Too much sulfameth trimethoprim

I don't think I'm really seeking medical advice here. I trust my primary care physician and the process I'm going through. It's more that my mind is running wild with worry and anxiety and typing this out and having a potential discussion will hopefully ease it up a bit.
It started the evening of May 6 when my wife found what she thought was an ingrown hair on my back and I developed a terrible migraine that lasted throughout the following day. I had been fishing in the weeds a few days beforehand, so when it started to spread on my lower back, we assumed it was a spider bite. The bumps continued to spread a bit over about a 4 cm area and blister up with pus. By May 14 I was starting to have some back pain as well as pain in my arm pit. May 17th I went to urgent care and got a weak antibiotic for a brown recluse spider bite.
Things continued downhill from there. By May 19, my back pain was severe and debilitating. I also noticed a lump forming in my arm pit. I messaged my primary care physician and saw one of her PAs the following day, May 20. She put me on 160g sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim (which wiped me out for an entire week). She also gave me Meloxicam for my back, saying that the pain was too severe to be related to the bite, so I must have bulging discs.
I continued messaging with my primary care physician. By May 28, the bite on my back was finally scabbing up and looking much better. The back pain was gone and after I finished the antibiotics, I felt completely better. The swelling in my arm pit was still there, but they said to give it a few weeks to go down and that the lingering swelling was normal.
June 1, the swelling in my arm pit continued to grow and was alarming enough that you could now see the lump visually. My primary physician got me in Monday, June 3 since the lump shouldn't be continuing to grow. By then, it was about 9 cm in diameter and she ordered an ultrasound as soon as they could get me in. She also looked at all the photos of the bite, went over all the details of how everything progressed and said that it was the shingles, not a spider bite.
I had the sonogram yesterday, June 4 in the afternoon. I was told that they were way behind and not to expect results until June 6 (but hopefully they'd get me in late June 5). Within two hours my doctor had my results and the mass was multiple severely swollen lymph nodes. She said that this was almost assuredly an infection because of the timing in relation to the shingles. She got the results at 4:45 and had me rush in to get a shot of Rocephin in order to be aggressive with it.
It's been 17 hours since that shot and the mass isn't reducing at all. I have a follow-up appointment for her to look at it again on June 11. The nurse that gave me the shot said that Rocephin is very strong and many people have almost an immediate response to it. The mass is still 9 cm. wide. My wife marked the outline and it hasn't reduced at all. I know if it remains this size, I'll have to get it biopsied after my next appointment. Every minute that goes by without it shrinking is exponentially growing my anxiety. I'm guessing there's a reason my follow-up isn't until the 11th... but my family history (mixed with the knowledge that I have the BRCA gene) has me going crazy. I do think it's a positive sign that the mass is very tender and painful. From everything I've read, that also point to this being an infection.
Like I said, I'm not necessarily looking for advice or anything like that. Just trying to ease my mind... so thank you for reading if you're still here :).
tldr: diagnosed with spider bite, then spider bite with bulging disc, then shingles. This followed with multiple lymph nodes going crazy and enlarging to a lump 9 cm. in diameter in my arm pit. Mind going crazy because of family history and fact that I have the BRCA gene.

I have no idea at this point whether I have a recurring and resistant UTI or the start of the severe IC that my identical twin had. I saw her go through every treatment on offer before her bladder was removed (she had Hunners lesions). Her suicide was to do with another agonising condition, not IC. She's now been gone 8 years.
I'm 60 now and have had issues with UTI's since I was about 20. They've always been only after sex. Five years ago I must have had antibiotics for six months which did work in the end. Now it feels like I've crossed the point of no return. Six weeks ago I ran into an old boyfriend and we resumed our relationship. Straight away I got a UTI, then had a course of Alprim I keep at home, and resumed sex again when it all seemed OK a week later. The pain 24 hours later was unbearable and left me crying all night when not even my usual ice pack gave any relief. The doc then put me on broad spectrum Trimethoprim for a week, and when that wasn't enough I took another course of Alprim I had at home. I haven't had sex now for six days and was finishing the course of Alprim thinking it was improving though lurking. Now the pain surged today and I have no idea why, though i do have a major cold that came on a day before (totally wipes me out due to my CFS). I'd chugged back 2 litres of water and eaten nothing problematic. Another call to the GP and this time I'm on Norfloxacin which is supposedly much stronger (two for three days, then two repeats if needed).My lab test came back with no bacteria, but high count white blood cells and blood in the urine. My GP has told me our lab tests here in Australia are extremely reliable - estimated at only 50% effective, so it seems almost pointless to use that as a guide. No STD either.
I have no idea what's going on any more and the escalating pain has made me feel pretty desperate. I've got nobody to take me to appointments (adult kids just ignore my pleas for help) and the boyfriend has been so dismissive about what I've gone through that I'm not seeing him again. So I feel like on my own. I've got a referral to a urogynecologist but even that's really difficult. They want my referral then they'll discuss amongst themselves and see if they have anyone that can help me. I think I need to write a much longer description of events than the GP has on his referral. The reason I'm going in the first place is a small polyp (5mm) was found in my vagina but it's small enough that it isn't causing me concern, though it will probably be removed.
Now I'm in hideous pain (though low uncomfortable level most of the time), massive anxiety (have Valium to help but not doing much) and wondering if I've finally got my identical twin's IC. The pain in the lower abdomen (and distension) plus burning pain through the perineum come at me at various degrees though I have had the odd day totally symptom free.
I'm a youthful 60 and now determined to stay single after the boyfriend's response to all of this. I'm far too fragile for his olympic sexual approach (even though it doesn't hurt), though clearly I was stupid enough to resume sex before my body was properly recovered. I really couldn't care less if I never have sex again. If it's a choice between that and months of UTI's or IC it's a no brainer. Regardless I have CFS so can't handle sleeping with someone in the bed and it's all just too hard.
I guess my question is - does this sound like IC? Or just a recurrent UTI that won't go, possibly because I kept having sex even while on the antibiotics but not when I had pain. Should I take the Hiprex I've been prescribed or is that preventative?
Any advice most welcome thanks. I'm out of my brain at the thought of going through what my sister did. After 25 years of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome I just can't take on another chronic problem.
I'm in awe of the strength you all have dealing with this life destroying condition.

32M, 5'11, 190 lbs, caucasian, I take hydrocortisone / fludrocortisone daily for Addison's Disease, Singular for Asthma
The doctor prescribed me an antibiotic for 42 days... Sulfameth / Trimethoprim. I'm not crazy about taking an antibiotic that long if it may not even be needed.
For years, I've had a problem with itching around my testicles and scrotum. I've tried different creams but nothing has seemed to work. One day last week I was scratching the area of my scrotum which is just behind my testicles and I fear I may have damaged something. The area feels like there is a vein which comes out of my sack and that is what itched. I haven't been able to find and identify it on medical diagrams. There wasn't an immediate pain, but things have been different since that particular scratch.
Since then, when I feel the need to pee, I really have to immediately, even if it's not a lot. There has been some burning from urination and ejaculation, but nothing crazy. Sometimes I have the sensation like I have to pee when there isn't much there. Over the last day, I've had some lower abdominal and lower back pressure / discomfort as well. I've also felt some brain fog / lightheadedness more than usual, although that could be because of my Addison's Disease.
I'm starting to take the antibiotic, and I'm also trying to get a referral to a urologist. I wanted to post here in the mean time to see if I could get and advice.

EDIT: see replies for an update, I'm UTI free now! :)
I'm 31 years old and have just started having recurrent UTI's starting last December. I moved countries then (USA to Ireland) and can recall what lead to the initial infection (a bathroom situation on the plane over lol). But because I had just moved I didn't have access to a GP so I had to go to Urgent Care for the first two infections which meant not being able to fully test which bacteria needed treating.
First UTI was December 1st (treated with a 5 day course of Trimethoprim), the second was December 14th (treated with a 5 day course of Macrobid). It always seemed like I was healed until I had penetrative sex. BTW, my husband and I have not had issues with this before, we are both super hygienic and follow all the natural rules to avoiding UTI's. After the second course of antibiotics my husband and I refrained from sex, alcohol, and sugar for 6 weeks to allow myself to fully heal. Throughout those 6 weeks I would have minor "flares" that seemed triggered by self pleasure/orgasm, but overall I was feeling just fine. I was finally able to get a GP, they tested me and I just had some blood but no sign of infection, he wrote it off as my bladder still being inflamed and sensitive. After feeling back to normal by the end of the 6 weeks, my husband and I decided to finally have sex again and I was hit with the most excruciating UTI a day later. Symptoms included fever, urethral pain/burning, and urgency without relief. Anyways, back to the GP who confirmed that it was an infection and sent my urine off to labs. He prescribed me another 5 day course of Macrobid (which eased things up immediately) and referred me to a Urologist as well. He called later to let me know they did find for E-coli in my urine.
That was at the end of February. Since then I've decided to take preventative measures and began taking 3-4 scoops (2000mg per scoop) of D-Mannose a day and Bio Kult Pro-Cyan (probiotic). My husband and I have been able to become intimate again and the D-Mannose especially seems to be helping tons, but I can tell something is still not right down there. I'm not in pain, nor do I feel urgency, but it just feels like I still have a very dull, minor ache (sometimes heat) in my lower abdomen. I'm worried that I have an embedded UTI but after lots of research the past few months I'm worried that I wont be able to get a doctor to listen to me, especially if I'm not showing symptoms since the D-Mannose is really easing them for me. I have called the Urologist and for three weeks they've put me on hold, told me they'd get back to me but then don't. I'm worried I'm wasting precious time that could lead me to a worse infection. So now I'm looking to other home remedies to help in the meantime, but I believe it could be beneficial to be put on Hiprex after some research? Macrobid also seemed to work well for me, but I wonder if I just need to be on a longer term/regular dosage than the typical 5 day course?
Questions :

