Chlamydia and Gonorrhea Testing - Are They Useless?

[SoConfusing200]

Hello, i would like to ask question regarding chlamydia. First of all, i'm a man. So about a year ago (july 2015), i got infected by my sexual partner at that time because i had unprotected vaginal sex. The symptoms were: burning sensation once inawhile and also some white fluid discharge from the tip of the penis.the next morning after i got my first white fluid discharge, i went straight to doctor to get treatment. my doctor at that time prescribed me 2 pills. i forgot the name of the drug but basically each was 500mg, and i consumed the pills at the same time after breakfast. Long story short, the white fluid discharge and the burning sensation never happened again.

However, i am a paranoid guy, and I wanted to make sure i did not have the disease anymore. I came back to the same doctor and asked her question about chlamydia testing and she said there's no chlamydia lab tests. She said if the white fluid never came out again from my penis, that means i'm already cured. She said it's not possible if the medicine only "cured" the symptom but not kill the bacteria. She told me if the bacteria is resistant to the medicine, the symptoms should have never stopped at all. I just believed her at that time and moved on. Later on i got HIV and syphilis blood test after 3 months and they came back negative. I fully moved on after the test.

But suddenly, my paranoia hit me again yesterday. I tried to do a bit of research about chlamydia, and apparently according to CDC.gov, it's actually possible to get chlamydia testing. CDC.gov also mentioned there are a lot of people who actually have chlamydia but never had symptom, which worried me even more. So I went to visit another doctor today and asked him the same questions I asked my previous doctor last year. This doctor told me the same answer. He said there's no chlamydia lab test for men, only for women, and that test for women is also an expensive test, because it's not a blood test. I asked him if it's possible to check my chlamydia (or gonorrhea) with urine test, and he said it's not accurate.

basically, this doctor I visited today gave me the same answer with the doctor I visited last year. both of them believe the only way for them to diagnose chlamydia and gonorrhea is through symptoms. if the symptoms disappear, that means i'm cured. as simple as that. i have doubts about their answer because internet resource proved there are people with chlamydia but no symptom. My question is, how do I know I'm 100% cured?

[Life360_Dave]

You can test  for Trich which is a parasite but its more common in women and thats about it.

[Life360_Dave]

The PCR test is very accurate. also getting backto body curing, Chlamydia has been around since the dawn of man and women and no one died from this because the bodys antibodies attached and killed the germs. Im not sure how specialized the  std experts your talking to are. What country are you in?

[SoConfusing200]

hi dave, i'm in indonesia. Actually, regarding PCR test, the doctor i met today told me there's PCR test for chlamydia, but i think he mentioned it was more for women, and not for men, that's why in my above comment I said it's not for men.

He also said the PCR test is more expensive than a herpes test (which herpes test itself is already expensive, about $150 or more). I dont know if I can get this specific PCR NAAT test something but for sure i will ask a different doctor tomorrow. I will also screenshot different informations I found on the internet.

I know my country is not well-known for any medical advancement. but it's still not that bad. for example, the HIV test they use in the lab is already 4th generation. it's not that much behind. We also have latest HPV vaccines here so (again) it's not that much behind...

and i do think it's just ridiculous to get a chlamydia and gonorrhea test in different country just for this. That's too expensive for me because my budget is kind of limited. and like you said yourself, most likely I'm already cured because symptom disappear after I took the medicine. so you know, just to prove the small percentage of risk that my chlamydia might still be there, I do not think it's wise to fly over to first world country and get PCR test there.

[SoConfusing200]

anyway dave, before you reply, what are other tests i need to take? Because 3 months after I got chlamydia, i only got tested for syphilis, HIV, hepatitis, and herpes. I remember they had CMV test but i didnt take it. Assuming I can get that PCR NAAT test thing, what are other STDs I need to put to test beside chlamydia and gonorrhea?

[Life360_Dave]

Before the advent of antibiotics, both chlamydia and gono would cure itself in a few weeks or so and this is an established fact. Antibiotics only help cure them quicker. There are very acurate tests with urine or swab called NAAT that detect DNA for these.

[SoConfusing200]

hi dave, i'm not trying to challenge your argument here but honestly i really want to know what is your source. i tried to google a lot about this and found almost nothing. the only one who said "chlamydia can cure itself without help of antibiotic" is just Dr. hunter from medhelp but that post was like in 2004-2005 so it was more than a decade ago. I tried to find another resource by googling around but found nothing. Usually I go to webmd or cdc.gov because they are trusted sites but i do not find any info as well in those sites about chlamydia can cure on its own.

Anyway thanks for telling me the name of the test. tomorrow i will go to different lab and ask the doctor there for more consultation and ask if i can get this urine/swab NAAT thing.

[Life360_Dave]

Since chlamydia would be inside the urethra, a swab would detect it without a puss discharge. A discharge only means the bacteria is affecting the inside tissue but doesnot mean its not still there. Same with a urine test. Both can detect them.

[SoConfusing200]

ok this is honestly makes me even more confused because the doctors that i asked are not just random doctors. they have been practicing for more than a decade and they have "spkk" title in my country. basically "spkk" is STD and skin specialist. so they have been studying it for years. they are not new in this. i asked two different doctors with STD specialist title and both of them do not believe in accuracy of urine and swab test without a puss discharge. I get the feeling it's unlikely both of the doctors are wrong because they are actually well-known in my city.

and you know what, i actually went to a lab to get HIV and other tests 3 months after I got the chlamydia. when I wanted to get HIV test, i asked the consultant in the lab, and (again) she actually said the same thing. she said I could get the urine test but it's not accurate so she did not recommend it. I start to wonder if i should go to another country just for the test? I mean, this is so insane. why real-life information and internet information are so different...

[SoConfusing200]

and anyway, before you answer, i am also confused about the part "your body would have cured it by its natural immune defences". honestly, i never thought it was possible. i mean, how on earth is it possible to cure chlamydia with immune system? I double checked with information on CDC.gov and it was never mentioned there. No STD will ever cure on its own except HPV.

[SoConfusing200]

i would like to add additional comment about this. both of my doctors told me there is swab test for chlamydia and gonorrhea but those swab tests require the fluid discharge to be present at the time. which mean if there's no fluid discharge (no symptom at all) then the swab test is not possible, because there's nothing to be taken as sample. As for urine test, i have asked the doctor today, and like i mentioned above, he said it's not accurate

[Life360_Dave]

Hi, yes there is testing for these std,s but if you had a white puss discharge and it disappeared about a week after taking the meds then you can rest that you were cured. Also after a year  your body would have cured it by its natural immune defences. Im not saying you cured as only testing would confirm this, im suggesting you are.

[SoConfusing200]

hi life360_dave, thanks for the answer. yes, personally I believe 99% i'm cured because the white puss never reappeared anymore, but i'm still thinking about it because i really want to get the test. but like i said, both doctors believe the urine test for chlamydia and gonorrhea is not accurate while swab test is not possible if there's no symptom because there's no "fluid sample" to be swabbed (they have "STD specialist" title by the way, so not just normal doctor. i dont know what the name of the title in english).