How Chlamydia Is Treated
Chlamydia can usually be treated easily with antibiotics.
You may be given a course of doxycycline to take for a week or azithromycin to take once a day for 3 days.
If you have doxycycline, you should not have sex until you and your current sexual partner have finished treatment.
If you have azithromycin, you should wait 7 days after treatment before having sex .
It’s important that your current sexual partner and any other recent sexual partners you have had are also tested and treated to help stop the spread of the infection.
Under-25s who have chlamydia should be offered another test 3 to 6 months after being treated.
This is because young adults who test positive for chlamydia are at increased risk of catching it again.
Sexual health or genitourinary medicine clinics can help you contact your sexual partners.
Either you or the clinic can speak to them, or they can be sent a note advising them to get tested.
The note will not have your name on it, so your confidentiality will be protected.
As Adapted From The American Social Health Association
While it may sound daunting to think about talking to your recent sex partners, perhaps also including your primary partner, and telling them that youve been diagnosed with an STD, its important to let them know as soon as possible so they can get treatment, too. If these are people you have regular sexual relationships with, it can be even more important to discuss this because if one partner is untreated, many STDs can be passed back and forth indefinitely.
Remember, syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia are treatable STDs, where antibiotics work. New treatments for HIV are so effective that people can stay healthy and live a normal lifespan. Talking to your partners about your diagnosis will not only reduce the stigma associated with getting an STD, but will help take care of the health of you, your sex partners, and the entire community.
You have to come to terms with your own diagnosis before you start talking to your partners. Its unrealistic to expect other people to understand if youre uncomfortable with the diagnosis yourself. How well-informed are you? Do you know the facts about STDs? You want to feel confident and knowledgeable before you explain the infection to someone else. You can also always call the CDC National STD Hotline with questions 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 800-227-8922 or 800-342-2437. In addition to talking to you personally, they can mail you brochures and information to have on hand to give to your partners.
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What To Think About
Some people who have chlamydia may also have gonorrhea. In that case, treatment includes antibiotics that kill both chlamydia and gonorrhea. For more information, see the topic Gonorrhea.
Reinfection can occur. Symptoms that continue after treatment are probably caused by another chlamydia infection rather than treatment failure. To prevent reinfection, sex partners need to be evaluated and treated.
Repeated chlamydia infections increase the risk for pelvic inflammatory disease . Even one infection can lead to PID without proper treatment. Make sure to take your antibiotics exactly as prescribed. Take the full course of medicine, even if you feel better in a couple of days.
Some doctors recommend retesting 3 to 12 months after treatment to reduce the risk of complications from reinfection.footnote 4
If you have chlamydia, your doctor will send a report to the state health department. Your personal information is kept confidential. The health department may contact you about telling your sex partner or partners that they may need treatment.
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Knowing Other Bodily Symptoms Of Chlamydia
How To Prepare For The Test
You may be asked to avoid taking antibiotics for 24 hours before testing. If you have a vagina, your healthcare professional may recommend you stop using douches or vaginal creams for 24 hours before your test. If youre taking a urine test, try not to urinate for at least 1 hour before the test.
If you think you may have chlamydia, avoid sexual intercourse until you get your test results.
has found that home tests may be as effective for diagnosing chlamydia as swabs collected at your doctors office.
However, its important to note that home testing kits can sometimes return false-negative results. A 2017 study asked men to self-collect a sample for chlamydia testing both at a clinic and at home using a mail-in kit. Researchers found that over one-third of the mail-in samples missed a positive result that was detected in the samples collected at the clinic.
The researchers note that its possible that the collection technique when using a home test may affect the quality of the sample and therefore affect your result. Because of this, be sure to follow all sample collection instructions carefully if you choose to do a home test for chlamydia.
If you receive a positive result from a home testing kit, you will need to go immediately to a doctor to receive treatment. Until you have completed treatment, you can give chlamydia to your sexual partners.