1. How did you communicate with your Urologist about having an embedded infection and asking for treatment? What can I say/ask in order to make sure I'm heard? What are things I can ask for them to check?
2. Has anyone had much success with trying to break down your own biofilm? I've read tons about biofilm disrupters (even bought Kirkland's BioFilm Disruptor) and oil of oregano being a natural biofilm disruptor with powerful antibacterial properties. I feel more hesitant about using Kirkland's and would rather try oil of oregano. I read too that it's preferred to use one that has at least 60% + Carvacrol in it to even be effective. What was this process like for you?
3. For now, D-Mannose has been a life saver but I worry it's only a temporary help. Has it ever stopped working for anyone due to an embedded infection getting worse/spreading? Like I mentioned, I worry I'm losing time/allowing it to spread, I just want to know what's the first thing I could do to really tackle this if I can't get further testing/treatment with a long term antibiotic.

If you made it this far, thank you so much for giving me the time of day. I'm fortunate that this hasn't been giving me hell daily like I've read for some, but it has affected my mental health and I worry about it turning into something that's out of my control. My husband and I are newlyweds and were apart for most of our relationship, I hate that us finally being able to be together has meant less time to be intimate.

Hi everyone, just thought to give a bit of backstory and where I am at the moment. (38 Years old)
It started after a bout of constipation followed by immense pain/diarrhea when I ate too much on Chinese New Year (about 6 weeks ago). The night before I was sitting there playing on Chess.com til 5am refusing to stand up to go to the bathroom. So I guess I deserve what I've been suffering with the past few weeks!
The next day I recall I went to urinate quite frequently but didn't think of it as a big deal. However as the work week started the issue did not go away. I would often feel like I needed to pee a couple of minutes after I already went, regardless of the volume peed. And if I caved in to the urge, the next urge will come on sooner and stronger. When sitting to have a bowel movement I wasn't sure when to get up as I would pee several times in small amounts during that sitting session.
So 10 days into this I went to see a general practitioner.
Urine dipstick was clear and PCRs clear for clam/gono, was prescribed 300mg trimethoprim anyway for 7 days in case its a UTI. After letting the abx ruin my digestion for 7 days I went and got a PSA (normal) and a renal ultrasound, which found the prostate to be somewhat enlarged.
So GP visit number 2, he suggested that the ultrasound result warrants a more detailed look with a prostate MRI at my own expense. In the meantime I was to try Oxybutinin for the detrusor overactivity he called it due to my prostate enlargement. By now the constant sense of urgency has really taken a toll on my mental health. The Oxybutinin helps with getting more sleep however the effect wears off quickly (the dry mouth and fatigue doesn't!)
So the Prostate MRI came back quite normal with only the mention of "mild inflammation seen within the prostate". The GP today was contemplating whether I should go on a long course of antibiotics. I asked about EPS cultures and questioned shouldn't we know its bacterial before going down that route? He suggested that antibiotic treatment has been first line treatment either way even if it's to rule out bacterial causes.
I refused to start a whole month of antibiotics so we agreed to try physiotherapy for 6 weeks along with a maintenance dose of Oxybutinin for the frequency/urgency symptoms. I the meantime I will also give acupuncture and quercetin a go.
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So I guess my questions at this point are:

1. Have I done the wrong thing in not pursuing the antibiotics avenue?
2. Does anyone know of a male pelvic floor physio specialist based in Sydney, Australia?

Many thanks for reading and I hope everyone here finds relief in their struggles!
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have Dysautonomia and have an intense frequent urge to urinate, I saw specialist privately who diagnosed it who also works at an NHS hospital and he said I need to be referred by my GP to him to see him before I can be medicated so I'm stuck not medicated for a while it seems as the letter has still not been sent a month later and my GP said he will refer me but I will probably have to wait a while for that too.
I'm having the most horrible, frequent tingling urge to urinate constantly. I've had burning to the skin of my genitals but I get burning sensations anyway. This feels too much for my bladder, especially at night I feel like I need to pee straight away after peeing the urgency is still there even if I don't need to pee, but I'm well able to pee twenty minutes later, although I try to extend it if I can.
I had skipping heartbeats today and quite a lot of them, done a urine dipstick test and was the highest level of specific gravity showing high dehydration because I've been drinking less because I can't stop urinating.
My urine was yellow but it is clearing up with more water but then I've slowed down drinking it because the urge is so heavy and uncomfortable. I'm scared I've got a UTI and will get Sepsis because This has been a week now and only getting worse really, especially of a night. I had it on my first flare up which frightened me because I didn't know I had any Dysautonomia related problems I thought it was severe prostatitis and brain problems. They gave me Trimethoprim which helped the frequent peeing a bit but it came back after a rectal examination for some reason and I thought the Trimethoprim had stopped working because I started shaking constantly again I thought it was a severe prostate infection and brain or heart problems as I had constant tachycardia too.
My GP won't give me antibiotics now it's hard to even get an appointment it can take weeks to a month or so, he won't give me none because I've been on some, Trimethoprim and Fosfomycin and the fosfomycin actually seemed to help a lot of the Dysautonomia symptoms although I did get bad once on it, was a 5 week course as they thought severe prostatitis , had what I know now was a horrible flare up just before the end of that course that only lasted a week and then was the best I'd been in months for a good few weeks although sickly and still tachycardia.
Now I'm sweaty hands, the worst exhaustion, but the urination urge is so intense and so frequent I'm scared I've got a UTI that isn't showing up. I'm peeing that much and I don't want to drink water because it's so intense and uncomfortable but then I kept getting palpitations because I didn't drink as much water for a few days. I haven't eaten much to be honest either because I had some Gastroparesis which has eased slightly but still these but the peeing is relentless feels like so much of an urge my bladder is going to burst it's like torture. I have some antibiotics there from ages ago I never took that might work but I'm scared if I took them which the doctor wouldn't know because he refused me them then he definitely wouldn't give me more if there is a hidden infection.
I've done so many dipstick tests and all been clear at home and the one in the doctors was clear just been dehydrated a lot because of all the peeing even when drinking water but especially today it was very high dehydration by specific gravity levels. I'm at my wits end. I have so many more symptoms and they're all so horrible but I could learn to cope if this eased a lot or went away.
I can't cope though it's bringing me to the edge again like the first flare up when I was scared getting no answers and didn't know what was wrong and nobody could help. I tried to do something stupid my partner ran in and saved me she hadn't even heard me just happened to go the toilet in the night, it's that intense I can't cope and I'm scared it's an infection I don't know about and will give me sepsis. I also have hernias so I worry they could be part of it but I can't get an appointment as he will just say I checked your hernias the others day and referred you.
My GP doesn't seem to have much medical knowledge either, when you get a condition that doesn't show up much on blood tests like types of Dysautonomia, you learn so much and no when they don't have the knowledge they should. My specialist was happy I researched, the GPs seemed offended and patronising and my partner was extremely angry about how they treat autistic patients at the GP practice because I am autistic, she works with much more severely autistic youngsters and is a teacher there but qualified to teach mainstream too. I'm sure many of yourselves have had to do so much research with no answers from GPs.
Is this frequent urination supposed to be so intense and such an intense horrible tingly feeling all the time. Please tell me that's just during flare ups, please tell me this will ease and pass!! I think I may have EDS too which im gonna discuss with my GP tomorrow, A lot of similarities and things that are linked to it. Sick of every 20 minutes it's absolute torture I haven't laughed in weeks and Same the time before, when my kids come to stay I hide what I can about it but can't hide vary being able to leave the sofa but to urinate they can see I'm exhausted and ill and they worry.
I can't keep going please tell me what to do my GP won't give me antibiotics and what if it is a UTI because I've never had any UTI show up but antibiotics seemed to help, could that be placebo? Done loads of urine dipsticks at home and one at the doctors. Also they found some demyleanysation of the brain white spots or something, the neurologists, they said they don't know what it is but it's not MS so they're not worried as I'm too young for vascular things (I'm 40) but what worries me is I'm not too young for vascular EDS and that is a killer.
Sorry about the Essay but someone please help about the ridiculously intense frequent urination. Please help.
Thankyou.

