Can You Have Protected Sex While On Medication For Chlamydia

Could I Get Chlamydia

Anyone who is sexually active, including people who experience sexual violence, can get chlamydia.

Chlamydia is most easily passed on during sex without a condom this includes vaginal intercourse and anal intercourse.

Although less common, chlamydia can also be passed on:

• when a person with the infection in their mouth or throat gives oral sex to another person
• when a person gives oral sex to a person with an infection of the genitals
• through oral-anal contact
• through sharing sex toys or during a hand job or fingering if infected fluids get onto the toy or hand

Treatment For Chlamydia Is Quick And Easy

Two antibiotics are most often used for treating chlamydia:

• Azithromycin The main treatment for chlamydia is one gram of azithromycin, taken one time, says , deputy director of clinical services for public health with the Seattle and King County HIV and STD Program in Washington. That one gram comes as either two pills or four pills. It is not expensive.
• Doxycycline If your doctor prescribes doxycycline, you will take two pills daily for one week. It costs somewhat more than azithromycin.

Antibiotics can also cure chlamydia in infants, who can get the infection from their mothers, and treatment is essential for them. Without treatment, infants infected with chlamydia can develop conjunctivitis, which can cause blindness, or pneumonia, which can be fatal.

I Symptoms Of Chlamydia In Males And Females

Chlamydia can just be spread through sexual intercourse with an infected individual. This sexual disease is most common seen in teenagers and young adults, and someone who is sexually active. Also, Chlamydia can be delivered from an infected mother to her newborn baby during childbirth.

Some common symptoms of chlamydia include:

• Excessive vaginal discharge after sex
• Vaginal bleeding after sex
• Nausea, fever and lower abdominal pain
• Itching and burning around the vagina
• A burning sensation while urinating
• Clear or cloudy discharge from the penis
• Tenderness and swelling in the testicles
• Pain in the abdomen
• Swelling of testicles

List of 24 Tips How To Treat Vaginal Itching Fast Overnight Naturally At Home will show you some of the best home remedies for vaginal itching that you can try out at home, so check it out!

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Sex Partners Need Treatment Too

If you are diagnosed with chlamydia, you will need to tell all of your sexual partners, because they will need the same treatment you are receiving.

In most states, a doctor or other healthcare provider can give you the medicine that your partner or partners will need to take. Then you can deliver it to those partners. This practice is called expedited partner therapy or patient delivered partner therapy.

These options can help a lot if your partner doesnt have a healthcare provider or feels embarrassed about seeking care, says Dr. Dombrowski.

Its natural to feel nervous or upset about having to tell your partner or partners about having an STD. Your healthcare provider can help with this problem. They may even rehearse the conversation with you, says Dombrowksi.

Learning about chlamydia and seeking advice from a healthcare provider about how to discuss it with your partner can help you handle the conversation with less anxiety and more confidence.

Remember, chlamydia is not just common: It is the most common infection reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . You are being helpful, mature, and responsible by telling your partners.

How Can I Have Chlamydia When He Doesnt

Ajay asks:

Me and my partner have been together for 5 months now. I have just recently been tested positive for an STI . My partner and I have never used condoms because I am on the pill. My partner went and got himself tested and his results came back negative. How is that possible?

Heather Corinna replies:

If you had a partner before him for oral, vaginal or anal sex, that could be who you got it from and your current partner managed not to contract it from you , or contracted it so recently that he isnt testing positive yet. Or, your current partners test wasnt accurate, or he said he got tested and truly did not. Any of those things are the biggest possibilities of whats up here.

A typical practice in healthcare with Chlamydia is this: when your doctor prescribes you a treatment, they ask for your partners name and give you a prescription for him as well. In other words, if you know you have only had one partner when you contracted the infection, it is that partner who has the infection, and theres no need for testing. Regardless, since you have been with this partner while youve had the infection, he should be treated, so call into your healthcare provider to get him that treatment. And if you had not had a screening before this partner and had a partner or partners before him, then youll want to phone those people or you can use an anonymous notification service to inform them about the STI so they can be treated.

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How Can I Reduce My Risk Of Getting Chlamydia

The only way to avoid STDs is to not have vaginal, anal, or oral sex.

