Fungal infection

[mil1209]

First of all, I am a male, in his mid-40s, who is relatively healthy except for a positive diagnosis of Hepatitis B (but that is not what this post is about). I have been dealing with what I believe is a fungal infection since beginning of August. I had a sexual encounter a week before that. It was with a woman I did not know very well. We had sexual intercourse with a condom, and there was no oral sex. I asked her to penetrate anally, to try something new, and she did that, while wearing some kind of latex glove. We were in her bathroom which was wet from a shower.

Anyway, about a week later, I experienced a redness and itching at my penis head and anus, which also affected my left leg and foot. The left leg and foot also itched, burned, and tingled, although there were no outward signs of any lesions. I immediately went to the doctor and had a full STD panel of tests done - Chlamydia, Syphilis, Gonorrhea, Herpes, Trichomoniasis - all came back negative.

The pain in my left foot got so bad I could barely walk or stand. I bought Clotrimazole cream from the pharmacy and applied on my penis and anus, and suddenly the left foot no longer tingled or had pain. I followed the directions for a few weeks applying the cream twice a day morning and night. I also used Apple Cider Vinegar as an anti-fungal wash. By the time October came, I was symptom-free in my foot and my groin, so I put it all down to a fungal infection of some kind.

October was great, I was back to normal. Then November came, and the leg/foot pain came back with a vengeance. I had slacked off on using the Clotrimazole because of the lack of symptoms, although I was still wiping my skin with the Apple Cider Vinegar.

Now it is Nov 23, and I have been plagued with left leg and foot pain. It is not as bad as before when I could barely stand, but it is still there, and the fact that the pain is still there means I still have a fungal infection.

Recently, my doctor said I have a candida infection, and gave me Diflucan (flucanozole) to take for 10 days. I just finished it and there was no apparent effect. Now, I'm not so sure it is a fungal infection. Urine and blood analyses done back in August showed no bacteria in the blood or urine. Could it still be a bacterial infection?

I am still going through various anti-fungal topicals - Clotrimazole, Miconzole, Tonaflate, etc. and they work to some extent, but the pain doesn't completely go away like it did before. I even started taking Caprylic acid supplements.

Any ideas on what else this could be besides a fungal infection? If it is a fungal infection, what other treatments are there? Enemas? Nystatin?

Thank you.

[mkh9]

Yes some yeast and other fungi are resistant. I think I mentioned that a while ago. Terbinafine (Lamisil) is another good one. Hope the Clotrimazole works for you.
mkh9

[mil1209]

I went back to the urgent care doctor yesterday, the one who prescribed Terfinafine. He gave me a prescription for 2% Clotrimazole cream. I used it, and the scrotal itch went away for the most part.

So it appears to be a fungal infection. It was just resistant to the other topicals I tried - Nystatin, Ketoconazole.

[mkh9]

When my opinion is that the internal medicine doctor is right that if the metal values were not at medical unit values that would entail a clinical significance then there is nothing to worry about. It did seem extremely odd to me. So I'm going with that. I'm glad the other issues have cleared up. often when you have had an infection or dermatitis or whatever was causing your scrotal problem and have inflammation afterwards, It can be very irritating . Adding vinegar and witch hazel to such a sensitive area may only aggravate it. I would get the gel that they recommended to sooth the area and leave it alone until it heals.  So the symptoms point to irritation and inflammation at this point.
take care,
mkh9

[mil1209]

Hello,

Well I am getting conflicting reports from medical professionals again.

I saw a MD about the elevated levels of metals in my blood and she said it is not really something to worry about. My level of Lithium is still much lower than bipolar patients taking Lithium as a drug. As for the level of Platinum, the doctor said even at 0.2 ug/L it is an acceptable level. The problem is the range values the forensics lab used. They are off and not a standard medical range of values.

She also said to take NAC, same as what the forensics toxicologist told me to take. This MD is not a toxicologist, but rather internal medicine who has a lot of experience with chelation therapy.

All the other metals found in the forensics test are not alarmingly high, and can be found in most people. I am due for a metals re-test, but since this will be ordered by a doctor it will be done in a medical lab this time and not a forensics lab.

As for my symptoms, some things have gotten better. My vision has really improved, and my eye doctor was glad to hear about that.

My joint pain has also gotten much better. I no longer limp and for the most part am pain free. There are some lingering pains here and there, namely in the fingers but not nearly as severe as before.

As for the scrotal itch, it continues with severity. I went to see the dermatologist who stated I had erythrasma or corynebacterium minutissimum bacteria infection on the scrotum. She prescribed Erythromycin gel to be applied topically on the scrotum. In a follow-up visit to her, a Woods lamp was used to detect the bacteria and there was none. Could be that the gel took care of it, or maybe I never had it in the fist place.

Another doctor doubted I ever had corynebacterium minutissimum, which would not cause the severe itching and pain in the scrotum as I experienced. Instead he looked at the scrotum and said I had a bad fungal infection, and prescribed Nystatin cream, Nystatin powder, and a 14-day course of Terbinafine, 250 mg per day. It was a strong regimen, but I finished it and still have the severe scrotal itch.

The dermatologist, in my latest visit with her, did do a skin scraping of the scrotal skin and went and looked at it under the microscope while I waited. She came back and said there was no fungus. This was after I finished the Terbinafine course.

So, bacteria and fungi are not the causes of my scrotal itch. I don't know what it could be then. I then asked the dermatologist if it could be scabies or crabs and she said no. I had no red bumps.

Currently, my scrotal symptoms are thus: when I run my fingernail slowly over my scrotal skin, I could feel tiny bumps on it. To the eye these bumps are hardly visible and are not red or swollen. Yet they are there. And when the fingernail makes contact with the bump it hurts like crazy. It also sends a jolt down my left leg to my foot. I have tried to show these bumps to the dermatologist but because they are so hard to see she did not think much of it, and said my scrotal skin looks normal. She also said the itching is only due to what she called an itch cycle from inflammation, and said for me to only use Elidel from now on, for as long as I needed to. I haven't gotten the Elidel yet. In the meantime, I have been using witch hazel and apple cider vinegar to wipe down the scrotum. It burns upon contact, but I think it does help to lessen the itch. As long as I don't touch those bumps, the itch is minimal.

What do you think these scrotal symptoms point to?

[mkh9]

That is pretty scary. Well, I hope you recover soon and feel better after that.
mkh9

[mil1209]

The toxicologist said had I taken more than 3 days of it, I would not be around now. He said the stuff could kill a dog.

The ingredient list ofr the zeolite only lists 1 item. Maybe it got contaminated.

Anyway, at least now I know why my fungal infection continues despite various meds, and why I still have these symptoms.