Jkrungthep

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I would recommend a mask for the mrs. but I dont see them as a critical component.

Hygiene is more important.

The biggest benefit of these masks in terms of Coronavirus is that you cannot accidentally / habitually touch your nose / mouth / face. We all do this dozens if not hundreds of times during the day without even noticing; it’s an automatism. It’s the main reason why I put my mask on when I leave the condo, because I know I will touch surfaces, money and other stuff outside and I might not always be able to wash my hands after. This and the protection against the pollution (if you actually have a mask with a filter). 

On 2/8/2020 at 8:22 PM, glegolo said:

 

I am convinced that you have besides an enlarged protate also an infection in your urin-bladder and that area...." 

Do you know how he found that infection? Did he do a urine test? Just curious because I also have frequent urination issues but all my tests come back clean. 

1 minute ago, Sheryl said:

How old are you?

37

7 minutes ago, Isaanbiker said:

 

Drink more water, eat some veggies, broccoli, etc, leave antibiotics out and do some exorcises. And stop with your self suggestion that you're sick.

 

Some of these products might have some unwanted side affects, Google what you've been taking and you might see an answer to a question. 

 

   All these antibiotics, but also plenty of foods have an influence on your stool.

Thanks for your response. I am not taking antibiotics regularly. I was taking antibiotics during the same when my stool started to change. Since then (since half year) I have stopped drinking coffee and alcohol, started to drink 2-3 liters water per day, and tried to eat more healthy. But it seems even when I eat more veggies, yoghurt, and less carbs, my stool still is crumbly / mushy, smaller and light colored. 
 

Maybe I am overthinking, yes. Thus my question here. 

Since half year or so, my stool has changed from (sorry for too much information) what normally would be one big dark brown solid sausage to smaller and thinner light brown sausages that often are a bit crumbly, mushy or weak in consistency (they easily get dissolved by water). Is this reason for concern? I don’t have any other symptoms (no abdominal pain, no blood in stool). I had a stool examination (negative for all infections, parasites, and fungi) and two rounds of antibiotics at the very beginning. 
 

Notes (not sure if important):

- 4-6 weeks before this started I had a food poisoning which was treated with 5 days Ciprofloxacin 

- It all started with chronic diarrhea for which no infection could be found and for which no antibiotic (neither Ciprofloxacin, nor Azithromyzin, nor Metronidazole) would work (diarrhea disappeared after two months) 

- Around the same time I started to have chronic urethritis symptoms until today (slight penile discharge and frequency) while no infection could be found after the initial courses of antibiotics

- I took quite some antibiotics over the last 9 months 

- I normally eat high carb and red meat and not much veggies. I also used to drink coffee every day and alcohol every other weekend. I also normally wouldn’t drink enough water during the day. Only since the chronic urethritis symptoms I started to drink more water and cut coffee and alcohol from my diet. I also try to eat a bit better. 

- I used to have bloating quite often which since this has mostly disappeared. 

- I recently started taking probiotic supplements twice a day. It seems to improve the urethritis symptoms a little bit but maybe that’s just my imagination.

1 hour ago, NCC1701A said:

 

yes they took a sample of the very small fluid discharge from the tip of my plumbing and it came back negative for traditional STD's but found Strep.

I tried that several times. Always came back negative. I’m suspecting it’s just not enough discharge, and that they’re not going deep inside enough with the swab (I had one in Europe where they would push so deep that it would hurt). But that’s just my guess. 

 

1 hour ago, NCC1701A said:

My symptoms were different than that of Gonorrhea or Chlamydia meaning far less discharge. like almost none. clear fluid not milky or other colors. slight itch and that "shooting" feeling running up to your to your bladder.

Same here except for the shooting feeling. Just a feeling of itch / pressure / fullness inside the tip region. 

1 hour ago, Sheryl said:

This is way above my pay grade and you need to discuss with a urologist familiar with MicrogenDX

(...)
Doesn't MicrogenDX  offer some  sort of virtual consultation on results?

I was going to ask them. Don’t think there’s anyone here in Thailand I could consult (the ID doc at Bumrungrad didn’t even know MicrogenDX). 
 

1 hour ago, Sheryl said:

With any culture, contamination of the sample from contact with external skin is always an issue and it looks like the bugs shown are all ones that would be normally found on the skin especially since the number of organisms is quite small.

That’s what I thought after googling them. The main concern was the e.coli, but then it’s only 2% so I’m not sure to what extent that could be the culprit. 

1 hour ago, Sheryl said:

On the other hand they anaroebic which would require different treatment from what you have likely had so far IF real and not a contaminant.

You lost me here. Could explain what you mean? Is this referring to the common skin bacteria or the e.coli? 

45 minutes ago, NCC1701A said:

I had a Streptococcus infection which is not considered a STD but I had the same symptoms as you.

 

And I can tell you the name of the woman in Pattaya who gave it to me.  Her name is Unprotected Oral Sex.

