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Doctor, thank you for taking my question, one that has been tormenting me the last three months. There have been a lot of questions on here about testing too soon after possible STD exposure. My question is about testing too late. Is there a certain lapsed time period after possible exposure that could cause STD test results to be inaccurate?
The situation I need to ask about went as follows: Possible exposure occurred on Day 1. No testing was done until Day 180 (6 months after the possible exposure). No sexual encounters occurred between Day 1 and Day 180. A full STD panel was done on Day 180, and ALL results came back negative.
Do those negative results mean that the person would not have been infected by any STD's from that one occurrence six months earlier, and would have been STD free those six months, or is it possible for any STD's to clear on their own enough for the urine test to be negative, yet the infection had spread to other parts of the body and were not detectable by the urine and blood tests done. (The chlamydia and gonorrhea tests were the Nucleic Acid Amplification tests.)
Again, I appreciate your time to answer this question for me.
The situation I need to ask about went as follows: Possible exposure occurred on Day 1. No testing was done until Day 180 (6 months after the possible exposure). No sexual encounters occurred between Day 1 and Day 180. A full STD panel was done on Day 180, and ALL results came back negative.
Do those negative results mean that the person would not have been infected by any STD's from that one occurrence six months earlier, and would have been STD free those six months, or is it possible for any STD's to clear on their own enough for the urine test to be negative, yet the infection had spread to other parts of the body and were not detectable by the urine and blood tests done. (The chlamydia and gonorrhea tests were the Nucleic Acid Amplification tests.)
Again, I appreciate your time to answer this question for me.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
This information doesn't change my opinion or advice. STDs don't cause prostate problems, and they don't cause the kind of lower abdoman/prostate symtpoms you describe, and this probablem isn't due to any infection from the oral sex event you are concerned about. However, some of your symptoms are consistent with genitally focused anxiety. Based on all the information provided, you can be 100% certain you have nothing that can harm your wife.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
The chance of any STD from a single episode of oral sex is very, very low. From a medical or risk assessment standpoint, you did not need testing at all -- but if you are reassured by the negative results, it will have been worth the time and inconvenience. But now you have to just accept the incontrovertable evidence: you acquired no infection, and no amount of thinking about far out scenarios is going to change that fact. For sure you have no STD or any other medical consequence of the oral sex event. Stop thinking about it, and do not discuss it (or your STD worries) with any current or future sex partners. It is time to move on.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Welcome to the forum.
You received some inaccurate advice on the STD community forum. Both gonorrhea and chlamydia clear up without treatment, usually within a few months -- although some chlamydial infections can linger for a couple of years (maybe rarely as long as 4 years).
At 6 months after exposure, your negative blood tests -- probably for syphilis and HIV, and also for herpes and hepatitis, if those tests were done -- are proof you were not infected. For gonorrhea and chlamydia, the urine NAAT tests are highly reliable and you can be sure you are not infected at present. (Neither of these spreads to other body parts; the infection remains isolated where it is acquired.) There is no way to know for sure whether you were never infected, or had gonorrhea or chlamydia that cleared up on its own. However, if you had no symptoms -- no discharge of pus or mucus from the penis, and no discomfort on urination -- it is unlikely you had either gonorrhea or chlamydia.
Please do a favor for readers of your thread on the community forum, by adding a comment with a link to this response (or copy part of this reply) to correct the misinformation about chlamydia not clearing up on its own.
I hope this helps. Best wishes-- HHH, MD
You received some inaccurate advice on the STD community forum. Both gonorrhea and chlamydia clear up without treatment, usually within a few months -- although some chlamydial infections can linger for a couple of years (maybe rarely as long as 4 years).
At 6 months after exposure, your negative blood tests -- probably for syphilis and HIV, and also for herpes and hepatitis, if those tests were done -- are proof you were not infected. For gonorrhea and chlamydia, the urine NAAT tests are highly reliable and you can be sure you are not infected at present. (Neither of these spreads to other body parts; the infection remains isolated where it is acquired.) There is no way to know for sure whether you were never infected, or had gonorrhea or chlamydia that cleared up on its own. However, if you had no symptoms -- no discharge of pus or mucus from the penis, and no discomfort on urination -- it is unlikely you had either gonorrhea or chlamydia.
Please do a favor for readers of your thread on the community forum, by adding a comment with a link to this response (or copy part of this reply) to correct the misinformation about chlamydia not clearing up on its own.
I hope this helps. Best wishes-- HHH, MD
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Sorry, I have nothing more to say. You came here for reassurance and I gave it. You can accept my opinion and advice or not, I don't care -- but I'm not going to further explain or justify it. This isn't a debate. Feel free to continue a discussion on the STD community forum, but not here. Do not start a new thread with additional questions on this topic; it would be deleted without reply and without refund.
Appreciate your feedback, Vance. Not having any real kind of knowledge, or experience, with gonorrhea before, would those symptoms be so noticeable they couldn't have been missed? For instance, would the discharge likely have been so noticeable I would have seen it either when urinating, or as a stain in my underwear? And, would the burning pain have been too noticeable not to feel it when peeing?
