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Possible Chlamydia and second round of treatment?
About 4 weeks ago, I started noticing my urine was very cloudy and smelled bad, and then about a week after, the tip of my penis started to itch a little bit. A few days after that, I noticed a very small amount of white discharge (looked like sour cream) in the mornings. I went to the doctor, they did a urethral swab (genprobe was the name) and did a urine sample. They gave me a prescription of Cipro (one pill) and 4 zithromax pills. I called a week later and was told that I had NGU (negative for gon., positive for chlamydia). Now, I was a little shocked considering I've only ever had sex with one person in my entire life and have been with that person for 11 years. So I informed my partner of what happened and advised he get tested as well (haven't gotten results back yet). I don't now what kind of test they did, but it took almost 5 days to get the results. (they said my urine was "clean", but that could've just been the urinalysis). Anyway, 3 days into the antibiotics, I started getting epiditymitis. The itching went away, but yesterday and today I've had a small amount of discharge again and the epiditymitis has not gotten better (in fact, worse, and it's now both of them, not just the right one). Went back again and they gave me another two sets of scripts for cipro (2 weeks), and zithromax (2 weeks). But my insurance refused to pay for the zithro a second time (I could've easily afforded it), but the pharmacy never called me, called the doc instead and got it switched to doxycycline.
Now, my partner has no symptoms (at least that's what he says). He says he's not been with anyone since we've been together. But can chlamydia be "silent" that long (I searched around and no study has ever been done to see how long it can go, I've seen some say it can be years, others say it can only be months). I also asked the doc, if the urethreal swab test would detect if you had chlamydia in the throat or rectum. She said no. So, IF his test comes back negative, is there any way to know if he's got a false negative or mine was a false positive? I know the false positive is very low (1-3% depending on the test). Right now I'm mainly focused on getting the epiditymitis cured as it's very sore. No, neither one of us has had sex since when I went to see the doc the first time, so there's no reinfection chance in my case. I'll deal with the who gave what to whom later (no sex until I get better and I want a full STD screen for both of us afterwards anyway). Is it common for Chlamydia to not be treated/cured with that first round of antibiotics? Or do I have a secondary infection (ie, the epiditymitis is something else, but not caused by the chlamydia)? The info on the 'net is very contradictory and it seems like this isn't well researched or understood other than "yeah you get it from sex, it's easy to cure".
Now, my partner has no symptoms (at least that's what he says). He says he's not been with anyone since we've been together. But can chlamydia be "silent" that long (I searched around and no study has ever been done to see how long it can go, I've seen some say it can be years, others say it can only be months). I also asked the doc, if the urethreal swab test would detect if you had chlamydia in the throat or rectum. She said no. So, IF his test comes back negative, is there any way to know if he's got a false negative or mine was a false positive? I know the false positive is very low (1-3% depending on the test). Right now I'm mainly focused on getting the epiditymitis cured as it's very sore. No, neither one of us has had sex since when I went to see the doc the first time, so there's no reinfection chance in my case. I'll deal with the who gave what to whom later (no sex until I get better and I want a full STD screen for both of us afterwards anyway). Is it common for Chlamydia to not be treated/cured with that first round of antibiotics? Or do I have a secondary infection (ie, the epiditymitis is something else, but not caused by the chlamydia)? The info on the 'net is very contradictory and it seems like this isn't well researched or understood other than "yeah you get it from sex, it's easy to cure".
Thank you for updating us. It is so refreshing to see someone who can do their own research and take advice. So many people who look for answers do not accept what is told to them and ask questions they can answer themselves by going to a doctor, asking a doctor, or at least asking for reputable sites to get information. I hope more people will follow your example.
Hi Vance2335,
The symptoms got worse, and I made a urology appt. Particularly after I had a bowel movement and prostatic fluid came out of my penis. The "GP" did a DRE and said I had an inflamed prostate ("boggy" was the word). Of course, it took 2 weeks to get into the urologist. In the meantime, my entire pelvic region was in pain, lower back, etc.
Anyway, the urologist said it's prostatitis, but because I've been on antibiotics so long, they can't tell if it's bacterial or not. (too late for the prostate massage test, aparently). I have another month of Cipro to take and then I have my followup.
The pain has since gotten better, the urologist says it will wax and wane, but should get better overall (if it's bacterial prostatitis).
He said the doxy isn't going to do anything and to stop taking it. He didn't think there was actual epiditymitis (I mean, there was bilateral inflammation, but not necessarily pain in the epididymis itself), but rather the "testical" pain was actually from the perineum pain caused by the inflammed prostate.
While I will never be sure (or know) because the GP didn't follow our state guidelines for STD testing, I can only surmise at this point that I had a false positive based upon:
1) I've been faithful and in a monogamous relationship for 12 years (again, I have no proof one way or the other about my partner, other than trust).
2) His test was negative
3) The symptoms didn't get better with "chlamydia" treatment (maybe because zithromax and doxy don't treat prostate problems??), and only got worse.
4) The whole pelvic inflammation, symptoms, etc.
5) I did some research about the Aptima CT Assay used for my test. It was only tested once, the prevalance rate in our county is 1.7%, according to the Aptima PDF I obtained, the PPV value for 2% prevalance rate is about 38.5%
So now I have to hope that I have bacterial prostatitis (only because it's the only form that's really treatable). Unfortunately only about 5% of prostatis cases are bacterial in nature. Sucky thing too is that it has a tendency to recur and become chronic (ack!)
Or (god forbid) I have CPP (Chronic Pelvic Pain syndrome), but I hope that's not it. So only time will tell.