 

The Strep was antibiotic resistant so it took four different rounds of antibiotics to knock it out.

 

May I ask how it was diagnosed and treated? Did the hospital do a culture and found bacteria in there? 

2 minutes ago, bkk6060 said:

Are you on antibiotics?

I had something similar although it was 20 years ago.

Eventually went into my testicles took me almost 9 months to get over it.

Several strong antibiotics unfortunately prostate infections are not easy to get rid of.

Currently not on antibiotics. Took Doxycycline and Azithromyzin before which only provided temporary relief. I had dull ache in the testicles but that got better. Same for some itch around the anus which disappeared. 

I am having chronic urethritis symptoms for half year or more. A bit of clear sticky discharge inside the penis and frequency and nocturia (often caused by a strange feeling of urge inside the penis). 
 

All tests so far (standard urine, semen, swab cultures; urinalysis; 8-10 multiplex PCR STI tests) were negative. 
 

I recently did a semen test through MicrogenDX which showed several bacteria of which most I understand are common skin flora. The two that raised my suspicion were:

1) There’s a bit of e.coli found, though only 2%.

2) The highest load is for Propionibacterium Acnes which I found in some research papers about prostate inflammation. 
 

A previous MicrogenDX urine test only showed bacteria which I understand are common skin flora (Staphylococcus Warneri 55%, Staphylococcus Epidermis 33%, Staphylococcus Haemolyticus 7%). 
 

Any idea what to do with this? 
Can this be transmitted when having sex? Both MicrogenDX tests also tested for 7 STI and were negative (same as the multiplex tests in the hospital here), but I feel like this could be related to having unprotected sex with different people in the past. 

“We no longer support adding direct bank accounts.” 
 

Well, thanks, but I guess it’s still easier (and, apparently, cheaper) to go to my Bangkok Bank branch. 

So transferring THB 1 mm:

- Deemoney would give me EUR 29,291.15 (minus THB 125-250 fees) the next working 

- Bangkok Bank would give me EUR 29,359.95 (minus c. THB 2,000 fees) during the next 2-5 working days

- Official exchange rate for reference is EUR 29,527.92
 

If that’s correct, the benefit of the faster (and maybe easier) transfer would cost me c. EUR 18. 

On 1/14/2020 at 7:04 PM, Sheryl said:

 

Give it a thorough rest as suggested and see what happens.

I actually didn’t masturbate for two weeks when I was traveling with friends. Didn’t change much unfortunately. 

On 1/14/2020 at 7:04 PM, Sheryl said:

And sometimes it is just mechanical irritation, common after an infection.

can this include discharge? It’s the discharge that’s freaking me out. 
 

I did a test of cure here in Bangkok, 2 cultures and 1 NAAT test, all negative. Same as the 7-8 NAAT Tests before.

Thanks both. It’s really confusing. The swab culture they did now came back negative for Gonnorhea (as well as for Chlamydia and Trich); not even any leukocytes. How do you even check for resistance when there’s no bacteria growing? So I have dozens of PCR tests and cultures and a MicrogenDX test using different specimen all saying negative for everything, but one PCR test in between saying positive for Gonnorhea (but antibiotics not doing anything). 

(The swab was taken before antibiotics treatment, same as the PCR tests and all other tests and cultures they did.) 

41 minutes ago, watthong said:

Yeah, I also begin to think that I might need antibiotics to clear up whatever bugs that are immobilizing my bowel movements. So I'm thinking of going to Chula special clinic and see what doc there might prescribe beside ordering colon/gastroscopy right off the bat.

I disagree (and wish I had disagreed at that time). I would ask the hospital for a stool examination first to see if there’s any bacteria that can be killed using antibiotics before randomly taking medicine that might even more hurt your gut. 

I used to have chronic diarrhea for some weeks. It started with a food poisoning that was cured with 5 days Ciprofloxacin. Some time later the diarrhea (or mushy stool) came back. Went to BNH as well as Samitivej; the suggested treatment was:
 

1. Try more antibiotics. Azithromycin; after that it was a week of Metronidazole. Didn’t do anything. 
2. Stool exam. Came back clear. 
3. Colonoscopy. Didn’t go for this one and the diarrhea disappeared after some time. 
4. If nothing found, it would be diagnosed as Irritable Bowel Syndrome. 
 

i recall the price for the colonoscopy at Samitivej would also have been in the 20-25k ballpark. 
 

My diet is not really the best. Carbs and meat mainly. I used to have quite some bloating. Surprisingly that’s gone since this. On the other hand, while I don’t have diarrhea or mushy stool anymore, the color is still lighter than it used to be. So I’m still thinking whether I should check or not. 

1 hour ago, Sheryl said:

It is not unusual for urethral inflammation to persist for some time after infection is treated.

But so many months? 
 

1 hour ago, Sheryl said:

Have you abstained from all sexual activity during this time?

