STD / Amoxiclav / Testing

[markj2014]

Good afternoon,

Firstly, I thank you for taking the time to review my questions.

In brief, about 10 months ago I separated from my wife for a couple of months.
During the separation I received unprotected oral sex from another women (albeit 30 / 45 seconds) before coming to my senses and stopping the situation, this was my one and ONLY incident.
About 6 weeks after this incident, I got back with my wife and continued our relationship.

Due to paranoia I decided to get STD tested. My concern is that about 6 months ago I was taking Amoxiclav for an oral abscess problem, I believe this can sometimes be used to treat sexual bacteria type infections. I am a little worried in case my tests are messed up due to this.

I have just two questions:

I successfully completed a full sexual health screen in January – all negative. Since taking the Amoxiclav 6 months ago, I have had sex with my wife numerous times.

1. I am correct to assume that if I did infect her before taking the Amoxiclav, that I would have reinfected through sex over the last 6 months and tested positive?
2. I have been a little worried over gonorrhoea and NGU, I’ve had no symptoms though. In your professional opinion, are my negative tests reliable?

Thank you for taking the time to review my situation and I hope to review some good news.

[markj2014]

Thanks howard.

I have no more questions and will do my best to move on. Your right with the guilt, thats up to me to deal with it now.

Thank you for your time.

[HowardH]

If somehow your wife had acquired gonorrhea 10 months earlier, most liklely the infection would have been cleared by her immune system.

But I'm sure you're going to have still more "yes but", "what if", or "could I be the exception" sorts of quesitons. Please suppress such thoughts.  This is all an emotional issue for you, not a medical one. You obviously need to work through your guilt over a regretted sexual choice. But don't confuse that with STD risk. They aren't the same, and the latter simply isn't an issue for you to worry about.

That's my last comment. Good luck with it all.

[markj2014]

Thanks Howard. I can tell from your response that you are obviously more than confident that im ok, and i greatly value taking the time to try and reassure me.

Although my last questions are a bit 'far out' i would appreciate if you could advise a question i have about gonorrhea. 1. If in the very unlikely chance i passed this on unknowingly would my wife have self cured after 10 months?

Like you said i know i am clean and expect my wife to be the same. I just want to be close to 100% as i can be without telling her about this matter.

We are now trying for a family and i dont want any obsticles or problems in the way. That was my main reason for writing into the site.

Thank you and all the medhelp consultants for your help and advice!

[HowardH]

You're asking about far-out "what if" scenarios that have no realistic possibility. Don't over think it. Almost certainly you weren't infected, did not infect your wife, have no infection currently, and neither does she. You did not put her health at significant risk from your single oral sex exposure. Believe it and do your best to move on.

[markj2014]

Last point to my question, if STD self cure in 6 weeks. Would my wife have self cured if infected 9 months ago?

Thank you howard. I feel much better after your first response but just looking for full closure. Asking her to get tested is not an option i have and i want to ensure her health is safe.

[markj2014]

I greatly appreciate your detailed and informative answer. I have just a couple more things to question so I can understand fully.

My question above may read a little unclear, I was tested shortly after we got back together and once I found out that Amoxiclav can affect testing.

May - Received oral

June - Started sexual relations with my wife again and started taking Amoxiclav about two weeks after.

July - tested negative

January - tested against due to concern the information I read about Amoxiclav and to double check.

In the slight theoretical chance I infected my wife and somehow cured due to Amoxiclav, surely I would have been reinfected by over the last 6 months of us having sex?

[HowardH]

Welcome to the forum.

First, it is very unlikely you acquired any STD from a single exposure of this sort. Oral sex is safe sex, low risk for all STDs and zero risk for some. Second, most STDs from oral sex would cause obvious symptoms; lack of symptoms is strong evidence against it. Third, even without treatment, many STDs would have cleared up on their own within 6 weeks.

Finally, to your main question: Amoxicillin/clavulanic acid would "interfere" with testing only because it would cure most bacterial STDs you might have acquired, including gonorrhea, syphilis, and most cases of NGU. (Also chlamydia, but that's one of the STDs almost never acquired by oral sex.) The most problematical is NGU, but NGU from oral sex is not known to harm partners in any way.

So in theory you could have had an infection at the time you resumed sex with your wife, but that 6 months later would not be detected by testing. AT this point, there is no testing that could diagnose a past cured infection. However, the chance you infected your wife is exceedingly low, and you can safely just move on without further worry about it.

I hope this has helped. Good luck.