UPDATE 2:
Decided not to wait, and got a private STI screen from Randox Health.
Completely clear, even for gonorrhea (which is the norm as I understand, it'll be seronegative within a couple of days of treatment), on both a first-morning FPU sample I'd held for ages, and on a swab of the discharge ... so my symptoms are almost certainly related to residuals from the gono, or the gut issues/CPPS which is obviously causing some kinds of leakage anyway. Woohoo!
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UPDATE:
Following absolute confirmation under microscope today, I have either "atypically presenting" gonorrhea or n. meningitidis, the latter possibly being the reason I (and others) kept testing negative for gono, and the symptoms weren't "usual". I'll be getting the results of exactly which in 2-3 weeks, and update the thread.
It looks like my most regular partner has had this asymptomatically in the rectum for some time, but our last sex session transferred this to the front during rectal play, as by coincidence, he now has urinary symptoms as of today.
The most likely scenario is that my partner has been repeatedly reinfecting me over the last half year, but that the pathogen is highly susceptible to doxycycline, so I've cycled in and out of infections without ever clearing the residual symptoms, and up to now, he'd never had any, and repeatedly tested negative on tests as well, despite not being on abx like I was.
Also likely the cause of the ongoing prostate issues — not the bowel that was swelling and causing it, but the bowel pressing on the prostate, which is/was infected.
Of note, I'm informed up to 1 in 10 chlamydia PCR tests is a false negative, and up to 1 in 5 gonorrhea PCR tests is a false negative; I was completely unaware of this level of inaccuracy even with newer NAATs.
I guess never assume bacteria, but also never rule out bacteria, eh? :\
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Hi all, I'm a 37 gay M in the UK who's been trying to get to the bottom of an issue for months now, sort of wondering if anybody has had similar experiences to me, or could help me think this through ... sorry for the length.
(Subheads/bold bits for ease of reading/skimming)
THE DICK ISSUE:
I previously had an episode of NSU in May that cleared with nitrofurantoin, and was then symptom free for 4 months. After contracting urethritis with pus and copious discharge in late Sept, I've had no fewer than 4 episodes of it in the last half a year, with an average delay of around 4-5 weeks between coming down with symptoms.
The most recent infection appeared after I'd had insertive anal sex with a friend, and the pattern with the seems to be that 24-48hrs after I top someone (not one specific person; since May, it's happened with 3 guys), I'll come down with very frank/overt symptoms — this seems too fast for MGen to happen, and it seems way too consistent to be a false flag, or a coincidence that MGen is rearing its head at that exact moment.
I've treated these episode with antibiotics, including ending up on a couple of regimens which should have cleared non-resistant MGen as far as I'm aware (e.g. Doxy then Azi, Doxy x 28d), and I've taken nitrofurantoin repeatedly along with the doxy; each time I take abx, this has resolved the pus aspect of the discharge within 3 days, after which it hasn't returned until 24-48hrs after an unprotected sexual encounter a month or so later. For this reason I've sort of been under the working assumption this is enteral bacteria and I'm susceptible for some reason.
I've tested negative for MGen during the period since Sept, but I'm unsure if abx regimens I've been on have caused this to be a false negative. I've also repeatedly tested negative for chlamydia and gono, as have my partners, as have (allegedly) theirs, and I move in a community where it'd be pretty much self-defeating to lie about this kinda stuff.
THE BUTT/PROSTATE ISSUE:
Separately I've also had CPPS symptoms of frequency and urgency during the period between Sept-Jan, which have been confirmed to be caused specifically by allergies causing bowel inflammation/PFD — following the discovery that I had more food allergies than I thought, and cutting out milk and egg, the urgency and frequency completely disappeared at the same time as my bowels returned to normal, and they've been gone entirely since, except for when I've had minor flares from small amounts of allergen. They return and diminish so consistently and behave so regularly that we're 99% certain any and all bladder-related issues are this.
Confirmedly, inflammation of the bowels can also cause me to leak various fluids when it increases my intra-abdominal pressure or close to when I need a BM (urine/prostatic secretions/seminal vesicle fluid/precum, to the extent I now recognise the difference) ... it's happened suddenly due to muscle tensing on occasion, and we've confirmed it by straining a bit deliberately on one unlucky occasion, which resulted in an entire load leaking out suddenly onto the floor with no arousal or sensation (which was pretty nuts tbh).
THE CURRENT ISSUE:
At present, I'm experiencing serious problems teasing symptoms apart.
I last had pussy discharge on 17 Feb, which was minimal-to-gone (and all pus was gone) by day 4 of abx. I stopped doxycycline and trimethoprim roughly 2 weeks ago. I've been on another 7-day course of nitrofurantoin until about 4 days ago as a hail mary, as my doc didn't know how effective trimethoprim would be against E Coli or the like, but the initial treatment seems to have worked in all cases where I've had the pus issue.
My current symptoms are "various kinds" (e.g. consistency, amount) of non-purulent discharge during the day, random sensitivity/stinging at the tip of my dick, and extremely variable dysuria (from 0 to serious); seems to depend on what my guts are doing, or whether I've harassed my junk too much. I'm an anxious person, and I'm aware of venereophobia (and how this term is really annoying, because it means two different things); I've ended up in the habit of constantly squeezing my tube to check for discharge, which I know can cause irritation and some extra moisture.
The discharge is only visible on milking the urethra (and sometimes after several tries), or after walking around a bit for it to "come down from further up"; I'm normally only able to get it to "leak" onto my boxers or collect in any significant capacity by like walking for an hour or so.
The thing that is baffling me the most is that aside from the times the discharge has been purulent, i.e. at the onset of me "catching something again", there is NO collection of discharge in my urethra overnight, WHATSOEVER.
I think these are highly likely to be referred issues from the bowels/PF, or the venereophobic checking ... but there's also no way the bowel issues can cause pus to appear at the onset of what's obviously a frank UTI, so I'm sort of in limbo as to which symptoms belong to what causes.
I'm headed to an STI clinic tomorrow, and seeing my doctor in person on Friday afternoon (the day after). I plan on explaining this to both parties, asking for another set of tests, and potentially asking my GP to empirically treat for MGen as I'm worried about the 4-5 week "relapse" possibility — tho the NHS would consider this too long a period for a relapse to occur, and would assume reinfection with something, which I'd also sort of assume given the clear pattern.
Any comments on the above would be welcome, and I guess I have some extra questions:

• Given I wake up with my tube bone dry every morning, and the discharge I'm currently experiencing ONLY happens after I get up and start moving around, I understand this simply would not happen in the circumstances where discharge was being caused by MGen, or by any kind of direct, infectious urethritis. Is this correct?
• I've read on the forum that where people have had treatment failures with antibiotics for MGen, it's only taken a few days to a week for their symptoms to reappear, or sometimes been near-immediate. Given MGen is slow-growing, is it reassuring that I'm having a 4-5 week periods of minimal-to-no symptoms between episodes of frank pus, or could this be attributed to MGen's growth rate?
• I understand that nitrofurantoin would probably have no meaningful effect on MGen, else it'd be a first line agent. Does anybody know if this is right?

Thanks for your time, sorry again for the length. I guess I also hope that people with similar experiences might come across this and get help as well. Crossing my fingers I'm just a worried neurotic with weird guts and a tendency to come down with E Coli, but at this point I'm kind of going mad, so any assistance is deeply welcome.
Particularly, if anyone's ever found out they've caused clear discharge from squeezing too much, I've NEVER come across anyone actually saying this has happened, only references to it in medical literature under outdated terms, and my junk's response to my own checking seems to be wildly inconsistent, so I'd genuinely be REALLY relieved to hear someone confirm I might just be wrecking myself.
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TL;DR: If on skimming, there is anything in the above that says "man, this def isn't MGen", please point it out to me and it'd massively help my state of mind.

female 28 years old, 64 kg, 160 cm
i gave birth to my first baby 21 days ago, it was early preterm at 26 weeks according to my own calculation, but the hospital say the gastrointestinal age is 28 week, she lived for 11 days, i was told she had sepsis and they draw blood cultures and figure out it was due to staph aureus infection, after 11 days they told me she had severe sepsis and she died that day may her soul rest in peace.
now 3 days ago i went to my first postpartum checkup, the ob told me i should clean better and set in warm water with salt for ten minutes and then povidone-iodine with warm water for another 10 minutes and apply a topical cream, although i have been cleaning with povidone-iodine from the entire time before, anyways she also took a swab and told me to come after 3 days, i cane today she told me it looks much cleaner and better, but the swab results showed i have the same infection my baby had, im not sure where i got it from, she prescribed me levofloxacin 500mg, one pill each day for 5 days, and told me to come after a week.
ngl i’m scared, i read online staph can be deadly and cause sepsis but i don’t feel anything rn, but can’t help and be worried, i asked for the laboratory repost and here’s its readings: gram stain bacterial category: gram positive cocci organism: staphylococcus aureus nitrofuranotion : sensitive trimethoprim / sulfamethoxazole : sensitive cefoxitin screen : +
and then there are many other names that its sensitive too except benzylpencillin, oxacillin, vancomycin they’re resistance.
i read online that mrsa can be contacted through hospital and can cause sepsis and death because they’re resistance to many antibiotics, are the above one of them?
fyi: my delivery was normal, they put uterine catheter in me, and i had stitches (the doctor said he will cut bcs he didn’t want to me to push the baby to strong and harm her brain bcs she is still to small 1kg)
sorry if this was too long, the past days were extremely hard for me, and i feel the docs i go too are always in a rush and don’t have much time for me.

