Hello doctors, 
I received oral sex from a female friend a few weeks ago, 18 days ago to be precise. It lasted about 10 minutes and before that there was a lot of deep kissing and mutual masturbation. Yesterday evening I started feeling a little discomfort when I urinated and that is continuing today. I am a little concerned about possibly having contracted gonnorhea or chlamydia. When do symptoms for those STIs present themselves? I seem to recall it usually happens within 3 to 5 days. There's been no odd discharge of any kind, just some discomfort urinating here at 18 days past. I'm pretty confident HIV is not an issue, as I've been through that scare before and was told that HIV is not transmitted to the recipient of oral sex. Should I be tested? Can I resume sex with my regular partner? Thanks for the very valuable service!  

Welcome to the Forum. Thanks for your questions.   I'll be glad to comment and hope that the information I provide will reduce your concerns.  Only you can evaluate whether on not your friend is likely to have gonorrhea or not but I will point out that most people do not and most single exposures to an infected partner do not lead to infection.  This is particularly true for oral sex- it is just not an efficient means of STI transmission.  There are no proven cases of HIV acquired from receipt of oral sex and chlamydia is very rare.  Gonorrhea is occasionally acquired through receipt of oral sex but typical causes obvious symptoms (purulent penile discharge within 3-5 days of exposure.  It is quite unlikely that you  acquired an STI of any sort from the encounter you describe.  That said, testing is always a personal choice and is easy to obtain.  A urine test for gonorrhea and chlamydia would certainly provide conclusive, accurate results at this time---

Thank you for the quick reply doctor. I have no reason to believe my friend had an STI, but the encounter was a little reckless and that just gives me slight pause for concern. Just a follow up on symptoms - its is unlikely these symptoms would present themselves this long after the encounter, correct?  

Correct.  It would be most unusual for symptoms to occur at this time. EWH.---

Thank you again doctor. I am going to get tested just to ease my mind. I may even do the HIV finger lancet test, although I don't think that test is accurate at only 20 days. Would you recommend that just for peace of mind as well, and if I may, can I post one more time once the test results come back? If not, that's fine. I really do appreciate this service. Thank you again!! 

As I mentioned, there has never been a case of HIV shown to be acquired through receipt of oral sex. You are not going to be the first. If you choose to test, however, a fingerstick test at 20 days will be a little value. If you need the most immediate result possible, and HIV RNA PCR test performed anytime more than 11 days after your exposure will be accurate. Alternatively, the more widely used fourth generation combination HIV antigen antibody test will provide conclusive results anytime more than six weeks after the encounter and will be 98% conclusive at four weeks.---

Hello again doctor…

Test today…sorry

I had replied to you that I would leave the thread open so you could post your results. You’ve ignored this statement and ask another question. I will provide a brief answer annd then close the thread.---