Aa
Aa
A
A
A
Close
Avatar universal

How did i get Syphilis? which treatment is more appropriate?

Oct 16 2010, my friend had a stag party. we went to a strip club got some beers and hookers. We didn't get an erection at all because of the alcohol, but had some oral sex, french kissing and genital rubbing.

a day after i went to this website and read most articles saying THERE ARE NO RISK AT ALL. it gave me a good sleep for a few days though

Oct 22, while taking a bath i touched my penis and felt a slight pain, i saw a small red bump with a pin sized hole with whitish things in it. according to my self-research it is a chancre

Oct 23, there was puss coming out. i went to the hospital, had it tested for gram staining

polymorphonuclear cells: over 50/lpf
yeast cells: few
gram + cocci in single: 5-10/oif
gram + cocci in pair: 1-3/oif
gram - bacilli: 10-20/oif (as far as i know is the T. Pallidum or syphilis)

I was given Ceftriaxone IM. that night i had a "Jarisch-Herxheimer reaction"

Oct 29, the chancre was still there which is according to my research will stay there for a month or so with or without treatment. I decided to go to a Infectious Disease Expert. He said that my case was impossible because it was so fast and maybe i got it from a different partner. I dont think so because I have been monogamous all my life and this was my first time to go to a strip club(lucky me). besides Im not seeing my girl for months now.

He prescribed me with Clindamycin and Cefixime and another shot of Ceftriaxone after a week of therapy. This though is Contrary to what most articles says about treatment on syphilis.

on the same day another Doctor a general practitioner(a friend's friend) said that what was given to me including Ceftriaxone was wrong(although websites say ceftriaxone OR penicillin). instead he prescribed me with Doxycycline twice a day for 6 days and a benzathine penicillin injection stat. this though is more closer according to most websites. I've been using Doxy for 4 days now, though websites say it should be used up to 14 dyas. and Im not sure if i should take the shot because most websites say "penicillin OR Doxycycline", medscape said they are highly contraindicated while epocrates says no known reaction between the 2.

Nov 1, the chancre is gone even though its supposed to be there for a long time. it only lasted for like a week. everything happened so fast even my doctor cant believe it

1. where did i get this, oral sex or rubbing?

2. what treatment should i use? am i on the right track?

I have no money to pay for anymore expenses, i cant even tell my parents.  i just had to borrow from my friend just to afford these treatment

thank you
Best Answer
Avatar universal
Having read this long and convoluted thread, I must start at the begining.  You don`t have syphilis nor did you ever have syphilis. Your encounter was no risk, and that sore you describe is not characteristic of a syphilitic chancre. I would bet dolloars to doughnuts that your tests for syphilis will be negative. I recommend you have a RPR or VDRL screen If you`re really anxious about this.. What you had was a skin infection otherwise known as folliculitis..your gram stain showed that. Hope this helps.
13 Responses
Sort by: Helpful Oldest Newest
Avatar universal
and oh, if this was fungal or yeast folliculitis, does that mean the antibiotics were useless? and if im not mistaken yeast multiplies faster for people using antibiotics because the bacteria that kills them are also destroyed by the meds. do you think thats the reason why there's a small one about to come up? lastly, topical or oral antifungal meds?

im having mixed emotions right now, im happy that i didn't have an std and upset for all those doctors who made a diagnosis without a proper examination.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
You would need to get a confirmed diagnosis then talk to your Dr about treatment.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
gosh! i think you are actually correct! i browsed some pics of folliculitis and it looks the same. how i wish you showed up earlier. that was a waste of time, worries and money. thank you so much. now at least my worries are gone. so thats the reason why there are even small ones on the side of the big one, i thought i had a chancre and the small ones were hsv2. no wonder there were yeasts according to my gram stain.

what treatment should i use? i hope all those meds helped somehow. you're a genius man! to think you didn't even see it
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
hi. i just finished 15 days using doxy, i hope im on the safe side now. but i stopped using it though, i still need to find money then i might continue the next 14 days.

the thing is, its been 4 days since i stopped the medication but then i think the chancre is reappearing, its so small with tiny amount of pus coming out, hardly noticable. can you confirm if its normal? i mean i think i read some article that says a chancre wont go away for 1-2months with or without treatment.

cdc says a shot of ceftriaxone is enough for a chancre and more shot of it for syphilis. since i had a shot once plus the doxy. am i safe now?  is my syphilis still active? should i continue using doxy or just ignore the chancre?
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
hi. i just finished 15 days using doxy, i hope im on the safe side now. but i stopped using it though, i still need to find money then i might continue the next 14 days.

the thing is, its been 4 days since i stopped the medication but then i think the chancre is reappearing, its so small with tiny amount of pus coming out, hardly noticable. can you confirm if its normal? i mean i think i read some article that says a chancre wont go away for 1-2months with or without treatment.

cdc says a shot of ceftriaxone is enough for a chancre and more shot of it for syphilis. since i had a shot once plus the doxy. am i safe now?  is my syphilis still active? should i continue using doxy or just ignore the chancre?
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
...to be over-safe. It does not sound like you have funds for going to the doctor for retesting, meaning that you must do everything to counteract treatment failure.

