-- very strong anti biotics such as NAPROXEN

Naproxen is just over-the-counter "Aleve" (a pain killer) in a slightly higher dose -- NOT an antibiotic. And 3 weeks may not be enough. Dr. Shoskes says wait for a whole month, and if there's an improvement he may prescribe for 1 or 2 or 3 more months.

Has anyone actually tested you for infection?

#1 -- 5 day urine culture?

#2 -- look at EPS under a microscope for white blood cells?

#1 is somewhat expensive (+/- $500) and controversial, but #1 is what a urologist would have done since at least 1940, and it remains a very good test for infection. You shouldn't do #1 or #2 until at least 4 weeks after your last antibiotics. The advanage of #1 is it can reveal some bacteria (particular chlamydia, a very common infection especially in young men, that are more difficult to detect any other way).

There is no such thing as a "strong" antibiotic. MOST ANTIBIOTICS IN FACT DON'T KILL AT ALL -- they're just "bacteriostatic" (they stop replication) and give your body a chance to do the kill. Some antibiotics do kill, or kill in certain doses, or kill combined with other antibiotics (such as Rifampin and Macrobid, used sometimes for difficult urinary tract infections).

My main point is you need the right antibiotic for the job. Cipro is "strong" for fighting anthrax, but lousy for chlamydia. Zithromax is fabulous against chlamydia but lousy for anthrax. Some antibiotics are fabulous against "anerobic" bacteria, but most suck against them, and visa versa.

Another factor is WHERE the infection is. Some drugs are more absorbed by the gums, others by the urinary tract. The prostate is a particular challenge -- very few antibiotics penetrate it. So ampicillin is great to kill Enterococcal Faecalis infections in a lot of places in your body, but NOT in your prostate -- it just doesn't penetrate.

Doctors try to avoid their ignorance about all this (about what you have, and about what the best antibiotic is) by prescribring a "broad spectrum" antibiotic -- one that kills lots of stuff, and that penetrates lots of places. Levaquin is a great one for many of us -- it penetrates the prostate, kills a lot of intestinal bacteria, and isn't too bad against chlamydia.

But at least one interesting doctor things a lot of our problems come from a common infection which is is parasitic -- for which Levaquin is probably useless, and something like Flagyl might be necessary. See http://www.spacedoc.net/prostatitis.html

BOTTOM LINE

Infection is the cause of at least some of our problems.

And you need the right antibiotic for the job.

And you can't trust 99% of most urologists to be careful about this.

and I'm still looking for #100...

Spy