How Long After Treatment Can I Have Sex Again
You should avoid being sexually active during treatment for chlamydia because you can still pass the infection to your sex partner during this time, even if you have no symptoms.
How long you should wait to have sex depends on the antibiotic you take.
If your doctor prescribes a single dose of antibiotics, wait until seven days after taking it. If you take a multi-dose antibiotic, wait until youve taken the full course of medication .
Because it is somewhat common to get a repeat infection of chlamydia, its a good idea to be tested for it again about three months after treatment.
Chlamydia Is Really Common
Chlamydia is a SUPER common bacterial infection that you can get from sexual contact with another person. Close to 3 million Americans get it every year, most commonly among 14-24-year-olds.
Chlamydia can be easily cleared up with antibiotics. But if you dont treat chlamydia, it may lead to major health problems in the future. Thats why STD testing is so important the sooner you know you have chlamydia, the faster you can cure it. You can prevent chlamydia by using condoms every time you have sex.
Does Dormant Chlamydia Test Positive
Chlamydia trachomatis can be present and dormant in the body for several years. However, it takes 1-3 weeks to show up in the vulva.
There are different ways to test for Chlamydia. The waiting period for the results depends on the mode of the Chlamydia test.
Urine test
Your doctor would require you to pee in a cup that will be tested in a laboratory to see if Chlamydia bacteria are in your urine.
This test takes about 2-5 days to show a positive if you are infected with the disease.
Blood test
Your doctor will take out some of your blood to be sent into the lab for testing to see if antibodies to Chlamydia are in your bloodstream.
Blood test results can come back in a few minutes when the blood is analyzed.
Swab test
Your doctor will use a stick or cotton round to acquire a small sample of suspected fluid that has the infection.
This sample is then cultured to see what bacteria grow from it. It can take up to 2-3 days to show results.
Doctors can use a stick or cotton round for a swab
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When Should I See My Healthcare Provider
When it comes to chlamydia, its a good idea to be proactive. Speak with your healthcare provider about your risks of infection. Make a plan to get screened regularly for STIs based on your providers recommendations for how often you should be tested. Make an appointment with your healthcare provider if your partner tests positive for chlamydia or if you notice any signs or symptoms that you may be infected.
How Is Chlamydia Diagnosed
There are a number of diagnostic tests for chlamydia, including nucleic acid amplification tests , cell culture, and others. NAATs are the most sensitive tests, and can be performed on easily obtainable specimens such as vaginal swabs or urine.43
Vaginal swabs, either patient- or clinician-collected, are the optimal specimen to screen for genital chlamydia using NAATs in women urine is the specimen of choice for men, and is an effective alternative specimen type for women.43 Self-collected vaginal swab specimens perform at least as well as other approved specimens using NAATs.44 In addition, patients may prefer self-collected vaginal swabs or urine-based screening to the more invasive endocervical or urethral swab specimens.45 Adolescent girls may be particularly good candidates for self-collected vaginal swab- or urine-based screening because pelvic exams are not indicated if they are asymptomatic.
NAATs have demonstrated improved sensitivity and specificity compared with culture for the detection of C. trachomatis at rectal and oropharyngeal sites.40 Certain NAAT test platforms have been cleared by FDA for these non-genital sites and data indicate NAAT performance on self-collected rectal swabs is comparable to clinician-collected rectal swabs. 40
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Antibiotics Are A Highly Effective Cure For Chlamydia Infection
Antibiotics prescribed for chlamydia include:
A single oral dose of Zithromax is the most common treatment. Other drugs may be given in varying doses for a period of up to a week. Most cases of chlamydia clear up within a week after you start on antibiotics.
If you think you have been exposed to chlamydia, Stoner says, see your healthcare provider to receive antibiotic medication to prevent the onset of infection.
The partners of individuals diagnosed with chlamydia will need treatment, too, and in some states they can get it without a doctor visit through a practice called expedited partner therapy, in which the first person treated delivers the treatment to their partner or partners.
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Can Chlamydia Go Away On Its Own
Its highly unlikely that chlamydia will go away on its own, and an infection can last over a year without treatment. Even if your symptoms clear up, it is still possible to transmit it to other people, which is why its crucial to get treatment for chlamydia. You should also regularly get tested for STIs if you are sexually active.
