Hi all, this is my first post. I'm looking for information on my experiences and whether I'm handling my health problems in the right way. Please bear with me on this as it's a very long post, I hope someone can share experiences, pass on information, or help in any way.

So I'm a 26yo Male with a healthy weight (12 stone 6lbs at the beginning of problem, going up to 13st 4lbs at my least active and currently down to 13st 0lbs) excersicing once or twice a week, and eating a reasonably healthy diet.

In November of last year I noticed a swelling on my left testicle which got steadily more painful. I went into the doctor where I took a urine test and he diagnosed me as having Epididimitis. The pain was initially very strong in the testicle, and in the surrounding area particularly at night. He advised me to stop exercising in case I made the problem worse and gave me a once week course of Antibiotics which did nothing. The 2nd set he prescribed also did nothing. He prescribed a third set which were much stronger (Erythroped A) which began to work but again the effect seemed to wear off. The pain did subside after this but not completely. I had a blood test that came back with "slightly raised haemoglobin." He said it was nothing to be concerned about.

Unfortunately after this course of antibiotics I began having complications in the stomach area.

I informed the doctor of my issues by showing him my diary of symptoms which I kept. These included shooting abdominal pains in various places, which the doc told me were to do with the strong antibiotics. In the weeks after these antibiotics the gastro issue got worse, with burning sensations in my throat /feelings of sickness. One particular day the symptoms were very bad. I drank a hot drink and I could feel one half of my stomach more than the other (presumably lost lining due to the antibiotics??) and when I tried to eat I kept it down but I wanted to throw up. This only happened once and the problem subsided.

Then about a month after the antibiotics I felt pressure in my abdomen about 3cm below the sternum. I went to see a different doctor and talked him through the stomach problems I've been having. He did an anal exam (due to some bleeding) which he said was fine, and took blood and stool samples, both came back normal. His diagnosis was indigestion which I'd never had before.

Since then I've seen the urologist and had another set of antibiotics for the epididimitis (doxyciline.) I will see him next week to say that the pain has gone, though I still have 2 problems. 1 is a soft pea sized tissue just above the testicle that seems inflamed. He did say to me last time that he could feel nothing untoward on examination. 2 is that since the antibiotics my foreskin is inflamed on the inside, a bit tight and itchy after urinating. Could this last issue be a yeast infection of some sort?

As for the stomach, I'm just confused. I don't know if I need to ask for more tests or if I'm making more of it than I should. The doctors seem very relaxed about it. 2 docs have felt my stomach and said it feels fine. I do feel very mild discomfort/bloating just below the sternum and mild reflux type symptoms after some meals, though not as bad as after the Erythroped A. I've noticed my appetite has decreased especially after being on antibiotics (last course finished 2 weeks ago). My stools change colour (usually lighter) sometimes and sometimes they are normal. On occasion I've had darker stool, never black though.

I'm trying to stop worrying about it but it's mainly that the doctors seem to feel that because I'm young that anything more serious is, as they said "extremely unlikely." I hope they are right, but is it a reasonable assumption that given the above information something as serious as Stomach Cancer is unlikely?

If anyone could help on these issues I'd be most grateful, I'm also more than happy to post any info people want on Epididimitis as I've had the problem for approx. 6 months!