How Long Until Chlamydia Symptoms

How To Test From Home

Once you decide which test kit it right for you, the process is the same. By that, we mean that it is convenient and easy to use. You never have to step into a doctors office for a sexually transmitted infection test ever again!

myLAB Box makes the testing process as simple as possible. Youll find the following components included in every kit:

• The urine, vaginal swab and/or blood sample collection kit
• Easy to follow instructions
• A postage paid return envelope to send your samples in for testing
• Free 2-way shipping
• Fast and easy access to your results online
• A free telemedicine consultation with a physician in your state

As you can see, the process is simple. If youre not sure what type of sample is required or which test is right for you, you might want to consider one of myLAB Boxs test combos:

What Can Happen If Chlamydia Isnt Treated

Untreated chlamydia can put your health at risk. Make an appointment with your provider immediately if you notice any symptoms of chlamydia, and get regular STI screenings to avoid complications later.

Complications of chlamydia for people with vaginas

Untreated chlamydia can cause:

• Pelvic inflammatory disease . PID is a serious condition that requires hospitalization. It can occur when an untreated STI, like chlamydia, damages your reproductive organs. PID can lead to infertility and chronic pelvic pain. It can also cause an ectopic pregnancy,which is life-threatening for the fetus and potentially deadly for the mother or gestational parent, too.
• Pregnancy complications. An untreated infection can lead to pre-term delivery. Also, if youre pregnant and have chlamydia, you can pass the infection on to your newborn. Babies born with chlamydia may have pneumonia or conjunctivitis that could lead to blindness if not treated.

Complications of chlamydia for people with penises

Untreated chlamydia can cause:

• Epididymitis. Infection can spread to the testicles and the tube that carries sperm to your testicles , causing symptoms like pain, swelling and tenderness in your testicles.
• Reduced fertility. Chlamydia can harm your sperm, negatively impacting your ability to conceive.

Complications of chlamydia that can affect all genders

Untreated chlamydia can:

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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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What Is The Time It Will Take To Be Visible To People Who Have Vulvas

Chlamydia symptoms are typically seen to manifest in people who have the vulva.

It could take some months to be evident. It is because bacteria are living things that have an incubation duration that determines how long it takes for them to the group to become infectious.

The duration of this incubation depends on many variables, such as:

• What percentage of the bacteria were you exposed to?
• The bacteria infiltrated what part of your body, such as the genitals, anus, throat, etc.
• How fast bacteria how quickly the bacteria reproduce
• How well you are bacteria.

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How Long Does It Take To Show Signs Of Chlamydia

Chlamydia is the most prevalent bacteria on the planet. Based on 2018 statistics, around 2.86 million are infected annually, and more than two-thirds of those infected are young teenagers and adults between the ages of 15 and 24. Every sexually active individual is exposed to chlamydia and can get infected no matter how many or how few partners theyve changed.

Here, we will help you answer some of the most common questions you might have about this infection. We will talk about when you can expect the infection to turn up, how to recognize it, and why you need to get tested.

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Hsv1 & Hsv2 Incubation Periods

The herpes simplex virus can cause sores to appear around the mouth, genitals, and other areas of the body. These sores are both irritating and highly infectious, and direct contact with them is one of the main methods for transmitting herpes. Because the virus can spread through kissing, skin-to-skin contact, and oral, anal, and vaginal sex, it is very common. Herpes comes in two forms: HSV-1 and HSV-2, which are sometimes known respectively as oral herpes and genital herpes, despite that neither type of herpes exclusively affects a single region. Many unknowingly carry herpes infections without issue, but there is treatment available to manage extreme cases for those who need it. It is best to wait 4-6 weeks after the potential first exposure to be tested. 9)

Can Chlamydia Kill You

As already mentioned before, this infection won`t cause any issues if treated right away. However, if it`s left untreated, it may lead to severe problems, especially when talking about women:

• It the infection spreads, it may cause PID. This severe medical condition might make it difficult or even impossible for a woman to conceive.
• Expecting mothers who experience this infection frequently pass it to their own future babies during delivery. If the condition gets in the eyes of the child, it may lead to blindness. Babies can have other issues, such as pneumonia, which can become deadly in a infant.
• Having this particular infection makes anyone a lot more likely in getting HIV from other persons who are infected with HIV. This virus causes AIDS.

