STD Concern

[needhelp423]

Hi,

I need your help and expertise in this.

I'm a male, 30 years old.
I had unprotected oral sex with female CSW twice, once in late March and once last week.
It thought oral sex was safe.
I also had oral and vaginal sex with my wife during the period.

However I just realize yesterday after slight tingling during urination that there is an ulcer within the urethra, near the meatus. The ulcer is almost round, with a diameter of about 3mm. It is yellow/grey in color, with red outer lining. It is not raised. It looks quite similar with the canker sore in the mouth. At the same time I also have a small canker sore on my inner lip.

From what I read, it seems it could be syphilis. Furthermore, since the occurance of syphilis is quite high in this part of the world. But is it possible to get syphilis within the urethra?

If not syphilis, then what would it be?

I plan to get tested. What should I get tested on and when?

Thanks

[needhelp423]

Thanks, grace.
Yes, I will do that. So just wait for a week, and hopefully the symptoms has cleared by then.

Thanks so much.

[gracefromHHP]

no idea what part of the world you are in but often providers won't test and just treat in order to save you embarrassment from having a health department come knocking on your door step as well as less of a paper trail for spouses to follow.    not the best way to approach treatment in this day and age of antibiotic resistance by no means as well as it often wastes your time and money treating needlessly without knowing exactly what to treat for.

is it worth going to get treated for the whole shebang? no it is not and in fact it can be detrimental to your health :(

it sounds like she thinks this is just irritation more than anything but also covered some of the basics with a shot of antibiotics.  I think it was pure guessing more than anything.

so what do you do now? at this point, I'd do nothing more. give the medications you were given time to work. if symptoms aren't better in a week, return to be seen again.  At that point, there shouldn't be any more guessing but some actual testing before treatment - urine testing at the very least.  

[needhelp423]

Hi andlim,

I have seen another doctor. She looked on the ulcer but didnt do any test.

She then prescribed dexamethasone 0.5mg , 3 times daily for 3 days.

And also a single kanamycin shot.

She didnt say any specific std but that std seldom comes alone.

[andlim]

Hi needhelp423,

First you need to calm down. Your decision to go test is a good one. Every sexually active person shall be tested from time to time.

To your questions:
1. This question is not realistic. Have all the STDs in the book? She must be quite sick already. I doubt she can work, really. It's hard to answer these kind of questions, always. But, one time exposure will make infections very low risk. Not a risk for HIV, very low risk for Syphilis and Chlamydia and low risk for gonorrhea.
2. What medications you would like to take? You don't know what you have? I need to repeat this! Please do not treat yourself. Taking medicines, especially antibiotics will doctor's diagnosis inaccurate.
3. You can go for Gonorrhea and Chlamydia PCR urine test a week after the last exposure. Go for Syphilis and HIV test at 6 weeks after the last exposure. Those are the only tests you will need and most common.
Try to allocate some time to see a doctor. I have said it, a doctor will know what to do in your situation. Again, please DO NOT self-treat.

[needhelp423]

Thanks andlim.

I didn't have time to see a doctor today.

Can I ask a few more things here:
1. Assuming the female has every STD in the book (and I just read how scary is STD prevalence among CSW here, which is more than 50% for almost every types of STD), what are the STDs I'm at risk for?

2. After I take the medications, how long before I can expect to see improvement? How long after I finish medications that I can have sex without worry of infecting my partner?

3. I intend to take test for all possible STDs. What are the tests I need? When should I do each of them?

Thanks so much

[andlim]

Hi needhelp423,

I don't think it's a good choice to go straight to treatment without testing. It never is. Testing is the most important thing! Always! Why treat something when it is not there?
You are right. Go to a new doctor to get check for the ulcer. Under trained eyes of a doctor, he/she can identify the ulcer easily.
I can't tell you whether it's chancroid, syphilis or herpes. You should get doctor to check immediately. And, don't talk your doctor to give you any medications.
If you were infected with Syphilis, even after you have treated it, you still need to be tested from time to time to see if the infection really clears up. So, please, get the ulcers evaluated. Do not take any medications until your doctor gives one.

[needhelp423]

Sorry I accidentally choose this as answer.

[needhelp423]

Hi andlim,

Thanks for your response.
No, the doctor did not check on the ulcer. And yes, I do feel that he does not seem to take it seriously.

I'm thinking to see another doctor tomorow. Also, I plan to ask for all 'just-in-case' medication, including penicillin shot and doxycycline. That seems to be much safer choice and also less costly compared with multiple tests that need to be done. What do you think? And what other medications that I can take?

Also, I just found out about chancroid. It seems to be closer to what I'm having. Do you think so?

Thanks so much

Thanks

[Vance2335]

Anyone can respond to anyone on this forum, any info is always helpful. We encourage people to try to help others here.

[andlim]

Hi needhelp423,

I hope you do not mind if I respond to this.

Did your doctor check on your ulcers? What did he say about the ulcers? He might not be suspecting anything serious. But, I still think to get proper tests done is the way to go.

Cipro is OK at treating gonorrhea. But, with ulcers appearance, it is hard to associates ulcers with gonorrhea. I wonder why...

Maybe you can let us know what did the doctor tell you?

Grace,
I'm sorry to respond to needhelp423. This incident is quite interesting and the doctor seemed to take this lightly. Sorry again.

[needhelp423]

Hi Grace,

I have seen a GP, who proceeded to give me Cipro for 5 days. There was no test given. Do you think that is appropriate action?

Thanks

[needhelp423]

Thanks gracefromHPP.

I'm sorry that I comes of as purposely lying to my wife.

We have been married for 9 years, with 3 kids and I'm really afraid that because of my stupid acts the marriage will be wrecked.

I have always been faithful, during the past years. It's only during this few months that I cheated due to new job and work situation. I fully acknowledge it's my mistake.

Can you tell me, for the tests, when it should be done for the remaining screening?

And what medical practitioner should I see? Is it general practitioner or urologist?

Thanks

[gracefromHHP]

oral sex isn't 100% safe sex. It should always be protected if you aren't aware of your partner's std status.  

you need to be seen today or tomorrow and get this looked at by a medical provider. if they suspect herpes, they can do a lesion culture. same as they can do a test if they suspect syphilis too. Also let them know that you've had other partners so you can discuss additional std testing too. chlamydia, gonorrhea and ngu testing is the only other std testing that is accurate at this point from your 2nd encounter.

oral sex isn't a real risk for hiv infection.

if you really did contract a std, don't be disrespectful to your wife and make up a lie about how you contracted it, own up to your actions and tell her how you really got it. If you tell her some ludicrous story like you got it from a toilet seat - within 15 minutes of searching online she'll find out you lied and then hate you even more for lying to her in addition to cheating on her :(

grace

[needhelp423]

Sorry, I forgot to mention also that yesterday and today I feel slightly feverish also.

Is there any HIV risk?
What are the risks for my wife?

If this is really STD, what are the plausible explanation I can give? Is transmission via toilet seat possible at all? Or unclean utensils at restaurants?

Thanks so much.