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beckerj · Member

Varicocele Stories

beckerj · Member

Hello all. My name is Jason and I have recently (2 Months Ago) been diagnosed with a Variocele.
Over the past year I have noticed a decrease in my libido, but really did not pay attention to it as the sex I was having was GREAT. (It was normal for my partner and I to have sex 2 and sometimes 3 times a week) I had noticed something different in my scrotum, but ignored it. I would on occasion take 1/4 of a 50MG Viagra, more for the recreational function than the need for it. Then about 4 or 5 months ago I had an ED episode, using the 1/4 Viagra. This episode blossomed into the classic cycle of worry that it won't work the next time. Over the course of about a month or more I tried whole pills of Viagra, and sometimes they would work and sometimes they would not. I started getting depressed and having those kinds of phatom symptoms that Doctors like to call nothing. My Primary Care Doctor prescribed Wellbutrin and referred me to a physical medicine doctor and a urologist. After about two weeks on the Wellbutrin I started to feel better and could somewhat see the clouds of my depression clearing. I finally was squeezed in to the urologist. He was not very helpful in the consultation and ordered a ultrasound, a week later. I told him my balls felt hot somtimes and ached. He said it was most likely a hydrocele. (I was not happy because at this point I was thinking it might be TC and he made me wait a week to have an ultrasound.) Another week went by, and another Week on the Wellbutrin. My head felt better than it had in the past three months, but i was still weak, balls ache, after sex was not a good thing, and really no sex drive to speak of. He did the ultrasound and ordered a T test.
The ultrasound came back with my nuts having a volume of 11.X and 10.X, and he diagnosed me with the Variocele.
The T test came back Total=3.06 (1.68-7.46) - Free=12.4
(8.7-25.1)
His answer was to wear jockstrap and come back in three months.
Well I read Megazoid's posts and did not settle. I found another urologist.
I direct with the new doctor and let him know that I felt that the variocele was the reason for my depression, fatigue, and ED issues. He to said no, it's most likely your depression. I have never had a depressive episode in my life. Either way he said that it was an acute variocele and had me do a MRI and CAT scan to rule out anything with my internals. All Clear there. He has referred me to a interventional radiologist to perform an embolization, and I have another consult with another Doctor that does the microscopic surgery. He also ordered a T test with LH and Prolactin.
Total=3.35 (1.68-7.46) Free=10.7 (8.7-25.1) LH=4.3 (1.2-8.6) Prolactin=10.5 (2.6-13.1)
My free dropped 2 points over a month.
I know that I am not as bad off as some of you guys and for that I am very grateful, but as we all know here, the test today does not tell us what we were. I know that I had more energy and sexual drive 6 months ago.
Another thing of note is that my orgasms are what I can only describe as latent. I mean I feel it coming but it takes a minute to actually climax. Has anyone ever heard of that ?
Also if I think back over the past year, the sex and orgasms were what I would call VERY intense. Not to say when I do have sex now it isn't, but there was some gusto prior that is not here now.
I am going to have the Variocele fixed, and hope that i return to normal and can get off the Wellbutrin.
Right now the one thing that has saved my relationship is the fact that Cialis works so well.

beckerj · Member

I posted some of how I am progessing on

http://anabolicminds.com/forum/male-anti-aging/86414-help-bloodwork-semen.html#post1217750

But to date I can say that my depression has really diminished, I am feeling more of my libido coming back, I am not focusing on the failures like I use to, but when I do fail it does make me over analyze, I still have tremors in my hands and weakness in my legs, sometimes they feel like they are gonna give out on me, I made an Appt. to see my GP on Tuesday, I do have more ambition than before the surgery, but still very content to be lazy, my dreams, OH Boy do I have some vivid dreams now, Before the surgery I was barely remembering them, now I can at least remember parts of them.

The worst thing about this is that I just hate not being who I was before .... I was a very sexual man with my other half .... Now it is a struggle to get into it, but I can say that once into the groove so to speak, I am pretty much like I was, it's just gettting over that hump, and I don't know if it is because of the fear of failure or the varicocele or the combination of both .... I have been dealing with this now since before Sept.

RodneyLee · Newbie

One day while working on a Growingdome, I felt a snap in my groin and a numb kinda pain, the pain wasn't so bad I had to stop work and eventually went away, over the next few months the pain would return then vanish with my physical stress levels.

About 2 months again the pain in my scrotum became so great and I still had a lot of work to do

at first I had thought this pain to be like Blue Balls and taking care of it was a simple matter of relieving myself , this time the pain just got worse, what I did discover was that putting the elastic waist of my sweat pants under my scrotum felt good, so I spent several hours like this and the pain diminished then vanished.

Wondering what was going on with me I decided to do some Googleing and came across Varicocele.

All the symptoms fit, all my life I had a low hanging scrotum and at time would have larger veins on the left side. I always thought this to have been because of two Rupture/Hernia operations I had as a child, I have never thought my Low Hanging scrotum was abnormal.

What Is a Varicocele?

