[Question #13202] Preventive medication
1 months ago
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So I had unprotected oral last night and I know there’s not a big risk in it, but I went ahead and ordered some doxy pep to be on the safe side, my question is how effective is it at stopping a gonorrhea infection if taken less than 24 hours since the encounter, I know that it’s almost 100% for syphilis and chlymida just wonder about gonorrhea and just to reassure me one more time, oral sex is a low risk for any std right?
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H. Hunter Handsfield, MD
1 months ago
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Welcome back to the forum.
Your self assessment of risk is correct: a single oral sex exposure is inherently low risk. However, more detail would help judge this in more detail: Was your partner male or female? Do you mean a partner took your penis in their mouth, or were your mouth and throat exposed?
Doxypep is recommended only for unprotected anal sex between men, not oral sex. The risks from oral sex are generally too low to require PEP. That said, you are correct that in the standard dose of 200 mg within 72 hours of exposure, doxypep is nearly 100% effective in preventing syphilis and chlamydia and about 50% against gonorrhea.
I might have further comments after you clarify the exposure. I hope this information is helpful in the meantime.
HHH, MD
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1 months ago
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It was a man and both he gave me oral and i preformed oral as well, he did not ejaculate in my mouth but I did his, they did say they tested negative on the 30th but I don’t trust people that much , but is I take the doxy pep today less than 24 hours later does it raise the 50% of effective for gonnorhea?
1 months ago
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I will also ask, I am in a committed relationship and I reget my actions but I can’t take them back now, is it safe for me to continue unprotected sex in this relationship after taking the doxy?
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H. Hunter Handsfield, MD
1 months ago
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The effectiveness of doxypep in preventing gonorrhea has nothing to do with when the drug is taken. Roughly half of all gonorrhea bacteria are resistant to doxycycline, which can have no effect on those particular strains.
Absence of discharge from the penis and painful urination (within 3-5 days) is strong evidence against urethral gonorrhea. However, oral gonorrhea usually causes no symptoms. The only way to be completely certain you did not acquire is to be tested for it -- urine and a throat swab. (However, the chance you were infected probably is very low. If somehow I were in your situation, I would not have taken doxypep, would not be tested for anything, and would continue unprotected sex with my wife without worry.
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1 months ago
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I know you said there’s no reason to test but let’s say I do, should I only do a throat swab and urine test giving that the doxy pep is effective against syphilis? And nothing else can really be caught from this except maybe herpes but I don’t think I would have caught that from this exposer?
1 months ago
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I guess while I still have time to ask I know it’s all relatively low risk for pretty much everything, but what are the chances of getting hsv1 for oral sex?
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H. Hunter Handsfield, MD
1 months ago
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Yes -- if you're going to test at all, a throat swab and urine for gonorrhea are all you should have.
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The chance of genital HSV1 from oral-to-penile contact probably averages under one chance in several thousand, but it depends on several factors unknown to me and perhaps to you as well: Whether you ever had HSV1 previously, like half the US population (in which case you're immune); chance your partner has oral HSV1; if so, whether he was having an outbreak or shedding the virus at the time. In addition, who cares? Genital HSV1 usually recurs infrequently if at all and is almost never transmitted to sex partners, and ongoing treatment therefore is unnecessary. So most infected people have no problem with it.
That completes the two follow-up comments and replies included with each question and so ends this thread. I hope the discussion has been helpful. Best wishes and stay safe.