Anyone ever find a bloody tinge in their semen?

Has anyone seen blood in their semen? This happened to me starting several months ago. Dark brown/black streaks began showing in my semen. Sometime almost entirely black. No pain no nothing, just dark streaks. And it wasn't just a one time occurrence.

Off to the urologist who wasn't too concerned. DRE was normal. Said it was probably due to some kind of benign inflammation so he gave me some antibiotics and said it should go away after several months (takes 3 mons for semen to move through your system). He also said that blood, particularly old blood (black/brown) is very common occurrence.

So my question to those who work with semen, how common is this? And what causes it? The urologist couldn't say for sure. But said it wasn't serious. But still it freaks my partner out. She won't swallow any more.

It can be infection, trauma or inflammation. Trust your urologist. This too shall pass.

I had a few red streaks in my semen for a while after having a UTI 20 years ago. My urologist also said not to worry about it. It went away after a few weeks. It was still scary to see.

BTW, that 3 months is misleading. He's talking about the time from spermatogenesis (spern birth) in the testicle, through incubation in the epididimus, travel through the vas until ejaculation. What's probably bleeding is your prostate. That fluid is made between ejaculations and only lasts until the next ejaculation.

Bleeding could also be coming from the epididymis due to epididymitis.

Bleeding could also be coming from the epididymis due to epididymitis.

From personal experience - usually quite symptomatic.

The urologist did say it could be coming anywhere from testicles on up. Not having any other noticeable symptoms, I don't have a clue myself.

My question remains... how common is this, blood in your semen? Semen doesn't often come up in conversations so i don't have any background to draw from.

Common? No.

Uncommon? Also no.

Why don't you hear about it? As you pointed out, quality and quantity of semen isn't a common discussion unless it's about that incredible porn video. The telling thing is that your urologist isn't concerned.

Thanks Jds4med. Now what about my partner swallowing it? Probably not a good idea?

Meaningless. Personal preference. Just like you going down on a woman during her period. It's not going to hurt you, but many men find it distasteful.

Because your doctor put you on antibiotics, it might be a good idea to avoid putting your semen into anybody for a few days to make sure the medicine has worked.

Yes. I had that happen several years ago and it alarmed me. I was taking a Family Doc to lunch and told him about it. (We had a close relationship). He said it's probably nothing, but he'd look at it when we got back to his office. He did a DRE and a prostate massage on me, which produced some pre-cum. He put it on a microscope slide and looked at it. He told me it looked like some amorphous material and was most likely prostatitis. He gave me a week's supply of Bactrim samples and it cleared up completely. Have never had it again.

Over the last 20 years, either I or my partner have noticed darker coloured semen about a dozen times. It was not black, and not even brown, just discoloured and "brownish". I didn't even make it to a Urologist, but did ask my Family Dr., what he thought about it. He wasn't particularly helpful, but didn't seem too concerned, and didn't prescribe antibiotics or anything else.

I carried out the usual online searches, (WebMD, Mayo, etc.) and it seemed, as others have said, that this condition, while not all that common, can occur as a result of a variety of causes. It may be under-reported since not everyone examines their ejaculate every time. In my case, each time it happened it was a "one-off", so I was prepared to disregard it, and assume it was a relatively benign event.

I am hyper-vigilant about any odd symptoms, but there have been no adverse consequences to date.

This is a follow up to my OP.

I still have a mostly black (old blood) ejaculate. It's been consistently black for 20 months now. It has not responded to antibiotics.

Got a second opinion from another urologist. She ran several tests including testicle ultrasound, CT and blood chemistries. Nothing showed abnormal. But when I see black semen it just doesn't seem "normal" to me.

And over the past 20 months, my ejaculate volume has decreased at least 50% if not 30% and gotten more completely black.

I'm going to quit worrying about it but thinking now of joining a circus to be in their "oddity tent".

Have you been tested for neoplasms?

Only after I had a needle prostate biopsy, first ejaculate after that looked like it was pure blood and my urologist had not told me that would happen. It continued that way for a couple of weeks, slowely returning to normal.

"Have you been tested for neoplasms?"

Not sure what that test would be. Wouldn't an ultrasound and CT show a neoplasm if present?

At my physical last month, my GP said that 99% of the time, blood in semen is benign. Maybe so, but shouldn't it work itself out eventually? Isn't 20 months an exceptionally long time to work out? And its getting worse not better, IMO.

So that's 2 board certified urologists and a long time GP shrugging their shoulders at the problem. Maybe I would get more information from a GYN. 😉

I have only had blood in my semen following procedures to shrink my prostate. The first was after a TUNA and the second time after laser surgery. It went away pretty quickly.