Semen color after infection???

[HughJorgen]

Back right around Memorial day, May 26th, 2024, I had some gastro-intestinal issues. I will save you all the gross details, but I did end up urinating blood that Sunday night May 26.

I went to the Emergency Room. They ran some tests. They were able to culture the bacteria from a urine sample. They did a CT scan, and it clearly showed an infection in my kidneys, an inflamed or enlarged prostate, and bladder wall thickening.

The ER doctor put me on an antibiotic called cephalexin.

That cleared everything up. The bladder wall thickening went away, and my prostate returned to a normal size.

Howver, my semen has been a runny, clear “color” and NOT the usual thicker white-ish or milky-ish substance ever since.

My urologist wanted me to do a couple of other , in my opinion, rather invasive tests. One was an “endoscopy” where she (yes, a female uro) would stick a camera up my urethra and into my bladder. The other test is some sort of urine flow test where I would insert my penis inside some sort of contraption, then urinate. And this doo-dad would measure the strength of my urine flow. This would all be done in front of one of her female assistants/techs.

Since my urine flow/bladder volume returned to normal, I opted out of those two tests.

I was hoping that eventually my semen color and yes, viscosity would return to normal.

I am 52 years old.

Never been married. Don’t have any kids.

And not to be a Debbie Downer here, my girlfriend of 7 years died last year in July of 2023.

So I don’t really see myself jumping into the dating scene soon, courting a 20 or 30 year old something woman, and wanting to get her pregnant.

I suspect that I am shooting blanks now, so considering the above….

Should I be worried?

Could this condition turn into something worse?

Or is it indicative of something worse?

Thanks in advance (and reading my wall of text).

 

[coolestguy]

Most doctors are aggressive in tests. They rather be safe than sorry. If you feel 100% back to normal, you can ask the doctor if keep monitoring by blood test is enough.

 

[HughJorgen]

Most doctors are aggressive in tests. They rather be safe than sorry. If you feel 100% back to normal, you can ask the doctor if keep monitoring by blood test is enough.

I am on testosterone too (aka testosterone cypionate….injections), via a men’s clinic.

I think my next labs for that are in January. Usually it is every 16 weeks.

They normally do check my PSA levels then.

 

[Acratopotes]

Bear in mind I am not a doctor, let alone a urologist, so I can only work with what I have read.

The first thing is to know that semen is composed of sperm, some liquid that travels with the sperm from the epididymus, up through the vas deferens (10% by volume total), fluid from the seminal vesicles (60%), liquid from the prostate (30%) and some varying amount from the bulbo-urethral glands (pre-cum).

Of those, the fluid from the seminal vesicles is naturally more viscous and the fluid from the prostate is thinner, but milky, i.e. it is that that gives the normal white colour. But there is also an enzyme which seems to be in the prostatic fluid, that causes the semen to thicken immediately upon ejaculation. If you ejaculate onto something and then test the viscosity with your finger, by then this enzyme has already kicked in so you find it to be viscous. There is a second enzyme that causes it to become thin again alter a while. We don't have a definitive answer to what these are for, but we can speculate that the initial thickening helps the semen stay in a woman while her vagina shrinks back to normal size and then subsequent thinning then lets the sperm swim more easily.

So, in your case, it may be that your semen is missing at least some of the contribution from the prostate. That would account for the lack of colour and it not getting thick immediately after ejaculation. That in turn may be because the prostate is not being squeezed effectively, or because it is a bit too stiff. Inflamed tissue tends to be stiffer.

Without having had this infection, one would probably want to be checked out to see if the prostate is indeed irritated and, if so, why. But, having had the infection, the prostate not having got completely back to normal after the infection seems to be the most likely explanation. Whether that is a temporary situation, and more time will resolve it, of whether there is scar tissue (which tends to be more fibrous and stiffer) I can't say - this is reaching the limits of my knowledge.

Going forward, a prostate that doesn't empty, during ejaculation, as well as it did may be more prone to prostate cancer. There was a study that found that those who don't ejaculate very often are, on average, more prone to prostate cancer, and it was suggested this was caused by older prostatic fluid sitting in the prostate and concentrating things that promote the cancer. But, this study found that, while prostate cancer is usually a disease of middle and old age, it was ejaculation frequency as a young man that seemed to have the most effect on the risk. Anyway, you are having your PSA level monitored.

