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unprotected vaginal sex
hello doctor,
thank you for this forum, i am greatly appreciative of any insight you can give me over my latest ignorant action. I am a 32 yr old white female from US, had unprotected sex with a 35 yr old hispanic male 9 days ago. The sex was quite rough for several hours and hes very large. i noticed i spotted blood when i went to the restroom. 5 days after this incident i got pain during urination, and the constant feeling to need to urinate. I thought maybe it was a UTI, so yesterday (day 8) i did a urine sample and everything was negative. my understanding was they test for clamidia at that time too, but i asked, and they said if the urine sample comes back normal, they dont test further. so it doesnt explain my vaginal pain, but i have been taking Septra. Anyhow, freaked out, i asked my partner if he was clean, he said yes. He doesnt do drugs that i know of but he does have a girlfriend. today my gums on one side have been swollen, tho im not sure if thats a significant sign of anything. Today i had a STD panel done (blood test), i know its still early, but i cant stand the thought of not knowing. I am married and dont want to harm my husband because of my stupid decision.
my questions are given this incident what are my risks for any STDs including HIV. would you have suggested any of the tests ive done? and should i wait 3 months to resume unprotected sex with my husband? any and all information from your experience is greatly appreciated. Thank you
thank you for this forum, i am greatly appreciative of any insight you can give me over my latest ignorant action. I am a 32 yr old white female from US, had unprotected sex with a 35 yr old hispanic male 9 days ago. The sex was quite rough for several hours and hes very large. i noticed i spotted blood when i went to the restroom. 5 days after this incident i got pain during urination, and the constant feeling to need to urinate. I thought maybe it was a UTI, so yesterday (day 8) i did a urine sample and everything was negative. my understanding was they test for clamidia at that time too, but i asked, and they said if the urine sample comes back normal, they dont test further. so it doesnt explain my vaginal pain, but i have been taking Septra. Anyhow, freaked out, i asked my partner if he was clean, he said yes. He doesnt do drugs that i know of but he does have a girlfriend. today my gums on one side have been swollen, tho im not sure if thats a significant sign of anything. Today i had a STD panel done (blood test), i know its still early, but i cant stand the thought of not knowing. I am married and dont want to harm my husband because of my stupid decision.
my questions are given this incident what are my risks for any STDs including HIV. would you have suggested any of the tests ive done? and should i wait 3 months to resume unprotected sex with my husband? any and all information from your experience is greatly appreciated. Thank you
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
I'm glad your symptoms have cleared up. I would not recommend any need for testing for HSV or HIV; and there is no test for HPV except in conjunction with pap smear (and HPV is not a potential cause of your symptoms). So I see no need for further testing, or to return to your gynecologist as long as your interstitial cystitis/UTI symptoms don't reappear; and it should be entirely safe for you to resume sex with your husband.
Best regards.
Best regards.
dr handsfield, i wanted to comment that i called for an appointment with my gyno and they cant get me in to discuss possiblility of the interstitial systitus flare for another 3 weeks :(
yesterday i had another appointment with my regular doctor and she evaluated me again, to make sure everything looked normal in the vaginal area. she said everything looked fine, my pap came back normal, gonorreah and chylamdia negative. no HSV or HPV or HIV tests were ever taken. my UTI symptoms have gone away since i started my menstral cycle.
I need to ask , then ill leave it alone (promise!), do you think i need those other tests? can i put this behind me and resume unprotected sex with my husband? thank you so much
yesterday i had another appointment with my regular doctor and she evaluated me again, to make sure everything looked normal in the vaginal area. she said everything looked fine, my pap came back normal, gonorreah and chylamdia negative. no HSV or HPV or HIV tests were ever taken. my UTI symptoms have gone away since i started my menstral cycle.
I need to ask , then ill leave it alone (promise!), do you think i need those other tests? can i put this behind me and resume unprotected sex with my husband? thank you so much
I will do that. Thank you Dr Handsfield for all your help!
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Sorry you didn't say it earlier. If the symptoms are the same as then, probably that's what's going on. I cancel my advice about HSV testing. Instead I recommend you return to the doctor who cared for your past intestitial cystitis (which is generally not believed to be due to any infection, hence usually antibiotics are not helpful) and follow his or her advice.
just a thought, and i still dont really understand this condition, but the last time i had this kind of pain i had interstitial cystitus and underwent 2 rounds of treatment back to back in the doctors office. that was a year ago.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
US military medicine actually is very good these days -- and from a technological standpoint, you can be sure they use reliable tests and have strong systems for quality assurance in clinical settings. You shouldn't have any doubt about the reliability of the tests.
As we have discussed, your symptoms are not typical for herpes. That said, they did last longer than I might have expected from simply trauma or a urethral syndrome (or other undetected UTI) on antibiotic therapy. While I still think herpes is unlikely, it wouldn't hurt to be tested for it -- but herpes testing is best done with serial tests, not just one, so it's a bit of a hassle. You could have an initial blood test now, i.e. 2-3 weeks after the sexual exposure (by which time many people will already have positive results) and another at 6 weeks. It will be highly reassuring if both are negative, but then you'll still need a final test after 3-4 months. Also, be aware that half of all adults (in the US) have positive blood tests for HSV-1, so if positive for that virus, it won't necessarily have anything to do with any of this.