You can get a chlamydia test from:
- your primary care doctor
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Your Partner Has A Right To Know
It’s better to disclose your diagnosis before you plan any type of sexual intimacy. This will give your partner time to digest the information. That way you can avoid either one of you doing anything you’ll regret in the heat of the moment.
Herpes does not have to be a dating nonstarter, but it’s important to be honest with your partner so they are aware of the potential risks posed to them and can take proper precautions.
How Can I Prevent Spreading Chlamydia
If you think you have chlamydia, the first thing you need to do is stop having sexual intercourse and get tested and treated. Ask your health care provider if you can get a prescription for your partner , or find out if your partner can be seen by a health care provider to get treated. Youll need to let all current and past sexual partners know that you have chlamydia . You may find this hard to do, but its very important so that those infected can get treated before more serious health problems occur.
You can let your sexual partner know in a couple of different ways:
- You can tell them face to face, over the phone, or via a text message.
- You can use an anonymous notification application, such as: an email from a reliable website such as bedsider.org. This website will send a confidential email card to your partner for free. Another website, inspot.org will send an anonymous text to your partner.
Research has shown that notifying your partner in real time or face to face is the best way to get your partner treated.
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Telling A New Partner
If youre trying to woo someone new with your best moves, STIs were probably not a part of your game plan. But sharing your status with a new or potential partner is really NBD, especially if its just a short-lived hookup.
The best approach here is to let er rip like a bandage and just say it or text it.
If you do decide to have the talk in person, choose a safer setting preferably with an exit nearby in case things get uncomfortable and you want to GTFO.
Here are some examples of what you can say:
- Before we hook up, we should talk status. Ill go first. My last STI screen was and Im for . How about you?
- I have . Im taking medication to manage/treat it. I thought its something you need to know before we take things further. Im sure you have questions, so fire away.
Open Up The Discussion
A good way to start is by telling your partner that you care about them and want to do everything you can to make sure youâre protecting them. You could open by asking them about their sexual health history, and if they ever had an STI or currently have one. Or you could simply tell them you have an STI, and ask if they have any questions. Maybe you want to go over what that means in terms of safer sex precautions, medication and how to generally deal with it.
Itâs totally normal to be embarrassed at first, but youâll feel better once you get it over with. And your partner will probably be grateful that you brought it up.
This discussion is also a chance for you to learn more about your partnerâs sexual history. Here are some good questions to ask when talking about sexual health with your partner.
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How To Tell Someone You May Have Given Them An Sti
Telling someone they may have an STI isnt easy. Photo: 123RF
Life is full of awkward conversations. You worry, your stomach churns and what you think is the perfect script is eventually thrown out of the window.
But it doesnt matter if its a case of breaking up with someone or quitting a job, it has to be done. Telling someone you may have given them a sexually transmitted infection, or STI, definitely falls into the awkward category.
Two people who have been in this situation shared their recent stories with us:
SORRY I HAVE TO DO THIS JACKS STORY
I have honestly never felt more worried than when the doctor told me I had herpes.
She was telling me about treatments and meds and all I could do was try to work out who I had gotten it from and who I had given it to.
I went back to work and straight away made a list of the people I had had any kind of sex with since I broke up with my girlfriend about a year before. I had four names and I no longer spoke to all but one.
I was fucking terrified.
I added the other three on Facebook and they all accepted, thank God. I know it would have been best to call each one, but I could only direct message them.
I even Googled examples of people who have had to do it.
The messages I sent went something like this:
I swear to God, waiting for their replies was the longest wait of my life. It was late at night and I literally turned my phone off so I wouldnt hear the reply notification.
Safe to say, I didnt sleep much that night.
Who Do You Need To Tell About Your Sti
Depending on the type of STI you have and when you were last tested, you may have to tell all of your past, current and future sexual partners. This is important to stop the spread of STIs to others in the community, and because a lot of STIs donât have visible symptoms, meaning your past lover can go months or even years without knowing they have one. In fact, a recent report found that roughly one in 20 young Australians have chlamydia, and a whopping 72% of these cases remain undiagnosed. If left untreated, STIs can cause painful and sometimes irreversible health problems such as pelvic inflammatory disease and infertility.
