How long does it takes for symptoms of Chlamydia or Gonorrhea to show up?

I'm a hetero male who has been seeing a woman on the side for about 3 years. My wife and I are trying to have a baby and I had to give a sperm sample just the other day. The sample came back as possibly infected. The last time I was with my mistress was 3 weeks ago. She has only been with her husband or myself and she feels confident that he hasn't been cheating on her - although he did take an out of town trip about 6 weeks ago. Neither my mistress, myself nor her husband have any signs of chlamydis or gonorrhea, but since my semen sample came back infected, I had to get an STD test done. My mistress has also been tested - but we don't know the results of her test yet. My question is this, am I worrying over nothing? Can I have an infection in my semen and it NOT be an STD? I know there's a small probability that NONE of us would have any symptoms, but then again, anything is possible.

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

I'm afraid I can't help very much; I just don't have expertise in the causes of inflammatory changes in semen.  My understanding is that STDs usually turn out not to be responsible.  However, it probably is relatively uncommon that people being evaluated for infertility are at risk for STD--so the seemingly reassuring statement above may not apply to your situation.  Your infertility specialist probably can address this better than I can.

You should be tested for chlamydia and gonorrhea (which requires urine; tests on semen per se may not be valid).

Good luck---  HHH, MD