As we have discussed, your symptoms are not typical for herpes. That said, they did last longer than I might have expected from simply trauma or a urethral syndrome (or other undetected UTI) on antibiotic therapy. While I still think herpes is unlikely, it wouldn't hurt to be tested for it -- but herpes testing is best done with serial tests, not just one, so it's a bit of a hassle. You could have an initial blood test now, i.e. 2-3 weeks after the sexual exposure (by which time many people will already have positive results) and another at 6 weeks. It will be highly reassuring if both are negative, but then you'll still need a final test after 3-4 months. Also, be aware that half of all adults (in the US) have positive blood tests for HSV-1, so if positive for that virus, it won't necessarily have anything to do with any of this.
hello doctor,
todays the first day ive had relief from what i thought was a UTI....it was consistant pain for two weeks. now i have a vaginal yeast infection :/
I called for my blood test results today, and ghonnorhea and chylamdia tests and Hep C are all negative. Again, they said they would do a HIV test, but didnt. still awaiting papsmear results, but that tests for is cervical cancer.
these tests were done and sent out from military base, and ive never cared or trusted how theyve done them. my question is can i rely on these negative results or should i do more? ive still never had any sores or vaginal bumps show up, just the vaginal burning for two weeks. do you suggest herpes testing as well?
todays the first day ive had relief from what i thought was a UTI....it was consistant pain for two weeks. now i have a vaginal yeast infection :/
I called for my blood test results today, and ghonnorhea and chylamdia tests and Hep C are all negative. Again, they said they would do a HIV test, but didnt. still awaiting papsmear results, but that tests for is cervical cancer.
these tests were done and sent out from military base, and ive never cared or trusted how theyve done them. my question is can i rely on these negative results or should i do more? ive still never had any sores or vaginal bumps show up, just the vaginal burning for two weeks. do you suggest herpes testing as well?
thank you so much! your response has helped tremendously. When i did the blood work today for HIV/STD panel, i also had a papsmear done as well. I dont have any vaginal sores, blisters, etc that have shown up, just urination & vaginal pain. Im estatic to know i can rule out HIV, I will be sure to post results when they come. thank you
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Noted; see above. Male circumcision doesn't increase female partners' risk of UTI.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Welcome to the forum. Thanks for your question. The bottom line is that I'm pretty certain you have no STD.
First, your symptoms are most suggestive of trauma or irritation from prolonged and vigorous sex. Second, the most likely STDs that could cause such symptoms are chlamydia and gonorrhea, both of which are uncommon at your age. Not that you and your partner are elderly, of course -- but chlamydia is quite rare after age 25 and gonorrhea after age 30. Third, either of these usually would cause obvious symptoms in your partner (especially gonorrhea) -- and most old friends (according to your comment below) would not knowingly put their partners at such high risk.
The only other STD that comes to mind for such symptoms is herpes. But that would usually cause overt open genital area sores. If you have anything like that, return to the clinic ASAP for re-examination. But I doubt that's the problem.
In addition to these possibilities, you may have had the urethral syndrome. That's sort of a mini-UTI, limited to the urine passage. Like other UTIs, it can be triggered when sex massages bacteria into the urethra, but the standard UTI urine tests often are negative. However, if that's the problem, Septra should clear it up.
I'm sorry to hear the lab didn't do the chlamydia test. Just because your urein was normal was no reason not to do it. (Most people with chlamydia or gonorrhea have a normal urinalysis.) Still, I don't believe anything was seriously compromised.
At this point, I would advise that you have a frank but sensitive conversation with your partner, and that both of you return to a doctor or clinic for examination and perhaps further testing. I'm pretty certain nothing will be found.
Finally, you for sure can ignore HIV. That certainly would not cause symptoms like yours. And in the US HIV remains very rare in most heterosexual people without special risks like injection drug use, commercial sex experiences, etc. If it would make you feel better to be tested for it, for the reassurance of the negative test result, feel free to do that. But there's really no serious chance you have it.
I hope this has helped. Best wishes-- HHH, MD
First, your symptoms are most suggestive of trauma or irritation from prolonged and vigorous sex. Second, the most likely STDs that could cause such symptoms are chlamydia and gonorrhea, both of which are uncommon at your age. Not that you and your partner are elderly, of course -- but chlamydia is quite rare after age 25 and gonorrhea after age 30. Third, either of these usually would cause obvious symptoms in your partner (especially gonorrhea) -- and most old friends (according to your comment below) would not knowingly put their partners at such high risk.
The only other STD that comes to mind for such symptoms is herpes. But that would usually cause overt open genital area sores. If you have anything like that, return to the clinic ASAP for re-examination. But I doubt that's the problem.
In addition to these possibilities, you may have had the urethral syndrome. That's sort of a mini-UTI, limited to the urine passage. Like other UTIs, it can be triggered when sex massages bacteria into the urethra, but the standard UTI urine tests often are negative. However, if that's the problem, Septra should clear it up.
I'm sorry to hear the lab didn't do the chlamydia test. Just because your urein was normal was no reason not to do it. (Most people with chlamydia or gonorrhea have a normal urinalysis.) Still, I don't believe anything was seriously compromised.
At this point, I would advise that you have a frank but sensitive conversation with your partner, and that both of you return to a doctor or clinic for examination and perhaps further testing. I'm pretty certain nothing will be found.
Finally, you for sure can ignore HIV. That certainly would not cause symptoms like yours. And in the US HIV remains very rare in most heterosexual people without special risks like injection drug use, commercial sex experiences, etc. If it would make you feel better to be tested for it, for the reassurance of the negative test result, feel free to do that. But there's really no serious chance you have it.
I hope this has helped. Best wishes-- HHH, MD
i forgot to mention he is not just a bar pickup or anything, ive known him for several years. also he is uncircumcized, given why i thought i may have gotten a UTI.....
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.
