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Possible STD Exposure and Frightening Symptoms
Married to wonderful woman and two amazing children. 3/23,was in Las Vegas, got inebriated, unprotected sexual contact with female visitor. Out of some combination of stupidity, recklessness, denial, assumed I was safe and have had subsequent unprotected sex with my wife. 5/27 I began having the classic symptoms of NGU, mild urethral discomfort, very small amount of morning milky white discharge, occasionally other times during the day. I was confused as every source I could find suggested symptoms would appear within 15 days of infection if at all, not two months later. Went to my doc to be sure. Urine testfor UTI-Negative and “dirty” urine sample produced at 4:00am in a small amount so as not to dilute into a sterile container for a GC test (brought it in at 8:30am). Day before my GC test came back “normal”wife complained of uti symptoms. Feared the worst so I told her all. She got a full STD urine and blood series yesterday…no results yet. She had trace amounts of blood in her urine. She is understandably terrified that I gave her a serious disease like HIV, syphilis, herpes, etc. and we are both distraught beyond belief. Neither has been given any treatment/medication. I want to be sure she’s healthy and safe. I understand you can’t predict test results but any objective information/inferences you can provide would be appreciated…We’re frantic. My wife is 100% faithful…I have no doubts. Does GC test result “normal” definitively tell me I have no NGU or is it only conclusive for Gonorrhea and Chlamydia? How reliable? What else could be causing my symptoms and is it likely to have infected my wife? How serious is the risk of the other serious diseases I mentioned?Follow-up w/ my doc tomorrow to see what’s wrong with me given that my symptoms haven’t changed. What should I ask? Made appt. to visit a mental health care professional to try to figure out how I could let myself endanger my wife and family like this. I’m just sick over it. Thanks
Thank you very much for your time and counsel.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
I cannot comment on what you and your wife have been told by your own health care providers. You'll have to ask them for clarifications, not me. As I suggested above, the conservative and safe thing to do is for both of you to be treated as is routinely recommended for men with NGU and their sex partners. As I also said, however, there may be alternative explanations for everything. I didn't comment previously on your wife's symptoms, but they are entirely consistent with a garden-variety urinary tract infection that has nothing to do with your sexual indiscretion. And as far as pink-eye is concerned, there are non-sexually acquired infections that could cause that plus urethritis, in particular various strains of adenovirus. It would be quite a coincidence for these things to all happen at once, which is one reason that treating you and her with azithromycin or doxycycline makes sense. But the ultimate decision is between you and your health care providers. I am not in a position to either resolve the uncertainties or make definitive recommendations for treatment.
And please remember my comments above: when all is said and done, the health issues are not likely to be very important here.
Bottom line: Follow both your providers' advice. Feel free to tell them my perspectives (you could print out my replies), but then you need to trust their judgment. But I won't have any further comments. Good luck.
And please remember my comments above: when all is said and done, the health issues are not likely to be very important here.
Bottom line: Follow both your providers' advice. Feel free to tell them my perspectives (you could print out my replies), but then you need to trust their judgment. But I won't have any further comments. Good luck.
Neglected to mention I am suffering from something like "pink eye" in one eye. This isn't abnormal for me as a contact lens wearer who is prone to irritations and occasional infections, but the timing again, seems like it may be more than coincidental. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Dr. Handsfield,
Thank you very much for your timely and considered reply. It was certainly some comfort.
After reading volumes on this website, I was a bit confounded that even after I received a phonecall from the physician's office telling me my urine test was "normal" there was no suggested follow-up or precautionary antibiotic (note I may have misused the term "GC" as my doc told me they would test the sample for both gonorrhea and chlamydia). I'm assuming "normal" meant neither showed up (it took 6 days...is that normal?) I had to initiate a request for a follow-up appointment myself. I'm even less encouraged by the care we're receiving now that my wife called for her urinalysis results and was told this morning "they weren't ready," and this evening her NP called and said there was a "lab error" and she needed to come in and provide another sample. This now has her questioning the validity of my results. Still...they haven't given her any precautionary antibiotics. Should we skip them and just go to planned parenthood? We live in semi-rural Vermont so i'm not sure of the quality of care we'd get at either provider.
Apart from my marriage/family being in jeopardy, my continuing concern stems mainly from the seemingly too coincidental symptoms i'm exhibiting combined with my wife's onset of UTI-type symptoms with traces of blood in her urine. Once i'm comfortable she's safe physically, I can focus on repairing the emotional damage i've caused both of us and doing whatever is necessary to assure nothing like this ever happens again.
Thank you so very much for all you do here and for actually caring about the folks you share your knowledge and experience with.