The only other serious concern is whether you can urinate effectively. If you're happy with that, I am not sure anyone really needs to actually measure it, but the test that was proposed to measure the strength of your urine flow could have been to assess whether the prostate is interfering with it.

Other than that, I know you said you were not thinking of starting a family this late, but I certainly wouldn't assume you are infertile and not use contraception. I also hope cumming still feels good.

 

[chrissal480]

I had somewhat same problem but I was just 24 .. and I was told to drink cranberry juice ..8 ounces a day 3 times a day .. and same with water ..

No pop coffee or anything else but those two things .. longest 6 weeks of my life and one day I jerked off just to see and it was almost back to normal.. so I did this for another three weeks and now it’s all good

 

[HughJorgen]

Bear in mind I am not a doctor, let alone a urologist, so I can only work with what I have read.

The first thing is to know that semen is composed of sperm, some liquid that travels with the sperm from the epididymus, up through the vas deferens (10% by volume total), fluid from the seminal vesicles (60%), liquid from the prostate (30%) and some varying amount from the bulbo-urethral glands (pre-cum).

Of those, the fluid from the seminal vesicles is naturally more viscous and the fluid from the prostate is thinner, but milky, i.e. it is that that gives the normal white colour. But there is also an enzyme which seems to be in the prostatic fluid, that causes the semen to thicken immediately upon ejaculation. If you ejaculate onto something and then test the viscosity with your finger, by then this enzyme has already kicked in so you find it to be viscous. There is a second enzyme that causes it to become thin again alter a while. We don't have a definitive answer to what these are for, but we can speculate that the initial thickening helps the semen stay in a woman while her vagina shrinks back to normal size and then subsequent thinning then lets the sperm swim more easily.

So, in your case, it may be that your semen is missing at least some of the contribution from the prostate. That would account for the lack of colour and it not getting thick immediately after ejaculation. That in turn may be because the prostate is not being squeezed effectively, or because it is a bit too stiff. Inflamed tissue tends to be stiffer.

Without having had this infection, one would probably want to be checked out to see if the prostate is indeed irritated and, if so, why. But, having had the infection, the prostate not having got completely back to normal after the infection seems to be the most likely explanation. Whether that is a temporary situation, and more time will resolve it, of whether there is scar tissue (which tends to be more fibrous and stiffer) I can't say - this is reaching the limits of my knowledge.

Going forward, a prostate that doesn't empty, during ejaculation, as well as it did may be more prone to prostate cancer. There was a study that found that those who don't ejaculate very often are, on average, more prone to prostate cancer, and it was suggested this was caused by older prostatic fluid sitting in the prostate and concentrating things that promote the cancer. But, this study found that, while prostate cancer is usually a disease of middle and old age, it was ejaculation frequency as a young man that seemed to have the most effect on the risk. Anyway, you are having your PSA level monitored.

The only other serious concern is whether you can urinate effectively. If you're happy with that, I am not sure anyone really needs to actually measure it, but the test that was proposed to measure the strength of your urine flow could have been to assess whether the prostate is interfering with it.

Other than that, I know you said you were not thinking of starting a family this late, but I certainly wouldn't assume you are infertile and not use contraception. I also hope cumming still feels good.

I am happy report that my semen color is back to normal.

My labs from a week or two ago showed a PSA of something like a 3.9 or 4.9 where a 4.0 or a 5.0 is the cutoff at the upper end of tge normal range.

So my men’s clinic wants me to go back to my urologist to get a note saying my prostate is okay.

(Rolls eyes)

My next labs through this clinic are due in May.

So I can see my urologist sending me to get blood drawn for my PSA level in April.

 

[HughJorgen]

I had somewhat same problem but I was just 24 .. and I was told to drink cranberry juice ..8 ounces a day 3 times a day .. and same with water ..

No pop coffee or anything else but those two things .. longest 6 weeks of my life and one day I jerked off just to see and it was almost back to normal.. so I did this for another three weeks and now it’s all good

Nice!

Are you saying you went 6 weeks without jerking off?

I think I would be climbing the walls after just 6 days.

LOL!

 

[chrissal480]

You have to pretty much not get off during the time .. so 6 weeks feels like a year

 

[HughJorgen]

You have to pretty much not get off during the time .. so 6 weeks feels like a year

Yeah, I bet