If you are sexually active, you can do the following things to lower your chances of getting chlamydia:

• Be in a long-term mutually monogamous relationship with a partner who has been tested and has negative STD test results
• Use latex condoms the right way every time you have sex.

Chlamydia Is Caused By Sexually Transmitted Bacteria

The bacteria Chlamydia trachomatis causes chlamydia infection, which usually occurs in the genital tract, so the cervix in women and the penis in men. In both women and men, the bacteria may also infect the rectum and the throat.

Infections are spread during any kind of sexual activity: vaginal, anal, or oral intercourse, says Jonathan Schaffir, MD, an ob-gyn at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus.

Chlamydia trachomatis can also cause conjunctivitis if the bacteria come into contact with the eyelids or the clear membrane covering the white of the eye.

Because chlamydia infections often cause no symptoms, individuals who have one may not seek medical attention or get treated for it. However, anyone who is infected with chlamydia can pass it to other people, who can, in turn, pass it to others.

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How Does Chlamydia Spread

Chlamydia is spread when a person has unprotected sex with an infected person.

Because chlamydial infection often has no symptoms, many people do not realise they have the infection.

Even if you know a person well, you may not be able to tell they have an STI, because people can look healthy and still have chlamydia.

Remember, you can get chlamydia and other STIs from a new sexual partner who has in the past had sex with someone who is infected.

It can also be spread from a long-term partner who has had sex with other people.

What Should You Do If Your Partner Has Chlamydia

Like other STIs, untreated chlamydia can result in complications such as pelvic inflammatory disease and infertility. For this reason, early detection and prompt treatment of chlamydia are paramount to ensuring sexual health. And while infidelity is an understandable concern, a chlamydia infection does not necessarily guarantee that your partner cheated.

If your partner should have a positive chlamydia test, youll want to consider chlamydia testing and treatment as well. Until treatment is completed, the CDC stresses the importance of abstaining from sexual activity. This will ensure that both of you are thoroughly treated for the bacterial infection, eliminating the risk of re-infection.

At the end of the day, the relationship between chlamydia and cheating is largely due to STIs stigma. While chlamydia is only spread through sexual contact, other factors such as lack of symptoms and incubation time, suggest that you can get chlamydia without cheating.

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Why People Need To Tell Their Partners

So what do you do if your test comes back positive? After being treated yourself, its important to tell your sex partners. Why? Their health is at risk, so they need to know whats going on. Its natural to feel worried, embarrassed, and even scared. But to protect your partner, its a conversation you need to have.

Need more reasons?

• STDs can cause serious health problems, especially if theyre not found and treated.
• Some STDs can lower the chances of having babies in the future if not treated early on.
• Telling a past or current partner gives that person the chance to get checked out and, if needed, treated.
• Telling a future partner lets that person to make an informed decision about his or her own health.
• If youre treated for an STD but your partner isnt, you can get re-infected.
• Not telling a partner about an STD after a confirmed diagnosis may be a criminal offense in some states.

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How Can Chlamydia Be Prevented

Latex male condoms, when used consistently and correctly, can reduce the risk of getting or giving chlamydia.53 The surest way to avoid chlamydia is to abstain from vaginal, anal, and oral sex, or to be in a long-term mutually monogamous relationship with a partner who has been tested and is known to be uninfected.

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How Urgent Is A Post

Post-exposure treatment for chlamydia should be done as soon as possible after diagnosis or exposure. Be sure to let your healthcare provider know that you may have had exposure to chlamydia or if you want to get tested for STIs.

While there is no specific deadline to get treated, the longer chlamydia remains in your body, the greater you risk complications, including long-term, serious damage. Though these complications may not be common, it’s important to get tested and treated as soon as possible.

How To Talk About It With A Partner

Its best to have this conversation before sex has happened, or is right about to happen, says Duran.

Why? Because it gives everyone involved time to get tested and get their results back, and time to process any information they may have just learned about a partners STI status.

That said, an STI conversation at some point is better than no STI conversation at all.

Its best to talk to a partner about STI status while also talking about your own status, he says.

If youre just asking your partner a ton of questions about their status without bringing up your own, it can feel accusatory. Fair point.

