How Is Chlamydia Diagnosed And Treated
If you have chlamydia symptoms or had intercourse with someone without protection, you should inform your doctor about testing or take a home chlamydia test.
Chlamydia can be detected at home. You should get a chlamydia test kit and use urine for your test.
However, if you have oral chlamydia symptoms, you may need to see your doctor for throat swab culture. The culture of chlamydia takes about 3 7 days.
If diagnosed with chlamydia, you can easily be treated and cured with azithromycin or doxycycline tablets.
During pregnancy, chlamydia infection can be treated safely with azithromycin.
How Is Chlamydia Spread Can You Still Have Symptoms Chlamydia After Treatment
You can obtain chlamydia by having vaginal, anal, or oral sex with somebody who has chlamydia.
If your sex companion is male you can still get chlamydia even if he does not have an orgasm.
If you have actually had chlamydia and were dealt with in the past, you can still get contaminated once more. This can happen if you have unguarded sex with somebody that has chlamydia.
If you are pregnant, you can provide chlamydia to your child during giving birth.
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If I Have Chlamydia Am I At Risk Of Other Sexually Transmitted Infections
Yes. By definition, having unprotected sex means risk of STI. As well as chlamydia, there are also genital warts, genital herpes, gonorrhoea, HIV, pubic lice, and syphilis. Like with chlamydia, gonorrhoea may well cause no symptoms, so being tested is the only way to really know. This can be done at your local sexual health clinic.
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What If I’m Pregnant
During delivery, the infection can spread to the newborn from the birth canal. It can cause eye infection or pneumonia. There may also be an association with preterm labour and low birth weight. Screening and treatment of chlamydia during pregnancy can prevent these complications. This is not part of the routine NHS antenatal screening. Doxycycline cannot be taken during pregnancy, but azithromycin is safe and effective.
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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Getting Treated For Chlamydia And Often Gonorrhea
If you have your own doctor, he will prescribe the antibiotics you need to treat chlamydia. If you dont have your own doctor, you can often find free or low-cost care at either a Planned Parenthood site or a community health clinic.
Listen carefully to the instructions for taking the medicine that you are given by the doctor or other healthcare provider, and follow them closely.
Ask questions if you dont understand something. Also, if you have other questions as you take your medicine, you can always call the pharmacist for help. They are often easier to reach than the doctor.
If you test positive for chlamydia, your healthcare provider is likely to also recommend that you be treated for gonorrhea. This is because the cost of treating gonorrhea is less than the cost of testing for the infection.
How Is Chlamydia Prevented
You already know chlamydia is a sexually transmitted infection. Therefore, the safest and easiest way to prevent chlamydia is sexual abstinence. Other ways chlamydia can be prevented in men and women are
- Use condoms for intercourse
- Get your male or female sexual partners tested for the infection
- Recheck for chlamydia infection after 5 weeks of treatment
- Avoid intercourse while on chlamydia treatment
- Use adult toys with condoms
Now its your turn. Do you have any chlamydia symptoms? Let us know if we can help.
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Can You Test Negative For Chlamydia And Still Have It
Chlamydia is an usual sexually transmitted disease that can infect both men and women. It can cause severe, irreversible damages to a ladys reproductive system. Can You Test Negative For Chlamydia And Still Have It
This can make it difficult or impossible for her to get expectant in the future. Chlamydia can likewise cause a potentially fatal ectopic maternity a maternity that takes place outside the womb.
Can Chlamydia Go Away And Come Back
If youve had unprotected intercourse, its likely you may not have chlamydia if your partner is not infected. If treated chlamydia can go away and not come back if you abstain or ensure protected sex.
However, dont assume chlamydia will go away without taking medications. You may not have symptoms immediately and may still have chlamydia long-term problems.
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Female Issues Of Untreated Chlamydia
Some ladies create PID, an infection that can harm the uterus, cervix, and also ovaries. PID is a painful disease that commonly requires medical facility treatment.
Females can also become infertile if chlamydia is left without treatment because the fallopian tubes may become marked.
Expecting women with the infection can pass the microorganisms to their children during birth, which can create eye infections and also pneumonia in infants. Can You Test Negative For Chlamydia And Still Have It
Effects Of Chlamydia Treatment
After you have begun your course of chlamydia treatment, you should start to notice an improvement in your symptoms within a few days. Generally, most symptoms should resolve completely within 24 weeks. If any symptoms persist, such as pelvic pain or pain during sex, please return to the clinic as further treatment or investigations may be necessary.
If you are diagnosed with chlamydia you may need to inform anyone you have had sex with within the last six months as they may also be infected. They should be advised to attend a sexual health clinic for a chlamydia test and will usually be offered treatment on the day they attend. This advice is regardless of whether they have any symptoms or not, or whether or not you used a condom.
