To treat my prostatitis and epididymitis conditions, I tried a number of different treatments, including antibiotics, homeopathy, naturopathy etc., but none worked other than phage therapy. I did a lot of research into phage therapy before deciding to go for it. My research included reading a lot of academic papers and research studies, interacting with phage scientists and microbiologists, and watching a lot of videos to understand what phages are and how they work. I will try to explain phages and phage therapy in this post.
Bacteriophages, or ‘phages’, are naturally occurring viruses that infect and feed on bacteria. They do not harm any organisms other than their target bacteria. They are found everywhere – in the air, in water, soil, food, even inside our bodies, and any other environment that allows bacteria to grow in it.
Phage Therapy is the use of phages to cure bacterial infections in human hosts.
How does Phage Therapy work?
Phages attach themselves to the wall of the bacterial cell, puncture the cell wall and inject their DNA (genetic material) into the bacterial cell. The DNA uses the cell structure and nutrition from the bacteria to replicate itself. As more and more copies of the phage are created, the bacterial cell bursts and the phages inside are released.
These phages then find other bacterial cells to infect, and repeat the process with them, thus eliminating the entire colony of bacteria in this manner.
If you have a bacterial infection and want to take phage therapy, a relevant body fluid or swab is cultured to ascertain the bacteria infecting the body. Once the culture is obtained, various phage medicines are applied to the cultured bacteria to test whether they can be killed by the phages. Once a sensitive phage medication is identified, it is used to treat the infection.
There are many ways to administer the phage medication, and the appropriate methods are decided by the treating doctors, based on the location of the infection, among other factors.
Safety of Phage Therapy
Phages are not broad-spectrum by nature. That is, a specific phage is only meant for a corresponding bacterial strain. This means that when you take the phage medicine, it does not start destroying all the bacteria inside your gut (that aids digestion and boosts immunity) and the rest of your body. Only the bacteria that the phage is meant to ‘eat’ will be attacked by it.
I have my own experience of taking phages for 12 months in order to cure my chronic epididymitis and chronic bacterial prostatitis. During this period, and afterwards, I felt no side effects of phages, and they have not negatively impacted me in any way. As opposed to the antibiotics that I took orally that caused severe side effects in just 2 months but did nothing to cure my infection, this was medication that I could take for a prolonged period of time without harming my body in the process.
However, as with any form of medication, it is unadvisable to take phage therapy without proper testing and supervision from trained practitioners. It is also important to know that not every place that offers phage therapy will give you the best treatment you can find. Going to the right place is imperative for a safe treatment using relevant phage medicines, and for a good chance of a successful treatment outcome.
If you are reading this and are considering phage therapy, feel free to contact me at pranav711@gmail.com.
Hi! I wanted to give my 2 cents regarding phage therapy in Eliava institute. I’ve been through the first intensive round there and since then my symptoms are about 50% better. I will be receiving more phages soon and hopefully the infection is totally or at least mostly gone after that. I was in such a bad condition I tried to kill myself in several occasions and now I’m much better.
Treatment is 3900€. For that money I got about 20 urologist visits with urethral instillations, internist, psychologist and neurologist visits, 6 labs, ultrasounds, about 50 boxes of oral phages, 20 suppositories + all other medicine I ever needed. They got me anything I needed and I had a nurse on whatsapp at all times. I had 2 attending doctors for me. Other one spoke great english, other one just a little but we always had a nurse with perfect english in case there was more details to explain.
There were people from all around the world (and locals ofc!) for all kinds of diseases. Some were almost cured, some were just starting their treatment. I actually met another person with prostatitis and he felt improvements after the first week. Some people do need many rounds of phages though.
They gave me a wine bottle and other memorabilia to take home as well! I can post a picture of my Eliava coffee mug and coaster hahaha.
I did find that sometimes things we’rent crystal clear because of language barrier and it created a bit confusion here and there and they are very confident in their treatment; so much so that they don’t always realize that patient might need more reassuring and explaining. Nothing bad happened though, just a little confusion, which made me anxious on a couple of occasions.
Pranav Johri has been an invaluable help to me during the treatment and he does it only because he wants everyone else to be free of this curse! I would have been lost without him. He’s been answering all of my dumbass questions without asking anything in return (only that I tell my experience to others).
Tbilisi is an exciting but messy city! Don’t go alone if you can’t handle horrible traffic and aren’t willing to learn a few words of Georgian.
ANYONE PLANNING TO VISIT HAS TO DO THEIR OWN RESEARCH FIRST!!!. You have to convince yourself before you go, don’t take other peoples’ word for it! You have to know more than an average patient! You are going to a strange country to get strange treatment to a strange disease. You have to be aware of the shortcomings and advantages and nature of the treatment you’re about to undertake. There is so much to take in that you don’t want to get second thoughts while you are there.
I will make an update after the second round here as well.
Good health to everyone!
Thank you Mikko for sharing your experience with phage therapy. I am glad to see that you are doing better after the treatment. Prostatitis is a difficult condition to beat, and can put one in a dark place. Happened with me, happened with you, happens with most prostatitis sufferers. It requires courage to fight back, find a treatment that works, persist with it and finally reclaim your life. I am happy to see that you are on that path. Good luck.
i too have attended eliava for the prostate curse,its a good clinic as mikko describes it above,a great deal of experience,treatment takes time and patients myself included do become anxious at times for the reasons stated plus the nature of this ailment.i have seen a reduction in my symptoms and problems and im almost there now, i hope i will be finished soon at the end of round 1.my urination aches and pains are much diminished the staff are excellent . pranav is a life belt in a whirling vortex when it comes to prostatitis ,reach out for it. we are often confused by the disease and the response generally of medicine which is poor to say the very least but this is a way forward so put your first foot forward and start the long walk home. thanks pranav
Thanks for sharing your experience with phage therapy Jon. I am happy to know that you are feeling better after your treatment. I hope the remaining symptoms will be resolved soon and you’ll be able to get back living life as you did before prostatitis hit you.