Nutrition Health Chat: Tuesday, Dec. 8th, 5-6 PM Eastern. Learn how vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients affect your health. Free live Q&A. Join us!
Member Comments are provided by individuals and reflect their personal opinions only. Under NO circumstances should you act on any advice or opinion posted in this forum. ALWAYS check with your personal physician before taking any action regarding your health! MedHelp International and our partners, sponsors and affiliates have no obligation to monitor any comments posted on this site, or the content and/or accuracy of such exchanges. MedHelp International does not endorse the views of any user.
STDs (Expert Forum)
Am I Contagious?
Answered by
University of Washington
Seattle - WA
Welcome to the STD Forum, which is intended only for questions and support pertaining to sexually transmitted diseases other than HIV/AIDS, including chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, human papillomavirus, genital warts, trichomonas, other vaginal infections, nongonoccal urethritis (NGU), cervicitis, molluscum contagiosum, chancroid, and pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). All questions will be answered by H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D. or Edward W Hook, MD.
Am I Contagious?
by ToastedOne, Dec 13, 2005 12:00AM
A Histroy:
1. Late in September, I was drunk and had unprotected oral (fellatio)and vaginal sex in a pool after a party. On October 26, I begain feeling sensitivity in the tipe of my penis. It was not pain, there was no drip, no general burning, no burning during urination and ejaculation. On Friday, I begain feeling ill, similiar to flu and I went to an urgent care. They tested my urine and found a very slight positive for Leukocytes. The PA (doctor was not there) gave me Bactrim, 2 x a day, 10 days. I took it and did not feel better. On November 8, I went to Quest and got STD testing. It came back negative 3 days later for everything they tested for which was HIV, both heps, both herpes,chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphillus. That afternoon, after the testing, I was able to get azythromycin and Suprax, 1 gram of each in a suspension which both my wife and I took. As I came back negative, I guess I did not need it.
2. The Bactrim, Zythromax and Suprax did not help. I went to another doctor, told him the history and he prescribed Cipro, 750 mg x 2 per day. He also sent my urine for C&S which came back as "no organisms cultured." The Cipro did not help so I went to a clinic that supposedly specializes in STD treatment. He swabbed me twice and said he found yeast. I have a doctor friend in another state who said he did not buy it. Anyway, that doctor gave me Flagyl at the clinic, 7 days on Fluconizole and 10 days of Erythromycin, 4 a day at 500 mg.
3. Did not work either. Went finally to my PCP who gave me a digital rectal exam and said my prostate is spongy and I that I have mild acute prostatitis. I did not tell him any of the history as I wanted the process to start over with the testing which has not come back yet. He gave me Levaquin, 500 mg 1 x a day for 30 days and Ibuprofen.
Questions:
1. I was feeling better, much less stressed until I read online about chlamydia, gonorrhea and mycoplasma being fastidious and able to hide in the prostate. Is that common and should I be nervous?
2. Will the Zythromax and Suprax be effective in treating my prostate should this be the case? Or will there be residual infection in which I can pass on to my wife?
3. I cannot get my mind around the fact that my penis is sore and that I do not have a contagion in me. What are the chances that I am actually contagious after Zythromax, Suprax, Bactrim, Erythromycin, Fluconizole, Flagyl and Cipro?
4. Can I stop worrying about losing my wife and family?
1. Late in September, I was drunk and had unprotected oral (fellatio)and vaginal sex in a pool after a party. On October 26, I begain feeling sensitivity in the tipe of my penis. It was not pain, there was no drip, no general burning, no burning during urination and ejaculation. On Friday, I begain feeling ill, similiar to flu and I went to an urgent care. They tested my urine and found a very slight positive for Leukocytes. The PA (doctor was not there) gave me Bactrim, 2 x a day, 10 days. I took it and did not feel better. On November 8, I went to Quest and got STD testing. It came back negative 3 days later for everything they tested for which was HIV, both heps, both herpes,chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphillus. That afternoon, after the testing, I was able to get azythromycin and Suprax, 1 gram of each in a suspension which both my wife and I took. As I came back negative, I guess I did not need it.
2. The Bactrim, Zythromax and Suprax did not help. I went to another doctor, told him the history and he prescribed Cipro, 750 mg x 2 per day. He also sent my urine for C&S which came back as "no organisms cultured." The Cipro did not help so I went to a clinic that supposedly specializes in STD treatment. He swabbed me twice and said he found yeast. I have a doctor friend in another state who said he did not buy it. Anyway, that doctor gave me Flagyl at the clinic, 7 days on Fluconizole and 10 days of Erythromycin, 4 a day at 500 mg.
3. Did not work either. Went finally to my PCP who gave me a digital rectal exam and said my prostate is spongy and I that I have mild acute prostatitis. I did not tell him any of the history as I wanted the process to start over with the testing which has not come back yet. He gave me Levaquin, 500 mg 1 x a day for 30 days and Ibuprofen.
Questions:
1. I was feeling better, much less stressed until I read online about chlamydia, gonorrhea and mycoplasma being fastidious and able to hide in the prostate. Is that common and should I be nervous?
2. Will the Zythromax and Suprax be effective in treating my prostate should this be the case? Or will there be residual infection in which I can pass on to my wife?
3. I cannot get my mind around the fact that my penis is sore and that I do not have a contagion in me. What are the chances that I am actually contagious after Zythromax, Suprax, Bactrim, Erythromycin, Fluconizole, Flagyl and Cipro?
4. Can I stop worrying about losing my wife and family?
Doctor's Answer
by H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D., Dec 13, 2005 12:00AM
, Dec 13, 2005 12:00AM
The exposure you describe was essentially zero risk for all STDs, with the possible exception of nonchlamydial NGU, which probably can be caused by normal oral bacteria. Nobody has ever been documented to catch chlamydia by fellatio, and mouth-to-penile gonorrhea transmission is uncommaon. Your symptoms are compatible with NGU, but not gonorrhea (too much delay, symptoms too subtle). But your symptoms also are compatible with non-infectious inflammation, or with anxiety that is simply magnifying otherwise normal body sensations. The treatments you have had would reliably eradicate all recognized bacterial STDs; but symptoms often persist in such cases, without signifying continued infection. Search other threads and the archives for additional discussions of this; try such search terms as "nongonococcal urethritis", "NGU", "STD anxiety", and perhaps "prostatitis".
To answer your specific questions:
1) You can be sure you do not have persistent STD of any kind.
2) The role of actual prostate infection in causing symptoms like you describe is uncertain. But if your prostate was infected, those antibiotics should be effective.
3) There is virtually no chance you are infected with anything you can transmit, that can harm a partner in any way, or that will ever harm you significantly.
4) Yes.
Good luck-- HHH, MD
To answer your specific questions:
1) You can be sure you do not have persistent STD of any kind.
2) The role of actual prostate infection in causing symptoms like you describe is uncertain. But if your prostate was infected, those antibiotics should be effective.
3) There is virtually no chance you are infected with anything you can transmit, that can harm a partner in any way, or that will ever harm you significantly.
4) Yes.
Good luck-- HHH, MD
HHH, MD