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How Long Does Chlamydia Take To Cure

What Happens If You Dont Seek Treatment

Chlamydia treatment in 100 seconds

If you take your antibiotics as directed, chlamydia is likely to go away. But if its left untreated, it can cause a few complications.

For example, if you have a vulva, you could develop pelvic inflammatory disease . PID is a painful infection that could damage your uterus, cervix, and ovaries.

Untreated chlamydia can also lead to scarred fallopian tubes, which can cause infertility.

If youre pregnant, untreated chlamydia can be transmitted to the baby during vaginal delivery. Chlamydia can cause eye infections and pneumonia in newborns.

Untreated chlamydia can lead to epididymitis, which is when the epididymis becomes inflamed, causing pain.

Chlamydia can also spread to the prostate gland, which can lead to painful sex, lower back pain, and a fever.

Fortunately, treatment for chlamydia is relatively straightforward. And if its treated quickly, youre unlikely to experience any long-term complications.

How Is Chlamydia Treated

Chlamydia can be cleared up with antibiotics in about a week or two. But dont stop taking your medication just because your symptoms improve. Ask your provider about what follow-up is needed to be sure your infection is gone after youve finished taking your medicine.

Part of your treatment should also include avoiding sexual activities that could cause you to get re-infected and ensuring that any sexual partners who may be infected also get treatment. You should:

  • Abstain from sex until your infection has cleared up. Starting treatment doesnt mean that youre in the clear. Take all your medication as your provider directs, and avoid all sexual contact in the meantime.
  • Contact all sexual partners. Tell any sexual partners from the last 3 months that youre infected so that they can get tested, too.
  • Get tested for other STIs . Its common to have multiple STIs, and its important to receive treatment thats tailored to each infection.

Antibiotics can get rid of your infection, but they cant reverse any harm the bacteria may have caused to your body before treatment. This is why its so important to get screened regularly for chlamydia, to see your provider at the first sign of symptoms, and get treatment immediately if youre infected.

How Serious Is Chlamydia

Chlamydia can lead to serious infections and even infertility if you dont treat it But its usually easy to cure it with medicine if you catch it early This is why regular STD testing is so important, no matter how healthy you feel.

For the treatment of chlamydia infection, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends oral administration of either 1 g of azithromycin in a single dose or 100 mg of doxycycline twice daily for 7 days.

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How Long Does Chlamydia Take To Show Up

Although chlamydia is one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases , many people have no idea that theyre infected.

Like gonorrhea and HPV, chlamydia can occur without any symptoms, and even if you have symptoms, they may not happen for some time.

This makes it hard to figure out whats going on and when to see a doctor.

To help you stay healthy, in this article, Ill explain how long chlamydia can take to show up, the symptoms to look for, how to get tested, common treatments, and when to see a healthcare provider.

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How Should I Take Azithromycin

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Take Azithromycin as prescribed by your doctor. Take the Azithromycin pills with a glass of water and with meals. Taking the antibiotic with meals prevents upset stomach and vomiting, and the medicine will be easily absorbed by the body. Take it as often as prescribed by your physician. Never take antacids like Maalox, Rolaids, or Tums two hour before or after the taking pills.

Never give out Azithromycin to other people. They may be taking other medicines which have an adverse reaction to the Azithromycin.

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How Do I Take Doxycycline

Take two doses a day for one week. Gullet irritation is a risk with doxycycline. To avoid this swallow the capsules whole, taking them with water. This ensures they go straight into the stomach without sticking in the gullet. Taking them whilst upright, sitting or standing, will also help. For this reason dont take doxycycline just before bed.

There is evidence that unlike some other tetracycline antibiotics, doxycycline absorption is not significantly slowed when taken with a meal. If nausea and tummy upset is a problem when taken on an empty stomach, the advice is to take with food.

What Is The Best Home Remedy For Chlamydia

The only consistently proven cure for chlamydia is antibiotics. There are a few products and home remedies out there recommended by countless websites for curing chlamydia at home. Unfortunately, the results of these treatments can be inconsistent and never involve the use of actual antibiotics. The only guaranteed method of treating bacterial infections, like chlamydia, is antibiotics.

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What Happens If Chlamydia Goes Untreated

If a person is not treated for chlamydia, complications may occur. Women frequently develop pelvic inflammatory disease . PID can cause infertility , chronic pelvic pain, tubal pregnancies, and the continued spread of the disease. In men, untreated chlamydia can cause urethral infection and complications such as swollen and tender testicles. Chlamydia infection during pregnancy may result in premature rupture of membranes, preterm delivery and possible tubal pregnancy in a small percent of women. In addition, chlamydia can cause conjunctival and pneumonic infection in the newborn. Persons with a chlamydia infection have an increased chance of getting other infections such as gonorrhea or HIV.