It would've been nice if the GP had followed the guidelines for testing as they should've informed me that I could wait to take the initial antibiotic, and get re-tested. Hell, I could've even gotten re-tested within 3 weeks of taking antibiotics as the Aptima CT doesn't care about "live" bacteria, but it was over that time period by the time I found that out. They were also supposed to tell me there was a possibility of False-positive (the docs exact words, were that it's a "DNA test and it's not possible for false positive".), especially since our state and CDC recommend (but don't require) repeat testing with a prevelance rate of less than 5%.
The symptoms got worse, and I made a urology appt. Particularly after I had a bowel movement and prostatic fluid came out of my penis. The "GP" did a DRE and said I had an inflamed prostate ("boggy" was the word). Of course, it took 2 weeks to get into the urologist. In the meantime, my entire pelvic region was in pain, lower back, etc.
Anyway, the urologist said it's prostatitis, but because I've been on antibiotics so long, they can't tell if it's bacterial or not. (too late for the prostate massage test, aparently). I have another month of Cipro to take and then I have my followup.
The pain has since gotten better, the urologist says it will wax and wane, but should get better overall (if it's bacterial prostatitis).
He said the doxy isn't going to do anything and to stop taking it. He didn't think there was actual epiditymitis (I mean, there was bilateral inflammation, but not necessarily pain in the epididymis itself), but rather the "testical" pain was actually from the perineum pain caused by the inflammed prostate.
While I will never be sure (or know) because the GP didn't follow our state guidelines for STD testing, I can only surmise at this point that I had a false positive based upon:
1) I've been faithful and in a monogamous relationship for 12 years (again, I have no proof one way or the other about my partner, other than trust).
2) His test was negative
3) The symptoms didn't get better with "chlamydia" treatment (maybe because zithromax and doxy don't treat prostate problems??), and only got worse.
4) The whole pelvic inflammation, symptoms, etc.
5) I did some research about the Aptima CT Assay used for my test. It was only tested once, the prevalance rate in our county is 1.7%, according to the Aptima PDF I obtained, the PPV value for 2% prevalance rate is about 38.5%
So now I have to hope that I have bacterial prostatitis (only because it's the only form that's really treatable). Unfortunately only about 5% of prostatis cases are bacterial in nature. Sucky thing too is that it has a tendency to recur and become chronic (ack!)
Or (god forbid) I have CPP (Chronic Pelvic Pain syndrome), but I hope that's not it. So only time will tell.
It would've been nice if the GP had followed the guidelines for testing as they should've informed me that I could wait to take the initial antibiotic, and get re-tested. Hell, I could've even gotten re-tested within 3 weeks of taking antibiotics as the Aptima CT doesn't care about "live" bacteria, but it was over that time period by the time I found that out. They were also supposed to tell me there was a possibility of False-positive (the docs exact words, were that it's a "DNA test and it's not possible for false positive".), especially since our state and CDC recommend (but don't require) repeat testing with a prevelance rate of less than 5%.
Thanks for the information. Partner's urethral test came back negative. Although I'm not sure why they didn't do a rectal test, but it's too late now for that.
My symptoms still haven't gone away since the original visit. I was originally put on the Cipro (goes to show how "good" a doctor when both the CDC and NYS Dept. of Health state to not use that for suspected gonorhea anymore), and Zithromax. My epiditymitis has not gone away and I'd describe the pain as even worse now. I've been on 500 mb Cipro 2xdaily AND doxycline 100mg 2x daily for 5 days now and symptoms still there. I'm having lower back pains for the last 3 days now too. VERY frequent urination (like never before). I haven't been drinking more than normal either. But last night (I almost never have to go during the night) I made 3 visits in an hour and today it was almost every 30 minutes.
The "doc" won't be in until Thursday so I will have to wait until then to find out what exact lab test they originally ran, but at this point, I'm beginning to think it's a false positive, as the probability of chlamydia being so resistant to both zithro and doxy, couple with my symptoms now makes me wonder if I don't have kidney problems.
I should probably see a urologist.
My symptoms still haven't gone away since the original visit. I was originally put on the Cipro (goes to show how "good" a doctor when both the CDC and NYS Dept. of Health state to not use that for suspected gonorhea anymore), and Zithromax. My epiditymitis has not gone away and I'd describe the pain as even worse now. I've been on 500 mb Cipro 2xdaily AND doxycline 100mg 2x daily for 5 days now and symptoms still there. I'm having lower back pains for the last 3 days now too. VERY frequent urination (like never before). I haven't been drinking more than normal either. But last night (I almost never have to go during the night) I made 3 visits in an hour and today it was almost every 30 minutes.
The "doc" won't be in until Thursday so I will have to wait until then to find out what exact lab test they originally ran, but at this point, I'm beginning to think it's a false positive, as the probability of chlamydia being so resistant to both zithro and doxy, couple with my symptoms now makes me wonder if I don't have kidney problems.
I should probably see a urologist.
If you have been with him for 11 years...neither one of you would have had it that long and not know it. This was a recent infection.
But, NGU can be caused by bacteria found in the mouth. So you could have gotten NGU from oral sex and your partner might not have chlymida. But since you have been treated you will not know.
False positives are more common then false negatives but both are rare.
But, NGU can be caused by bacteria found in the mouth. So you could have gotten NGU from oral sex and your partner might not have chlymida. But since you have been treated you will not know.
False positives are more common then false negatives but both are rare.
okay really u shudnt worry about this cuz it has a cure but yes with men chlamydia can be silent for a long time so he may have been had it but never new because it never affected him
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