Shady Symptoms Of A Sexually Transmitted Disease
The below symptoms do not always mean that someone has a Sexually Transmitted Disease, but sometimes they can be a sign of an STD that has moved to the next stage. Many of the symptoms experienced point towards a viral infection or the ones that are associated with Gonorrhea and Chlamydia.
These types of Sexually Transmitted Diseases might not show any symptoms initially, but when they do, it is better to get yourself checked immediately. No matter how insignificant the symptoms might look like it is always a better idea to get yourself tested for any possible serious issues as it is much easier to cure and manage the disease if it is caught earlier.
How Often Should I Get Checked For Chlamydia
Sexual health check-ups are recommended for anyone who is sexually active. Frequency of testing also depends on your STI risk:
- An annual sexual health check-up is highly recommended if you are sexually active especially if you are under 25.
- Get checked more often during the year if you frequently change sexual partners.
- Remember, you are at greater risk if you have sex without a condom with 1 or multiple sexual partners.
How Long Can You Carry Chlamydia
The majority of people with chlamydia dont have any symptoms. If you do get symptoms, these usually appear between 1 and 3 weeks after having unprotected sex with an infected person. For some people they dont develop until many months later. Sometimes the symptoms can disappear after a few weeks or months.
If you have a sexually transmitted infection , you may be at higher risk of getting gonorrhea, syphilis, or both. STIs can cause serious health problems, including infertility, pelvic inflammatory disease , ectopic pregnancy, and infertility.
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Facts You Should Know About Chlamydia In The Mouth
Chlamydia in the mouth is a common twist on the most prominent sexually transmitted disease, or STD, in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , there were almost 1.5 million reported cases of chlamydia in America in 2012. This works out to about 456.7 people out of every 100,000 having contracted the disease. Sixty-nine percent of all chlamydia cases occur in individuals between the ages of 15 and 24. This does not take into account the amount of individuals who do not seek treatment for the condition due to an absence of symptoms or limited access to and/or the inability to afford medical treatment. What a lot of people do not realize is that many sexually transmitted diseases also have an oral strain that affects the throat and mouth areas. All sexually active individuals should take it upon themselves to learn about common STDs like chlamydia and how to prevent the contraction and spread of such a condition.
How Is It Treated
Antibiotics are used to treat chlamydia. It’s important to take all of the medicine as directed. Otherwise the medicine may not work. Both sex partners need treatment to keep from passing the infection back and forth.
As soon as you find out you have chlamydia, be sure to let your sex partners know. Experts recommend that you notify everyone you’ve had sex with in the past 2 months. If you have not had sex in the past 2 months, contact the last person you had sex with.
Having a chlamydia infection that was cured does not protect you from getting it again. If you are treated and your sex partner is not, you probably will get it again.
Some people who have chlamydia also have other STIs, such as gonorrhea.
Finding out that you have an STI may make you feel bad about yourself or about sex. Counselling or a support group may help you feel better.
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Primary Stage Of Syphilis
When it begins: The primary stage of syphilis begins 10 to 90 days after you become infected. Most people develop symptoms about 3 weeks after having sex with someone who has syphilis.
What you may notice: During this stage, you may have:
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One or more open sores called chancres, which often feel firm and painless
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Swollen lymph nodes
These open sores usually heal and go away within 3 to 6 weeks. While the sores heal on their own, you still need treatment. Without treatment, syphilis can move to the next stage.
Are you contagious? Yes. Syphilis is very contagious during this stage. If you have sex , you can easily give your partner syphilis.
While less common, you can give someone syphilis through kissing if you have open sores inside your mouth or on your lips.
Open sores
Where the bacteria that cause syphilis work their way into your body, you may develop open sores called chancres.
Is It The Flu Or An Std 11 Signs You Need To Get Tested Immediately
If youre experiencing some bodily discomfort, dont be so quick to chalk it up to the flu. There are a lot of flu-like symptoms of sexually transmitted diseases that disguise themselves as normal body ailments. If youre sexually active, and youre experiencing some unfamiliar symptoms, read this list! These symptoms may seem like a normal allergy, cold, or flu symptoms, but in reality, they could be STD symptoms in disguise. So please, for your sake, if you have any of these STD symptoms, get tested immediately!