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Chlamydia Usually Has No Symptoms

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Chlamydia can be sneaky, because you probably wont have any symptoms you can see or feel. Sometimes the signs of chlamydia are so mild that people dont notice them, or they mistake the symptoms for something else. Most of the time, people dont even realizethey have chlamydia thats part of the reason its such a common infection .

Chlamydia can lead to serious infections and even infertility if you dont treat it. But its usually easy to cure it with medicine if you catch it early. This is why regular STD testing is so important, no matter how healthy you feel.

If you do have chlamydiasymptoms, they can take several weeks after you got the infection to show up. Symptoms of chlamydia can appear in both men and women, including:

  • pain or burning while peeing

  • pain during sex

  • swollenor tender testicles

If chlamydia infects your eyes, you may have redness, skin discoloration around your eye, itching, or discharge. Sometimes chlamydia infections in the throat cause soreness, but its rare.

If you or your partner has any of these symptoms, go to a nurse, doctor, or your localPlanned Parenthood Health Center. Its especially important to get checked out if youre pregnant.

Remember, most people dont show any signs at all when they have chlamydia. Thats why the only way to find out for sure if you have chlamydia is to get tested.

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Is Azithromycin Better Than Doxycycline At Curing Chlamydia

STD guidelines still favor azithromycin over doxycycline for the treatment of chlamydia. This is because of the following reasons:

  • Cure rates of azithromycin and doxycycline are similar, 97% and 98-100% respectively, according to a meta-analysis of 12 trials.
  • Azithromycin is given as a single dose, doxycycline needs to be given for seven days, either as a once-daily or twice-daily dose.
  • The dose of azithromycin can be easily supervised if need be it is much harder to supervise seven days of once daily or twice daily doxycycline treatment
  • People are more likely to take a single dose of azithromycin than finish a seven-day course of doxycycline.

Recently, some reports have suggested that doxycycline may be more effective than azithromycin, particularly when medication adherence can be assured. There is also some concern that azithromycin may not be as effective for anogenital chlamydial infections.

Common Antibiotics Used For Chlamydia

Antibiotics must only be consumed by people who have presented positively in the Chlamydia test and to the sex partner of the first infected. 60 are the recommended days to start the treatment, even if any physical sign has sprouted.

A more natural alternative is also available in the form of remedies, sometimes as herbs and oils, the Echinacea, Goldenseal and garlic cloves are very useful to combat many infamous infections.

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Can You Drink Alcohol While Taking Azithromycin For Chlamydia

Yes, you may drink a small amount of alcohol while you are taking azithromycin but there is a chance large amounts of alcohol may increase the gastrointestinal side effects of azithromycin, such as nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain, dyspepsia, or flatulence. Too much alcohol with azithromycin may also give you a headache.

Because azithromycin is usually taken as a one-off dose, drinking alcohol is unlikely to stop azithromycin from curing chlamydia.

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My Symptoms Haven’t Cleared

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There are several possible explanations. The symptoms could have a cause other than chlamydia. You can have more than one sexually transmitted infection at the same time, so you will need to be tested for other infections. There are also non-STI causes such as a lower urinary tract infection or, in women, endometriosis. You may have been re-infected with chlamydia if you had unprotected sex with an infected or partially treated partner. Rarely, the infection is resistant to a particular antibiotic treatment and therefore does not clear. Your GP or local GUM clinic would be able to help work out what is happening.

You may need a repeat chlamydia test .

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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.

How Long Before Doxycycline Treats Chlamydia Symptoms

It typically takes doxycycline seven to fourteen days to cure chlamydia symptoms. Sometimes, the medication may take a long time to be effective. Contact your doctor if you do not see any improvement in your symptoms after two weeks of treatment. Your doctor may recommend an alternative treatment course.

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Why Can’t I Repeat The Chlamydia Test After I’ve Taken My Treatment To Check It Worked

You can, but it takes up to 6 weeks for the test to go back to negative after an infection. If you re-test too early a positive result can be a sign of continuing or re-infection, but it’s most likely to be positive from the initial infection, so it’s not at all helpful.

If you are under 25 years of age, it is recommended to have a repeat test 3 months after treatment as a significant number of young people get repeat infections which are linked to an increased risk of complications.

What’s The Treatment For Chlamydia

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Chlamydia is treated with antibiotics. If you take the treatment according to instructions, its over 95% effective at treating chlamydia.

  • Youll be given a course of antibiotics for 3 or 7 days or sometimes up to two weeks.
  • If theres a high chance you have chlamydia, treatment may be started before the results of the test are back. Youll always be given treatment if a sexual partner is found to have chlamydia.
  • You may also need other treatment if complications have occurred.
  • Tell the doctor or nurse if youre pregnant, or think you might be, or youre breastfeeding. This may affect the type of antibiotic youre given.
  • Complementary therapies cant cure chlamydia.

