Hello everybody. This is my first posting in several years. My PN has largely been stable or very slowly improving until this past week, with little pain or numbness.

Two weeks ago, a urologist prescribed a three week course of Cipro to treat acute prostatitis (inflammation of the prostate). The main symptom has been an irresistible urge to urinate when my bladder is full. My prostate is not enlarged, so flow is good. The urologist explained that the prostate is encapsulated and has poor blood flow, especially if inflamed. A two to four week course of powerful antibiotics is needed to slowly knock down the infection.

The first week on Cipro was no problem, with no digestive upset and no obvious side effects. I did feel generally achy and had relatively low energy, but didn't associate that with the Cipro. Then achiness in my feet dramatically increased a week or so ago, especially after my daily walk or hike of several miles. The achiness progressed into the old, familiar, and very unwelcome shocky breakthrough pain, throbbing, and supersensitive skin surface has returned in my feet, and to a lesser degree my legs.

The Merck Manual mentions Cipro effects on tendons, ligaments, joints, and nerves, stating that symptoms usually resolve when the drug is discontinued. I'd like to finish the last 6 days of the Cipro. Is this wise? Should I contact my urologist for either another antibiotic or with his OK to quit the drug? The prostatitis is still there with little improvement. I'd certainly not look forward to possible surgery, or chronic and debilitating infection, or wearing a diaper at my very young age (66 LOL). The urge to pee is life changing in its intensity, especially when it occurs during a walk with no private place to turn into or hide.

Meanwhile, resuming daily yoga has seemed to help, and I'm continuing with supplements, exercise, and a good diet. I'll greatly appreciate any other suggestions.

Love to all.

concerning fluroquinolone damage. I found that info on Dr.
Cohen's website:

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread54985.html

The risk of tendon rupture continues for up to 6mos AFTER the drug or more. So don't strain anything!

Sorry you are having problems. Cipro remains the main urogenital drug unfortunately, for infections.

Your very helpful reply set off an afternoon of furious research. I'll continue with my current supplements, and add extra vitamin E (mixed tochopherals), SAMe, and especially three or more cups of green tea a day. I already take NAC and many of the other supplements mentioned in the articles.

Various articles on prostatitis mention that inflammation tends to recur when the Cipro is discontinued. I'll finish the course of Cipro, but put extra effort into reducing inflamation and fighting infection body-wide. I'll also go back to using the Rebuilder to reduce the current symptoms and stimulate healing.
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The green tea reminds me of a story that illustrates the danger in overdoing otherwise healthy things.

Years ago I worked as a teacher at the Rincon Indian reservation near our house in the back country of San Diego. The father of one of my students had a bad cold. He also had a job interview the next day, and desperately needed that job. Wanting to make a good impression at the interview and not trusting western medicine, he went to the tribal healer who told him to drink a large amount of tea made from several healing herbs gathered locally.

The fellow drank and drank and drank late into the night. Unfortunately, he was found dead the next morning.

He had drowned in his tea pee.

I went thru something similar w/a UTI a few months ago, made worse by the cancer meds I've been on. Didn't hit me rite away? But 2 weeks after the course of meds was done? Whammo!
IF it were me? I would both call my doc about this issue AND the drug mfr. They have to keep records of such things -if they don't they are in trouble. They might [the mfr] have some extra insight about it, tho what I've no clue.
Luckily? I was only on it for 10 days. I can imagine how much worse it is tendon, balance, and muscle wise for you.
It's scary how the things that are supposed to 'help' us, can hurt us. I sure wish it wasn't so. 's - j

Hi David,
Sorry about the infection.... but would recommend not stopping anti-biotic mid-treatment - can cause C-Difficile if you dont complete the round of them - which is much much worse and requires mega anti-biotics to fight... I had Cipro 9 years ago for about 5 days for food poisioning it turned out tests showed I didnt have... since I was having such bad side affects the docs told me to stop the mediciine, I did, got C-Difficile, and was extremely sick for next six months and on both Oral Vacomycin and Flagyl for the time, and in out and of the hopsital... my nerves died during that time period, and my stomach has never recovered, been 9 years now since solid food from the damage done by the anti-biotics (and probably infection they caused)... Also, makes you much more suseptible to future infection, I've have C-Difficile again for the past several months and its not responding to treatment nor was I exposed to in the hospital nor was I on antibiotics (which is how one usually gets it) - so we dont even know where it came from...... maybe they could put you on a differerent anti-b for the rest of the treatment? That might help stop chance of C-Diff?

May your tee pea stay dry!

He had drowned in his tea pee.


Oh, Cisco........ Oh, Pancho !
A groaner, if I ever saw one

It's good to hear from you, David. I hope you'll still pop in
from time to time. We miss your experienced advice.
Sorry about the infection. I have a minor prostate 'problem'
(intermittent swelling) and know about that urgency 'urge'.
I don't have anything to offer more than empathy, but wish
you to get well asap- and hope the Cipro effect doesn't linger.
(my quadriplegic son has to take it on occasion for UTI's & it has some
effect on his PN, as well)
It should stop soon after you complete the 'course'.

Did the doctor culture the organism that is causing your prostatitis? If so, there might be a more benign antibiotic to which the organism is sensitive.

Also, you give the impression that you've been on the Cipro more than two weeks already, and to have no change in symptoms over that period of time might indicate that 1) it is not the correct drug for your organism or 2) there is no organism and there's another diagnosis.

What has happened to your PSA? Has he been diligently following it.

Personally, if this were me, I'd tell the doctor I cannot tolerate the Cipro and am having neuromuscular side effects; kindly switch me to another drug.

