[Question #9173] Urethral symptoms
35 months ago
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Had protected oral and vaginal sex with csw 8 days ago. There were no indications that the condom failed. The whole encounter lasted 15 minutes.
Since then, I've had urethral burning with increased urge to urinate. This burning is pretty much constant and is worse when lying down or sitting (not noticable while standing). It does not burn while urinating. Nor have I had any noticable discharge. The symptoms peaked around 4 days after the encounter and have been consistent since then.
On day 3 post encounter, I started taking doxycycline and took 200mg per day for 4 days (I didn't have a full course). This has had no impact on symptoms.
From reading previous responses, it appears there was no meaningful STI risk, but I'm confused by the urethral discomfort - this is fairly painful at times. Could it be a reaction to the condom or an unrelated uti?
Any advice is much appreciated. I am planning on visiting my doctor also.
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Edward W. Hook M.D.
35 months ago
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Welcome to our forum. Thanks for your questions. I’ll be glad to comment. Indeed, condom protected sex is typically safe sex as long as the condom is worn throughout the sex act and does not fail. When condoms fail they typically rupture wide open leaving no doubt of failure. It does not sound like that was the case for you.
Urinary frequency may be a symptom of a urinary tract infection but it’s not a typical symptom of STI related urethral infections such as gonorrhea, chlamydia, or NGU. In addition the self medication that you took would have been expected to improve your symptoms if they were due to chlamydia or NGU although not necessarily gonorrhea. Gonorrhea however typically presents with an easily detected purulent urethral discharge.
Allergy to condom latex most often presents as a rash on the surface of the affected skin supposed to burning on urination.
At this point, I believe that seeing your doctor would be a good idea. If I were seeing you I would order tests for gonorrhea and chlamydia even though the antibiotics you took may have made these tests less reliable. In addition I would perform urinalysis and, depending on the results of that, possibly a culture of your urine. Depending on your age the possibility of prostatitis is also in the picture and should be considered by your doctor.
Sorry I don’t have clear answers for your discomfort. I hope that after you’ve seen your doctor, you will let us know what he or she says. EWH
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35 months ago
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Thank you, Dr Hook.
Given my exposure and symptoms, would you expect negative results from these tests?
Also, I had a very brief unprotected expsoure on day 5, 2 days after starting doxycycline. This was unprotected vaginal but only lasted 10 seconds or so before stopping. Is there a chance I could have infected someone else or is this unlikely?
Thank you and I will report back with the results.
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Edward W. Hook M.D.
35 months ago
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Yes, I anticipate that your. tests for STIs will be negative. Given all that you said, I would think that the brief exposure that you have described would not put them at risk. Of course, should your tests be positive, that would change things and at that time, notification of your partner of their exposure would be the right thing to do.
I look forward to hearing your test results. As I said, I anticipate that they will show that you were not infected and may have other comments at that time. EWH
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35 months ago
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Hi again, Dr Hook, thanks for your help so far. In terms of update: -
Urine sample tested by doctor was clear - I'm not 100% sure what he tested but he said it was clear with no sign of uti.
I initially went for a swab test for chlam/gon but the pain was excruciating so the nurse had to stop. I'm not sure if I should be concerned by this?
Urine tests for chlam/gon both negative, as you predicted.
Symptoms started to feel better the last couple of days, although the head and urethra still feel sensitive at times. There has been no discharge or pain when urinating.
I ejaculated for the first time in over a week and the semen seemed to get stuck in the urethra and slowly dripped out (this has never happened before) - I'm not sure if this is related to the failed urethral swab or again if it's something to be concerned about?
I'm 35 y/o.
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Edward W. Hook M.D.
35 months ago
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Thanks for the follow up and letting me know your test results.
The urine tests for gonorrhea and chlamydia are very accurate and should be believed. I suspect the other test it was performed was a urinalysis looking for signs of a urinary tract infection. Taking together this information suggests that either the doxycycline cured an infection which was present or, far, far more likely is that there was no infection. On occasion persons who are worried about an exposure that they have come to regret tend to look more carefully for signs or symptoms of infection and then would normally and, in doing so, tend to notice normal sensations and variations in appearance that they would have otherwise overlooked. Bottom line, there is no current evidence of infection. You may have had non-chlamydial NGU as a result of receipt of unprotected oral sex and it was cleared by doxycycline. (If that was the case that infection in the way poses a risk to your regular partner.). No matter how you cut it, at this time there is no evidence of serious infection and my advice is for you to put this behind you.
I hope this perspective helps. As I suspect you know, we provide up to three responses to each clients questions. This is my third response. Thus this thread will be close shortly without further replies. Trying to move forward. Take care. EWH
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35 months ago
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Thank you - to clarify, there was no unprotected oral sex (everything was condom protected).
No concerns over the semen blockage?
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Edward W. Hook M.D.
35 months ago
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Correct. No concerns.
End of thread. EWH
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