[Question #9653] STD
30 months ago
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I’m a 29 year old male. In 2014 I had active and passive anal sex with another man. I was scared and took PEP but no other STD tests besides HIV and syphilis (both negative) were done. It was the only anal experience in my life. About half a year later I felt anal itching and I was diagnosed with proctitis. no one told me to take and std test at this point. the itching stopped after a few months but the following year I had some bowel problems and crohn‘s disease was suspected, but a colonoscopy was not conclusive. the symptoms stopped and I did not think about it anymore.
because of testicle pain an urologist gave me a single dose of antibiotics (I guess aizthromycin?) in late 2014.
after that I did not engage in any sexual activity for a long time. since 2016 i’m in a relationship with a woman who i sleep with regularly.
In june 2022 I had oral sex with a male. two weeks later I slept with my girlfriend. In early august I had another MSM encounter, where I received oral sex. 4 days later I had urethral discharge and went to an std clinic where blood tests and swabs for gonorrhea and chlamydia (pharyngeal, urethral and anal) were taken. all negative, but since there was inflammation I was diagnosed with NGU and took doxycycline for 7 days. in mid august i slept with my girlfriend again several times. over 6 weeks after the MSM oral encounter I retested for stds to be sure and was negative again. in january this year my girlfriend and I both took std tests which were negative, except I had positive IgG antibodies for chlamydia. I don’t know why they were taken.
I have a few questions now:
- might what I had in 2014 have been LGV? if my anal (and all other) swabs in august last year were negative can I assume I don’t have chlamydia or LGV? Im really concerned LGV might not have been diagnosed back then and that it progressed over the years.
- I was so scared to have infected my girlfriend with some STD. but if all my tests were negative can i assume i didn’t? My concern was i might have gotten an std from the first oral msm encounter in june and passed it to her after two weeks, while it wasn’t detectable anymore in my urethra or pharynx in august when i took the std tests? is this possible? does an chlamydia or gonorrhea infection go away on its own in a few weeks?
- what should I do? can i ignore the IgG or what reasons are there for them to be elevated?
thank you for your help.
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Edward W. Hook M.D.
30 months ago
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- might what I had in 2014 have been LGV? if my anal (and all other) swabs in august last year were negative can I assume I don’t have chlamydia or LGV? Im really concerned LGV might not have been diagnosed back then and that it progressed over the years.REPLY-Indeed, rectal chlamydia (including LGV) can mimic crohn's disease and is sometimes misdiagnosed. there is really no way to know wheter or not you had LGV back then. Irrespective however, at this time you can be confident that you do not have LGV- if you did, your rectal swab would have been positive for chlamydia.
- I was so scared to have infected my girlfriend with some STD. but if all my tests were negative can i assume i didn’t? My concern was i might have gotten an std from the first oral msm encounter in june and passed it to her after two weeks, while it wasn’t detectable anymore in my urethra or pharynx in august when i took the std tests? is this possible? does an chlamydia or gonorrhea infection go away on its own in a few weeks? Reply: These infections can clear without therapy. Best however to assume that you were not infected and did not infect her.
- what should I do? can i ignore the IgG or what reasons are there for them to be elevated? REPLY: The antibody tests for chlamydia are unreiable and have little clinical value. My advice is to believe your swab tests and move forward
30 months ago
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![]() |
Edward W. Hook M.D.
30 months ago
|
30 months ago
|
![]() |
Edward W. Hook M.D.
30 months ago
|