As a chronic Prostatitis sufferer, the priority is to cure your condition.. however as time goes by with no cure, indeed as the years go by, the fact that one's symptoms can be lessened is often missed.
Dealing with chronic Prostatitis is a strain, a psychological strain and often a monetary strain as well. If the sufferer drinks alcohol, as time goes by, the consumption will often increase. Alcoholic consumption alone, let alone heavy consumption, can be a potent irritant. At the very least it often exacerbates prostatitis. Additionally, heavier consumption can play havoc with finances and relationships. Add to all that the fact that for the sufferer, alcohol has often turned from being a moderate habit into a crutch.
Clearly, on many fronts, the consumption of alcohol is bad for a chronic prostatitis patient, whether their condition has a proven bacterial cause or not.
At some stage in the process, the person realises that a complete recovery is over the horizon at present, and that anything, even a reduction of symptoms is a lot better than nothing. And the best news is that severely reducing the consumption of alcohol, even cutting it out entirely is something that you yourself have complete control over. For once you don't have to reply on Doctor dispensed treatment, for once, this is something you can do to help yourself.
If you find limiting your intake of alcohol is difficult to do, then get help, persevere and for some prostatitis sufferers, there will be a significant lessening of symptoms. One trick to keeping alcohol consumption down is to multiply the volume of the drinks by their alcohol by volume percentage, arriving at a number of alcohol units, then set a maximum number of units per day. Hit the maximum and say "NO". Necessary if you regularly mix beer, wine and spirits as it's hard to keep track (not of the number of drinks) of the actual alcohol consumed. Only drink beer?.. that's easy, set the number of bottles, say 2 small beers.. and say a very firm "NO" (mostly to yourself). If you find you get distracted and your desire to limit is not working, you've got one great definitive solution.. GIVE it up for good!
After that step, the going becomes easier regarding other items you can remove. A big advance you can make in the food realm is chilli and other strong spices, followed by coffee. You've got to have some pleasures and a cup or so, at the most, of coffee during the day may not make a great difference, but more than that and especially in the case of strong spices, havoc may ensue.
Next, make sure you drink plenty of water, not just for general hydration, also to keep flushing any bacteria out of the bladder and urethra. To make this work you'll need to make changes; if desk-bound, keep a large bottle of water and glass on the desk, on-the-go people need a container of water, say on the outside of a small back pack. If you don't make changes, it's unlikely to become a habit, and therefore fail.
Finally, exercise is a great reliever.. perhaps not a lot for pathogenic prostatitis, but certainly for the mind. It usually does wonders for your psychological state. Keep your weight down and exercise wisely regularly (concentrate on resistance exercise and avoid that boring treadmill). The simplest example of resistance exercise is to walk up a steepish hill versus walking on the flat.
The reader may get the impression I think all the above is easy to do.. it's not, I've been through it.. and done it.
Ok, I've done a much bigger post about how to reduce your prostatitis symptoms HERE
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostatitis
http://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/3-ways-exercise-helps-the-prostate-yes-the-prostate
http://www.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/urinary-tract-infection/print.html
http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART02824/prostatitis.html
http://www.healthy.net/Health_Hint/Alcohol_Know_Your_Limit_And_Stick_to_It/200
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