Almost 3 years no symptoms?

[littlechad24]

Hello Dr,

I am 36 year old male.

I started having a dull pain in my right lower abdomen on April 06th. I then noticed a slight burning sensation while
urinating and occasional itching/pain of the penis head - mostly while sitting for long periods at work. I did not notice any discharge but did not know to look for it until after doing to doc. If there was any, it was not much and was clear otherwise I would have noticed. The symptoms persisted and I went to see a doctor 5 days later on April 11th.
She tested my urine (I do not know what tests they performed) and examed my  penis (it was not red) and testicles (no swelling) and checked for enlarged lymph nodes (none found). She diagnosed me with Urethritis. She was very
quick and adiment to say that it was not an STD and I was not contaigous. I don't know how she came to this conclusion. She prescribed 7 d of Ciprofloxacin 2x500mg per day and gave me a website to go to for more info.
After checking the website, it seems that Urethritis is mostly an STD!.

Almost exactly 3 years ago (about 2y 10m when symptoms started). I had protected oral and protected vaginal sex with escort before marrage. Afterword I had redness on side of penis from her teeth & I found out afterword that the condom had recently expired. But it did not break. Tested HIV 6m & 14m after - both neg. Also donated blood 15 month later. I never tested for chlamydia or gono - I did not know they could be asymptomatic for so long plus I never had any symptoms.

Wife delivered a healthy baby girl in July 2007. I thought she was tested for all STD but maybe not. I have only been w/wife since. Do you think the symptoms could be from my encounter with escort? If so, what could it be?  

After 5 days, my symptoms all left except the pain in my side but I do not think it is related anymore. Probably a pulled muscle. Since the Cipro seems to have eliminated the infection, can I assume it was not Chlamydia (ineffective)?

Thanks

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

Almost all nongonococcal urethritis (NGU) is sexually acquired.  However, it can be difficult to accurately distinguish NGU from other things, like non-sexually acquired urinary tract infection conditions affecting the prostate gland.  You're a bit young for such conditions, but getting pretty close.  In addition, some sexually acquired urethritis cases are not STDs in the usual sense.  For example, men who have anal sex can acquire NGU due to non-STD bacteria normally present in the rectum.  NGU probably also can be caused by normal mouth bacteria, so oral sex probably is a risk even in mutually monogamous couples.

One of these explanations is much more likely than the possibility you have been infected without symptoms for the 3 years since the escort contact you describe.  Although once in while women can carry vaginal or cervical STD infections for that long, this appears to be very rare in men.  And condoms do not leak without breaking, regardless of how out of date they are.  And your negative tests since that exposure are further evidence against any infection you acquired back then.  All things considered, you can be 100% certain you have no STD that you have carried all this time.

The symptoms you describe don't sound like those of urethritis; they are much more typical for prostatitis or perhaps the male chronic pelvic pain syndrome (which some people still classify as a non-infectious form of prostatitis).  So my bet is that the diagnosis isn't strictly correct.  But you need to discuss the other possibilities with your doctor.  In the meantime, if you are confident that your wife hasn't had other partners, you can just put the whole STD issue aside.  It's clearly not a problem here.

I hope this helps.  Best wishes--  HHH, MD

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

I suppose it is possible, but your symptoms are not typical for urethritis, whether due to adenovirus or anything else.  And adenovirus urethritis clears up on its own, generally within 2-3 weeks.

You need to work this through with your doctor. In the meantime, try not to worry about it.  Almost certainly you have nothing that will ever seriously harm your health or your wife's.

[littlechad24]

Thanks again Doctor,

I've been checking out the other posts and was wondering if this could be caused by Adenoviris? My wife and I both have had red eyes for a while and I did receive oral sex from her since it started. The redness is bi-lateral and I do not think it is caused by bacterial since there is very little discharge and what there is, is white. No fevers or repsiratory symptoms though.

My burning during urination came back last week for one day then went away again. That is why I am asking.

Thanks

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

Glad to be of help.

Cipro is not ideal against chlamydia, but usually would clear it up.  But even without treatment, chlamydia has never been known to persist in men for more than a few months.  And it doesn't cause prostatitis symptoms.  It's really not a serious consideration here.

[littlechad24]

Thank you for your reply Dr. It is very reassuring. Logically I pretty much knew I was close to zero risk but the thought that my wife may have had something the entire time she was pregnant made me a little irrational.

I think you are spot on about the prostatitis. I may be a few years ahead on that. I've been feeling for a while that I may have some problems developing there. I've been having odd (not painful) sensations there during ejaculation for a while. And due to my wifes pregnancy and caring for a new baby I've had several instances of prolonged periods w/o sex/masturbation in the last year. The first ejaculation after the layoff is usually semi-painful (like clearing a blockage) and it feels like it doesn't all make it out. Also, the semen is an odd color/consistancy. Usually it is yellowish but one time it had a yellow-green color and once it had a jelly like consistancy. It always returns to normal within 2-3 ejaculations as long as they are within a few days.

I was wondering if my theory that if Cipro got rid of the infection then it must not have been Chlamydia is valid? I know it doesn't matter in this case. I was just curious.