’ve had to work on over the last year, as well as certain dynamics at work. I had a pretty traumatic experience in my early teens - I basically insulted the wrong guy. That’s made me adverse to any sort of conflict or hostility for the rest of my life.

But a couple of weeks ago at work, a guy who was having a bad day exploded at me for something completely unreasonable. There has been tension between us before, but he went the whole hog this time.

I just calmly stood my ground and reasoned with him in a way that made him look like an idiot (it wasn’t me who made him look like an idiot, it was him. I just gave the facts of the matter).

Anyway, I was both proud of myself for not letting him dominate me and standing my ground, and actually amazed at how calm and composed I stayed during the interaction, considering that I’ve been suffering from stress and anxiety over the last year. This happened a week or so before Mari’s quote, and a few weeks after this testicular problem began.

So I’m continuing to keep this affirmation in mind, and I’m exploring what it might mean for me, in all areas of my life and my being.