Cipro and STD testing

[septillion]

I was recently tested for chlamydia/gonorrea with a urine PCR test (NAA). However, because of the UTI symptoms I was experiencing I had been taking Cipro for a few days before the test. My test was on a Wednesday; from the Sunday to the Tuesday before the test I had taken five tables of Cipro 500mg, with none on Tuesday evening or at all on Wednesday. It had been 24 hours since I had last taken the antibiotic when I gave my urine sample.

Given the amount of Cipro I took, the timing, and the nature of the test, can I rely on my negative result?

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Welcome to the Forum.  I am afraid that whomever put you on Cipro without testing for gonorrhea and chlamydial infections has put you between a rock and a hard place.  You do not mention your age but urinary tract infections are rare in men younger than 40 and thus testing for STIs should almost ALWAYS be done in evaluating such symptoms in men under age 40.  Ciprofloxacin has partial activity against both gonorrhea and chlamydia but also should be expected to fail to cure a substantial proportion of infections as well.  That said, if you were still symptomatic at the time you were tested, the tests should have provided a reliable result.  

You do not mention if your symptoms have now resolved or what is going on at this time so it is difficult to suggest next steps.  EWH

[Edward W Hook, MD]

No perhaps about it.  In medicine we say the the doctor who has themself for a patient is caring for a fool.

The doxycycline is recommended theary for chlamydial infection although the recommended duration is seven days.  

I would suggest that you complete the doxy and then move forward unless your symptoms recur.  EWH

[septillion]

Dr. Hook,

I was, perhaps unwisely, self-medicating with an old prescription of Cipro I had gotten from a friend.

Given the negative chlamydia/gonorrhea test result an a negative UTI screen, my doctor determined that I have NGU and has put me on Doxycycline 100mg twice a day for ten days. It is my understanding that this prescription will cure chlamydia as well as most other organisms that cause NGU.

Thus, my only real concern is whether I had chlamydia or not at that time. I understand that between the Cipro, the doxy, and the fact that my symptoms have largely improved it will be impossible to tell at this point if I ever had it. But I would just like to have the episode behind me and know that I never possibly exposed anyone else.

[septillion]

I should add also that I was still actively experiencing symptoms of urethritis at the time that I gave the sample, on the Cipro seemed to have little effect. Whitish particles in my urine, which were a symptom of whatever infection I had, were present in the sample.