[flemag28]

I'm 28 and I've been told I have a medium varicocele on the left side of my scrotum, a moderate varicocele on the right side, and a cyst in my scrotum as well...

I really had to pester my doctor to get anywhere with this, but eventually managed to get a scan and found out about the varicoceles and cyst, and I even got to see a urologist and had an operation planned to fix them (however I had to complain a great deal to get this far). But they sent me a letter at the last minute saying they didn't feel it was necessary and more of a risk than a benefit and tried to put me off.

It seems that every time I have gone for help from any doctors, they seem to think that I'm not actually in the pain I say I am. They all refer to it as a "dragging sensation" and I have to keep saying "No, I'm in agony actually" I have always been known for having a very high pain threshold, but this is just ridiculous, so I know I'm not just being a baby about it.

Why are they all so insistent on making me live with this pain like its nothing? It is completely ruining my life... I have even asked if a fertility test is a good idea, and again, all of them just laugh off the idea like im being stupid?... Is there not a good chance that I could have fertility problems because of this?

I've been dealing with this for about a year now, and all it does it get worse, not better...

The pain is the dullest and most intense ache I've ever felt, and the area it is situated is not the most pleasant place to have constant pain. Its even messing with me psychologically, and i'm feeling pretty hopeless and over emotional all the time, which is not like me at all...

The one on my left side is now doubled in size and is sending shooting pains down my left leg, the right seems the same but can suddenly flare up considerably for just a day now and then, and the cyst hasn't changed at all. Is the cyst linked to the varicocele problem?

Can somebody tell me how serious this sounds to them? and perhaps why the doctors are being so useless?

Thanks.

[Jeepin]

I am sorry to hear about your situation and know what you are experiencing as I was almost in the same place in the spring and summer of 2008. I have posted my story about my situation a while ago that you may have read. When I started having problems, I went to a regular doctor who ordered an ultrasound to check for cancer or any other problems. Thankfully the ultrasound tech noticed the varicocele and told me because the regular doc did not see any problems, so he said that I should see a specialist. I then went to a urologist that told me that I did not have anything wrong either. Having seen the ultrasound, I knew I had a problem, so I went to a different urologist, who recognized the problem. At this point I was having fairly intense pain and extreme heat was coming from the area by the end of the day. This doc told that he usually only did surgery on guys that had fertility problems, so he sent me for a fertility test, which came back fine, so he told me to wait a little longer and come back if things got worse because surgery does not always fix the problem.

I would feel so bad some days that I almost couldn't drive nine miles home from work and then when I got home I wouldn't feel like doing much except for laying down. To me it always felt like someone was grabbing onto my testicles and squeezing and pulling down hard at the same time. I guess that is the dragging feeling.

About two months later I was experiencing even more severe pain in the left side along with a lot symptoms of low testosterone, and my testicles had shrunk in size so I went back. At this point he set up the surgery and had blood taken for a testosterone level test, which came back at the very lowest acceptable point but since I believe mine is normally on the high side I felt exhausted and very irritable. I had the surgery, which for me was a piece of cake. A week or so after the surgery the pain was subsiding and I could start telling that things were improving. At first after the surgery if there was much movement or vibration from walking everything was very sore but that quickly improved also. Shortly after, I started feeling better with no more symptoms of low testosterone and my testicles went back to normal size. I never did have an additional testosterone test to see if it actually increased or not.

It has been a year a half since surgery and everything feels great. The only thing i have left from the situation is a 3 inch scar. I had the surgery in Aug 08 and felt pretty much back to normal by November. Unfortunately, I started feeling so good that in December I went back to playing volleyball and had a guy land on my leg and tore my calf muscle and achilles tendon, which has been horrible to recover from. Even with this injury my first doctor only diagnosed a torn calf muscle, so I was walking around with a torn Achilles tendon for a couple of months until I got tired of the first doctor telling me that it would take time to heal. The delayed diagnosis created a much more difficult situation to treat, so it has taken a year to almost get back to normal. If I would have stayed with the first doctor on this one, I probably still would not be able to walk. I should have switched docs much earlier n this one also.

Before I had surgery a couple of things I did to lessen the pain, which probably have experienced but laying down does get the blood draining better and does help a little. Wearing tighter underwear or a jock strap helps hold things up also made things a little better. I also found that when I cut out soda, sugary foods and fast food it did not hurt quite as bad. I guess because these types of things are pollutants to the body and the pollutants added to the problem to intensify the pain.

You know how your body feels more than a doctor, so you have to keep going to different doctors until you find one that will help you. They may think they know everything but many of them don't know as much as they think. There are good ones but there are also bad ones or ones that don't have the proper experience with your problems. What is bad is that many doctors only want to do something if there is a fertility problem.

If you have surgery I hope yours ends up as well as mine did. I have been there and I am sure others are going through the same. Good luck and getting better!

[flemag28]

Many thanks for your reply. Its good to hear someone tell you that they know EXACTLY what you mean and what your going through. Plus your description of the sensation of someone grabbing and squeezing is absolutely spot on. My testicles also tend to shrink up and at times half disappear into my body. I'm also sure that I'm having similar testosterone issues, when I'm going through a rough patch, I seem to get really miserable and exausted, which is also very unlike me.

I have managed to convince someone to operate now thankfully, but they still tried to talk me out of it as usual, but I bluntly insisted and basically just pushed and pushed until he gave in. The doc warned me that it may not rid me of the pain, so I asked if there was any chance that it could make the pain any worse, and the answer was no. Which pretty much seals the deal for me as far as I'm concerned.

So anyway, I guess i'll cross my fingers and hope for the best.

Thanks again.

[Jeepin]

That is exactly what the doctor told me also when he said that he could do surgery.

I had never had surgery before and thought I would be nervous about it but once it was scheduled I couldn't wait to have it done since I felt so bad. I was sore for a couple of months after but it was a different pain that wasn't as bad.

Hopefully yours works out as good as mine did and you will be on your road to recovery after the surgery.

[John F40]

[quote="flemag28"]Many thanks for your reply. Its good to hear someone tell you that they know EXACTLY what you mean and what your going through. Plus your description of the sensation of someone grabbing and squeezing is absolutely spot on. My testicles also tend to shrink up and at times half disappear into my body. I'm also sure that I'm having similar testosterone issues, when I'm going through a rough patch, I seem to get really miserable and exausted, which is also very unlike me.

I have managed to convince someone to operate now thankfully, but they still tried to talk me out of it as usual, but I bluntly insisted and basically just pushed and pushed until he gave in. The doc warned me that it may not rid me of the pain, so I asked if there was any chance that it could make the pain any worse, and the answer was no. Which pretty much seals the deal for me as far as I'm concerned.

So anyway, I guess i'll cross my fingers and hope for the best.

Thanks again.[/quote]

Hello.

What happened with your surgery?