PVP - Maybe
patrick
I had a traditional vasectomy last march and every since I have a dull
annoying pain mostly in the left testicle. Most days are "OK" but if I get
lucky enough to get laid in the morning or I'm working hard on my feet all
day, that night I'm ready to crawl onto the couch. I went back to the Doc.
He checked out the plumbing and all seems fine there. He prescribed an
antibiotic in case it might be some small infection and suggested it thought
it should go away in 6 months. Will its been 5 months now and its not
getting any better. He described PVP as a chronic almost incapacating pain.
I cannot say I'm laid up with it, but there are days I question if I have
done the right thing having a vasectomy (then I get laid and bareback seems
to make it all worth while). I really wanted an open ended vasectomy and
requested the doc to perform one. He had never heard of it and dismissed
the technique as something that would cause more issues with granuloma, etc
(I know I know...why didn't I go somewhere else. well after putting it off
for 2 years and one pregnancy scare later I was for the chop pronto). One
other interesting thing is since the snip, when I need to pee I gotta pee.
It's like from the time I get the feeling I need to pee I have about 60
seconds to pee. I mentioned this to the Doc and again dismissed it as not
related.....but it was never like that before the snip.
Anyway, my question is do I have PVP. Should I return to the same Doc. He
seems ok, he has performed over 4000 vas's with only one case of PVP, but
not up to speed on treatment of PVP or performing open ended vasectomies.
Should I consider a conversion to open ended to see if it will relieve the
pain. Has others had good success with this option.
Any advise would be appreciated.
Patrick
patrick
underwear, one day in boxers and I'm on the couch for 4 hours.
P.
trifold
For about a year after my vas I'd get a slight ache on the right side
after prolonged sex or multiple ejacs. I'd feel it the next day as a
kind of sex hangover. It went away on its own. (Now I sometimes get
a little soreness if I go more than 2 days without ejac.) What you're
experiencing sounds much more intense--in my case, the ache was never
enough to interfere with what I was doing. Certainly, i never had to
lie on the couch for four hours. The pee thing made me think you
might be having referred pain from a prostate infection of some sort,
but getting sore balls from wearing boxers makes it sounds like it's
really a testicle/scrotum thing. My advice would be to go again to
the same doc. when the 6 months is up, and see what he says then. He
should check you out for any swelling in the epidydimus (which is a
set of little tubes attached to the back upper part of each testicle:
sperm back pressure can cause it to swell up and become tender, as
happened to me). If that's happending, it may eventually go away on
it own. Or you could look into the open ended thing. BTW, have you
tried antiimflammatories like aspirin? If the doc. continues to say
there's nothing wrong, you might want to talk to someone else, if only
to see what another one says. But I think your doc. sounds like he'll
want to follow up. I hope so. Let us know what happens, in any case.
trifold
www.vasectomy-information.com
"patrick" <pat...@bobjenkins.com> wrote in message news:<Ur6dnVnE87L...@comcast.com>...
adam
After numerous problems post-vas at 5 1/2 months I'm left with
alternating soreness and achiness (often intense) on both sides. I
don't have the urination issue you mention but can relate to much of
the rest of what you describe. For me there's been no improvement in
the last 30 days (if anything it's worse) and quite frankly I'm out of
patience. I've considered converting to an open ended vas but am
leaning towards a reversal, even though I definitely don't want to be
fertile again. My story is posted here and I'll continue to post as
things progress. I'm also curious to hear how Giraud is doing since he
converted to an open ended a few weeks ago after what seems like
similar problems.
And btw, my Doc had done over 9000 vasectomies and has been
cooperative but I will definitely be going to a Urologist that
specializes in PVP for the reversal.
-Adam
Giraud
> Patrick,
>
> After numerous problems post-vas at 5 1/2 months I'm left with
> alternating soreness and achiness (often intense) on both sides. I
> don't have the urination issue you mention but can relate to much of
> the rest of what you describe. For me there's been no improvement in
> the last 30 days (if anything it's worse) and quite frankly I'm out of
> patience. I've considered converting to an open ended vas but am
> leaning towards a reversal, even though I definitely don't want to be
> fertile again. My story is posted here and I'll continue to post as
> things progress. I'm also curious to hear how Giraud is doing since he
> converted to an open ended a few weeks ago after what seems like
> similar problems.
Hi Patrick,
I still consider myself in the "too soon to tell" category, so I don't
want to try to draw conclusions, but what I have observed so far is that
my left side seems in better shape (no real pain, and no pressure).
Along with that, I have noticed what could very well be a granuloma on
that side, which would be expected from opening the testicular end.
