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Avatar universal

STD question

I am receiving treatment for OCD and just wanted to know whether I need to be concerned about the following. In 2011 I was tested for STDS and was negative. I learned later someone can get Hepatitis in the past but then it can clear by the time of the test. I began worrying about an incident in 2009 which consisted of dry humping, but bcs it was years ago I worried that maybe we were naked or my underwear got pushed across....and since then I was sexually unexperienced maybe there could have been slight penetration I wasn't really aware of. What worried me was later I found out this guy sometimes takes cocaine 'recreationally,' as far as I know he is not an IDU (I read on this site that people  dont contract Hep by sniffing cocaine?). However I worried in case he really was an IDU - what if I contracted Hep and passed the disease to someone around me (tho I know it doesnt happen by day to day contact) and later I passed the virus out of my body, so my test results were negative. The GUM clinic only looked for Hep B antigen (and Hep C antibody) so I don't know if I had it in the past. I brought this up with my GP but knowing I have OCD he told me not to think about 'blue sky scenarios' I'm not sure if I explained properly the incident with the guy who takes cocaine. Do you think it is unrealistic that I caught Hep this way, passed it to someone (either by sex or environment), got no symptoms, cleared the virus, (any infected people got no symptoms), and then my test was negative? The second Q was just to clarify, I worried in the same case for syphilis, if I had a past infection, could I pass it to someone else, but then I clear it from my body and my test was negative? My GP said that in order to pass syphilis I would have to be on very strong antibiotics - again he wanted me to dismiss this. (I did take ABs for bladder/kidney infections, I'm guessing thats not what he means). I don't want to do any extra tests unless necessary (due to my OCD!!) Thanks Dr
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300980 tn?1194929400
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
I did see your follow-up message and again state, this does not change my assessment or advice,  I would not worry and see no reason for further testing related to any of the things you mention above.  EWH
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Avatar universal
Dear Dr, I'm not sure if the thread is finished. I just wanted to check if you got my message about the typo before your last answer - as I'm not sure how the threads appear for u!
I'm guessing the same advice would apply?
Thank you Dr.
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Avatar universal
Thanks so much Dr, this has lifted a big weight from my mind. The only thing that stops me forgetting it completely is I'm not sure how the messages appear for you - I'm not sure if you saw my second message (above) - I didn't mean to type 'briefly had sex' but I meant 'briefly' as in I'm going to describe it briefly!
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300980 tn?1194929400
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Thanks for the additional information.  This does not in any way change my assessment or advice.  I urge you not to worry further about he exposure you described and see no reason for further testing.  EWH
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Avatar universal
Typo - I didn't mean I 'briefly had sex' but I just meant I was briefly going to describe it. Sorry about this.
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Avatar universal
Many thanks Dr for your quick and reassuring reply! I promise this is my only comment I just wanted to give details about sexual history to see if your answer is still the same!

I see I shouldn't be worried about the 2009 incident, briefly I had sex with boyfriends in 2007 and 2008 (though it wasn't full penetration which is why I said I was inexperienced). In 2008 there was an incident with a guy with dry humping (naked) and then a bit of penetration before I stopped it - I am not sure how much penetration there was. I didn't know him that long but as far as I know he wasn't promicuous though he is from Florida - and I read there is syphilis in Florida ?!

With that extra information - does that change your answer? My main concern is passing it to my boyfriend (2010 onwards, my test was in 2011). My Hepatitis B test was only antigen, and I am from UK so never was vaccinated agaisnt Hep B....given these extra details does it matter that I didn't have the antibody test? Again I don't want to take tests if it provokes my OCD further. Many thanks again Dr.
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300980 tn?1194929400
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Welcome back to our Forum.  I'll try to answer your questions.  Before I do, let me congratulate you on working with your doctor to address your OCD.  Your doctor sounds both caring and level headed, something that is one of the biggest helps a person with OCD can ask for.  Let's go on to your questions:

Could you have acquired hepatitis or syphilis through your activities back on 2009 and had either of the infections clear themselves without notice?  Not realistically.  For syphilis, if you had gotten it there would still be evidence  of infection in your blood, even having taken strong antibiotics in the past for other problems.  As for hepatitis, this is a rare infection.  Here in the U.S. when we test for hepatitis B we test both for antibody and antigen.  If antigen is present, it means that the virus is present and a person may be infectious for others. That your blood test is negative for hepatitis antigen means that at this time you are not infectious for others.  If there were hepatitis B antibodies, that would mean that either you had been vaccinated for the infection (this has been recommended for everyone borne in the U.S. for more than 20 years) or that you had had infection and cleared it without therapy- this can happen too.  From a statistical perspective there is virtually no chance that you caught either syphilis or any form of hepatitis form the low risk exposure you describe , much less that you caught it and it resolved before you transmitted it to someone else.  There is no reason for either worry or further testing.

I hope these comments are helpful for you.  Take care. EWH
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