Starting a new treatment can be overwhelming, especially when faced with a long list of medications. It's tough to understand what each drug does and why it's needed. I wanted to share information from my own treatment to give you a clearer picture, not to scare you, but to empower you with knowledge. This way, you can hopefully face your (or your loved ones) treatment journey with a little more confidence.

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Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma, or DLBCL, is the most common type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, accounting for about 30% of cases in the U.S. It's known for its rapid growth in lymph nodes and can also affect other parts of the body like the spleen, liver, bone marrow, and various organs. Typically, DLBCL starts in the lymph nodes of the neck or abdomen and is marked by the presence of oversized B cells. People with DLBCL often have B symptoms, which include fever, night sweats, and significant weight loss over six months.

My Story

For years, I used a gator mounted sprayer to apply glyphosate, the most commonly used herbicide globally. I suspect this exposure is the source of my cancer. Research from the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences links glyphosate to a 41% increased risk of developing non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
My Stage 4 DLBCL had spread to my stomach, gallbladder, spleen, pancreas, kidneys, liver, and three soft tissue areas. I had lost 70 pounds in half a year and had fevers and night sweats. I was actually trying to slim down and thought I was succeeding (Hah!) until one morning I woke up with jaundice. A tumor was blocking my liver's bile duct, leading to a dangerous buildup of liver toxins in my body. I went through four ERCP procedures, with only the last one working by a specialist, and a failed attempt at Percutaneous Biliary Drainage. I was sent home but had to return a week later due to an inflamed gallbladder. That's when I was unexpectedly told by a nurse that I had lymphoma before I could discuss it with my doctor.
My oncologist diagnosed me with Stage 4 DLBCL but reassured me that it wasn't an automatic death sentence as it's aggressive but responds well to aggressive treatment. She considered CAR-T therapy, a form of immunotherapy, as a potential treatment - however, my insurance company required me to first try a treatment called POLA-R-CHP.
Going through treatment is more than just the physical battle. It's interesting; a lot of people offered to shave their heads with me as a sign of solidarity. Yet, when I really needed someone to talk to or help me out, not everyone was there. This experience showed me that real support isn't just about big gestures. It's about the little things, like checking in regularly and offering a helping hand when needed.
On the emotional front, things have been tough. I've started seeing a therapist who mentioned that I might be emotionally numb, which means I could fully process everything that's happened only much later. My fight against cancer includes more than just the treatments - there are follow-up scans, and I need to get my port and stent removed. The moment I found out I was in remission was as quiet as when I first learned I had cancer. It's a stark reminder of how fragile life is and how important it is to value the people in our lives. Big changes can happen without any warning.
Financially, this journey has been incredibly hard. Even with great insurance, I ended up using all my savings, taking money out of my 401k, and maxing out credit cards. The treatments spanned over two years (Jul '23 to Mar '24), meaning I had to meet my deductible and out-of-pocket maximum twice. Now, as I'm getting back to work and my financial situation begins to improve, I realize how lucky I am. But it also highlights the importance of advocating for yourself and having multiple backup plans.
Cancer treatment is as much about handling day-to-day life as it is about fighting the disease. The best kind of support comes in many forms. It's about showing up in the ways that really count, especially during those quiet moments of struggle and recovery.

Medications used in my Treatment (POLA-R-CHP Therapy)

I underwent POLA-R-CHP (a modified combination of drugs) to treat my Stage 4 Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL). It is used to improve outcomes over the standard R-CHOP regimen that is based on the POLARIX trial, which demonstrated a statistically significant improvement over R-CHOP at 2-years, which represents an advancement in treatment for selected patients.

• POLAtuzumab Vedotin-piiq (Polivy)
  • Antibody that specifically targets the CD79b protein found on B-cells, aiding the immune system in destroying these cells
• Rituximab (Rituxan)
  • Monoclonal antibody that targets CD20 protein found on B-cells, aiding the immune system in destroying these cells
• Cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan)
  • Kills rapidly dividing cells, including cancer cells
• Hydroxydaunorubicin (Doxorubicin Hydrochloride)
  • Interferes with the DNA inside cells, preventing them from dividing and growing
• Prednisone
  • Corticosteroid used to reduce inflammation and suppress the immune response

Medications Used for Symptom Management

These medications were crucial for managing my side effects and ensuring the effectiveness of the treatment regimen during therapy.

Nerve Problems (Pain, Numbness)

• Gabapentin (Neurontin)

Nausea and Vomiting (Sickness, Vomiting)

• Fosaprepitant (Emend)
• Palonosetron
• Ondansetron (Zofran)
• Promethazine (Phenergan)

Infection Prevention (Virus, Infection Defense)

• Acyclovir (Zovirax)
• Levofloxacin (Levaquin)
• Sulfamethoxazole-Trimethoprim (Bactrim)

Pain Management (Discomfort Relief)

• Acetaminophen (Tylenol)
• Lidocaine-Prilocaine (Emla)

Gastrointestinal Symptoms (Digestive Issues)

• Dicyclomine (Bentyl)
• Metronidazole (Flagyl)

Blood Clot Prevention (Clot Risk Reduction)

• Apixaban (Eliquis)

Diarrhea (Loose Bowel Movements)

• Atropine-Diphenoxylate (Lomotil)

Allergic Reactions (Itching, Swelling)

• Diphenhydramine (Benadryl)

Inflammation (Swelling, Redness)

• Dexamethasone (Decadron)
• Methylprednisolone (Medrol)

Tumor Lysis Syndrome (TLS) Prophylaxis (Tumor Cell Breakdown)

• Allopurinol (Zyloprim)

Hydration & Electrolytes (Fluid, Mineral Maintenance)

• Sodium Chloride (Normal Saline)

Febrile Neutropenia (White Blood Cell Drop)

• Pegfilgrastim (Neulasta)

My Questions About Managing Side Effects & Daily Life Impact

Will I lose my hair, and when will it grow back?

Hair loss is a common side effect of chemotherapy treatments like POLA-R-CHP. Typically, hair loss is temporary, with regrowth starting after treatment ends. In some cases, hair may begin to return even before treatment completion. My hair started to regrow slowly while I still had 2-3 infusions remaining.

How do I manage bladder irritation and changes in bowel movements?

Hydration and following dietary guidelines are crucial for managing symptoms such as diarrhea or constipation. Communicate any significant changes to your healthcare team promptly.

What can I do about feeling tired?

Feeling tired after treatment is pretty standard, and it can stick around for a while. To deal with it, mixing rest with some light exercise works well. Using strategies to save energy and prioritize what you need to do can help too. From my experience, the tiredness would usually last 2-3 days after treatment, and then I'd feel mostly okay - however, even when I felt ready to tackle tasks, I'd quickly run out of steam. For example, setting up Christmas decorations, I was only able to do my small tree and 2 strands of lights on the house, which ended up taking three days.

What's the risk of developing peripheral neuropathy, and how is it managed?

Peripheral neuropathy, a potential side effect, may lead to treatment adjustments. For moderate to severe symptoms, treatment may be paused and resumed only if symptoms improve. Treatment with polatuzumab vedotin should cease permanently for the most severe cases.

How are infusion reactions managed?

To mitigate infusion reactions, pre-medication may be administered. Should you experience a reaction, the infusion could be temporarily halted then resumed at a slower rate once symptoms subside. Severe reactions might necessitate stopping the treatment for a reassessment. My reactions were mild, like hot flashes and itching, though others may experience more severe symptoms. It's critical to report any changes in symptoms during the infusion, no matter how minor.

How is a low blood cell count managed during treatment?

Managing a low blood cell count might include blood or platelet transfusions. Febrile neutropenia, a fever with a low white blood cell count, is more common with POLA-R-CHP, so using growth factors like pegfilgrastim is advised to help manage this risk.

How do the costs of POLA-R-CHP compare to other treatments?

Considering the cost-effectiveness of POLA-R-CHP against treatments like R-CHOP is important. POLA-R-CHP might be more cost-effective in the long run due to potentially lower costs for follow-up therapy and routine care, but individual situations can differ. It's important to talk about treatment options and costs with your healthcare provider to make informed decisions.

How effective is POLA-R-CHP compared to other regimens?

POLA-R-CHP is shown to be an effective first-line treatment option for DLBCL, possibly offering benefits in preventing relapses and saving on costs for second-line treatments. However, how well the treatment works can vary based on individual patient factors and disease characteristics.

Additional Links

Here's a curated list of resources, studies, and helpful links to provide the latest information on POLA-R-CHP treatment to hopefully help you understand the disease better and find support throughout your treatment journey.