On the right, however, I still have soreness and tenderness in the
testicle (in fact, it's been a little worse, and of a different nature,
lately). It does not seem like there is a feeling of pressure, and the
pain is perhaps more general to the testicle and vas tube site near the
operation rather than the epi. Still, even though there is some
enlarged vas areas on the right (near the site), I don't feel anything
like on the left (i.e. perhaps no granuloma has formed on the right).
Also, the epi seems as large and firm as it has always been (even for
many years before the vas). When I squeeze the testicular vas tube, it
is sore, either indicating pressure still there or simply inflamation
from the healing process. It's all very hard to tell at this point.
In conclusion (even though I don't want to draw any right now), the
right side could very well have not changed, whereas I do seem to notice
a change on the left. The "nature" of the pain on the right is
different, which could be a good sign, I suppose. It could be that the
right side was hosed from the beginning. Almost 20 years ago (long
before my original vasectomy) I went through mild pain for a couple of
years on the right side. They never knew what it was, but perhaps that
side has always been blocked. The other thing that worries me is that
if it is partially blocked, the outflow might not be enough to keep the
opened vas tube open. This is just my own theorizing, but the doc did
say the tubes could re-seal in time, but "hopefully the body will have
resolved things by then" (a nebulous statement which didn't seem to be
based on actual sureness, but rather it further illustrates how little
the medical community understands all of this).
-Giraud
P.S. Of course, David, feel free to post any of my "updates" to my story.
Giraud
> Hi Patrick,
Ah, sorry, my previous post was actually a reply to Adam!
-Joe
adam
I appreciate the update, especially since I'll be making a decision on
what to do next later this month after seeing a specialist (the
ubiquitous Dr. Witt) in Atlanta. Our cases are similar in that we both
had some pain pre-vas on only one side. I hope things work out and
your current pain is resolved with time, but if for some reason it
doesn't have your options for a reversal been taken off the table? The
reason I ask is that with my limited knowledge I'm guessing it may be
more "work" or even impossible to reconnect things after the vas has
been cut back further?
Giraud
> Giraud,
>
> I appreciate the update, especially since I'll be making a decision on
> what to do next later this month after seeing a specialist (the
> ubiquitous Dr. Witt) in Atlanta. Our cases are similar in that we both
> had some pain pre-vas on only one side. I hope things work out and
> your current pain is resolved with time, but if for some reason it
> doesn't have your options for a reversal been taken off the table? The
> reason I ask is that with my limited knowledge I'm guessing it may be
> more "work" or even impossible to reconnect things after the vas has
> been cut back further?
Thanks for the wishes, and yep, I sure hope this did the trick too!
A reversal was mentioned as one potential solution, but my uro wanted to
read my reaction, I think, in that if he suspected I *didn't* like
sterility, it would have been a better choice.
He agreed that assuming I don't want a reversal, the open-ended
conversion is the best first thing to try. If no relief is achieved, he
said removing the epididymus would be a next option, and he said this is
often successful.
To answer your question about reversal being on the table or not, for
me, I would not consider it, since I don't want my fertility back. The
doctor did not say that doing the open-ended conversion would remove my
reversal options, but I was not concerned about it. As for if it's
possible to do a reversal now, I don't know. Like you, I'd suspect the
more vas you remove the harder it is (don't the balls need some slack in
there?); he removed another 2cm or so. Certainly, if one gets his
epi(s) removed, I assume reversal is no longer an option!
Another reason I would have been hesitant to get a reversal with my
history (and yours, it seems) of pain before vasectomy is that if there
is a blockage there anyway, the reversal may not have much effect, at
least on that side. It's an awefully expensive and intrusive option for
little or no benefit. But who knows, maybe "partial blockage" can
exist, and maybe releasing some pressure can make a difference.
It's all very mysterious, and all I can do is apply common sense to what
I think may be going on. I doubt the doctor is going much beyond that -
the PVP issue is, as admitted by my uro, not completely understood, but
so it is with many facets of medicine (as I got older, I realized that
doctors don't know everything - far from it, and the ones who admit this
earn my respect). The key is to find a uro that is willing to try
things. Mine seems to be game, for which I am thankful.
I am back to wearing boxers, which are actually more comfortable (no
pressure on the balls!). I biked 26 miles with my wife Sunday, and
yeah, it was sore somewhat on the right side, but not too bad; just
popped a couple of ibuprofins. Let's hope for the best - still too soon
for me to give reliable info!
-Giraud
David
OK - I've finally done this. I've had other things on my mind lately. I've
also moved the story from short term to long term problems on the grounds
that it's been ongoing for two years now!
As a cyclist, I think I'd need some ibuprofen after a 26 mile ride! At the
very least a shower and a cold beer. Glad to hear you are back to boxers
again - that's a good sign.
David
www.vasectomy-information.com