A syphilis blood test would not clear without therapy over 10 years. If you had active syphilis, the test would be positve.
While I agree with the counselor that your risk for syphilis is very, very low, in some instnaces, such as yours, the reassurance provided by testing makes it worth doing. You were worried enought to seek testing and to ask me about it, Thus I presume you would still benefit from testing, not to prove you have syphilis but to prove that you do not so that you can stop your worrying. EWH
Thanks for the answer. The thing is I already went for testing, but the person wasnt very skilled in taking blood samples, and could not get one. Because she said, I was not in risk, I did not book another time. So, basicly what I understand, I should book another test time, and hope for better blood sample taker?
Somewhere in medhelps forums I found a mention, that these things could clear out on it's own like in 10 years, if you had no symptoms. However this seems not to be the case with syphilis, did I understood right?
Or do those people who develop tertiary stage (heart and brain damage, etc) always had symptoms before? Me and my wife don't have children.
Welcome to the Forum. I will try to help. The information you have received is not totally contradictory. Nearly everyone who gets syphilis does get lesions (symptoms of infection) but these symptoms can be missed because the lesions of syphilis are typically painless and may be either attributed to other causes or missed because they are in a location where they go unnoticed. Thus the diagnosis can be missed and without a doubt, the very best way to rule out the possibility of syphilis is with a blood test. It seems as though you are worried about syphilis long after any possible exposures and therefore, in this situation, my advice would be for you to seek a blood test.
At the same time however, I also feel that it is most unlikely that you have syphilis or that you could have given it to your wife. Statistically, syphilis is a rare infection and this, along with the absence of symptoms that you noticed make it unlikely.
As for your wife, I do not see where you are living but if you and your wife had had children, in most countries she would have had blood tests for syphilis as part of routine evaluation that is recommended for all pregnant women. If her tests were negative (she may not know that she was tested- unfortunately sometimes doctors do not tell their patients they are testing), then she did not get syphilis from you.
My sense is that you really have very, very little to worry about but if the possibility remains on your mind, testing is relatively easy and highly reliable. Get a test, then believe the results which I anticipate will be negative. I hope my comments are helpful. EWH