Hi! I am a 37 year old Asian-Indian male residing in the US and am returning to this BB with a third query this year. I hope to get your very useful and kind feedback on this one too. In February I posted an enquiry about acid reflux and based on the advice I got from this BB I took Berberis Vulgaris 1M and have since felt a lot better (A few days ago, I felt some the symptoms return and have take one dose of Berberis Vulgaris 10M). On April 30th I posted an enquiry about testicular pain (see message posted on May 30 titled "Testicular Pain") and took Thuja 30C based on the response I received. The pain has since largely subsided but still appears from time to time.

In the meantime, I went to see my GP about the testicular pain and he felt the left testicle (the primarily painful one) and said everything felt normal except the possibility of a varicoceole (sp?). He also suggested I get a urinanalysis done. The results revealed NO bacterial infection but 11 red blood cells in the urine. Based on this, he recommended I see a urologist. The urologist did not find any abnormality in my testicles (including no varicoceole). He repeated the blood test and said there was no blood in the urine. However, he recommended an IVP (x-ray of kidneys and ureter with dye) and a cystoscopy to view the bladder. The IVP came out normal (except that two regions were not clearly visible) and the cystoscopy is scheduled for a month from now.

Based on my readings on the Internet, I suspect that my problems could be related to prostatitis. Several of the symptoms I am having seem to match up: sometimes slight difficulty urinating, occasional painful urination (rare for me), sometimes need to urinate frequently, testicular pain (in my case restricted largely but not exclusively to the left testicle), blood in urine, sometimes feeling of incomplete bowel movement, occasional bloating and discomfort in the lower abdominal area.

I would very much like to get your diagnosis of my condition. Could it really be prostate-related? I have read that prostate related problems occur at a more advanced age (e.g. 50+). If it is not prostate-related, what could it be? What medicines would be most useful? As background, I had surgery last August (1999) for a cyst on my vocal cord. Since then I have been diagnosed with acid reflux (as I mentioned above). I also seem to have a fungal infection on the head of my penis which flares up from time to time and over the years I have applied Nizoral cream. Recently, I became concerned about the long-term usage of this cream and based on advice from this BB I have stopped using the cream (I had noticed some discoloration around the opening in the penis after cream usage) and have been applying olive oil which has been very beneficial.

Thank you very much in advance for any advice you can provide me. I am a little wary of all the intrusive tests I am being required to undergo and would very much like to try homeopathy instead.