However, if you really have the right dosage of Benzathine Penicillin (it should be Bicillin L-A=long-acting) and you are sure that it is not some other kind of penicillin, this is held to be the most efficient treatment. If you want to be supersafe, you could take doxy for 14 days and this afterwards.

In general, people on this website may have been overly reassuring related to you oral experience, as syphilis is so rare in most developed countries even among CSW. It is much more widespread in developing countries, in particular among CSW.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
ok. thank you so much once again. i've been looking for such website with detailed facts. last question though, why do you think i should take it up to 3-4 weeks?
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
....you will find the CDC treatment rules from 2006:

http://www.cdc.gov/std/treatment/2006/genital-ulcers.htm#genulc6

Good luck!
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
OK, I understand the situation. The difference between ceftriaxone and benzathine penicillin is that the benzathine penicillin stays in your system for weeks (and is the most effective medicine for treating syphilis). Ceftriaxone disappears much more rapidly, and prolonged treatment is necessary for syphilis because the bacteria are slow in dividing. The appropriate dosage of benzathine penicillin is: 2.4 million U IM in a single dose, check this website to be sure:http://www.bicillin.com/bicillin_la_syphilis.aspx

If you must stick with doxycycline and do not have money for a retest or a shot of benzathine penicillin, I would go for three-four weeks with 2x100 mg doxy daily (although CDC advice is two weeks). However, all syphilis treatment should ideally be followed up with tests within a few weeks to months (you will find more data on this on the CDC websites).
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
thank you very much for the reply Lars46

yeah everything was so fast. could it be just because im just a keen observer and i found it when its just forming? they say most cases of people who had chancre did not detect it because its painless. the day i noticed it, it was really small like pea sized then the next day there were puss around it

i think they diagnosed me with syphilis even though there were no dark-field microscopy. maybe for some reasons. i just live in a small town in a third world country, and the only thing they offer there i suppose is gram-staining then they just assume that the gram - is T pallidum, so i think they based it on my history of intercourse with a worker and the gram stain. is there any other anaerobic bacteria that produces a chancre? also when i was given a shot of ceftriaxone i had Jarisch-Herxheimer reaction, that night which they say is common when treating the infection. i felt ill but in the morning i was fine. another reason maybe is that the doctor that gave me the shot was still young and she was not an infectious disease expert, though the other doctor who an infectious disease expert did not recommend any other test but urinalysis which i find weird.

can this be detected through blood test? coz the chancre's gone.

I can't afford the doctor's forum, i didn't even tell my parents about this and had to borrow some money from my friend just to get some meds. for now i think i have to rely on people who had the same disease(early syphilis) and the meds they took. i just wanna confirm if doxycycline 100mg twice a day for 14 days is enough just like what most websites say and do i really need a second shot of benzathine though i already had ceftriaxone?

thanks
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Hi,

you could have got syphilis from unprotected oral sex. But: Did the hospital really diagnose you with syphilis? 6 days is an unusually short incubation period, and gram-staining does usually not work on unveiling this bacteria from a chancre, but dark-field microscopy does. The CDC guidelines for treating syphilis are very easy and consists of penicillin injections alone, which is by far the most effective method:

http://www.cdc.gov/std/treatment/2006/genital-ulcers.htm#syphpands

I think you should put a post in the doctor´s forum about this. Using us amateurs for syphilis is not enough, it´s a tricky disease to deal with. If you really have syphilis, it is of course also of the utmost importance to track down the person who gave it to you and make sure she gets treated both for her own and public health reasons.

Good luck!
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
i forgot to add. yes there was protected penetration, but i used a condom, then after a hard time making it stand up, it did for a few minutes then it got small again and never came back up

so i'll revise the questions

1. where did i get this, oral sex or rubbing, few minutes of sex with condom?

2. what treatment should i use? am i on the right track using doxycycline? should i use it for 14 days and forget about the penicillin shot?
Helpful - 0
Have an Answer?

You are reading content posted in the STDs / STIs Community

Didn't find the answer you were looking for?
Ask a question
Popular Resources
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.