Last night I received protected oral from a stripper. I have read even with a condiment, I could catch syphillis or herpes. I am married. Am nervous I should get tested. Am I just worrying myself or do I have no risk of any std??
It is possible to get syphilis and herpes while wearing a condom, but the risk while doing so during oral sex is very low. Most experts don't think it warrants testing.
I wouldn't bother testing for herpes unless you get symptoms. The only thing you're at risk for is genital hsv1, but they run the hsv2 with it, and there are false positives on that test, which can cause issues that take weeks and weeks and several hundred dollars to unwind.
If you've ever had a cold sore, you have hsv1, which means that you can't get it again genitally. If you insist on testing, get an IgG type specific blood test at 6 weeks. It's conclusive at 12, but most will test positive by 6.
Syphilis testing can be done at 6 weeks, but you'd likely get a sore before then. The average time for a sore is 3 weeks.
I’m just worried of giving my wife Syphillis if I did contract it. I have had cold sores on my lips when I was in my 20’s so it’s great news that I can’t get it again genitally. Should I hold off having sex with my wife until I get a syphillis test?
If you live in a developed country - the US, UK, Europe, Canada, etc - I wouldn't bother.
For example:
In the US - 2019 - (not using 2020 because of covid and lockdowns, etc) -
1,808,703 cases of Chlamydia were reported. These are reported only - a number are probably not reported, but this is for reference, so it doesn't matter.
616,392 cases of gonorrhea were reported.
129,813 cases of all stages of syphilis were reported.
It's not to say it's impossible, but it's really, really unlikely, right? You'd have to have direct contact with a syphilis sore in order to get it, and you had protected oral, so I see no reason to avoid sex with your wife.
Honestly, I'd be far more worried about covid than syphilis.
I was reading about the Treponema pallidum Screening Cascade Test for Syphilis. I read the testing window is 11-21 days, vs. the six weeks for the RPR test. Any in put would be great
I can't find much of anything that says this is conclusive at 11-21 days. It looks like it's saying that if a patient is low risk - such as you - it's really unlikely that you'd develop antibodies later, and this test may be more sensitive than others at finding them.
https://www.labcorp.com/assets/5131 - this has a chart that says is a patient gets a negative test, and is high risk, they still need to test again in a month.
Ultimately, if it makes you feel better to see the results on paper, then take the test. It says on some sites that the cost ranges from $79 to into the $400+ range. You don't have nearly enough risk to spend $400 on a test. That's robbery for you. If it's $79, and you get peace of mind, and you can afford it, fine. But much more than that, and you should spend it on therapy instead, because that would be smarter. :) If you can find it as a single test, fine - you don't need a full panel of tests.
I know my anxiety on this is overboard. I’ll be the first to admit. I just want to put this behind me but the fact that Syphilis is a very small but possible outcome, I worry. Playing mind games with myself. I just want peace of mind and if I can do it before 6 weeks post exposure I would like to do that
I started to think to be infected she would have to
A) have a sore in her mouth
B) it would have to have touched the top base of my shaft ( because of condom)
Highly highly unlikely. Would have had a better chance of getting it by kissing her
Anyway thanks for letting me vent and for your advice!
So I went ahead and got tested 26 days after the incident above just for peace of mind.
Everything is negative except the igg and igm tests for hsv
The igg for hsv1 was 0.99 and the igg for hsv2 was 13.30. The igms are still pending. The igg is for past infections from what I understand I’ve never had symptoms of hsv2 , is it possible it’s a false positive?