You can spend hours debating "what if" this or that, and this is not the place for it.
Not sure if Dr.HHH said this about getting chlamydia but I know on most of his other posts he does say that oral sex and chlamydia...really is not going to happen. So do not worry about chlamydia and if you did have gonorrhea and it cleared on it's own you most likely would have had symptoms.
Not sure if Dr.HHH said this about getting chlamydia but I know on most of his other posts he does say that oral sex and chlamydia...really is not going to happen. So do not worry about chlamydia and if you did have gonorrhea and it cleared on it's own you most likely would have had symptoms.
Thank you for all your time and opinions. Like I said before, based on my NAATs, I totally agree that I am not a risk to my wife, moving forward. The reason for all my obsessing (I realize it's that) was your earlier comment that a person CAN rid themselves of chlamydia and gonorrhea. I'm not doubting your opinion on that, but if a person can do so, why is it not possible that same person, when tested 6 months after possible exposure would test negative then, but have infected others earlier in that 6 month window, PRIOR to ridding himself of the infection?
I know you mentioned you had to end this thread, but the answer to this question is critical to my well being. I don't plan on continuing this dialogue after getting this final answer. If I have to re-phrase it in another thread, I'll be glad to pay a second fee. I'm not trying to avoid paying you for your time. I fully appreciate all the time you've spent with me. Please advise, and I'll either end this thread for good, or enter it as my second question allowed.
I know you mentioned you had to end this thread, but the answer to this question is critical to my well being. I don't plan on continuing this dialogue after getting this final answer. If I have to re-phrase it in another thread, I'll be glad to pay a second fee. I'm not trying to avoid paying you for your time. I fully appreciate all the time you've spent with me. Please advise, and I'll either end this thread for good, or enter it as my second question allowed.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
How do I know you don't have epididymitis: Because epididymitis does not cause slowly developing or progressive testicular pain; if you did, the involved testicle would be obviously enlarged and tender to touch; it is very unlikely to have gonorhrea without urethral symptoms (discharge of pus from the penis); chlamydia is not acquired by oral sex; neither organism has been known to cause epididymitis without also causing urethritis; and it is impossible you had chlamydia and/or gonorrhea with two negative NAATs. I could think of other reasons, but those seem sufficient.
Trust me on this: whatever the cause of your symptoms, they are not due to any infection from your oral sex encounter. If they are related at all to that event, it is because you have genitally focused anxiety about it. There is absolutely no medical reason to not be having unprotected sex with your wife.
See a doctor about your symptoms. It is pointless to spend another minute trying to figure out your symptoms on line.
That will be all for this thread.
Trust me on this: whatever the cause of your symptoms, they are not due to any infection from your oral sex encounter. If they are related at all to that event, it is because you have genitally focused anxiety about it. There is absolutely no medical reason to not be having unprotected sex with your wife.
See a doctor about your symptoms. It is pointless to spend another minute trying to figure out your symptoms on line.
That will be all for this thread.
Thank you for the additional information! I appreciate it!
Dr. HHH, I totally understand your comments to me, but the pain in my right testicle/groin area continues to get worse. Makes me feel like I might have epididymitis on the right side, but the pain has been very slow developing, not manifesting itself until 6 months after the oral encounter. Can you, or the other esteemed doctor in this forum, explain to me why you said STD's can't cause the types of pain and discomfort I'm feeling in my groin and testicles, when all the literature I read says epididymitis is caused by the same bacteria that causes chlamydia and gonorrhea. Is it possible to have acquired the bacteria through the oral encounter I've already discussed, but not have it infect the urethra (and become either chlamydia or gonorrhea), but have it infect the epididymis? I continue to not sleep well thinking about this, so I'd really appreciate your thoughts.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Almost all bacterial infections in humans go away without treatment; the immune system fights them off. This is true for strep infections, staph, bacterial pneumonia, gonorrhea, and most other infections. There are a few exceptions, i.e. bacterial infections that can linger indefinitely, such as tuberculosis and syphilis, but chlamydia is not among them.
DR HHH. I'm a community poster in the STD and chlamydia forum. As you know by reading vm's post in the STD forum I was unware of the clearing of Chlamydia. So that I can better assist those with this question can you please explain what studies and or information you have for the clearing of chlamydia and gonorrhea? ie how and why this can happen
Doctor, when I re-read your latest response, I had one final follow-up (and I promise, this will be the FINAL follow-up). When you said, "you have nothing that can harm your wife," I totally believe you. However, are you including my concerns that I may have ALREADY harmed her, by possibly having infected her months ago, and then having the infection clear my body on its own, prior to me getting tested 6 months later? The whole asymptomatic nature of STD's in women has me a bit worried that she may have contracted something from me months ago, and is showing no signs. It's been 9 months since our last bit of sexual activity, mostly because I'm so worried about all this.
Thanks for all your responses. I appreciate the time you took to answer my questions, and hopefully alleviate my concerns.
