Do I have reason to worry!!!?

[Heriberto610]

Doctor I need some help! Im freaking out!!
Im married and I have a pregnant wife! I dont even want to get into the whole moral side of this, I already feel horrible!
Im deployed to Iraq and Ive recently had sex with a certain female!
It looks like I came down with Chlamydia and/or Gonorrhea!

I had sex with this woman in two separate occasions! Both times she performed unprotected oral sex on me, I then put on a condom before penetration... I also  penetrated her with my fingers with no kind of "protection"!

I dont know what on earth I was thinking!! I dont know whats the likelihood of contracting an STD thru cuts on fingers or thru oral sex, but apparently its happened!

I went to the clinic today coz Ive had some flu like symptoms, Ive also had some white cloudy discharge, followed by pain or burning sensation and what I thought to be blood when urinating!

Towards the end of urination I noticed dark or brown drops which I concluded to be blood! I also noticed I was discharging some "tissue" or "mass" when I urinated!

Im freaking out!!!! Only God knows what else I could have caught!!!

The doctors down here in Iraq took a urine sample and told me the results would be back in a month coz they have to send them to Germany, but they told me they noticed a lot of red cells in my urine!

They gave me a shot of Ceftriazone (250mg) for gonorrhea.
I think 4 Azithromycin (250mg) pills for chlamydia.

And 7 days worth of ciproflozacin (500mg) to be taken twice a day to take care of any possible urinary track infection.

Im going home on vacation for the birth of my child in a month! Naturally Im very worried about transmitting this to my wife or child! I understand these antibiotics will take care of all of this within a few days... Is this absolutely true!??

What are the chances of HIV or any other STD!? Im freaking out! Please help me!!
Im looking for more medications online! Im willing to take a whole pharmacy worth of pills to make sure this is all gone!!!

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

I already told you that it is impossible that you will still have any active infection by the time you return home.  There will be no risk to your wife or the baby.

I have no comments about the social situation.  But do make sure your partner gets treated for gonorrhea etc.

[Heriberto610]

I notified the female soldier of the whole thing and she doesnt seem to care too much!
I should have known better than to mess with this girl!!!! First she "stalks" me, telling her I was married meant nothing to her! and now I tell her about this whole thing and she has absolutely no reaction!!!! Damn woman is a nutcase!!!

Anyway! I learned my lesson! Hopefully she gets her head straight!  

[Heriberto610]

Thanks for all the information Dr. Handsfield. Its a relief to hear this... My concern with the child is because my wife is pregnant and Ill be home 2 or 3 weeks before the birth of the child... I was just concerned about infecting my wife with one of these diseases before the birth of the child...

Again! Thanks for all the info! I can breath again! ;-)

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

It sounds like you indeed acquired urethritis, i.e. infection of the urethra, most likely acquired from the oral sex event.  It probably isn't chlamydia, which isn't carried in people's throats and therefore cannot be caught from oral sex.  (If it occurs, it is very rare.)  It could be nongonococcal urethritis or gonorrhea, but gonorrhea sounds like the best bet, based on the severity of your urethral symptoms (discharge plus pain, perhaps with bleeding).  There was no risk of anything by fingering, regardless of cuts etc on the fingers.

The treatment you were given will cure you within 2-3 days (although symptoms might take a week to go away entirely).  Neither gonorrhea, chlamydia, nor NGU will persist after the combination of drugs you received.  By the time you get home, there will be nothing left to transmit to your wife.  And of course there would be no risk to your child, because no STDs are transmitted in the household without sex.  They call them STDs because you have to have sex to transmit them (duh)!

Any time an STD is transmitted, there is at least some risk of HIV, if one partner is already infected.  But the odds are extremely small, since the condom protected you; and HIV is rarely transmitted by oral sex.  And most likely the sex worker didn't have HIV anyway.  Still, to be safe, you should have follow-up blood tests for HIV (and syphilis) in a few weeks.

Don't get yourself too worked up over your sexual choices.  You're not exactly alone!  I can't quote statistics on non-marital sex among soldiers and other deployed in the Iraq war, but throughout human history many or most married men have found sexual outlets during combat deployments.  In one research study, when a Vietnam-era aircraft carrier put into port for 4 days in the Phillippines, around 80% of the ship's crew of 5,000 had sex while ashore, including 90% of the single men and 70% of the married ones.  

Bottom line:  Follow your providers' advice about follow-up care and testing, but don't worry about any significant health outcomes for either yourself or your wife or child.

Thank you for your service to the country.  Best wishes--  HHH, MD