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What Are The Long Term Effects Of Chlamydia
Long term effects of chlamydia in women 1 Pelvic inflammatory disease Pelvic inflammation disease can occur from untreated chlamydia infections. 2 Infertility. 3 Ectopic pregnancy. 4 Miscarriage. 5 Premature low birth weight babies. 6 Increased chance of contacting HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.
Whats The Treatment For Chlamydia
Chlamydia is usually easy to get rid of. Your nurse or doctor will get you antibiotics to treat the infection. Sometimes you only have to take one dose of medication. Another chlamydia treatment lasts for 7 days. Your doctor will help you figure out which treatment is best for you.
If youre treated for chlamydia, its really important for your sexual partners to get treated also. Otherwise, you can keep passing the infection back and forth, or to other people. Sometimes your doctor will give you medicine for both you and your partner.
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What Is The Treatment For Chlamydia
Chlamydia is treated with antibiotics. The recommended antibiotic treatment is doxycycline taken twice a day for seven days or azrithromycin taken in one single dose. Other alternative medications may be used but are not as effective as azrithromycin and doxycycline. Persons being treated for chlamydia should not have sexual intercourse for seven days after single dose therapy or until completion of all seven days of antibiotics . Patients can be re-infected if their sex partners are not treated.
Can You Pass Chlamydia On Without Symptoms
Even if you are asymptomatic with Chlamydia, it is still possible to pass on the disease. The viral infection transmits via bodily fluids during sexual activity, therefore it is vitally important to practise safe sex and be tested regularly to ensure that you are clean of sexually transmitted infections. Visit our website to learn more about home testing.
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What Can Be Done To Prevent The Spread Of Chlamydia
- Limit your number of sex partners
- Use a male or female condom
- If you think you are infected or have been exposed, avoid any sexual contact and visit a local sexually transmitted disease clinic, a hospital or your doctor. Either bring your sex partners with you when you are treated or notify them immediately so they can obtain examination and treatment.
What’s The Treatment For Chlamydia
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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Chlamydia Can Be Prevented
The most effective way to avoid getting a sexually transmitted infection is to not have sex. However, if you wish to have sexual contact, you can reduce your risk of infection with these actions:
- Minimizing the number of partners with whom you have intimate contact
- Asking your partners to get screened for STDs before engaging in sexual activity
- Always using latex condoms when having intercourse of any kind
Additional reporting by Ingrid Strauch.
How Long Can You Have Chlamydia Without Knowing Years Or Months
How long can you have chlamydia without knowing is a common question after an unprotected sexual contact.
What is chlamydia infection?
Chlamydia infection, caused by Chlamydia trachomatis, is a common sexually transmitted infection that affects both men and women. In the united stated, more than 1.4 million new cases of chlamydia are detected yearly.
In women, chlamydia infection can ascend up the genital tracts resulting to pelvic inflammatory disease with symptoms like fever, abdomen pain and difficulty conceiving.
Chlamydia trachomatis infection is transmitted through
If youve had intercourse with these symptoms, then its likely you have chlamydia. You should inform your doctor ASAP or get a chlamydia test kit to detect chlamydia.
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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.
When Can I Have Unprotected Sex After Chlamydia Treatment
Even if your chlamydia infection has been cured, its not recommended to practice unsafe sex. Having your STD treated doesnt guarantee that the infection will never come back. In fact, many people become infected with STDs multiple times because they continue to have unprotected sex with partners who have untreated STDs.
If you have a regular sexual partner, tell them about your infection so they can get treatment as well. Once youre sure you both got treated, you have to wait until the treatment has had time to be effective before you start having unprotected sex again.
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Complicationsin Men And Women
A number of complications have been found to be a risk factor for chlamydia in both male and female patients. The first concern is the fact that there seems to be an increased risk of being infected with the HIV virus in men and women who have acquired the chlamydia infection. At the same time, a patient with chlamydia and HIV are also more likely to transmit the HIV virus to another partner during sexual intercourse, compared to a person only infected with HIV.
Another concern that needs to be raised is the risk of Reiters syndrome. In modern times, doctors are rather referring to Reiters syndrome as reactive arthritis. This is a serious complication of chlamydia, but it is an exceptionally rare one. Even though rare, the possibility still exists making it even more crucial for sexually active individuals to be tested for chlamydia frequently.
Thedevelopment of reactive arthritis can cause typical symptoms that are generallyassociated with arthritis. This includes joint pain, inflammation, and areduced range of motion. Additionally, reactive arthritis is also known tocause swelling in both the urethra and the eyes. Skin lesions may also developin patients with reactive arthritis.
