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Discussion => Drug safety => Topic started by: yorg on May 19, 2012, 07:28 am

Title: Is there a doctor in the house?
Post by: yorg on May 19, 2012, 07:28 am
I'm a 20 year old male, pain started a bout 3 weeks ago, perhaps a little less.

Lately, my balls have started to hurt whenever I smoke pot, so I went to the urologist. The two physicians came into the room, one to examine me,. and one to examine the exam.
Right away they both agree that it is an obvious varicocele, which is what I had originally deduced via Google. They said surgery isn't recommended unless its painful, and that even with surgery its possible I'll still have pain.

I would have asked my doctors these questions during my appointment but they're attitudes immediately turned condescending as soon as I mentioned it was the weed that brought it to my attention.

1. I tried Adderall a couple times over the last 2 months, two times I took 20mg XRs and once I took 2 20mg  IRs (Once in the morning, once in the evening.). All doses brought on some testicle pain, but I didn't think anything of it having heard about that kind of pain being associated with amphetamines. Could this have triggered it?

I also tripped on some mush a few times, the most recent trip literally left me hunched over when I walked due to the pain in my sides from laughing. I'm thinking maybe I somehow damaged it from laughing, or sat on it/restricted blood flow to it without noticing?

2. Is pot going to kill my testicles, or can the varicocele rupture from the build of of blood? I think I'd be okay to smoke if I just laid down and chilled for the duration of the high, but that isn't always an option when smoking with friends, or at parties.

3. This better not fucking ruin drugs for me. Does anyone else have this problem? What drugs cause problems for you? I'm mostly worried about psychedelics. I was just experimenting with Adderall & I don't fuck with hard drugs.

4. Last question: Can a varicocele rupture? Its my new biggest fear. Ugh.

I know this is stuff I should ask my doctor, but it would seem that most don't understand and just say "drugs are bad" etc.

Anyone's input is appreciated, but especially if you have a medical degree, or know a doc you could ask.


Thanks, and stay safe!

Title: Re: Is there a doctor in the house?
Post by: gtgeorgz on May 19, 2012, 02:23 pm
Yes atm i have a varicocele in my left ball. It only hurts me about twice a year though. I wake up not being able to move my left side without extreme pain and this lasts for about 6 hours-ish.
Smoking weed or nicotine or doing any drug doesnt have an effect on mine. The only thing i can think of that causes pain for you when smoking weed is the faster heart beat. This would increase the blood flow to the testicle, hence, inducing the pain. Have you taken any stimulants or mdma and had the same response? Or even heavy exercise? If yes, then its probably due to a faster heart beat.
I would suggest contact a veins surgeon in your area or speak it though with the doctor again, try and get sugary on it if it is causing you lots of problems.
And yes, it is technically possible for it to rupture, but this is very very very rare. there have been only something like five reported cases of this.
hope this helps you.
Title: Re: Is there a doctor in the house?
Post by: CrankedToEleven on May 19, 2012, 03:08 pm
M.D. here.

No, your drug use isn't going to cause your balls to explode, fall off, or otherwise be disfigured or fucked up. Varicoceles are the result of the spermatic cord veins being dilated -- basically varicose veins in your scrotum. Typically, they develop slowly, favor the left side of your nutsack, and are more common in younger males, i.e. 15-25 or so. If you palpate the region, it'll feel like a bag of worms, but not always. You may also notice the kiwi on the side of the varicocele may be relatively smaller compared to its brother.

This may sound silly, but wearing underwear that hugs your hoagie may help with pain relief. It the pain continues, you may need further treatment. Two primary inventions:

1) varicoelectomy: outpatient procedure where the urologist will incise your lower abdomen and tie off the abnormal veins. Blood will be shunted around the dilated veins, flowing into the normal veins. Recovery isn't too bad. Just ice to reduce swelling.
2) varicocele embolization: very similar to a cardiac angioplasty. Smaller incision, a catheter is inserted into a large vein in your neck or groin. Using X-ray, the physician will place a tiny coil in the varicocele. Blood is shunted around the varicocele and into the normal veins.

Usually they're harmless and don't require an invasive procedure.

Another possibility is a urinary tract infection. They do occur in men (much less frequently than women) and they're excruciatingly painful. I've had a couple and it felt like my testicle was on fire. Course of antibiotics cleared that up. If you're doing stimulants, stay away from the Z-pack -- it increases the risk of sudden cardiac death.

Virtually all stimulants are pressors. The constriction of your veins could cause increased vascular resistance, forcing more blood through your varicocele -- which explains the increased pain.

No, a varicocele doesn't rupture. Like I said, it's basically a varicose vein in your sack. Pot will not kill your testicles.

Title: Re: Is there a doctor in the house?
Post by: yorg on May 19, 2012, 07:35 pm
Thanks! The last thing I want to think about whilst tripping is my balls exploding, so that puts my mind at ease.   ;D

 I'd give you + karma if I knew how to do it (too low a post count?)

It definitely feels like a bag of worms but I'm going to get a second opinion soon just to really rule out a UTI anyway.
 Last night I smoked with some friends before I came home and made this thread, and it was definitely a burning sensation that time.
Mostly in the "varicocele" area with a bit of pain/tingling sensation at the base of the penis/urethra that was concentrated on the left side.


@gtgeorgz: I feel okay when I wake up. No bodily pain & my balls feel fine. Like I said, I first felt the pain on Adderall but I chalked it up to normal amphetamine pain. Caffeine & nicotine have no effect it seems, and yesterday I walked ~2 with only some slight heaviness in the area afterwards. So far weed is what brings on the pain but I haven't used anything else since it started.

Tonight I'll try to work up my heart with some exercise and see what that does.
Title: Re: Is there a doctor in the house?
Post by: Tryptamine on May 20, 2012, 04:03 am
Buy a huge bottle of 1g vitamin C + 100mg citrus flavonoids tablets, take at least 5 of them a day.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15756071
http://www.springerlink.com/content/x244751127g85505/
Title: Re: Is there a doctor in the house?
Post by: yorg on May 20, 2012, 09:26 am
The subject pool was rather small but it's still interesting. I think I'll give it a try, but IIRC vitamin C can increase your chance of developing kidney stones, something I hope to never experience. :'(

Title: Re: Is there a doctor in the house?
Post by: Tryptamine on May 20, 2012, 04:39 pm
The subject pool was rather small but it's still interesting. I think I'll give it a try, but IIRC vitamin C can increase your chance of developing kidney stones, something I hope to never experience. :'(


Kidney stones do not occur unless you have a consistently terrible diet and/or continous exposure to specific toxins that induce their formation. Ascorbate is catabolized into Oxalate, from which kidney stones are made, but that in and of itself does not promote kidney stone formation.
Either way that's a trivial concern compared to the wide range of disease caused by vitamin C deficiency.