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PVPS - My Story
7/13/2010,
wildcatjw
ABSTRACT:
PVPS - somewhat cured via a vasectomy reversal.
SYMPTOMS:
Severe pains during sex, congestive pains throughout the day, drop in T-levels, drop in libido, depression, suicidal tendencies, lack of energy, anti-sperm antibody immune response.
TREATMENTS/MEDICATIONS:
Heat treatment, massage, vasectomy reversal, T-level supplementation.
OUTCOME/CURRENT CONDITION:
Most physical pain has subsided. T-levels are improving, no libido existent at all.
I had a vasectomy in April 2008, right before the birth of
our third child.The procedure itself was more painful than what I was told to
expect. I jumped when they went to cut the right vas, so they had to
apply additional anesthetic before proceeding. Even afterward, I sensed a
numb awareness of what was occurring on that side. Afterwards, I iced all
weekend and didn't seem to have any major issues with the overall
recovery. Nothing hurt and everything progressed as I was told to expect.
After 2 weeks, we attempted having sex. During the erection, I had a
sharp pain like nothing I have ever felt before on the right side. It was
in the 8-9 range and instantly killed my erection and I had difficulty getting
it back to complete the "assignment". This was very depressing,
but I wrote it off as just not healed yet. I continued to have pains
during sex for the first 4-5 weeks, but they gradually disappeared. So I
thought nothing more of it. Incidentally, when it came time to test the
results, I still had sperm in my semen after two tests 3-4 months post
vasectomy. The doctor offered to redo the procedure, which I declined
given the pain from the first one.
Everything was for the most part status quo after that time until September of
2009 (I would say now in hindsight my libido and testosterone levels were
gradually dropping, but nothing that I focused on at the time). Then out
of the blue, when we had sex one evening, the shooting pain on the right side
was back. I noticed a large lump (a sperm granuloma) on that side.
Afterward, each time we had sex, I has sharp pains. So much so that I
avoided sex and noticed that my libido was quickly dissipating. I also
started to notice congestive type pains during the day, often when sitting.
These occurred mainly on the right side, but also started occurring on the left
occasionally as well.
Needless to say, I was a complete mess emotionally on top of the physical
pains. I slipped into a severe depression, considered suicide on numerous
occasions, and generally lost all will to live. I just wanted to be put
out of my misery. This is when my wife and I started searching the web
for post-vasectomy pain and came across a couple websites and a support group
on Yahoo Groups (http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/VasectomyPain/?yguid=420162391).
The picture became clear regarding what I was dealing with, that being nerve
related damage due to the vasectomy along with textbook symptoms of congestive
pain.
I saw my original urologist, who immediately acknowledged
that I was suffering from PVPS and admitted to seeing at least one victim every
month (none of this was shared during the pre-vasectomy consult, in fact they
pushed the fact that this was a painless surgery that would have no side
effects and would actually probably lead to more sex – man am I a sucker for a
sales job; I’ve never experienced this degree of a sales push even in buying a
car). He kept nervously darting in and
out of the examination room as my wife and I peppered him with questions (it
became immediately obvious that we knew more about the situation than he did
and all he saw was a malpractice suit waiting to happen). He eventually examined me and stated I had
two options, one to convert my vasectomy to open ended (the original procedure
had used clips) or perform a reversal. He recommended the reversal (so at least he
was honest and didn’t give me much of a run around, other than darting eyes and
anxiety to have the meeting over with).
At this point, I knew enough from my research to not try the
open ended vasectomy. I selected a
reversal from a specialist recommended from the Yahoo support group (I certainly
was not about to have the original butcher…I mean urologist…perform the
surgery). I had an uneventful reversal
in March 2010.
The recovery to date from the reversal has been pretty much
to script. After 2 weeks, we were
instructed to have sex every day for the next month or more. I was very nervous about this, as I hadn’t
had a non-painful sexual experience with my wife for over 6 months. But somewhat to my surprise, there was no
pain at all. Over the coming months, the
surgical pain subsided and I have experienced very little congestive
pains. It is a little bit of a roller
coaster, and I know from others’ experience my recovery can take up to 1 year,
but so far, so good for the most part on the physical pain issues.
Hormonal balance is another story altogether. My T-levels are that of an average 70 year
old (I am in my mid 30’s), and my libido is nonexistent. I have also suffered from mild erectile
dysfunction. I am taking numerous supplements
and am seeing some improvement in T-levels and emotional balance, although to
date it is doing nothing to improve the libido.
I’m afraid that there has been irreversible damage to my Leydig cells,
testicles, and an autoimmune response (which I confirmed via tests) with sperm
antibodies in my system. So this is my
lot in life and something I will have to deal with the rest of my life.
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