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Question about recent STD test
The week of September 3rd I had unprotected intercourse with the same girl multiple times. On Saturday Sept 10th, I started to have an itchy feeling inside my penis..in my urethra. 3 days later I noticed a discharge when I woke up...basically had to milk it out. And noticed some stains on my boxers. Mainly clear, slightly whitish discharge. Went and got tested on the 15th. It was a DNA probe test. Doc took a culture and sent it to the lab. He said he noticed white blood cells under the microscope, which obviously is signs of infection. Tests came back negative. He treated me as if I had Chlamydia with antibiotics, and said it was likely I had a false negative test. How likely is that?? Had the same situation happen 4 yrs ago after sex..got tested...and it was also negative. I'm in the early stages of dating this girl, and am having a hard time deciding on confronting her or not. Don't wanna cause unneccesary worry, bc that's a damper on early relationships. But wanna do the right thing? Your advice will be greatly appreciated. Thx.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Glad to hear your partner was treated. The 4 pills were azithromycin, which is standard for NGU; azithromycin and doxycycline are co-equal first-choice recommendations. The shot almost certainly was ceftriaxone to cover gonorrhea; it probably wasn't necessary, but will do no harm.
As discussed above, ideally you should delay sex until a week after your partner's treatment. Probably no harm would come if it's sooner than that, but there is some chance you would be reinfected. For this weekend, I suggest condoms.
As discussed above, ideally you should delay sex until a week after your partner's treatment. Probably no harm would come if it's sooner than that, but there is some chance you would be reinfected. For this weekend, I suggest condoms.
Hey doc.....this is a follow up from my post last week. I discussed the situation with her last Friday, she was very understanding. She went and got tested yesterday and will get results back Monday. They treated her yesterday as if she had NGU, which was my diagnosis. They gave her a shot, and 4 antibiotic pills to take at once for treatment. Which was different than my 10 day treatment with 2 pills per day. I feel perfectly fine now. When should we be in the clear to have sex again? I'm hoping this weekend. Thx for all your insight.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Preferably no sex for a week after start of treatment. It may be no harm would come with earlier exposure if both parties are on treatment, but it has never been studied and this is the standard, conservative advice. If you find yourself highly tempted before treatment is complete, at least use condoms.
I'm going to see her tmrw....so I will tell her then. Thanks for the advice. As for using protection until treatment is finished is it safe, or should we avoid sex for sometime until treatment is finished. Sorry for taking up your time....I won't post again until I discuss everything with her. Thanks again.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Don't everthink it. She is clearly the source of your NGU and should be tested and treated. If not, you likely will be reinvested if you have sex again; she will remain infecting for other partners; and she may be at risk for serious health problems. The last is uncertain for non-chlamydial NGU, but this is standard practice -- and better safe than sorry. Talk to her today so she can be evaluated before the weekend. From an ethical standpoint, you have no choice. Do it now.
I was treated with doxycycline. And symptoms have resided. So its 99.9% that she has the infection? I had to get it from her. I have not had sex in quite sometime, and it can't be coincedental I started having symptoms after being with her. I just want to be positive about everything b4 I tell her. We aren't dating really, but there is potential. She came out of a longterm relationship in may, and it ended badly. Needless to say, I really like this girl and don't wanna put a damper on the oppurtunity. And if we discussed this, and still had sex with protection until treatment was completed, would that be risky? Thanks!
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
My mistake in referrting to NAAT testing. Unlike NAAT, the DNA probe test misses up to 20% of chlamydial infections. It is still most likely you have nonchlamydial NGU, but this is all the more reason that your partner should have a chlamydia test (and a gonorrhea test) even though your results were negative.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Welcome back to the forum.
This sounds like a straightforward case of nongonococcal urethritis (NGU); there was suspicion of NGU when you were last on the forum (May 09), so you probably are familiar with it. In any case, the incubation period (a week) is right, your symptoms are typical and so is the nature of the discharge (white/clear, not yellow/pus as typical for gonorrhea). Only 30-40% of NGU cases are caused by chlamydia, so it's no surprise your chlamydia test was negative. The chlamydia NAATs are highly reliable, so I doubt your test was false negative; you just didn't have chlamydia.
You don't say how you were treated, but most likely you were given either azithromycin in a single dose of 1.0 gram or doxycycline 100 mg twice daily for 7 days -- the routinely recommended treatments for NGU or chlamydia.
As for your partner, she must be treated and you have to talk with her about your infection. There is no choice; she needs to be treated. The exact causes of nonchlamydial NGU cannot be known in any particular case, but it's an STD and infected men's partners need to be treated. Ideally should also be tested for chlamydia, gonorrhea, and other STDs, so she should see her primary care provider; or alternatively, your doctor or a local public health STD clinic, Planned Parenthood clinic, etc. However, this need not be a "confrontation". A matter-of-fact but sensitive approach should work; properly done, it need not be a serious threat to the relationship.
Finally, I won't give you the condom lecture. But of course this sort of event is exactly why condoms are recommended for sex with new partners, until a relationship becomes established and begins to mature.
Let me know what treatment you were given; and please return with a follow-up and let me know how it goes after you speak with your partner.
Regards-- HHH, MD
This sounds like a straightforward case of nongonococcal urethritis (NGU); there was suspicion of NGU when you were last on the forum (May 09), so you probably are familiar with it. In any case, the incubation period (a week) is right, your symptoms are typical and so is the nature of the discharge (white/clear, not yellow/pus as typical for gonorrhea). Only 30-40% of NGU cases are caused by chlamydia, so it's no surprise your chlamydia test was negative. The chlamydia NAATs are highly reliable, so I doubt your test was false negative; you just didn't have chlamydia.
You don't say how you were treated, but most likely you were given either azithromycin in a single dose of 1.0 gram or doxycycline 100 mg twice daily for 7 days -- the routinely recommended treatments for NGU or chlamydia.
As for your partner, she must be treated and you have to talk with her about your infection. There is no choice; she needs to be treated. The exact causes of nonchlamydial NGU cannot be known in any particular case, but it's an STD and infected men's partners need to be treated. Ideally should also be tested for chlamydia, gonorrhea, and other STDs, so she should see her primary care provider; or alternatively, your doctor or a local public health STD clinic, Planned Parenthood clinic, etc. However, this need not be a "confrontation". A matter-of-fact but sensitive approach should work; properly done, it need not be a serious threat to the relationship.
Finally, I won't give you the condom lecture. But of course this sort of event is exactly why condoms are recommended for sex with new partners, until a relationship becomes established and begins to mature.
Let me know what treatment you were given; and please return with a follow-up and let me know how it goes after you speak with your partner.
Regards-- HHH, MD
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