[Question #13106] Past Syphilis Test
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2 months ago
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Hi Doctors. Thank you for the help. I am a 62 year old white male. During 2012-2014 I had a relationship outside of my marriage. During this time I had unprotected intercourse 2-3 times (ugh). She was a white female in her early 40s. I broke off the relationship because I learned that she was not honest about almost everything. To gain a fresh start, I went to the county health department and tested for HIV, chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis. All came back negative except the syphilis came back “inconclusive”. I was not then smart enough to ask for any more information about the test. As I remember (10 years), the person told me it that “ it was not positive or negative, could be a false negative, early infection, or a bad collection”. I dismissed the idea because I learned from reading many posts from you, on med help, that syphilis was rare in women and heterosexual men. I then looked up my county and learned 1-2 white female (35+ years old) had syphilis each year during 2010-2014 in my county of 500,000 +/- total females. I never had sex with men and this was the only unprotected prior to any of my past tests. I looked it up today and learned in 2023 a total of 17 females were reported with all types in the same county. The increase percent is significant but still feels “rare”.
Fast forward 10 years, my wife is experiencing eye halos, high blood pressure and is very tired. She is under doctors care for all. The halos have been explained as aging (she is 61). My brain went to my past regrets and I am concerned that I was too quick to dismiss the “inconclusive”. I do understand that testing is my decision and a personal choice. I am nervous and love my wife. I am asking what you would do if ever you found yourself in my position?
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2 months ago
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I’m sorry…in the comments from the health department I said “false negative “ I believe she said “false positive “ as one of the possibilities.
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Edward W. Hook M.D.
2 months ago
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Welcome to the Forum. Thanks for your questions. I'll do my best to help.
As you have learned, the casual relationship you describe was very low risk for syphilis. Unfortunately, an inconclusive test really doesn't tell you anything more except that the test did not work. If the test had been falsely positive, the folks at your health department would have known it and told you- OTOH, a falsely negative test is a possibility as is a test which just did not work for some reason (most often a lab error). I would mention that if you have donated blood since that time, your blood would have been tested for syphilis (as well as HIV and a number of other infections and if there was evidence of infection you would have been notified.
I should also mention that none of the problems you describe in your wife suggest syphilis of any sort.
---Clearly this is troubling you. That being the case, my advice would be to get a test in order to put any concerns you might have behind you. This can be done discretely. The odds that you acquired syphilis from the casual relationship you describe are close to zero. EWH
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2 months ago
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Thank you for the quick response. I honestly am questioning false positive or false negative. It sounds like, it doesn’t matter…the test didn’t work? I keep telling myself the odds are near zero. Thank you for the reassurance. Lastly, I want to say thank you to both you and Dr H. The service you provide is extremely helpful to anyone that uses it. I mean this both from a physical and mental health perspective. At 62 years old I’ve become to know the difference between helping people and profit. You are making a huge difference! I will decide on the testing. I really feel like my risk was so low that I just need to get out of my head. It sounds like you too would expect a negative result. Thanks again.
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Edward W. Hook M.D.
2 months ago
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I agree entirely with your assessment- the odds are near zero!! I agree, the goal is to get this out of your head, however that can be done.
Thanks as well for your thanks. Appreciatively. EWH
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