• More Information about DLBCL from Macmillan Cancer Support.
• Understanding Lymphoma - DLBCL - Offers an in-depth look at DLBCL, covering symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment, along with patient experiences.
• A Phase II Study of Glofitamab Plus Polatuzumab-R-CHP for High-risk DLBCL - This study is exploring a new drug combination for high-risk DLBCL patients, aiming to improve safety and effectiveness.
• DLBCL Resource Center - Provides comprehensive education on lymphoma, support resources, and updates on the latest research.
• Will Pola-R-CHP Be the New Standard Upfront Treatment? - Experts weigh in on whether Pola-R-CHP should become the go-to first-line treatment for certain DLBCL patients.
• Polatuzumab Vedotin for Front-Line Treatment of DLBCL - Showed that after two years, 76.7% of patients treated with Pola-R-CHP didn't see their disease get worse, compared to 70.2% for those on R-CHOP. The study compared the safety and higher costs of Polatuzumab Vedotin, suggesting similar safety for both treatments but raised financial concerns.
• Safety and Toxicity of Pola-R-CHP vs. R-CHOP - Discusses the safety profiles of both treatments, emphasizing the importance of prophylaxis and monitoring for potential toxicities.
• Cost-Effectiveness of Pola-R-CHP - Addresses the financial impact of adding Polatuzumab Vedotin to the treatment regimen, a consideration for patients and healthcare systems alike.

My little hamster was diagnosed with a uti/Kidney infection a week ago today, her urine analysis was a total mess. Kidney husk thingys, red and white bloodcells and infection everywhere. They gave me Trimethoprim sulfa and meloxicam and I've been giving it to her as directed on the dot but I'm not seeing too much improvement, she is eating and drinking on her own and she is definitely grooming herself a bit but her ears are still curled back and she isn't burrowing herself underground much, she put some fluff and food in her little woven hay hutch and is sleeping in there. Is there more for her that I can do? When can I expect to see her getting better? Is there anything I could suggest to my vet? I have a vet appointment next week for a follow up but I'm worried about her, she's such a great hamster and I love her so so much.

What tests would you recommend?
37F, history of vestibular migraine, no history of UTI. Takes Sertraline (Zoloft) 150mg. Normal TSH levels.
Monday 1/15 - noticed frequent urination, no pain
Tuesday - felt migraine coming on, took Ubrelvey (Ubrogepant- calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) blocker) but no relief. Began menstruating. continued frequent urination and excessive thirst.
Wednesday - vertigo, unable to drive, saw neurologist for nerve block (lidocaine) injections. Unlike previous times it didn’t help much. Took Tramadol and had severe insomnia. Problems regulating body temperature. cold feet. Tremors. Heavy menstral cycle. continued frequent urination and excessive thirst.
Thursday - Persistent migraine, took Nurtec ODT (rimegepant) but no relief. Continued insomnia (4-6 hours of sleep). Continued tremors and body temperature regulation problems. continued frequent urination and excessive thirst. Vertigo. Agitated and confused
Friday - went to urgent care as thirst and urination issues continued. initially concerned about thyroid levels. Highly agitated and confused. Urine tested positive for bacteria. Elevated blood pressure (135/85, typical is 90/60).
Saturday - woke up feeling confused and agitated, frequent urination and vertigo persisted with major headache. No appetite. Went to urgent care again for antibiotic RX (sulfameth/trimethoprim 800-160mg)
Sunday - some improvement in urination frequency. inconsistent headache. Mild bladder pain (menstruation over) Vertigo persists. Bouts of higher than normal (+20-30pts) but still under 135. Agitation. Mild tremors and restlessness, hot and cold flashes.
Today - 5/6 doses of sulfameth/trimethoprim taken. Mild bladder discomfort, shaking, restlessness, temp regulation issues, headache. Mild aura still present (sound and light).

Sorry in advance this will probably be a little long winded and semi-all over the place. Throwaway as I have family on here and don't need them reading all these details. For context I (32M) have been suffering with pain in my lower back, pelvis, and down through my genitals and legs for a calendar year now. Nov '22 I started exercising 5 days a week for the fist time in years. I was starting to feel great after getting through the initial soreness, was eating very healthy and not drinking. Right before my honeymoon in Dec '22 I started having pain in my abdomen, scrotum, and penis. I freaked out and thought I had kidney stones (Dad and older brother have both had) or a hernia. I got checked out and both of those were ruled out, I saw a urologist right before I left and we did ultrasounds on my kidneys and scrotum, both were clear, clean urine test clear, did a STAT scan (no ink) and said nothing was out of the ordinary. Prescribed me an anti-inflammatory that didn't do anything, then gave me a muscle relaxer and pretty much said he's stumped and wished me luck... Fast forward to today, I had to painstakingly sit through the last year waiting to sign back up for health insurance because I waived it the year prior (barely weeks before the symptoms onset, of course) So i've been living with this constant dull pain all year, which has been slowly, but very surely increasing, and symptoms have been getting worse. When I sit down its as if all my weight is bearing on my lower half, it feels as if the pain is radiating directly up into my prostate. If I stand, after about 10 mins on my feet my legs will be super sore, my lower back aches, and all the other aforementioned areas hurt. So there aren't many comfortable positions. My urethra feels physically tight, I don't know how to explain that besides I can just feel it, and that tightness radiates down into my scrotum, and behind, almost like its following the veins. When I urinate I don't experience any burning at all, but its tight. It usually takes a second to start the stream, and there is always dribbling now, that is something that has slowly developed over the year and was not present at the beginning of symptoms. I have to physically push up from behind my scrotum to get the last bits of urine out. My stream seems alright and it stays consistent (until the dribbling of course) but can definitely feel a bit of extra pressure with the tightness. Very rarely when I go to start urinating sometimes there will be like a slight pinch as the stream starts. I'm also experiencing a decent amount of burning sensations in both of my legs, specifically on the insides of my thighs. I finally got to see a Doctor, and he immediately thought I had Prostatitis, which adds up with the symptoms. He sent me to a different urologist for a prostate exam. Go to the urologist, they do a urine culture and say its clean, he immediately goes into wanting to send me to a physical therapist for a possible issue with my pelvic floor. I ask about the Prostatitis and he kinda motions to the urine implying since thats clean he doesn't really think its that. Correct me if I'm wrong but Prostatitis can also be injury induced, not just bacterial? He can tell that I didn't like how easily he brushed that off after my PCP was pretty confident, so he prescribes me an antibiotic for it (Sulfameth/Trimethoprim) Never even did a prostate exam, and I've never had one prior. Been on the meds for 48 hours so far. Other things worthy to note; I've had lower back pain for a bit, pre-covid I was operating a small brewery, and moving full kegs single handedly, not smart, i know. I never had any significant injury per-se, but I know I probably did some damage, it got to the point where during a very active day If i were to bend over, I cannot stand straight back up immediately. All of Covid i was on my ass, definitely didn't help my lower back. Could a lower back disc or nerve issue cause all of these other symptoms? I also have had GI issues for a number of years now, which is looking like (untreated) IBS. Also have had chronic acid reflux for years, and have an endoscopy scheduled next month.
Daily medications are over the counter acid reducer and over the counter generic Allegra for allergies. As of recently I just hurt all the time, before it would come and go in waves almost, and was pretty dull, more annoying than anything, I'm suffering now. If i get active, like just messing around with the kids, rough housing, etc, or any other phyiscal exertion, It's not even like I'm in worse pain during the actions, I still ache, but it's not like as soon as i get active my body gets way worse, but when I get in bed those nights, I'm at my worst, can barely sleep those nights. More recently that pain has been a lottt in the lower back and scrotum when laying down. I sleep on my side. I'm desperate for any guidance or recommendations, should i demand that prostate exam to figure out if my prostate is enlarged? Should I follow up with the GI first or should I get my lower back checked out first? can this be pre-cancerous, or muscular skeletal? Or auto-immune disease? Sciatica? Obviously without a physical exam there's only so much someone can suggest but I' m completely open to any suggestions or recommendations, or any questions. Thank you in advance if you've read all of this, I really don't know where else to turn and feel like the speed of these appointments and Doctors just aren't moving quick enough for the amount of pain I'm in daily. Thank You

