I didn ot say much about oral sex because the risk for oral sex is low. Oral sex is an inefficient way to transmit STDs. Of the bacterial STDs only gonorrhea and nongonococcal urethritis (NGU) are transmitted through oral sex; chlamydia is not and without an obvious sore or lesion on your partner’s mouth, the chances of syphilis and herpes is likewise tiny. If you had gotten gonorrhea or NGU you would have most likely developed symptoms of urethritis (penile infection). Color change in the urine however is not an STD symptom. Even if your partner had an STD (any STD and it is likely she did not), most exposures do not lead to infection. In your case, your exposure was brief; I would urge you not to worry. If you must, you could go to your local STD clinic or health care provider to be tested at this time. The tests will be negative and in my opinion, you do not need testing at all. EWH
Thanks for your reply. I am sure that much of your job is to allay people's fears, and it is very helpful. Still, there was unprotected oral sex, and I do worry about that. I should mention that this encounter occurred around 36 h ago. Around 24 h later, I noticed that my urine was darker than normal, almost orange, and had a strong smell. Again, this morning, my urine also had these properties. Could these be signs of a bacterial infection? Should I get to a clinic and get tested?
Welcome to our Forum. I will comment a bit about bleeding in a moment as an educational effort BUT, before I do, let me tell you that your risk for ANY STD, including HIV from the exposure you describe is very, very low. Your partner told you in a credible way about the steps she took to make sure that she was not infected in a way that was believable. Even more importantly, you used a condom- condom protected sex is safe sex and virtually assures you that you are not at risk for acquisition of any STD, including HIV. Condoms are physical barriers to STD acquisition and studies have repeatedly shown that properly used condoms protect against STD acquisition.
Now for my educational comment. Bleeding as a consequence of menstruation is a normal female physiological function and does not greatly increase risk for any STD other than perhaps these that are blood-borne, i.e. HIV and hepatitis B. As I said before, however, condoms take any such risk to essentially zero.
The other sort of bleeding which occasionally occurs in women and may be a sign of STD is what is called "intra-menstrual bleeding" and this sort of bleeding between periods (often induced by intercourse) is an occasional sign of STDs such as gonorrhea or chlamydia. On the other hand, this is a very non-specific sign which has many other alternate explanations including changes due to changing contraceptive pills.
In your case however, I repeat, there is no risk for STD from your single condom-protected exposure. Thus there is also no reason for STD testing related to this exposure either. I hope my comments are helpful to you and put your mind at ease. EWH