If you feel unable to inform previous sexual partners one of our Health Advisers will be able to notify them on your behalf without revealing your identity.
You should not have oral, anal or vaginal sex during your course of chlamydia treatment or for seven days after a single dose of chlamydia treatment and also until your current partner completes their treatment and until both you and your partners symptoms have abated. This is to avoid being re-infected and requiring further treatment.
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What Are The Treatments For Chlamydia
Antibiotics will cure the infection. You may get a one-time dose of the antibiotics, or you may need to take medicine every day for 7 days. Antibiotics cannot repair any permanent damage that the disease has caused.
To prevent spreading the disease to your partner, you should not have sex until the infection has cleared up. If you got a one-time dose of antibiotics, you should wait 7 days after taking the medicine to have sex again. If you have to take medicine every day for 7 days, you should not have sex again until you have finished taking all of the doses of your medicine.
It is common to get a repeat infection, so you should get tested again about three months after treatment.
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Letting Partners Know You Have Chlamydia
Sexual partners may be infected too. If you have chlamydia, anyone you have had sex with from the last 6 months needs to be informed, tested and treated.
If they dont know, they could reinfect you or infect someone else if they are not treated. dont receive treatment.
Most people will appreciate being told they may have an infection and it is an important step in preventing further infection in the community.
Your local GP and sexual health centre can help you inform your partners and let them know that they need a test. This process is called partner notification. It can be done anonymously, and your confidentiality is always respected.
You can also anonymously notify your sexual partners of the need to get tested and treated for chlamydia via the Let Them Know website if you feel unable to speak to them personally.
There are also nurses who can help you anonymously notify your partners. They can be contacted on .
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How Can You Be Sure Youre Experiencing A New Bout
Chlamydia is treated with antibiotics, usually azithromycin or doxycycline.
In order to make sure chlamydia is cured, you need to take the full course of antibiotics as prescribed by your doctor. You need to take every single dose dont stop taking the antibiotics until there are none left.
If youve taken all your antibiotics but you still have symptoms, contact your doctor or another healthcare professional.
According to the Center for Disease Control , youll need a follow-up test three months after treatment to ensure that the infection is cured.
There are a few reasons why you might contract chlamydia a second time:
- The initial infection wasnt cured because the course of antibiotics wasnt completed as directed.
- A sexual partner transmitted chlamydia to you.
- You used a sex toy that was contaminated with chlamydia.
A 2014 study suggests that chlamydia can live in the gastrointestinal tract and reinfect the genitals, causing chlamydia symptoms to reappear after the genital infection went away.
However, this study only looked at animal models of chlamydia. Research on human participants is needed.
The symptoms of chlamydia typically disappear once you finish your antibiotics. This can vary in time, as some chlamydia antibiotic courses are one dose taken on one day, while others last longer.
Having Multiple Sexual Partners After Treatment
After treatment, did you engage in unprotected intercourse with multiple sexual partners?
If you did, its likely your new symptoms are due to chlamydia or other sexually transmitted infections like gonorrhea and trichomonas infection.
After chlamydia treatment, boosting your sexual health and minimizing the number of persons you have unprotected intercourse with, is vital to prevent reinfection.
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How Do You Know If Chlamydia Is Gone After Treatment
If youve had treatment after testing and taking the right antibiotics, its always important to confirm chlamydia cure. You can wait till five weeks after medications and recheck for chlamydia to verify cure.
If you still test positive after five weeks, please let your health professional know right away
Testing And Treating Sexual Partners
If you test positive for chlamydia, it’s important that your current sexual partner and any other recent sexual partners you’ve had are also tested and treated.
A specialist sexual health adviser can help you contact your recent sexual partners, or the clinic can contact them for you if you prefer.
Either you or someone from the clinic can speak to them, or the clinic can send them a note to let them know they may have been exposed to a sexually transmitted infection .
The note will suggest that they go for a check-up. It will not have your name on it, so your confidentiality will be protected.
Page last reviewed: 01 September 2021 Next review due: 01 September 2024
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Why Do You Have To Wait 3 Months To Retest For Chlamydia
In fact, women who become reinfected with chlamydia have an even higher risk for PID and ectopic pregnancy than those with a first infection. Due to these risks, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that any person who tests positive for chlamydia be retested three months after treatment.
If Your Partner Did Not Get Treated
Itâs important to understand that the antibiotics used to treat chlamydia donât work like a vaccine. They eliminate the existing chlamydia infection, but antibiotics donât make you immune to the disease. That means that you can get reinfected by a sexual partner who has chlamydia.
