Concerned for some time

[djcralin]

Hi Dr, thanks in advance. I made a very stupid mistake back in March 06. I strayed from my relationship and had a one night fling with a woman of unknown status. We had unprotected oral and protected intercourse. I was very drunk and im 90% sure that the condom didnt burst. About 1 month later my Fiance developed suspicious symptoms. Very swollen, painful Vulva, itching and painful urination. She took OTC thrush medication which cleared it right up in a few days. I got it into my head that i had caught chlamydia and passed it onto her and i have not been able to get this out of my head since. My Fiance and i continued having protected intercourse since then with maybe about 10 episodes of unprotected sex. During the last year i have become very concerned about all of this and had 2 Chlamydia tests.(both urine NAAT). Both of these were negative. I have become very stressed about this and have got it into my head that i had chlamydia which cleared itself up and my Fiance still has it. She has had no symptoms at all since the thrush symptoms and i have never displayed any symptoms. She went for a Smear test yesterday and the Dr, noticed a lot of discharge and took a swab to check for infection. My Fiance advised that this is normal for her at this time of the month as it is quite close to her period. I am now terrified that the test will come back positive for chlamydia or another STD. My girlfriend has been faithful to me throughout our relationship and i have not strayed since that night.(1) Do you think her symptoms so close to the incident are typical of chlamydia (2) If she did have Chlamydia do you think there would be a good chance that it would have cleared up by now.(3) She went for a colposcopy due to abnormal paps in 2007. Do you think an infection would be noticed during this? I am very sorry for the long question but any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

You have an STD that needs propoer diagnosis and treatment.  See a doctor or clinic immediately and have your sex partner(s) do so as well.

If you want more information than that, you'll need to start a new thread.  No more comments in this one.

[kds507]

hi Dr. i had this discharge in my organ white discharge, do i need to take antibiotics and go the the Dr. for this one i am male 20 yrs old or should i leave this one and wait till it ill be gone?

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

Glad to have helped.  Happy new year.

[djcralin]

Hi Dr, Just thought i would let you know that all results came back negative. Thanks very much for your responses. They were of great help to me over the xmas period when waiting for results. Thanks very much and happy new year.

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

If you carefully read my entire reply, you will see that it would make no difference in my reply if the condom had broken.  Anyway, no matter how drunk you were, you probably would have noticed.  And it is rare for chlamydia to persist for 3 years.

You're going to have to stop obessing about chlamydia.  If your partner happens to have a positive test for chlamydia or any other STD, it will not be from the events in 2006.

That's all for this thread.

[djcralin]

Hi Dr, thanks for answering my question. It was very re-assuring. Say for instance the Condom did burst (i cant be absolutely sure as i was drunk). Would your response be any different i.e chlamydia? What are the odds that it would have cleared up in My Fiance after this length of time?

Thanks

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

Welcome to the STD forum.

First off, you can pretty much forget chlamydia. It is rarely acquired by oral sex; can't be caught during condom-protected vaginal sex; doesn't cause vulvar pain and swelling in women; and the tests for chlamydia are highly accurate.  And most likely she has been tested for it; that would be nearly automatic for any doctor or clinic evaluating a sexually active woman with vaginal discharge or other genital symptoms.  For these reasons, it is not possible you or your partner have chlamydia (assuming you are correct that she hasn't had other partners.)

What about other STDs?  Except for herpes, almost any that you could have caught from unprotected oral sex would have cleared up by now, if you had been infected in the first place.  That includes gonorrhea and nongonococcal urethritis (NGU).  Whatever is causing your partner's symptoms, it is not a bacterial STD that you caught back in 2006.

As for herpes, it can be acquired orally (HSV-1) or genitally despite condom use (HSV-2).  And herpes is a possibility for vulvar pain and swelling.  However, most likely you would have had symptoms; and most likely your partner would have been diagnosed as well -- if the initial pain and swelling were herpetic, there should have been overt open sores that would have alerted a doctor to herpes as a possibility.  And recurrent herpes is not a likely cause of persistent or recurrent vaginal discharge.  Still, perhaps this is something you and she should discuss.  Blood testing could tell whether either of you is infected with HSV-1, HSV-2, or both.  (If so, it won't necessarily explain her symptoms.)

To your specific questions.  1) As discussed above, this isnt' chlamydia -- and probably nothing related in any way to your adventure back in 2006.  2) Chlamydia usually clears up on its own within a year.  3) Many providers would test women with HPV and abnormal pap smears routinely for other STDs -- but not necessarily.

Bottom line:  There is a slight chance that herpes is involved here, but I doubt it. Your partner should continue to work with her doctor about the cause and treatment of her discharge problem, almost certainly it has nothing to do with your past indiscretion.  

I hope this helps.  Best wishes--  HHH, MD