Chlamydia/Bacterial Vaginosis

[notsure703]

Spent a weekend with my girlfriend last weekend and noticed a raunchy fishy odor coming from her vagina the entire weekend whenever we had sex.  I was tempted to mention something, but didn't since the relationship is fairly new and we only see each other every few weeks, I didn't want to embarrass her or make her feel self conscious.  I've never encountered anything like that odor before with any girl I'd previously been with.

This past weekend (5 or 6 days since we last had sex), I noticed my urethra starting to itch and a day or so later, today slight burning while urinating (like when urinating after ejaculation) and a very slight clear sticky discharge from my penis.  I could tell because when ever I pulled my underwear away from my penis, some fibers from my underwear were stuck to the tip.

My questions are as follows:

1) After doing some research, I'm assuming my girlfriend's odor is some form of bacterial vaginosis, but I'm not sure if that can passed on to a guy and if so, are symptoms in men similar to chlamydia?

2) If not, is a strong fishy odor a symptom of chlamydia in females as well?  There was never any odor any other time we had sex and now I think I have symptoms of something a week after the fact so it can't be a coincidence.  Although I would be absolutely shocked if she'd been with anybody else since our previous encounter.

3) I know chlamydia is the "silent disease", so is it possible that one of us may have had it before we met but it stayed dormant until something triggered it?  I'm sure I'm reaching with this question.

4) I had a doctor prescribe me 2G of azithromycin as a precaution and told me to take them all at once which I did this evening (8 250mg pills).  Had diarhhea but I'm fine now.  I'm assuming that should take care of chlamydia, but what about any bacterial vaginosis or gonorrhea?

I'm going to see her again this weekend for an entire weekend.  I'm going to get an STD test also tomorrow, but I'm pretty sure I won't have the results before this weekend and I'm a little paranoid.

[Dallasfan]

Honesty is always the best policy. I would discuss this with her as your concerns are valid. I recommend you both go for a good exam. The medication you had would have been effective for Chlamydia. Take care.

[gracefromHHP]

I'm totally with dallasfan - talk about this with your gal and let her know the symptoms you've had recently. Ask her if she's ever been tested for std's and if so when was the last time. I'd refrain from saying that you thought she smelled funky last time you were with her ( that is if you want to ever see her again...he he he ) but instead address from the aspect of - your doctor says she should go get tested and get a full work up for vaginitis and std's just to err on the side of caution since you are getting tested for them too.

grace

[gracefromHHP]

Oh and bv usuall is not an issue as far as transmission to males.  Trich is, but not bv or yeast.

grace

[notsure703]

Just a follow up, went for my STD test today.  Gram stain/swab showed some white cells, despite taking the azithromycin 2 days ago, so there is/was some sort of NGU.  Won't know the exact cause of the infection for 2 weeks.

Gave me doxycycline, but said I shouldn't need to take it since I took the azithromycin 2 days ago.  Also gave me metronidazole as a precaution for trich but told me it was optional to take.  Definitely said I should talk to my girlfriend about it.

I'll wait until after this weekend before taking both medications since I'm going to spend the weekend with my girlfriend and I'll most likely have a chat with her.

[auntiejessi]

The azith wouldn't clear things up that fast, so your WBCs are probably still from the whatever infection is causing this.

[notsure703]

Had the talk.  She took it pretty well, but seemed a little confused.  She's going to her OB-Gyn tomorrow.

Also, as far as her odor goes, I'm pretty sure she's aware of it.  She told me she needed to go to a pharmacy for something "female related" and I caught a glimpse of her buying a ******.  I'm pretty sure she was trying to hide it from me as well.

It got me thinking though that is it possible that one of us has had chlamydia for months (assuming that's what it is), not shown any symptoms, and all of a sudden one of us starts showing symptoms?  What else could my NGU results show when they come back besides chlamydia?

Thanks to everyone for their help!

[notsure703]

The word that was edited out in the post above was a Summer's Eve female cleansing product.  

[auntiejessi]

Ugh I'm sorry that got bleeped out.

She needs to stop douching (apparently that's not a bad word lol) and go to the doctor.  She should at least not be douching for 24-48 hours before she goes to the doctor.

Its quite possible you all are sharing chlamydia, but testing is what is going to determine that.  NGU is really just an infection in the urethra that isn't gonorrhea or chlamydia. You can read more about it at www.ashastd.org

Aj