First of all, let me start off by saying I understand where you're coming from, and believe it or not, you're not the only one going through this. My experience was quite similar, although not nearly as severe as yours. When I turned 20, I started having similar pains, which I attributed to a bladder infection, but when the pain continued after I finished taking the "pills," I knew there was something else wrong. I too experienced the "jock itch" as well as other similar symptoms. I thought there was something wrong with my stomach and my urinary tract, and my doctor diagnosed me with everything from IBS to ulcers. I had so many strange symptoms that my doctor did not know where to start, so he asked me which symptom bothered me the most, and I told him that my urinary tract bothered me the most, so he sent me to a urologist. My urologist, who was familiar with the problem and the symptoms, immediately diagnosed me with prostatitis. After several tests and prescribing me several different "pills" (similar to your situation), my doctor determined that it was chronic prostatitis and I would have to learn to live with it.
Let me share a few things I've learned from living with this for the last 5 years. First of all, understanding the symptoms is the key to living with it.
I experienced what I would look back now and call a mild depression for several months, but 90% of that stress was brought about by me. With all these strange symptoms all going on at once, I convinced myself that I had everything from STDs, HIV, to cancer. I couldn't explain what was happening, and so I worried myself to death. Although sexually I never experienced any major problems (minus the painful ejaculation, I was still sexually active), I did worry about whether it would get worse or whether I would continue to be able to have sex, and as a result, my sex drive decreased out of paranoia. As time progressed, I started understanding why particular things happened, how my diet affected it, and I started noticing trends and patterns. As I understood more, the less it affected me.
The next thing I will tell you is that you have to be patient. I cannot promise that you it will get better, but from personal experience it eventually gets better. As I adjusted my diet, my pain started decreasing, and eventually I was able to drink again, as well as periodically smoke. Each case is different, but for the time being, I advise letting all that go.
The last piece of advice I can give you is to seek information, advice, and support from anywhere you can. I understand that its not that common (hence the lack of knowledge) and most people cannot relate to what you are going through. However, there are online forums which discuss these issues. There used to be a forum just for prostititis that I went to (its been a while so I dont know if it still exists) but it was good to be able to communicate with people whose experiences are similar and who could provide me with advice. It's very therapeutic. I was just browsing the site, but after reading your post, I decided to sign up and respond because I would have loved to know that I wasn't the only one going through this when I first got diagnosed.