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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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How Serious Is Chlamydia
Risks are more serious if you dont get treated 20-54% of chlamydia cases will resolve within one year without treatment. Of those who do not clear the infection spontaneously, they are more likely to go on to develop symptoms of chlamydia. Although chlamydia can go away on its own, the most serious consequence of untreated infection is PID, and specifically tubal infection salpingitis. The risk of PID from untreated chlamydia is higher at 17.1%, and risk of salpingitis is 7.3%.
What damage does chlamydia do? while chlamydial organisms are multiplying with the genital tract, there is damage to the host cell tissues . Cell damage causes inflammation within the tissue that is redness, swelling, and sometime bleeding. The end result of this process may be scar tissue formation and this is why chlamydia can cause infertility from your tubes not working properly or getting blocked.
In women aged 16-44, untreated chlamydial infection accounts for:
- 20% cases of PID
- 4.9% ectopic pregnancy
- 29% tubal factor infertility
Can it be fatal or cause permanent disability? ectopic pregnancy is a very serious consequence of chlamydia, which can be life-threatening. An ectopic pregnancy occurs if a pregnancy develops not inside the womb, but inside the Fallopian tube. If the tube bursts, there may be severe internal bleeding, which can be fatal. Emergency surgery is needed. Sometimes other organs are involved such as bowel or bladder.
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Symptoms Associated With Cold Like Vomiting Fatigue Fever Etc
Vomiting can be a sign of Hepatitis A, Hepatitis C, HIV, and syphilis. Do not ignore it as if you do, and you run the risk of helping the pathogen to progress and spread more aggressively through your body.
HIV, Syphilis, and Herpes are notorious for causing headaches. A lot of people consider headaches nothing more than an inconvenience popping an Aspirin might give you some relief, but continuous headaches may be a sign of something serious, like a Sexually Transmitted Disease.
In the later stages of Gonorrhea and Chlamydia, people often complain about being extremely tired. Along with these infections, fatigue can also be caused by Hepatitis A, B, or C. Associating fatigue with having a busy lifestyle is not a good idea as it can be a symptom of a Sexually Transmitted Disease. The best thing to do in this case is to get yourself checked.
Fever happens when the body is trying to battle an infection, it is most commonly seen as a sign of the seasonal flu, but fever can also be a sign of a Sexually Transmitted Diseases like Herpes, Gonorrhea, Syphilis, HIV, etc.
Can Chlamydia Ever Go Away Completely
Does chlamydia ever go away completely? Chlamydia is the most common STD and a person can be easily re-infected. According to Center for Disease Control and Prevention , 26% of infected people end up getting re-infected. There have been cases where Chlamydia has infected a person even if one has taken all the required precautions and after resolution of previous infection. This could be attributed to re-infection or treatment failure. There have been arguments whether Chlamydia stays in the body and also studies have been carried out that have revealed that Chlamydia can stay dormant in a persons body for years without showing any symptoms and infected people can easily transmit the disease to their sexual partners or get re-infected. The bacterium is also good at hiding in the digestive tract despite its annihilation from other common sites such as vagina/penis/rectum/throat. This has been attributed to the ability of Chlamydia bacterium to remain associated with the host for prolonged periods of time even in a dormant state.
These studies have been done only in mice and this has not been tested in humans so far, but the scientists believe that it is a possibility in humans too. This theory is being researched, but in the meantime, an individual can prevent Chlamydia by having safe sexual practice and using protection to prevent infection or re-infection.
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Which Stds Can Cause Infertility
The problem is that some STDs dont come with identifiable symptoms so people can live with them for years without being aware of them. This increases the risk of developing complications like infertility or infecting future sex partners. Early detection is the best way to avoid such risk as infertility caused by STDs is highly preventable.
Pain In The Abdominal Area Along With Joint And Lower Back Pain
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Pain in the Abdominal Area
Chlamydia or Gonorrhea, if left to progress, can infect the pelvis area and cause PID or Pelvic Inflammatory Disease. If the condition is not taken care of early, it can cause infertility, ectopic pregnancy, pain in the pelvic area and can even infect the ovaries or the fallopian tubes and result in a tubo-ovarian abscess. Pain in the abdominal area is more pronounced when infections like Gonorrhea and Chlamydia have progressed to a later stage.