Hi everyone, this is gonna be an essay, I can't shorten it really.
I hope someone here has anything to offer me advice is awesome, a solution would be even better, but I think that's a pipe dream.
27 y/o
Almost exactly 7 months ago I started to develop some non specific bowel and urinary issues. I ignored them for the first 6 weeks then when I began vomiting every morning and constant nausea I got in touch with Dr. Doctor 1 was no help, tried some meds etc which didn't help, had tests done - Bloods normal apart from slightly low kidney function but still within safe limits apparently, urine dip normal, urine culture clear, stool sample normal.
Ater a few more weeks the nausea and sickness had really died down to a manageable level, but now urinary symptoms began to become a real issue. By mid august I was urinating 20+ times a day, low volume, incomplete voiding, difficult to start stream, stream would stop and start, night urinating, back pain, altered semen consistency. Also experiencing regular tenesmus, even after just sitting on toilet for 30 mins I would get off and within minutes I would need to sit down again. Still occasionally vomiting (dry heaving) for no reason. Nothing sets it off, it's worse first thing in the morning but can strike at any time.
Sep comes and I get up before bed for a wee one night and when I'm weeing get a sudden sharp pain in my kidney. I went and lay down and 2 mins later it was gone. Got up next morning and went toilet, same sudden pain halfway through. Finish lie down and even quicker the pain goes. Few hours later have been for a wee several times then I go and my wee has some blood in, halfway through and boom pain, but this time it doesn't go away. I waited an hour and it doesn't really let up so I ring doctors. Told to go hospital immediately. Get to hospital. Bloods taken, 5 minutes post void 51ml left in bladder. Urine dip clear bar faint colour on the blood indicator. Urine culture clear, blood come back Same, slightly low kidney function. CT done to check for kidney stones. No stones. Discharged and told I need to go back to doctor about my urinary symptoms as they are serious but don't warrant investigation in A&E. Told I likely had a small kidney stone that had passed.
Book in with doctors for 2 weeks after hospital. Symptoms worsening, all of before plus pelvic pain, further changing semen consistency, pain when ejaculating, and a feeling of a 'full' anus.
Doctor 2 tells me my urinary issues are likely from my bowels and puts me on a laxative cleanse with mebeverine. Urine test clear, urine culture clear.
1 week later go back to see doctors again as has made no positive impact, things are worsening.
See doctor 2 again, he now agrees there may be a urinary issue, will not entertain the prostate (grandad had an issue when in 30s, then died in his 60s from prostate cancer) which I was concerned it may be due to symptoms. Think I have an overactive bladder or infection. Gives me tolterodine and books me back in for 2 weeks to see what's happened. Urine test, dip clear, culture clear.
Now we are end of september, go back. Tell him my frequency has slightly declined down from 20+ to around 15 times, other symptoms remain but haven't really worsened. This time when I mention prostate he gets cross and tells me it is categorically not my prostate, he will not check because I am too young. Told to take a urine test again and that I could keep taking tolterodine gives me amitriptyline for the pain and see him again in 3 months for a check up. Urine dip clear and culture clear.
Few days later symptoms suddenly take a drastic turn go night doctors and happen to get a doctor from my usual gp surgery. Doctor 3. Doctor 3 looks at my notes and asks symptoms all same or worse and semen now has notable lumps that are slightly yellow, she immediately says prostatitis. Is extremely concerned that one of her colleagues discharged me when I'm urinating 15 times a day and have so many symptoms, also tells me that prostate issues are not unusual in younger men and that she would educate him. She then notes that although I've had many urine cultures I've had no std tests. So she can't move forward with the diagnosis until I am tested. Get tested then book to see me.
Book and have urine and blood done very quickly. Negative for all the stds on a standard test as of 3rd October. Call back to doctors to book in with doctor 3. Shes on holiday for 3 weeks so I get a telephone consultation with Doctor 4. Doctor 4 agrees I'm in need of help and gives me a box of codeine for the worsening pain and books me in for bloods, PSA, urine, stool and face to face for a DRE. Tells me to stop the Tamsulosin.
Codeine helped the pain massively. Didn't take it away even taking 1 x 30mg a day sometimes every 2 days it seemed to really help the pain. Didn't get rid of it or fix it but the pain was much less imposing in my life.
Bloods are the same, slightly low but safe kidney function. PSA was 2.1. Stool clear, urine dip clear, urine culture clear. On DRE, quite painful prostate, doctor 4 says is enlarged and feels inflamed. Finds that Doctor 3 had referred to urology. Tells me to wait on letter from urology now.
Almost 4 weeks later (6 weeks since referral) and no letter from the hospital to even give me an appointment date. Call up and get told there's a very long waiting list but they will put me on the cancellations list. Week later I get a call at 3.30pm on a Monday saying there's an appointment at 9.50am the next morning. I manage to get the time off and go to see the consultant.
Consultant is an arrogant arsehole. But he's top of his field and I expect an answer. Urine dip clear. Examines genitals, abdomen etc. No issues. DRE, painful again, hes much faster only in for a few seconds. Tells me it's inflamed and slightly enlarged. Explains its not a diagnosis but he thinks is prostatitis. Prescribes Tamsulosin, Lansoprazole and ibuprofen on repeat. Tells me to stop amitriptyline as it doesnt help (which it hadnt up to now). Also Trimethoprim twice daily for 4 weeks. Tells me to get a repeat PSA in 4 months as it's high for my age. If it's high we need to investigate further.
Start meds beginning of december and have some slight improvements and differences on the tamsulosin and trimethoprim. More complete voiding, less start stop, slightly more power to flow.
Started taking gingko biloba, magnesium, zinc, vit d + c, fish oil, Glucosamine, Turmeric and cbd oil.
Mid december semen is starting to have a better consistency and lumps are back to colourless. Volume is lower though still a bit painful.
Few days before Christmas lumps and colour to semen again, back pain is horrendous. Symptoms are still horrible, most of the earlier and the improvements from the meds seemed to have waned a little. Went to doctors and saw doctor 3 again just after Christmas. She is of little help, tells me to just keep on with the meds and wait for my PSA test in march/April.
It's just progressively getting worse again now, I'm urinating over 20 times a day again, pain is horrible they won't give me codeine. Ibuprofen, naproxen and paracetamol do nothing. Amitriptyline didn't seem to help. Supplements seem to have helped more than anything medical.
Waiting on a physio appointment currently. Looking at more supplements. Saw palmetto, Quercetin and pollen extract. Also found a mixed supplement that contains, saw palmetto, nettle, pumpkin oil, beta-sitosterol, phospholipids, pygeum, flowe pollen, lycopene and a few other things.
Is there anything anyone would recommend, any suggestions, is any of what I've mentioned any good to try? Honestly I might just want someone to tell me they understand hahahha. Thanks for listening.

TLDR: went to vet for possible leg injury or ear infection, she told me he was going to die within the day. I took him home, anti-inflammatory makes him lively. I am confused what to do, I planned to go back to euthanize him today but I am just so confused I really am.
BACKSTORY: he fell about less than a foot from one ledge to the bottom of his cage with bedding on thrusday morning and had very poor balance especially after a bad night Thursday to Friday. he could not walk on his left side at all and i had to feed him by putting food up to his mouth, which he did eat. he was mimicking an ear infection with the mobility but not the head tilt. he was breathing heavy and looked scared. I know now it was due to his brain, his right eye is bigger than his left.
AT THE VET: when I took him to the vet yesterday she examined him for a minute and said it's his time to go and that he was going to die within the day, she even said she didnt think he would make it 50 minutes for my mom to get to the vet (she loves him, too, and was not expecting that news). the vet was hovering over me the whole time. kept pretty much urging me to put him down saying he wouldnt make the day regardless of acknowledging he was eating, drinking, cleaning himself, even scratched himself with his left hind leg. vet said it was due to his breathing, that it was shallow. it definitely was shallow but it is consistent and quick he is also 2yr ~1mo old. he was licking me, but was definitely tired. I decided to take him home after monitoring him for three hours at the vet. i have an emergency clinic closer to my house that also does euthanasia for today (saturday) and he did not seem to be in discomfort so i wanted to give him a nice night at home. they prescribed me metacam and trimethoprim. he slept otw home.
this whole time he does not check boxes of a dying rat besides the shallow breathing, he never slowly breathes it's just shallow. he had extreme loss of balance and coordination yesterday.
SINCE THE VET: when I got home yesterday he walked on his back left leg and scratched himself with it. but, he still doesn't fully walk on it all the time. he drags it / tries to use it more than he does successfully. since giving him both medications, specifically Metacam, he was acting more lively. he ate a lot, I got him his favorite foods as I knew it would be my last night with him. he drank water from his water bottle, but I held it to his face since he's been in my bed with me the past two days. he had a good night sleep versus the night of thursday to friday, he literally was trying to climb on me and wake me up and looked scared. he currently explored the bed after a long nap, and was going under a blanet pushing it around with his nose and hands like he had. he loves sitting by the open window and the wind like he always has. this is real time, that is why I am having such a hard time because yesterday I figured I would be putting him down today.
THE POINT: I am so stressed you guys. I guess I just need someone to tell me I would be making the right decision if I put him down today. I had to give him his anti-inflammatory meds (Metacam) 20 hours rather than 24 hrs after his first dose cause I felt he may have been uncomfortable today. he still ate yogurt and stuff though before that he just slept a lot and his eye looked a bit bigger again. I am a mess and I am all over the place so I don't know the purpose of this.
if you need me to clarify or give me information or word something better let me know.