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What Are The Signs Of Chlamydia

Here are the most frequent symptoms of Chlamydia, both in those with penises and those with vulvas.

Penises holders with penises

• discomfort is when you have to pee
• unusual clear or cloudy discharges from the penis.
• Itching or burning sensations in the urinary tract
• discomfort in your tests
• an increase in the size of your testes as a result of epididymitis

Vulvas with people

• discomfort if you need to pee
• an unusual transparent or cloudy discharge coming from the vagina
• pain in your abdomen or your hips
• uncomfortable or aching during an affair
• bleeding after having sexual contact
• abnormal bleeding even if you do not have a period
• the rectum area or anus

What Time Does It Take To Be Visible To People Who Have Vulvas

Chlamydia symptoms usually last between one to three weeks. Trusted The source of the symptoms can be seen for people who have the vulva.

It could take some months to appear. The reason is that bacteria are living things that have an incubation time which determines the time it takes for them to become infectious.

The duration of this incubation depends on many variables, such as:

• what percentage of the bacteria where you exposed to?

• The bacteria come into what part of your body, like the genitals or anus, throat, etc.

• how fast the bacteria can reproduce

• how robust the immune system of your body is bacteria.

Recommended Reading: How Long For Chlamydia To Go Away

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.

What Does A Chlamydia Test Involve

• If you have a vulva, you may be asked to take a swab around the inside of your vagina yourself.
• A doctor or nurse may take a swab during an internal examination of your vagina and cervix .
• You may be asked to provide a urine sample. Before having this test, youre advised not to pass urine for 12 hours.
• A doctor or nurse may take a swab from the entrance of the urethra .
• If youve had anal or oral sex, a doctor or nurse may swab your rectum or throat . These swabs arent done routinely on everyone.
• If you have symptoms of conjunctivitis swabs will be used to collect a sample of discharge from your eye.

A swab looks a bit like a cotton bud but is smaller and rounded. It sometimes has a small plastic loop on the end rather than a cotton tip. Its wiped over the parts of the body that could be infected. This only takes a few seconds and isnt painful, though it may be uncomfortable for a moment.

Cervical screening and routine blood tests dont detect chlamydia.

If youre not sure whether youve been tested for chlamydia, just ask.

Read Also: How Do Men Get Checked For Chlamydia

What Are Symptoms Of An Sti

Different STIs can cause different symptoms. Sometimes STIs dont cause any symptoms at all.

Gonorrhea or chlamydia can cause:

• Burning when urinating

• Muscle aches

• Sore throat

Many times, people with an STI dont have any symptoms, so they dont realize they need treatment. This is how people can unknowingly pass an STI to someone else.

What Happens After I Get Treated For Chlamydia

During your treatment with antibiotics, it is advised to avoid sexual intercourse to eliminate the risk of infecting your partner, even if you no longer have symptoms. Even after your treatment is over, it is recommended to wait another week before having sex again. This way, you make sure that the infection is cleared and you no longer can infect your partner. Since it is still possible to be reinfected with chlamydia, it is recommended to do another self-test approximately 12 weeks after treatment.

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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.

How Long Will It Take For Chlamydia To Show Up In Women

Symptoms of chlamydia in individuals with vulvaswill need around 1 to 3 weeks to show up, but sometimes it can take upto a couple of months. The reason for that is the bacteria. Bacteria is aliving organism, which means it will have an incubation period that willpredetermine its effect before the infection becomes a real problem.

The incubation period will vary depending ondifferent factors like:

• Howlong does it take for the chlamydia to reproduce
• Areyou exposed to a lot of bacteria
• Whereis the bacteria, does it infect the throat, anus, or genitals
• Isyour immune system well-equipped to protect itself against the bacteria

Read Also: Does Any Antibiotic Cure Chlamydia

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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.

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 don’t 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.

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You Cant Catch Chlamydia From A Toilet Seat

Many people believe they can get chlamydia from a toilet seat. This isnt true.