In all guys, there's a structure that contains arteries, veins, nerves, and tubes called the spermatic cord that provides a connection and circulates blood to and from the testicles. Veins carry the blood flowing from the body back toward the heart, and a bunch of valves in the veins keep the blood flowing one way and stop it from flowing backward. In other words, the valves regulate your blood flow and make sure everything is flowing in the right direction.

But sometimes these valves can fail. When this happens, some of the blood can flow in reverse. This backed-up blood can collect in pools in the veins, which then causes the veins to stretch and get bigger, or become swollen. This is called a varicocele (pronounced: var-uh-ko-seel).

Who Gets Them?

Although they don't happen to every guy, varicoceles are fairly common. They appear in about 15% of guys between 15-25 years old, and they mostly occur during puberty. That's because during puberty, the testicles grow rapidly and need more blood delivered to them. If the valves in the veins in the scrotum aren't functioning quite as well as they should, the veins can't handle transporting this extra blood from the testicles. So, although most of the blood continues to flow correctly, blood begins to back up, creating a varicocele.

An interesting fact is that varicoceles occur mostly on the left side of the scrotum. This is because a guy's body is organized so that blood flow on that side of the scrotum is greater, so varicoceles happen more often in the left testicle than the right. Although it's less common, they can sometimes occur on both sides.

What Are the Signs and Symptoms?

In most cases, guys have no symptoms at all. A guy might not even be aware that he has a varicocele. However, if there are symptoms, they tend to occur during hot weather, after heavy exercise, or when a guy has been standing or sitting for a long time.

Signs include:

a dull ache in the testicle(s)
a feeling of heaviness or dragging in the scrotum
dilated veins in the scrotum that can be felt (described as feeling like worms or spaghetti)
discomfort in the testicle or on that particular side of the scrotum
the testicle is smaller on the side where the dilated veins are (due to difference in blood flow)

Researching on what to do there really wasn't much besides surgery or what I later found called non-surgery but they still cut you open ad inserted a device to limit blood flow.

Limit Blood flow seems to me to be the secret of what I had done with my waist band so I tested a few

other methods hopping to prevent or lesson the pain while still being able to do strenuous work.

I tried putting my briefs on with the elastic under my scrotum, cutting off my elastic and wearing it under my scrotum then putting my briefs on, I bought special support briefs called Suspensory that just held my scrotum up, and recently discovered ****sox briefs that adds a bit of compression.

All of this worked to some degree and worked best in combination with the Elastic I had cut from a spare pair of briefs.

One morning I was inspired to try a Hair Tie around my Scrotum, at first I tried a medium one and in combination with the ****sox and Elastic, this worked pretty well, the best so far , I tried the Hair tie over the penis also thinking it would pull up my scrotum a bit more, which worked but was not as comfortable and hard to wear like that all day.

Recently I decided to test a smaller hair tie just around the scrotum, ****sox and elastic so far this is the best combination, the hair tie is not so tight as to cut off circulation and does seem to reduce blood flow, I don't seem to hang and low and there almost no pain, sometimes I feel the hair tie, so I am thinking its just a tad too tight and will find another to try eventually.

Today I an testing just he small hair tie, so far so good, I always have less pain sitting or laying down

right now its just a bit numb (best word I can find, but not really numb) feeling.

What is the treatment for varicoceles?

No active treatment is needed in most cases

If a varicocele is causing no symptoms or problems, then it is best left alone. If there is just mild discomfort then supportive underpants (rather than boxer shorts) may help to ease or prevent discomfort. If a varicocele develops in a teenager, then your doctor may wish to monitor the growth of the testes. For example, an annual measurement of the testes may be advised. This may help to clarify if a testis is not growing to its full size.

Treatment may be advised in certain situations

For example, treatment may be a advised if you have persistent discomfort. Also, treatment may be advised if a testis is not growing properly in a teenager with a varicocele.

Treatment involves tying off the veins that are enlarged. Another method of treatment is to use a special substance injected into the veins to block them. Both methods are usually successful. Your surgeon will advise on the pros and cons of the different techniques.

However, after successful treatment, some men have a recurrence of a varicocele months or years later. This is because the veins left behind to do the job of taking the blood from the testes may themselves enlarge or dilate with the extra blood they will now have to carry. A recurrence can be treated in the same way as the first time.

I found that support is all that really need for me, and the hair tie, elastic and ****sox briefs are the best combination to use and be able to do heavy lifting and construction type work.

I Googleing I found several forums with many people having problems like this without a solution

and even a few wanting to have a low hanging scrotum and wanting to know how to make theres hang lower, now that I would never recommend just sitting wrong can cause pain and I often get caught in the man trap in briefs (my second favorite pair for support is from Duluth Trading Company called Buck Naked and I had to sew the trap shut) so if you got low hangers protect them if you don't your lucky.

Recently I have had a bit of pain for about an hour in the morning, I had been trying to sleep without support....

I am also working on a design that adds under testicule support to briefs, my first proto type was to cut the elastic waste band in half long ways so briefs would stay up and I could use strap for support, coming up with right amount to cut for support needed is the only issue so far

I have even thought of Castration as a solution, but will wait on that a bit.

http://theturekclinic.com/services/male-fertility/varicocele-treatment/

http://www.patient.co.uk/health/Varicocele.htm