Chlamydia Is Common But Many People Dont Realize They Have It
About 1.7 million chlamydia infections were reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2017, but the real number is likely higher because chlamydia is considered an underreported infection.
“The number of reported cases is substantially lower than the true estimated incidence,” says Bradley Stoner, MD, PhD, associate professor of medicine at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and former president of the American Sexually Transmitted Diseases Association.
The National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System relies on state and local public health departments to collect and report data on chlamydia to the CDC. Those public health departments depend on individual physicians, hospitals, and laboratories to report cases of chlamydia to them. Accurate statistics require all parties to routinely comply with disease-reporting mandates.
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Can Chlamydia Be Dormant
Yes, Chlamydia can be dormant in the body for several years without any flare-up to trigger a symptomatic infection. This means a person could live with Chlamydia for many years without knowing because the typical symptoms dont appear.
However, Chlamydia can cause a flare-up after laying dormant for several years if the strength of a persons immune system has been diminished by severe conditions like HIV, cold or flu, and cancer, among others.
Although in some cases, symptoms of the infection appear within a few weeks of contact, there have been instances where Chlamydia remained dormant for over 20 years.
This is why it is vital to get screened regularly if you have suspicions after recent sexual contact.
Painful menstruation or bleeding between menstrual cycles can be symptoms of Chlamydial infection
Home Remedies For Chlamydia Symptoms
You may still experience painful or uncomfortable symptoms while youre taking chlamydia antibiotics.
Here are some home remedies for reducing your pain and other symptoms while youre waiting for the antibiotics to work:
- pain medications, such as ibuprofen to reduce pain
- cold pack to help limit swelling and inflammation
- goldenseal to reduce inflammation and potentially make symptoms less severe
- echinacea to bolster your immune system against the infection and reduce your symptoms
- turmeric containing an ingredient called curcumin to reduce inflammation and make symptoms less severe
No studies support the effectiveness of these supplements specifically for chlamydia, so take them with caution.
And theres no substitute for antibiotics when treating chlamydia. Only try these remedies if youre already taking antibiotics or if you plan to go to the doctor.
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What Happens If Chlamydia Goes Untreated For 2 Years
In most cases, chlamydia symptoms will occur within weeks of exposure. Chlamydia symptoms usually appear within one to three weeks after being infected. They can range in severity levels.
Different cases of chlamydia can progress at different rates. If left untreated, some cases of chlamydia could cause important symptoms and even complications in just a few months, while others could take a longer time such as 2 years before any complications appear and cause damage to the reproductive system.
Chlamydial infections in women may spread to the uterus or fallopian tubes and cause pelvic inflammatory disease which may damage the fallopian tubes and uterus and cause chronic pain, infertility, and ectopic pregnancy. Women who have chlamydia also are at much greater risk for becoming infected with HIV. In men, complications from chlamydia are rare.
Chlamydia Is Only Contagious From Person To Person
You can only get chlamydia by having intimate sexual contact with an infected person, not from casual contact, touching another persons clothing, or consuming contaminated food or water.
The chlamydia organism lives only in human cells and cannot be transmitted by external contact, such as towels or toilet seats, Schaffir says.
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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
What Happens If You Have Chlamydia For Over A Year
The majority of people who have chlamydia aren’t aware of any signs or symptoms, even after several months or years with infection. Nonetheless the impact of untreated chlamydia can be serious for women, causing significant damage to the reproductive organs.
Researchers don’t know exactly how long it takes for such effects to occur or exactly what proportion of women with untreated chlamydia suffer such consequences. It is probably only a minority of women who have these serious complications.
In men, serious consequences are rare. Occasionally, men can experience epididymitis, which is an inflammation of the coiled tube at the back of the testicle that stores and carries sperm.
Treatment for chlamydia is simple, requiring a short course of antibiotics. However if the infection is left untreated in women it can spread into the uterus or fallopian tubes and cause pelvic inflammatory disease . Pelvic inflammatory disease can result in serious complications, including infertility, ectopic pregnancy and long-term abdominal pain.
Researchers are not sure of what proportion of cases of untreated chlamydia progress to PID and of how long this takes. Now that treatments are available, it would be unethical for researchers to identify women with chlamydia, withhold treatment and simply observe the damage the infection causes.
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