One final follow-up doctor, and once I receive your response, I'll end this discussion. I appreciate your time and responses, and want you to know how helpful your service is to a lot of people.
Would your opinion change knowing the following? Like I said, I have never seen any discharge, or experienced any pain while urinating, since my encounter (which is now 9 months ago). About three months ago, which would have been 6 months after the oral encounter, I began feeling mild discomfort in my abdomen, groin and tip of my penis. This discomfort was never enough to keep me from doing anything, and definitely comes and goes, where somedays it's real noticeable, and others not so at all. Also, seems to be worse later in the day, and I don't notice it as much if I'm mentally involved in something else.
I went to my internist about a month ago, who diagnosed me with a swollen prostate, after a digital exam. I had heard that prostatitis can be caused by the same bacterium that causes chlamydia and gonorrhea. Hence, all the worries now about STD's and prostatitis or epididymitis caused by this same bacterium. I would just like your thoughts on these latest developments.
I don't think in any way that I am currently a risk to my wife, if we partake in sexual relations. I do love her so much, and just want to make sure it isn't too late, and that I didn't infected her 9 months ago, and she is just not yet showing any signs or symptoms of an STD or PID. I am 52 years old, and she is 50. We've been married 27 years, and I can't stand the thought of me having possibly hurt her.
Again, thanks for your help, and I'll await your final response.
Would your opinion change knowing the following? Like I said, I have never seen any discharge, or experienced any pain while urinating, since my encounter (which is now 9 months ago). About three months ago, which would have been 6 months after the oral encounter, I began feeling mild discomfort in my abdomen, groin and tip of my penis. This discomfort was never enough to keep me from doing anything, and definitely comes and goes, where somedays it's real noticeable, and others not so at all. Also, seems to be worse later in the day, and I don't notice it as much if I'm mentally involved in something else.
I went to my internist about a month ago, who diagnosed me with a swollen prostate, after a digital exam. I had heard that prostatitis can be caused by the same bacterium that causes chlamydia and gonorrhea. Hence, all the worries now about STD's and prostatitis or epididymitis caused by this same bacterium. I would just like your thoughts on these latest developments.
I don't think in any way that I am currently a risk to my wife, if we partake in sexual relations. I do love her so much, and just want to make sure it isn't too late, and that I didn't infected her 9 months ago, and she is just not yet showing any signs or symptoms of an STD or PID. I am 52 years old, and she is 50. We've been married 27 years, and I can't stand the thought of me having possibly hurt her.
Again, thanks for your help, and I'll await your final response.
Also, doctor, you mentioned in your reply that neither gonorrhea nor chlamydia spread to other parts of the body. Is it possible for the bacterium causing these infections to have spread to other areas (prostate, epididymis, etc.), even though the testing now is negative for each? In other words, can a person currently test negative for gonorrhea and chlamydia, yet still have the bacterium in their system affecting them in other ways? If so, would a time period of six months without the most common symptoms showing up make this even possible?
Thank you for your response, and I will do as you suggested, and copy part of your original reply to the community forum. If I could follow up first on your reply I'd really appreciate your thoughts. I didn't want to get too involved in the details of the encounter, because I was most concerned about getting an answer to the testing window question first.
The encounter was receipt of oral only, and it was a one-time occurrence, with someone I did not know very well, lasting less than 2 minutes. I've read your comments before, regarding chlamydia not being transmitted via oral sex, but you now have me wondering if I could have been positive for gonorrhea and/or NGU during this six month window, even though I never experienced any symptoms during those six months.
Never having had any discharge in my lifetime, or pain while urinating, I was wondering if it's possible to miss those symptoms. Is the pain usually uncomfortable enough that a person would have to feel it, and is the discharge related to chlamydia, gonorrhea and NGU too obvious to miss? I don't typically pay a lot of attention to my first urination of the day, and I was worried maybe I missed something that was there. I've never seen any stains in my underwear, and never noticed my urine being anything but clear.
Thanks.
The encounter was receipt of oral only, and it was a one-time occurrence, with someone I did not know very well, lasting less than 2 minutes. I've read your comments before, regarding chlamydia not being transmitted via oral sex, but you now have me wondering if I could have been positive for gonorrhea and/or NGU during this six month window, even though I never experienced any symptoms during those six months.
Never having had any discharge in my lifetime, or pain while urinating, I was wondering if it's possible to miss those symptoms. Is the pain usually uncomfortable enough that a person would have to feel it, and is the discharge related to chlamydia, gonorrhea and NGU too obvious to miss? I don't typically pay a lot of attention to my first urination of the day, and I was worried maybe I missed something that was there. I've never seen any stains in my underwear, and never noticed my urine being anything but clear.
Thanks.
You are reading content posted in the STDs Forum
Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
STIs are the most common cause of genital sores.
Millions of people are diagnosed with STDs in the U.S. each year.
STDs can't be transmitted by casual contact, like hugging or touching.
Syphilis is an STD that is transmitted by oral, genital and anal sex.