I certainly masturbate every other day. 

1 hour ago, Sheryl said:

Sometimes scar tissue can have developed from prior infection causes residual symptoms, this would be readily seen on cystoscopy.

Some questions regarding this:

1) Would an MRI using contact dye be able to show that? Doctors in Europe suggested I should do that first because it would provide the same or similar outcome but be less invasive.

 
2) Any doctor in Thailand/Bangkok recommended for this? If I go for this, I’d like someone who’s experienced in this and who’s using a flexible (rather than rigid) instrument. 

3) Can auch scar tissue be removed or would I risk bigger issues? 

Quote

If you would indicate what the problem is, and where you live, I can advise further on that.

I’m in Bangkok. I have urethritis symptoms for more than half year; penile discharge, feeling of itch/tickling/burning/fullness in the penis; frequency and nocturia; sometimes dull aching in the testicles. 
 

I had Doxycycline, Azithromyzin, and Metronidazole, and now (after the positive NG test), Ceftriaxone (IV) and Azithromyzin. 
 

- I did 1 rapid urine test that was negative for CT and NG;
- 6 NAAT PCR tests using first void urine that were negative for CT, NG, Trich, MG, MH, UU, UP;

- 1 NAAT PCR test using first void urine that was negative for CT, NG, and UU; 

- 1 NAAT PCR test using first void urine that was positive for NG and negative for MG and UU; 

- 1 MicrogenDX test that was negative in the PCR part for the same pathogens as mentioned above, and in the NGS part only found three common bacteria that we all have on our skin;

- 2 swab cultures and 2 urine cultures, both negative; still waiting for another swab culture but doctor said prelim results look like “it’s not NG; 

- Ultrasound of bladder, kidneys, prostate, without findings; 

- DRE of prostate without findings; 

- PSA level normal; 

- Residual urine ultrasound with some residual urine after urination; 

- Diabetes blood tests all negative. 
 

I went to two of the big hospitals here to see urologists and ID docs; I saw urologists, ID docs, and a dermatologist while in Europe:

1) The Uros here in Thailand say its irritation and will go away. But more than 6 months? 
2) Three Uros in Europe wanted to give more antibiotics “empirically” but all three a different one targeting a different hypothesis; 

3) Other than that they are baffled and suggest I should consider an MRI using contact dye before maybe a cystoscopy. 
 

The one positive NG test was after all the negative ones and before another one that came back negative. All tests except one were done at least three weeks after taking antibiotics. 

I don’t know how likely it is that 7-8 NAAT PCR tests are false negative and 1 in between is correct, or the other way round...

I’ve looked at the whole Prostatitis/CPPS/Interstitial Cystitis thing but don’t seem to match most cases (no prostate pain or golf ball feeling; no bladder pain; mostly lower urinary tract symptoms). 
 

10 minutes ago, xylophone said:

A specimen can be cultured in the laboratory and then tested for the antibiotics which will be effective against it, thereby ensuring that the wrong antibiotics are not administered.

 

It will take about five days to do this and a good laboratory, and a hospital, have access to the equipment to do these tests.

 

I have had to do this twice with a couple of different infections and one resulted in daily IV injections for 14 days, and the other was treatable by oral antibiotics, but not the "everyday" ones.
 

Any recommendations? I went to two of the top notch international hospitals here and made above mentioned experience. 

23 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

What you describe, probably not. But a short delay before incubating is not going to kill off organisms.

 

What exactly is it you are having cultured? If testing for prostatitis this is very difficult to do.

 

Where in Thailand are you located?

I’m in Bangkok and would like penile discharge to be cultured and tested.
 

I have urethritis symptoms for half year or so with all tests (cultures, NAAT PCR) negative. While in Europe recently, there was one odd NAAT PCR  coming back positive for Gonnorhea, then the one I took two days later came back negative again. Doctors gave antibiotics anyway but they didn’t change anything. Still waiting for the culture results but the doc already said prelim results look like it’s not Gonnorhea. Hospital took swabs for resistance tests before giving the antibiotics, but I had just peed before so I don’t trust those.

Either this one odd test was a false positive, or all the other 7 or 8 NAAT PCR tests (incl. 1 MicrogenDX) were false negatives (low bacterial load?) and I have caught a resistant strain. Hope it’s the first but want to make sure. 
 

Is there any lab that can do a culture of a specimen and check for antibiotics resistance?

I don’t wanna go to one of the big hospitals as I feel they’re not doing a good job handling the specimen. The last time I saw my sample lying in a box on the nurse counter half hour later and all the nurses were busy handling patients. And who knows how long it takes from there to the actual lab then... (and this was already their Infectious Disease department)

In another hospital, the doc gave me some glass plates so I could take a sample at home and bring it to the hospital later.

Of course, all these cultures never find anything.

I went to doctors in Europe where they would put the sample in an incubator immediately, sometimes even in the same room. Does that exist in Thailand?