And what if you used a condom or only had oral sex? Sorry to break it to you, but you should still tell them. Thatâs because a lot of STIs can be transmitted orally, and as condoms can sometimes break or slip off during sexual activity, they are not 100% effective. In fact, a sample study of 288 people found that nearly half of the participants used condoms incorrectly, or had experienced slippage or breakage.
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What Should You Do If You Have An Std
Tell Your Partner
If you do have an STD, tell your partner. If you arent in a monogamous relationship, notify your other sexual partners who have been exposed so that they can be tested as well. We realize this is a difficult conversation to have, but its very important for your other partners to be able to protect themselves as well as any others they have had contact with. If you need tips on how to have this conversation, please speak to your doctor. Well be glad to help.
In addition, if you have certain sexually transmitted diseasessuch as gonorrhea and chlamydiaget tested again in three months because you can get reinfected. Your doctor will have more information on whether or not you need to get retested.
Follow Your Treatment Plan
Your doctor will outline a treatment plan tailored to the certain type of STD. Often, this will involve taking medications like antibiotics. Therefore, remember that it is important to complete your entire round of antibiotics, even if you have no obvious symptoms.
If the STD is caused by a virus, antibiotics will not be effective. However, your doctor can prescribe medication that will help manage your symptoms. Again, it is important that you carefully follow the instructions. Often, this involves taking medication every day in order to prevent outbreaks.
Telling A New Partner About An Std
If you have an active STD, it’s normal to be nervous about telling someone new. Everyone raises the subject differently.
Here are some ideas for handling the conversation:
Imagine that your roles are reversed. What would you expect your partner to do and say if he or she were in your shoes? Be proud of your intentions. Your willingness to have this hard conversation shows that you care about the other person and your relationship. We’re more likely to trust and respect people who are honest enough to talk about tough topics like STDs.
It’s best to be direct. You could start by saying, “Before we have sex, I want us to talk about STDs and protection because I have an STD.” Say what type of STD you have and how you got it. You don’t have to share every detail of your past relationships, but showing that you’re open to talking and answering questions can help your partner feel more comfortable.
It’s best to be honest. It’s better for your partner to find out because you said something before getting an infection.
Let the conversation proceed naturally. Listen rather than doing all the talking. Prepare for your partner to be surprised. Each person reacts differently to the news. Some might get panic. Some might be full of questions. Others might just need to time to think.
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When And Where To Have The Talk
- Consider talking before you become sexually active together. Your partner may appreciate having the chance to make an informed decision beforehand.
- You may be worried that having the conversation will ruin the mood or feel like a downer. Pick a non-sexual moment when you can be alone to talk.
- Choose a moment when you are both in a positive mood, there is enough time to talk and neither you or your partner is under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Nothing defeats good communication like feeling too tired, having a bad day, feeling rushed or not having a clear head.
- If you can, try to have the conversation in person talking over the phone or online can lead to misunderstandings.
- If you are concerned about threatening behaviour or violence but still wish to disclose, consider a park or coffee shop which are public but still offer some privacy. To get support around the violence in your relationship, call the Assaulted Womens Help Line at 1-866-863-0511 .
How Is Chlamydia Treated
Once confirmed, chlamydia is easy to treat with antibiotics . Normally, only a single course is needed to clear the infection.
You may be asked to start antibiotics even before your test results come back. If your chlamydia infection is causing symptoms, you may need a longer course of antibiotics. Both you and your partner need to be treated.
If your doctor tells you that you have chlamydia, avoid sex until you have finished the full course of treatment, and for at least 1 week after your last dose. This is to reduce your risk of spreading the disease. You should have another test 3 months after you have been treated.
Youll also be asked to avoid sex with any partners from the past 6 months until they have been tested and treated.
Since chlamydia is transmitted through unprotected sex, your doctor may suggest you have other STI screening tests so you can be treated as necessary.
You dont become ‘immune’ after getting chlamydia: its possible to be infected with chlamydia again. Your doctor may recommend follow-up testing and treatment if necessary.
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