I would not put myself at such risk, given the underlying neuromuscular problems. I'd make darn sure he'd cultured the organism and could prove to me that the only possible treatment was Cipro. Afterall, for many years people did very well bacterial prostatitis with a lot of other antibiotics which had a lot less serious side effects, including the tried and true Bactrim. And if the prostatitis is purely inflammatory, and not due to an organism, why take an antibiotic which is harming you?

From the Prostatitis Foundation:

However, the majority of men complaining of pain down under don't have a fever, and they test negative for bacterial infections. Yet many doctors in this country nonetheless treat these cases of chronic prostatitis with antibiotics, which are designed to fight infections.

Not surprisingly, antibiotics often prove to be worthless in relieving prostatitis, though many men with the condition end up taking them for years anyway, risking side effects that can include gastrointestinal problems and headaches. "[Prostatitis] is often treated as an infectious disease because we really don't know what else to do," says University of Maryland urologist Richard Alexander. He adds, however, that doctors keep prescribing antibiotics to men with chronic prostatitis because a portion of them feel better if they take the drugs, even though they don't have an infection.

That may be because the antibiotics act like anti-inflammatory drugs, says urologist Scott Zeitlin of the UCLA School of Medicine. Indeed, many prostatitis patients have clear signs of inflammation in their prostate fluid, which isn't surprising (the suffix "itis" refers to inflammation). Yet other men experiencing pelvic pain and other symptoms reveal no signs of inflammation.

Don't worry if you're confused. "The cause of this condition is unknown," Zeitlin says. While many theories have been proposed, no one is sure why men get chronic prostatitis in the first place, he says. "This all makes chronic prostatitis a very difficult disease to explain to a patient, and to treat."

Zeitlin and his colleagues at UCLA are conducting a nationwide, multi-center study, sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, to measure the value of two drugs commonly used to treat chronic prostatitis. One is Flomax, a medication that's better known as a treatment for urinary problems linked to BPH. The other drug--the antibiotic Cipro--became a household word since it's considered the therapy of choice for anthrax infection. Men with prostatitis who participate in the study will be given Flomax, Cipro, a combination of the two drugs or an empty placebo pill for six weeks, then followed for six weeks to determine whether their symptoms improve.

In addition to other drugs (such as pain relievers), doctors recommend a wide range of remedies and preventive measures for chronic prostatitis, though none is guaranteed to work. Sitz baths (sitting in a tub of warm water) help some men, while some doctors suggest that men perch on a cushion if they plan to sit for a long period. Avoiding spicy foods or alcohol and caffeine--all of which can cause flare-ups in some men--is sometimes recommended.

Ejaculation brings relief for some men, while worsening prostatitis anguish in others. A technique known as prostatic massage, first popularized in the early 1900s, appears to be making a comeback. A doctor inserts a gloved finger into the patient's rectum and rubs the prostate. The goal is to empty ducts within the gland, which, if clogged, can cause pain.

This method might be a tough sell to men who freak out when it's time for the annual digital rectal exam, especially because several massages per week are necessary (some men even learn to self-massage). But Zeitlin and urologist Daniel Shoskes of the Cleveland Clinic in Weston, Fla., found in one study that about 40% of difficult-to-treat prostatitis cases improved with a combination of massage and antibiotics.

Zeitlin and Shoskes also found in a 1999 study, published in the journal Urology, that 82% of men with prostatitis who took a dietary supplement called Prosta-Q (whose main active ingredient is the plant nutrient quercetin) experienced at least a small improvement in symptoms.

However, other clinicians are skeptical. "No one really knows what's in this stuff but the people who make it," says University of Maryland urologist Richard Alexander, noting that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration doesn't regulate the content and purity of dietary supplements.

Alexander is a leading proponent of the theory that chronic prostatitis may be an autoimmune disorder, which occurs when the body's immune system attacks its own organs or tissues. He is studying whether men with chronic prostatitis benefit from the drug Enbrel, which is used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, another autoimmune disease. However, Alexander adds, there's often no accounting for how prostatitis patients will respond to various therapies for this baffling condition.

*****

You can write the Prostatitis Foundation for more information at 1063 30th St., Smithshire, IL 61478, or visit the group's Web site at www.prostatitis.org. Men in the L.A. area who are interested in enrolling in the study should contact Yining Xie at Harbor UCLA Medical Center (310-222-3819) or Maryellen Raimo at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science (310-668-4545).

Massachusetts freelance writer Timothy Gower is at tgower@media one.net. The Healthy Man runs the second Monday of the month.

Printed by permission of Timothy Gower and distributed free as a public service by the Prostatitis Foundation.



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This information is forwarded to you by the Prostatitis Foundation. We do not provide medical advice. We distribute literature and information relevant to prostatitis. While we encourage all research we do not endorse any doctor, medicine or treatment protocol. Consult with your own physician.

© The Prostatitis Foundation
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I called the doctor. He's switching me to a two week course of a sulfa drug (I'll edit this with the name when I pick it up from the pharmacy).

The advise about culturing the organism is well taken, except my urine is clear and almost bacteria free. An autoimmune response also crossed my mind. I'm upping the fish oil to two caps a day, will continue with supplemental amino acids, and will start drinking three to four cups of green tea a day to both calm down my immune system, and hopefully make it more selectively powerful.

Can anybody out there suggest a "25 yr. old pill"? My prostrate worked really good when I was 25. So did my feet. The only supplements I took back then were illegal.

Septra DS (Bactrim DS).

Sulfamethoxizole/Trimethoprim

Make sure you drink alot of fluids with this. Can also cause photosensitivity reactions --so watch your sun exposure and use blockers.

You are still at risk for tendon ruptures...so do be careful at the yoga. Some people have snapped a
tendon just getting up from a chair!

Advice well taken. And you guessed the drug exactly, Septra DS. The listed side effects for Septra are as scary as for Cipro.