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Where Can I Get Tested

Sexual health clinics, a genitourinary medicine clinics or GP surgeries provide free and confidential chlamydia testing. In England there is a national screening program for people under 25 years test kits are available in many pharmacies, contraception clinics, or colleges. Home testing kits may also be purchased in some pharmacies and online.

Does Your Partner Need To Get Treated Too

If you have a sexual partner, or if youve recently had sex with someone, talk with them about your chlamydia diagnosis. Theyll need to get tested and treated, too.

If your sexual partner doesnt seek treatment, theres a risk that they can transmit it back to you, even after your infection has been cured.

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Is Treatment Always Necessary For Chlamydia

Yes, treatment is necessary for chlamydia, particularly in women of childbearing age, because it reduces the risk of chlamydia-associated ectopic pregnancy, fertility problems, and the transmission of chlamydia to neonates during birth. In women, of all ages, chlamydia treatment reduces the risk of pelvic inflammatory disease.

In men, treatment for chlamydia stops them from infecting or reinfecting sexual partners with the bacteria.

Treat any person testing positive for chlamydia with a recommended course of antibiotics promptly. Delays in treatment have been associated with complications, such as pelvic inflammatory disease.

When Should Someone Seek Medical Care For Chlamydia

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The most urgent time to seek medical care for a chlamydial infection is when an individual is pregnant and has had recent sexual exposure to an infected individual and/or has developed early symptoms of a chlamydial infection. Additionally, if individuals are experiencing any symptoms of chlamydial infections, they should seek medical care quickly. Sexual partners should be notified if they have had recent contact with an infected individual.

Patients with gonorrhea have a 30%-50% chance of being coinfected with chlamydia. However, the reverse is not true. Patients with chlamydial infections have a less than 1% chance of being coinfected with Neisseria gonorrhoeae.

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Male Issues Of Without Treatment Chlamydia

Male can likewise experience difficulties when chlamydia is left untreated. The epididymis television that holds the testicles in place might become irritated, creating pain. This is referred to as epididymitis.

The infection can likewise spread to the prostate gland, triggering a high temperature, agonizing sexual intercourse, and also pain in the lower back. An additional feasible complication is male chlamydial urethritis.

These are just a few of the most common issues of unattended chlamydia, which is why it is very important to obtain medical attention immediately. The majority of people that obtain therapy rapidly have no long-lasting clinical issues. How Long Does It Take To Get Rid Of Chlamydia

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Hi there, Im Melissa and welcome to Genier. Im not ashamed to admit that Ive dealt with an STD before and recovered. It was not a pleasant experience but Im glad I got myself tested. If theres one message that you can take away from my site is get tested today! Stay safe.

How Do I Test For Chlamydia

You can get tested for chlamydia even if you dont have any symptoms.

In some countries you can get a self-testing kit to do at home.

If you test positive for chlamydia, its important to tell any recent sexual partner/s so they can also get tested, and treated if necessary. If you need advice about how to do this, speak to your healthcare professional. You should also test for other STIs.

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New Guidelines For Chlamydia Gonorrhoea And Syphilis

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30 AUGUST 2016 | GENEVA New guidelines for the treatment of three common sexually transmitted infections have been issued by the World Health Organization in response to the growing threat of antibiotic resistance.

Chlamydia, gonorrhoea and syphilis are all caused by bacteria and they are generally curable with antibiotics. However, these STIs often go undiagnosed and they are becoming more difficult to treat, with some antibiotics now failing as a result of misuse and overuse. It is estimated that, each year, 131 million people are infected with chlamydia, 78 million with gonorrhoea, and 5.6 million with syphilis.

Resistance of these STIs to the effect of antibiotics has increased rapidly in recent years and has reduced treatment options. Of the three STIs, gonorrhoea has developed the strongest resistance to antibiotics. Strains of multidrug-resistant gonorrhoea that do not respond to any available antibiotics have already been detected. Antibiotic resistance in chlamydia and syphilis, though less common, also exists, making prevention and prompt treatment critical.

The new recommendations are based on the latest available evidence on the most effective treatments for these three sexually transmitted infections.

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How Chlamydia’s Passed On

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Chlamydia is usually passed from one person to another through sexual contact.

Chlamydia is most commonly spread through:

  • sharing sex toys that arent washed or covered with a new condom each time theyre used.

It can be spread by giving or receiving oral sex with someone who has chlamydia. The risk can be lowered by using a condom or a dam to cover the genitals.

If youre pregnant its possible to pass chlamydia to the baby .

You cant get chlamydia from kissing, hugging, sharing baths or towels, swimming pools, toilet seats or from sharing cups, plates or cutlery.

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