Experiencing pain in joints can be a sign that a person has infections like HIV, Hepatitis B, or syphilis that have progressed. Joint pain caused by infections like Chlamydia and Gonorrhea is known as Venereal Arthritis or Gonococcal Arthritis. This type of arthritis is caused when the infection is not nipped in the bud. As it progresses in the body, it attacks the joints. If it is not taken care of on time, it can lead to other serious complications like complete deformity, permanent damage to the joints, joint inflammation, and very painful joints.
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Lower Back Pain
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Female Complications Of Untreated Chlamydia
Some women develop PID, an infection that can damage the uterus, cervix, and ovaries. PID is a painful disease that often requires hospital treatment.
Infertility is also possible if chlamydia is left untreated because the fallopian tubes may become scarred.
During pregnancy, the infection can to babies during birth, which can cause eye infections and pneumonia in newborns.
Does Chlamydia Make You Tired
In the later stages of Gonorrhea and Chlamydia, people often complain about being extremely tired. Along with these infections, fatigue can also be caused by Hepatitis A, B, or C. Associating fatigue with having a busy lifestyle is not a good idea as it can be a symptom of a Sexually Transmitted Disease.
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How Do I Know If I Had Chlamydia
Some of the symptoms women can experience when they have chlamydia and gonorrhea are yellow-green discharge, light bleeding between their periods and vaginal discharge that looks like a greenish-yellow liquid, according to Dr. White. If you have any of these symptoms, you should see your doctor right away. If you dont see a doctor within a few days, its a good idea to get tested for STDs.
Other Conditions Leading To Infertility
Other conditions that could lead to infertility include:
- Problems in the brain centre that controls the hormones which regulate the male reproductive organs.
- The quality of the sperm
- The quantity of the sperm
- The activity of the sperm i.e. ability of the sperm to move effectively towards a mature egg and fertilise it.
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Can I Test Myself For Chlamydia At Home
Home testing kits for chlamydia are widely available and can be purchased at many pharmacies or online.
These kits typically require a urine sample or tissue swab, which you can collect at home and securely ship back to the lab to receive your results.
Some companies also include a free medical consultation with a doctor if your test results are positive to review your treatment options.
When Will The Signs And Symptoms Go Away
You should notice an improvement quite quickly after having treatment.
- Discharge or pain when you urinate should improve within a week.
- Bleeding between periods or heavier periods should improve by your next period.
- Pelvic pain and pain in the testicles should start to improve quickly but may take up to two weeks to go away.
If you have pelvic pain or painful sex that doesnt improve, see your doctor or nurse as it may be necessary to have some further treatment or investigate other possible causes of the pain.
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Latent Stage Of Syphilis
When it begins: The latent stage of syphilis begins after the rash and other signs and symptoms clear.
What you may notice: This stage is also called the hidden stage because you will not have any signs and symptoms.
Even without signs or symptoms, you can still have syphilis.
Without treatment, you may stay in the latent stage for the rest of your life. Some people relapse and go through the secondary stage again. If this happens, youll develop signs and symptoms again. You can go through the secondary stage two or more times.
Each time the secondary stage ends, you return to the latent stage.
Are you contagious? Yes. Even when you dont have signs or symptoms, you can still give someone syphilis by having sex .
Symptoms disappear
In this stage, you dont have signs or symptoms, but a blood test can still diagnose syphilis.
Burning Sensation When Urinating
Chlamydia can cause a burning sensation when you urinate. Its easy to mistake this for a symptom of a urinary tract infection.
You might also feel like you have the urge to urinate more often than usual. And when you do go to urinate, only a little bit comes out. Your urine might also smell unusual or look cloudy.
If you have chalmydia, you might also feel some pain during sex, especially intercourse.
You may also some bleeding and lingering irritation after any type of sexual activity involving penetration.
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Is It Just A Flu Or A Sexually Transmitted Disease The Signs You Should Not Ignore
If you are sexually active and are experiencing some form of discomfort, including symptoms that point towards flu, do not be so quick to brush it under the rug as a lot of Sexually Transmitted Diseases can have symptoms that mimic those of the flu. If you are experiencing symptoms like a fever or a sore throat or body aches, these symptoms could point to some serious issues that you unknowingly might be dealing with in the form of Sexually Transmitted Diseases. Therefore it gets all the more important to not ignore these signs and see a health care provider as soon as possible. Ignoring these signs now could later give birth to something very serious, and so it is better if you take care of it while you can.
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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