Bacterial Prostatitis and I'm unable to treat it

[Dean Pomerleau]

That's great news Matt! You've worked so hard to make the phage treatment happen. I'm so glad it seems to be working!

[Ron Put]

2 hours ago, Matt said:

But I am feeling optimistic about this!

So glad you are on the road to recovery, Matt! Hoping for complete clearance soon.

[Matt]

Thanks both!

This is the BEST I've felt in a year. I feel so much better right now. It's worked so well so far, I honestly can't believe how quickly I am getting better day by day. I'm not even through the 1st cycle out of 3 yet. 

Because of the immune system response, I have to take breaks of 2 weeks every 15 days. Once I get through the first course, I'll repeat the samples. If needed, I can just repeat order the raoultella phage and it will be done much more quickly as they already have it. Plus it will only cost 300 or 400 euros or something (can't remember), so not too bad.

Sometimes these infections can be cured in one course, sometimes it takes two. We'll see...

But yeah, hopefully all this will be behind me shortly!

Edited September 16, 2023 by Matt

[Gordo]

On 9/14/2023 at 1:08 PM, Matt said:

I'll have an update again at week 4 for anyone interested. But I am feeling optimistic about this! 🙂

I'm interested.  How are things now?  Glad you were seeing initial good response, did that trend last?  Hoping for the best for you.

[Matt]

On 10/24/2023 at 5:09 PM, Gordo said:

I'm interested.  How are things now?  Glad you were seeing initial good response, did that trend last?  Hoping for the best for you.

The main bacteria, Raoultella, seems to have been eliminated since taking the custom phages!!! 🙂

I am a lot better, thank you. I have some minor symptoms left, like irritaion of the bladder if I drink cranberry juice or something irritating. Slight urethritis but it is getting better. Ideally, I would have urethra installations of phage, but that was not a possibility in the UK with remote treatment. 

Other than those symptoms, I am fine! I don't feel sick anymore and I am working full time again.

I'm likely going to do another round of custom phages, just in case the bacteria is not showing up but is deep in the prostate on within biofilms in the bladder. It's possible, since in my previous experience many years ago, this condition can pop back up again months later after I had treated with antibiotics.

It'll cost 900 euros. I thought it was cheaper, but for 20 boxes of custom phage, that's what it is. Not too bad, and a lot more affordable than paying for the whole package as I had to do before. As long as I order it before April, I am able to just pay for the phages. 🙂

Over the next 2-3 months, I am going to test locally, and see if the bacteria shows up again.

The staph bacteria that showed up is insignificant and we agree it's almost certainly contamination. The raoultella is the main bacteria that kep showing up in multiple tests before. 

But so far it's looking good!  

Thanks again for the help 😃

Edited December 21, 2023 by Matt
additional information

[Dean Pomerleau]

That's great news Matt! I'm happy to hear you are finally getting your health back. 

[Mike41]

Great news Matt! So happy for you!

[Gordo]

On 12/21/2023 at 5:38 AM, Matt said:

The main bacteria, Raoultella, seems to have been eliminated since taking the custom phages!!! 🙂

Awesome! Thanks for the update.

[Ron Put]

Fantastic, Matt!

[Saul]

Great, Matt!

[Matt]

Thanks everyone! 🙂

Some initial results I got back from a second culture since finishing the phage treatment (this time testing in a lab in the UK). Again, very little bacteria found. They say very scanty growth of less than <10,000 cfu/ml and doubtful significance. I guess the final report will tell me the name of the bacteria?

What was seen this time was white blood cells, indicating some inflammation still. Maybe after having the infection so long, the inflammation is persisting. It's plausible that this is what's causing some minor symptoms for me. Or maybe the bacteria is just deep in the prostate and not showing up. I've no idea...

Either way, I think I will go ahead sometime before April and just to do another round of the custom phage and see what happens. It can't really hurt anything as they are so specific, unlike antibiotics.

The symptoms do still feel different now. Although I am still needing to take ibuprofen at times, I'm not feeling sick/ill anymore as I was prior to phages. Which might indicate it's just inflammation I'm dealing with. Or the bacterial load is just too low to feel systemic symptoms.

Good thing that my nerves are almost completely better now after taking B12 for over a year as well, so I might be able to take Doxycycline at some point if needed (I don't react badly to any of the supplements or Trimethoprim anymore, so I should be fine I guess?). But I'm going to avoid using it right now because I know nerves can just take a very long time to heal completely and become physiologically normal (not hyperexcitable / irritated). Last thing I want to do is have a setback when it's not necessary and my symptoms are so minimal. 

My bladder has minor symptoms. It could again be inflammation left over from having an infection for so long or a low level infection still on going.

Anyway, I told myself that it would take about 2 years go resolve these problems. That would take me up until September. I think I'll get there. 🙂 I've made huge progress so far!