Thank you very much for your timely and considered reply. It was certainly some comfort.
After reading volumes on this website, I was a bit confounded that even after I received a phonecall from the physician's office telling me my urine test was "normal" there was no suggested follow-up or precautionary antibiotic (note I may have misused the term "GC" as my doc told me they would test the sample for both gonorrhea and chlamydia). I'm assuming "normal" meant neither showed up (it took 6 days...is that normal?) I had to initiate a request for a follow-up appointment myself. I'm even less encouraged by the care we're receiving now that my wife called for her urinalysis results and was told this morning "they weren't ready," and this evening her NP called and said there was a "lab error" and she needed to come in and provide another sample. This now has her questioning the validity of my results. Still...they haven't given her any precautionary antibiotics. Should we skip them and just go to planned parenthood? We live in semi-rural Vermont so i'm not sure of the quality of care we'd get at either provider.
Apart from my marriage/family being in jeopardy, my continuing concern stems mainly from the seemingly too coincidental symptoms i'm exhibiting combined with my wife's onset of UTI-type symptoms with traces of blood in her urine. Once i'm comfortable she's safe physically, I can focus on repairing the emotional damage i've caused both of us and doing whatever is necessary to assure nothing like this ever happens again.
Thank you so very much for all you do here and for actually caring about the folks you share your knowledge and experience with.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
I agree it is uncommon to have NGU symptoms first show up 2 months later. It is conceivable you have prostatitis or a related problem that has nothing to do with your Las Vegas encounter. However, the safe thing is for both you and your wife to be treated. You did the responsible thing by discussing it with her. I know it was difficult and the situation now is upsetting. However, it should not be frightening. The chance of HIV is near zero (although testing both of you makes sense to be safe).
Both you and your wife need treatment regardless of your mutual test results. Most providers would have already prescribe antibiotics for both of you before now, i.e. without waiting for test results. Even completely negative tests for gonorrhea and chlamydia don't mean much. The most common treatment is a single dose of azithromycin (Zithromax); alternatively, doxycycline twice a day for a week.
To the specific questions: First, "normal" GC tests means no gonorrhea and is highly reliable; and GC would be very unusual to cause no symptoms for 2 months, or such mild symptoms. If there is an identifable STD, chlamydia is the best bet. That test, when available, also will be very reliable, whether positive or negative. There are no standard tests available for the other bacteria that can cause NGU, such as Mycoplasma genitalium and some strains of Ureaplasma urealyticum. (This is why treatment is necessary even if all tests are negative.) The chances of other bad things -- e.g., HIV, syphilis -- are very low; you can expect negative tests.
Finally, although this isn't a counseling service, I suggest you don't beat yourself up too much over this event. You're not exactly alone -- and the fact that you recognize the value of counseling is itself good evidence that iyou and your will be able to work through this. Clearly the two of you have the bedrock of a basically strong relationship, which means a lot. Don't let the medical aspects be the dominant theme; it is unlikely that any serious health problems are going to come of it. And finally, as I said above, it is possible that this is a coincidenced of nonsexually acquired prostatitis or similar problem, unrelated to the sexual indiscretion.
I hope this helps. Best wishes-- HHH, MD
Both you and your wife need treatment regardless of your mutual test results. Most providers would have already prescribe antibiotics for both of you before now, i.e. without waiting for test results. Even completely negative tests for gonorrhea and chlamydia don't mean much. The most common treatment is a single dose of azithromycin (Zithromax); alternatively, doxycycline twice a day for a week.
To the specific questions: First, "normal" GC tests means no gonorrhea and is highly reliable; and GC would be very unusual to cause no symptoms for 2 months, or such mild symptoms. If there is an identifable STD, chlamydia is the best bet. That test, when available, also will be very reliable, whether positive or negative. There are no standard tests available for the other bacteria that can cause NGU, such as Mycoplasma genitalium and some strains of Ureaplasma urealyticum. (This is why treatment is necessary even if all tests are negative.) The chances of other bad things -- e.g., HIV, syphilis -- are very low; you can expect negative tests.
Finally, although this isn't a counseling service, I suggest you don't beat yourself up too much over this event. You're not exactly alone -- and the fact that you recognize the value of counseling is itself good evidence that iyou and your will be able to work through this. Clearly the two of you have the bedrock of a basically strong relationship, which means a lot. Don't let the medical aspects be the dominant theme; it is unlikely that any serious health problems are going to come of it. And finally, as I said above, it is possible that this is a coincidenced of nonsexually acquired prostatitis or similar problem, unrelated to the sexual indiscretion.
I hope this helps. Best wishes-- HHH, MD
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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.