Hi,
First of all I don't identify as gay, I really hope it's still okay to post here. This community just seems really supportive and informative so I thought I would ask here.
Incident
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5 months ago after a drunken night I had unprotected sex with a thai transgender sex worker. I was top and honestly can't remember if I bottomed.
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Background
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Ever since I've been having going crazy with different symptoms. A week after I was getting twitches in the groin and had a bad bout of gastro, I went to ED and they gave me IV anti biotics for general STDs. Weeks later I was still getting twitches and my left side groin started hurting, I was diagnosed with prostatitis and given cipro 2 weeks and then Trimethoprim 4 weeks. I had a bad reaction to both causing inflammation of my joints and eyes which I still have. Weeks after that I started getting a pain in my left front mid side that started radiating over my entire chest. I had night sweats once or twice and felt like I wasn't able to breath properly and could barely walk 5 minutes without getting exhaused queezy and dehydrated. The doctor said it was probably dehydration and anxiety and gave me anxiety meds, these did not help. It ended up going away on its own after a few weeks but the chest pain kept coming and going. I did ultra sounds on my Urinary tract, prostate and abdomen which showed nothing. I've done bloods for inflammation markers and 3 month check of standard STDS (HIV, Syph, Heps) which showed nothing. I've done culture of urine and semen which has showed nothing. I want to an infectious disease specialist who looked at all the tests I've done and told me to see a psychiatrist. I saw a urologist who just recommended pelvic floor exercises. Nothing has solved anything. Through out this time I was sometimes getting red blood in my stool and diarrhea.
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Current Symptoms Over Last Few Weeks
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Left testical pain, left leg pain and spasms that feels like it's going farther down the leg gradually and pain the radiates in the pelvic floor and sometimes to the right inner thigh. I'm starting to get the urge to pee without needing to pee and also peeing a lot more then I would usually.
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I noticed under skin lumps in my inner thighs and left legs, then after scanning my skin I also noticed lumps in my stomach where I was originally getting pain and over my breasts and armpit. They feel swollen and tender, hut a bit to touch. Looking at a lymph node map of the body i believe the are swollen lymph nodes. When I touch deeply it feels like there is lesions around some too, but I can't be so sure. They are getting progressively more painful and I feel like it's progressing up my neck and to my head as I can feel under my jaw swell a bit and have been getting neck spasms similar to the ones in my leg.
When I go to do a poo, it feels like it's brushing up against something near the end of my anus which is causing shooting pains to my testical and leg.
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Current Diagnosis Thoughts
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The doctor believes that it's not an infection and a pinch nerve in my leg and the lymph nodes are just a virus I've recently caught mixed with allergies. He's getting me to do an MRI of my pelvic area to look at the nerves. I really think it's an infection.
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I have never done an anal swab, I asked my doctor before as I had gastro but he said it wasnt necessary and if there was anything the anti biotics I've already taken would have already removed it. I think I have an STD that isn't checked for in standard tests - Maybe lymphogranuloma venereum (LGV). I'm wondering if there are some other non standard STDs that it could be?
I think I should have gone to a sexual health clinic from the start, I live in Australia and there is a few, and some that specialize with in gay/non binary problems which I think would have been much more helpful in finding the issue. Unfortunately now they are all closed for the holidays and I'm really scared as it really feels like this is going up my head through my neck.
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I'm hurting. I have this possible infection issues that just feel like it's getting worse, and still have really bad side effects from the cipro/trime anti biotics I took (I think they may have caused an auto immune disease in my which I need to check). I've been to the ED and seen doctors, they just do standards check and say all my problems are just anxiety/allergies/dehydration. It feels like they ignore the pattern of me getting worse.
Again, I hope it was okay to post this here. I'm desparate and tired. If you could give any advice I'd appreciate it.

Hi Everyone. This is probably my first post on this platform. This will be a long one as i want to introduce myself and my encounter with CKD. So please bear with me.
I am 40 years old male from an Indian origin. I have been living in Canada for 6 years now and became a Canadian citizen last year. I have always been an active person. Played sports for my school, college, and corporate teams. Have been going to the gym religiously from the age of 18. Never exploited my body with any drugs, smoking. I do drink socially but there is always a limit in my head and i always stick to it. I spent thirty years of my life in various parts of India and it's uncommon for most of us to go through an annual medical test. I have always been healthy and never had any major medical issues. I hardly visited the doctor. We moved to Canada in 2017.
Jan 2, 2019 i went to enrol in a local gym. I had to go through a preliminary assessment as per their standard enrolment procedure. During the assessment, they checked my blood pressure. It was 190/125 and i was instantly shocked. Second attempt showed similar numbers. I was instructed to meet my family doctor. My doctor asked my family history and immediately put me on Amlodipine 10mg and instructed me to provide blood and urine samples. Once the report came, it was identified that i am loosing too much protein and was asked to go to the emergency. eGFR showed 35. My life changed immediately. Here is my history of medication after that:
March 2019: Metoprolol Tartrate(50mg)
April 2019: Ramipril(7.5mg), Omega 3(2000mg)
July 2019: Biopsy was performed. More than 60% scarring identified and confirmed that i have IGA Nephropathy. Apparently i have been carrying it for decades without a single symptom.
July 2019: Twynsta(40/10), Omega 3(2000mg)
March 2020: The big guns were introduced. Prednisone(60mg), Raberprazole sodium(20mg), Sulfameth/Trimethoprim(400/80mg), Twnysta(40/10), Omega 3(2000mg), Vitamin D(1000mg), Calcium(600mg).
May 2020: Started to drop Prednisone by 10mg on a weekly basis until i reached 30mg. Then drop 5mg each week until it gets to 0.
The above period was the most difficult time due to the side affects of the medications.
June 2020: Completed the Final dose of the steroid and all supporting medicines.
July 2020-2023: Twynsta 40/10
July 2023: Twynsta 40/10, Doxazosin Mesylate 4mg
I go through blood and urine tests every quarter. From July 2019 to July 2023, my eGFR dropped from 35 to 20.
I have been advised to continue the medication until my eGFR drops to 10 or below to start dialysis and to be put on a donor list. Last couple of years have been difficult. Me and my family never expected nor were we prepared for this. I am happy to have found this community and to go through this journey with all of you.

To start off, I'm just curious if this is actually possible or not
Age: 20 Gender: Male Height: 6'1 Weight: 270 pounds Prescribed Meds: Other than the Anti-Biotics (Sulfameth/Trimethoprim), no
I also have a form of autism and in some ways I'm more self aware, although I'm not sure if it is related or not.
Notes: I eat a lot of food, sometimes junk but mainly meat, sandwiches, fruits, vegetables, I also consume quite a bit of Caffeine from Coffee to Energy drinks, I also drink Orange Juice nearly everyday. So some healthy parts but mainly unhealthy. I do have physical activity at a Warehouse but only when I work for 40 hours a week, the rest I spend playing games or sleeping. I will also note that I've been doing what's mentioned above for years, besides the orange juice.
Basically, a few weeks ago I had gotten some type of ingrown hair infection on the side of my right calf, I went to the a nearby family hospital and they concluded that I did have an infection, so they provided some anti-biotics, and started taking them. After the first few days I start to feel physically better but here's the thing, I never felt sick or fatigued because of the infection at all, even before the infection, everything pretty much felt the same until I took the Anti-Biotics. To put it in clearer terms, Before/After the infection appeared, everything felt the same. When I took the meds, I felt better than ever before the infection. By what I mean by "feeling better," I mean I'm physically faster, I don't feel groggy or lethargic as I did before
Now, here's my question: Is it possible that the Anti-Biotics helped me in a different way than intended, almost as if I had a different type of issue? Or could it be that my body reacted to it and I'm just feeling the effects of it?

This is my wife. I'm worried about hypoglycemia.
She has an infected ankle so she was prescribed an antibiotic.
It is sulfameth/trimethoprim and she has been taking it for 2 days
She did not eat it with food this morning I think, and it made her nauseous, then ate later a mild to medium m amount, but there was a gap for like 5 hours. She then felt very shaking, (improved somewhat by a lemon bar like snack) and now very hungry. She had a huge dinner full of all kinds of food, now she feels very full but still hungry.
Anyways, no history of diabetics or blood sugar problems, though it is in her family type 2. A few months ago she actually had a long streak of very excessive hunger for 2 weeks. I suspected it might've it might've been a lack of magnesium which seemed to fix the issue, and she hasn't had much of magnesium lately.
I am wondering if this might be hypoglycemia.
We do have a blood sugar kit. How should we go about this?

I’ve been in this sub for a while, and haven’t seen this herbal antimicrobial spoken about much. Likely due to the fact that it’s not always readily accessible- you may need to go to a herbal dispensary of some sort to get it…
It’s a tincture with Goldenseal, Thyme, and Myrrh. Also referred to as ‘Tincture of death’ by some (name coined by a Canadian ND Dr. Preet who specializes in SIBO).
I’ve been struggling for a solid 2 years with methane dominant sibo and have tried pretty well everything out there. Allimax, ADP oregano, Berberine, Silver, Uva ursi, Grapefruit seed extract, Neem leaf, Olive leaf, Trimethoprim-Sulfamethoxazole, Rifaximin… perhaps more which I can’t recall… none of which have helped too much.
Was able to get my hands on this tincture recently and all I can say is wow! After 5 days, bloating went from being constant, pregnant-like to nearly nothing. Even when I’ve eaten foods that normally bother me (ie a protein bar w lots of additives, chocolate) I am minimally bothered. Almost miraculous
I’ve only been on it for about a week, and plan to stay on for 3 weeks. Not sure how I’ll fare after going off of it but just figured it’s worth bringing up on here in case it can help anyone else who’s tried seemingly everything.