Here are some ways you might bring it up:

• Hey, I know that weve been having sex without barriers, but until we both get STI tested to learn about our current STI status, Id like to start using barriers. Are you open to getting tested?
• Before we meet up later, I want to be transparent about the fact that I havent been tested since my last partner. Do you know your current STI status?
• I just wanted to let you know that I made an appointment for next week to get my annual STI exam. Id love to ask you to get tested, too. Is that something youd be open to?

Duran adds that if you havent yet had sex with someone but youre planning to, another option is to ask them what their preferred dental dam brand or condom is.

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Can Chlamydia Be Cured

Yes, chlamydia can be cured with the right treatment. It is important that you take all of the medication your doctor prescribes to cure your infection. When taken properly it will stop the infection and could decrease your chances of having complications later on. You should not share medication for chlamydia with anyone.

Repeat infection with chlamydia is common. You should be tested again about three months after you are treated, even if your sex partner was treated.

Who Should Be Tested For Chlamydia

You should go to your health provider for a test if you have symptoms of chlamydia, or if you have a partner who has a sexually transmitted disease. Pregnant women should get a test when they go to their first prenatal visit.

People at higher risk should get checked for chlamydia every year:

• Sexually active women 25 and younger
• Older women who have new or multiple sex partners, or a sex partner who has a sexually transmitted disease
• Men who have sex with men

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Why Do I Keep Getting A Chlamydia Infection

You can get chlamydia even after treatment. You may get it again for several reasons, including:

• You did not complete your course of antibiotics as directed and the initial chlamydia did not go away.
• Your sexual partner has untreated chlamydia and gave it to you during sexual activity.
• You used an object during sex that was not properly cleaned and was contaminated with chlamydia.

Will I Need To Go Back To The Clinic

If you take your antibiotics correctly, you may not need to return to the clinic.

However, you will be advised to go back for another chlamydia test if:

• you had sex before you and your partner finished treatment
• you forgot to take your medication or didn’t take it properly
• your symptoms don’t go away
• you’re pregnant

If you’re under 25 years of age, you should be offered a repeat test for chlamydia 3 to 6 months after finishing your treatment because you’re at a higher risk of catching it again.

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Who Should Get Tested For Chlamydia

Because chlamydia is very common and often has no symptoms, anyone who is sexually active should think about being tested. Because chlamydia is very common among young women, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend sexually active women age 25 or younger get tested once per year. Chlamydia testing is also recommended for women with new or multiple sexual partners and pregnant women.

Anyone who is sexually active should talk with a healthcare provider about whether they need testing for chlamydia or other STIs. Dont be afraid to speak openly about your sex life, as you can get the best care by having an honest discussion with your healthcare provider.

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How Do You Prevent Chlamydia

Using a new male or female condom or dental dam every time you have sex is the best way to protect against chlamydia.

Chlamydia can be passed on by sharing sex toys. Always cover sex toys with a new condom and wash them after use to reduce your risk of getting chlamydia and other STIs.

Its important to regularly test for chlamydia, even if you dont have any symptoms, especially if youve had multiple sexual partners.

The contraceptive pill and other types of contraception wont prevent you getting chlamydia, and neither will PrEP.

When Can I Have Sex Again

If you had doxycycline, you shouldn’t have sex including vaginal, oral or anal sex, even with a condom until both you and your partner have completed treatment.

If you had azithromycin, you should wait 7 days after treatment before having sex .

This will help ensure you don’t pass on the infection or catch it again straight away.

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How Is Chlamydia Spread

In nearly all cases chlamydia is transmitted through sexual contact.

• You can get chlamydia by having unprotected vaginal, anal or oral sex with someone who has chlamydia.
• You can still get chlamydia even if the person you’re having sex with does not ejaculate .
• Chlamydia can also be spread through other types of sexual contact such as mutual masturbation, fingering or the use of sex toys.
• One simple way to protect yourself is by using a condom when engaging in sexual intercourse.

Another way of transmitting chlamydia is from mother to baby during birth. If this occurs, your baby may develop an eye or lung infection. This needs urgent treatment.

Parents Have A Role In Chlamydia Prevention

Parents can do two main things to help their kids avoid getting chlamydia and other sexually transmitted infections , says Dombrowski. These two things are:

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