If you are in a committed monogamous relationship, itâs important that your sex partner also gets tested and treated for chlamydia as soon as you receive your diagnosis. Without proper diagnosis and treatment, you and your partner may end up just passing the infection back and forth through unprotected sex until you both receive treatment.
Easily check for chlamydia from the comfort and privacy of home with the at-home chlamydia test, or try the at-home STD Test to check for 6 common sexually transmitted infections with a single test kit.
If you are not in a committed monogamous relationship, talk to any recent sexual partners to make sure that they also get tested to prevent the potential spread of the disease. You and your sex partner should also get tested again about three to four months following treatment to ensure that the chlamydia infection is no longer in your system.
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How Will I Know If The Chlamydia Has Affected My Fertility
Chlamydia is just one of many factors that can affect your fertility. Most people whove had chlamydia wont become infertile or have an ectopic pregnancy . If youve had chlamydia you wont normally be offered any routine tests to see if youre fertile unless you or a partner are having difficulty getting pregnant. If youre concerned, talk to your doctor or practice nurse.
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How Accurate Are The Tests
The accuracy of a chlamydia test depends on the kind of test used and the type of sample thats collected. The recommended tests are over 95% accurate in picking up chlamydia. As no test is 100% accurate theres a small chance that the test will give a negative result when you do have chlamydia. This is known as a false negative result. This can sometimes explain why you might get a different result from another test or why you and a partner might get a different test result.
Its possible for the test to be positive if you havent got chlamydia, but this is rare.
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Im On Antibiotics For Chlamydia Can I Still Have Sex If I Use A Condom
By | Dec. 1, 2017, 3:15 p.m.
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Can I have sex with a condom while Im on the antibiotics for having cylmdia
If youre being treated for chlamydia, its important to avoid sex until 7 days after finishing your medicine. This gives your body time to clear up the infection completely to make sure it doesnt get passed on to anyone.
If youve been having sex with the same person for a while, its a good idea for them to get tested for chlamydia, too, and for you both to wait until youre done with your antibiotics before having sex again. Otherwise, you could keep passing it back and forth.
Antibiotics are reliable when it comes to kicking chlamydias you-know-what, but its still a good idea to get tested again in a few months to make sure your chlamydia is gone.
-Emily at Planned Parenthood
Can A Treated Std Come Back
Monique Rainford, MD, is board-certified in obstetrics-gynecology, and currently serves as an Assistant Clinical Professor at Yale Medicine. She is the former chief of obstetrics-gynecology at Yale Health.
You may be familiar with some of the more common sexually transmitted diseases . Chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, and trichomoniasis can all be treated, and often cured, with antibiotics.
It’s important that you find treatment for your STD if you think or know you have one. It’s also important to know that having your STD treated is not a guarantee that it will never come back.
This article explains why an STD can return, why taking the wrong medication can hurt you, and the risk of reinfection if you are not careful about safe sex practices.
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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.
What Are Typical Symptoms Of Chlamydia
These are genitourinary symptoms. Men can experience pain, discomfort, or swelling of the testicles, a burning sensation when passing urine, or a genitourinary discharge. Half of infected men have no symptoms. Symptoms for women are a vaginal discharge, bleeding after sexual intercourse, or between periods, a burning sensation when passing urine, and pelvis or lower abdominal pain. Three quarters of infected women have no symptoms.
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How Long Should You Wait After Being Treated For Chlamydia To Have Sex
By | Sept. 21, 2010, 11:15 a.m.
Category:
if you have chlamidia and you took the dose of medicine how long do you have to wait to have sex again?
You should avoid having sex until your treatment is complete and the infection is cured. If youre diagnosed with chlamydia, your health care provider will probably prescribe an antibiotic. Its important to make sure that you take the antibiotic exactly as directed for as long as its prescribed, even if your symptoms go away. Its also important to let your sex partner know that you have chlamydia so they can get tested and treated, too.
Chlamydia is a sexually transmitted infection thats caused by a type of bacteria called chlamydia trachomatis. Both women and men can get it by having unprotected vaginal or anal sex with an infected partner. It can also be spread from a woman to her fetus during birth, and rarely, from the hand to the eye and, less likely, during unprotected oral sex. Each year, more than three million people of all ages become infected with chlamydia.
You can avoid getting chlamydia the same way that you reduce your risk of getting other sexually transmitted infections by abstaining from the things that transmit infections, or by practicing safer sex if youre sexually active. Condoms greatly reduce the risk of chlamydia during vaginal and anal sex. For safer oral sex, use a condom to cover the penis or a Glyde dam, cut-open condom, or plastic wrap to cover the vulva.