I'm 18F and a lot of my friends and even strangers comment on how clear my skin is and what I did to get it this way, and my secret is Accutane, specifically Epuris. I thought I would write up a post in case anyone is interested in getting on Accutane or if anyone is starting out.
I was on 30mg for the first couple of months then my derm raised it to 60mg for the rest of the time, I was on it for about 6 months total from July-January. I honestly was not the best at taking my medication on time or even taking it daily all the time and it seems like it still worked out. My acne before was moderate but consistent so I decided it was time. At first, I was prescribed tretinoin and then trimethoprim but they didn't work out. So accutane was pretty much my last option. My skin didn't really purge much or even at all during Accutane, I actually was completely acne-free since like the third month in ( I know, I'm lucky.) Now it's been around 10 months off and I have had no pimples and almost zero blackheads since (KNOCK ON WOOD).
As for side effects, they were not that bad at all. Just the normal stuff: dry lips, dry skin, mild back pain, and dry eyes/blurry vision. Truly worth it for the clear skin! After about a month or two off my side effects were gone. This isn't a side effect but having to go in for a monthly blood test was awful, probably the worst part of the whole experience.
Here are some tips:

• Aquaphor for your lips (carry it w/ you at all times)
• Stay hydrated
• Use eye drops
• Stay away from consuming alcohol or if you drink, don't drink a lot (you will get drunk super fast)
• Wear sunscreen

Also for all of the people who get piercings, just wait until you're off Accutane (6 months off recommended). I got my second and third lobes pierced and had to take them out, they didn't heal and were always leaking fluid. I would just wait. And for people who bleach/dye their hair, I chemically burned my scalp bleaching it so be very careful.
I don't know if this is me "maintaining" it but all I do is wash my face once a day with Cerave foaming face soap and use Cerave moisturizer (if I'm not too lazy), wear sunscreen daily, and I don't wear any makeup besides mascara and eyeliner (idk if that helps or not though).
In conclusion, I'm really grateful that I could go on Accutane and clear my skin after so long. I would totally go on Accutane again if I had to, def worth it! feel free to ask any questions!

I’m a 33 year old female, non smoker, occasional weed ingest-er, 230 lbs. Sorry if this is too long, feel free to skim to the TLDR.
I started feeling sick on 11/3. It was the second day of my period and it was incredibly heavy and painful. This was unusual for me, it is normally the heaviest day of my cycle. I felt fatigued and achy like I had the flu. I never developed a fever but had chills, nausea/diarrhea and body aches with joint paint. I felt like this all weekend.
I went to urgent care On 11/6 after work with abdominal pain that worsened when I took a deep breath. I felt absolutely exhausted with the same joint pain and symptoms from before. I thought maybe I had a cyst or fibroids? I think I had a cyst once a long time ago. But I also felt really out of it.
Urgent care gave pricked my finger and dropped in on a white thing that looked like a COVID test i think the nurse said it was to check for infection? They gave me a abdominal exam and I had pain mostly in my lower right quadrant and by the bottom of my rib cage. They also pushed in my right leg, which hurt a lot. They said couldn’t rule out appendicitis, even without a fever, and told me to come back tomorrow for an ultrasound if I didn’t feel better. They gave me a shot in my glute to help with the pain.
Next day, felt a bit worse, so I went in for imaging. They couldn’t see my appendix so they recommended I go to the ER for a CT scan. I guess ultrasounds aren’t the gold standard for that, so I go to the ER.
At the ER, they test my blood and urine. They set me up with an IV and give me anti nausea meds. I get the CT scan. The doctor comes back and said that my kidneys are inflamed and that it looks like they could be infected. He said that it was atypical because I didn’t have any UTI symptoms and that was a common cause of kidney infection— a UTI just progressing and getting worse. He said it could’ve gotten in through my blood, through a cut or something.
They gave me antibiotics through an IV, took 4 different bottles of my blood for blood cultures and sent me home with more antibiotics (the bottle says sulfameth/trimethoprim).
It’s now 11/10 and I’ve been on that antibiotic twice daily since Wednesday 11/8. I spoke with a practitioner at my medical group and mentioned I wasn’t feeling any better, my back and abdomen still hurt. My blood cultures had shown no growth after 2 days. I believe they grow for 3 days though?
TLDR: “inflamed kidneys” with negative urine and negative blood tests for infection. Can you have still have a kidney infection? The practitioner on the phone said I could go back to the ER to retest. I made a follow up appointment this Monday morning, should I wait until then? ER doctor did mentioned autoimmune disorders that effect the kidney. It’s just been a little heavy in my mind.
Thank you for your time and any and all feedback.

Can't believe it's been one year since this and honestly did not think I would make it this far.
My story began exactly one year ago for going to the ER for bladdabdominal pain and wanting to pee. They prescribed me one pill at the ER (never knew which antibiotic it was) and I woke up horrible the next days. Felt flu like but not exactly and just a weird sensation in my body. The ER given me cephalexin and I took it for 2 days but my issues started really bothering and thought i was just having a bad reaction towards it. I went back to the ER an they given me a shot of Ketorolac which didn't even give me relief and my mistake was they swapped it and given me Cipro. I took it for a week and the pain persisted , symptoms got worse and nothing resolved. Followed up with my primary doc and he given me Trimethoprim .
This is truly where the nightmare began. 3days within Trimethoprim I was peeing my life away. Literally peeing 20+ times a day for months on end. This left me housebound. Had to quit my job cause I had extreme fatigue and couldn't leave cause every 20 minutes I was peeing large amounts no matter if I didn't drink any fluids. I was scared. At this point I was experiencing derealization/depersonalization, insomnia, frequent urination, fatigue , probably some other issues I cannot remember. I was heavily depressed and anxiety filled believing I had hiv or so. Did not know what floxing was until 4 months later. I was so desperate to fix the urination issue no one can find an answer. I took a CT scan and everything was ok except they found a small kidney stone that never bothered me. This was not the result from the kidney stone.
3-4 months pass and most of my issues started to ease up . The frequent urination decreased to like 12-15 times but it was still a lot. Seen a new urologist and this where I made another mistake. He given me doxycycline . Two days or so I felt this weird sensation again and experienced insomnia once again. Taking this pill given me new issues I didn't have before. I developed physical issues soon after taking it. My shoulder started to feel like it was dislocating , had trouble walking cause my knee and my right ankle felt so stiff, neuropathy which lasted a month, Developed lower back pain and depression once more. This is when I learned about Flox.mt body felt that of an 80 year old man or even older. Constant cracking and popping , one wrong move I felt I would break something literally. I ended up getting an endoscopy cause I had stomach issues . I was bloated 24/7 and didn't get hungry anymore. I took rifaximin which didn't help . I thought I had a stomach infection. It was just from the constant antibiotic use. My stools were black and again scared myself .the issues resolved on its own after a month cause the endoscopy did not find anything. I thought I had h.pylori or c diff but good thing I didn't.
Time went on and some of my issues eased up again except the physical ones. By month 6 I struggled to even walk 50 feet cause my knees were bothering me. Bones felt like they were grinding on eachother, felt very stiff like something would snap. I got an X-ray and the doctor said my knees are fine and my back to except I have mild scoliosis . I assume at this point I probably lost cartilage or something degenerated. My knees felt like they would collapse inward sadly I still have this issue but not to the degree of what I had then.
By August(9th month) I attempted to hit the Gym. Another mistake. I worked out for 30 minutes and ended up at the hospital for a while 6 days. I had Rhabdomyolysis. Arm swelled up and I wondered why is this happening. I didn't care if I was to die I was just annoyed of dealing with so much issues at this point I felt insecure and worthless and weak. People commenting something always wrong with me and I agreed . I'm sick of it. Missing my old self and life. Used to be a huge smoker and wasn't into it like that anymore cause of so much problems.
Most my physical issues fixed itself or at least got better except some of the damage that is done like the loose shoulder feeling , bad knees and ankles . Two weeks ago my ankles got super stiff for no reason.
Alot of my problems went away except the physical stuff. Even peeing 24/7 stopped after 6-7 months . I pee regular now which makes me happy. Although I feel my urinary system isn't the same , sometimes I could go 5-6 hours not getting the urge to pee even if I drink a lot of fluids.
The peeing problem was a true nightmare thinking this is me for life. I really believed to have HIV despite taking many tests for months . I never had an infection or anything so I took the pills for no reason which I sometimes best myself up for it . I don't think I can run as my legs aren't great so I wonder if it's a degenerated meniscus or loss of cartilage or something. Some of the cracking eased up too, before it was constant but not it's way less. .
I sleep good now , don't have any cns issue or neuropathy. Honestly my biggest problems are my physical issues which is my legs but I use a knee and ankle brace. Hoping I don't need surgery. I probably had 30 symptoms and most went away. I can walk, I was never bed bound but was housebound from the frequent urination. The pain I had in my abdomen/bladder went away on its own the first two months.
I feel if I never took the cipro I would have recovered , the first pill I took at the hospital started it and feel I dug myself a deeper hole taking cipro for a week. Doxy made me worse . Overall I'm ok , now I live life with limitations. I don't think I'ma ever claim recovery but luckily my only problem is my knees and ankles. I miss my old life but coming to terms with the new me is what helped me mentally and staying off this sub for 3 months.
Alot of issues would resolve , I never took a medication since doxy and don't plan too. Won't force myself a relapse.
I have been drinking alot since my 7 months and I smoked weed a few times since then and it doesn't affect me at all if some are wondering. Only reason I don't really smoke anymore is cause even before flox , if I'm not happy or in the right state of mind I won't smoke. It makes my body feel weak and with affecting tendons it just makes it feel worse. I won't blame weed for it cause I felt like that from before flox.
Any questions feel free to ask