Theres no need to worry about catching chlamydia in a public bathroom. Even if you share a toilet seat with someone who has it, you cant get the infection. You also cant catch chlamydia from sharing items like towels.

Usually, chlamydia spreads through unprotected sex. Its also possible to get the disease if you share sex toys with someone who has the infection. Sex toys should be washed or covered with a condom. If your partner has vaginal fluid or semen on their fingers, it may be possible to spread the infection that way.

What Complications Can Result From Chlamydial Infection

The initial damage that chlamydia causes often goes unnoticed. However, chlamydial infections can lead to serious health problems with both short- and long-term consequences.

In women, untreated chlamydia can spread into the uterus or fallopian tubes and cause pelvic inflammatory disease . Symptomatic PID occurs in about 10 to 15 percent of women with untreated chlamydia.30,31 However, chlamydia can also cause subclinical inflammation of the upper genital tract . Both acute and subclinical PID can cause permanent damage to the fallopian tubes, uterus, and surrounding tissues. The damage can lead to chronic pelvic pain, tubal factor infertility, and potentially fatal ectopic pregnancy.32,33

Some patients with chlamydial PID develop perihepatitis, or Fitz-Hugh-Curtis Syndrome, an inflammation of the liver capsule and surrounding peritoneum, which is associated with right upper quadrant pain.

In pregnant women, untreated chlamydia has been associated with pre-term delivery,34 as well as ophthalmia neonatorum and pneumonia in the newborn.

Reactive arthritis can occur in men and women following symptomatic or asymptomatic chlamydial infection, sometimes as part of a triad of symptoms formerly referred to as Reiters Syndrome.35

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Where Can I Get A Test

There are a number of services you can go to. Choose the one you feel most comfortable with.

A chlamydia test can be done at:

• a genitourinary medicine or sexual health clinic
• your general practice
• contraception and young peoples clinics
• some pharmacies.

Abortion clinics, antenatal services and some gynaecology services may also offer a chlamydia test.

In England, if youre a woman aged under 25 years old, you may be offered a chlamydia test as part of the National Chlamydia Screening Programme when you visit some service for other reasons, for example at a pharmacy or your GP.

The NCSP aims to identify people without symptoms to reduce the complications of untreated infection. If chlamydia is not treated, it can cause health complications, especially in women. Untreated chlamydia in women can cause pain in the pelvis, ectopic pregnancy and infertility .

If you are a woman aged under 25 years old and you are offered a chlamydia test as part of the NCSP you should consider taking it.

In many areas, free home self-sampling tests for chlamydia are available to order online. This is where you take your own sample and send it to be tested. See www.nhs.uk

Its also possible to buy a chlamydia test to do at home. The accuracy of these tests varies. Some types are very accurate when carried out according to the instructions, others can be less reliable. If you buy a testing kit make sure you get advice from a pharmacist or your doctor.

How Do You Get Chlamydia

The bacteria are usually spread through:

• unprotected vaginal, anal or oral sex

• your genitals touching an infected persons genitals this means you can get and pass on chlamydia even if you dont have penetrative sex or ejaculation

• sharing unwashed or uncovered sex toys with someone who has the infection

• infected semen or vaginal fluid getting into your eye.

Chlamydia can also be passed on by a pregnant woman to her baby. For more details on chlamydia in pregnancy read our in detail tab.

Chlamydia cant be passed on through casual contact like kissing, hugging, sharing baths, towels or using the same toilet as someone with the infection.

Read Also: Can Chlamydia Cause Kidney Infection

How Soon Can You Get Tested For An Sti

You dont need to get tested for STIs right away if you recently had unprotected sex. Its possible to get tested too soon for an STI. You might get a false negative test if you get tested too soon. That means you actually do have an STI, but the test doesnt show it yet.

Heres when you should be tested:

• Chlamydia: Get tested 2 weeks after your sexual encounter.

• Gonorrhea: Get tested 2 weeks after your sexual encounter.

• Syphilis: Get tested 1 to 3 months after your sexual encounter.

• HIV: Get tested 2 to 6 weeks after your sexual encounter.

• Herpes: Get tested 1 to 4 months after your sexual encounter.

If you test positive for an STI dont panic. Your healthcare provider will go over treatment options with you.