I think I have chlamydia

SaffronSky

Ive been married for 3 years and have never had any relations with anyone since i met my husband. Ive been having some pelvic pain for a couple of months and when i was shopping i saw a home test kit for chlamydia and i dont know why but i bought it. i remember watching a program months ago about how people have this but dont know. I did my test and Im sure its positive. It went the dark purple colour.
how can i have this if i have been faithful and so has my husband? does this mean i have had it for 5 years? we want to have children but I have read that it could make me unable to have them, also I am scared about what else i could have? Is there any other disease which doesnt show symptoms that i could also have had for all of these years? I am scared I have HIV now too.
I have phoned the doctors and they are seeing me this week, but i am afraid. has anyone else here had this and how easy was it to treat? Ive got too many questions in my head and I am scared.

pinkshoes

Well done for going to the docs! I'm not sure how accurate the home test kits are, but the doctor will give you clear results, and if positive, it can be treated with antibiotics. If left untreated for a long time, it can cause fertility problems, but you will need to discuss this with the doc if your test is +ve.

If you do have chlamidya, then i'm 99.9% sure that your husband must also have it if you've had unprotected sex! Strange neither of you got symptoms for 5 years, so maybe you've just got an inflamed pelvis or something?!?! If you DO have it, he must get treated too!!

I know this is a horrible question, but if you do test +ve for it, has your husband been faithful?!?

I wish you good luck at the doctors!

ps - my mum teaches sex education at school (thankfully not a the school i went to!), hence I know so much about STIs!

pps - try not to worry too much until the doctor does a test. It's easy to mis-read home tests.

Shona_3

Chlamydia can lie dormant for years in women... I think the record is about 10 years after last sexual contact. I have not heard of these home checks... was it a urine test? Anyway, nip along to your GP sometime in the next week or two (the practice nurse will prob be able to arrange a test, you could phone her as a first step). If negative, big sighs all round, if positive, 4 tabs all at once and a quick chat to your hubby about getting tested too.
Trust me, this is definately an infection that can lie undetected for years. NOT a sign that someone is misbehaving.

PS I am a GP and family planning doc. EASILY treated.

SaffronSky

thanks for your replies. it wasn't a urine test it was a swab type thing. Ive read on the internet that the tests are reliable.

I honestly dont think my husband has been unfaithful i do trust him and he has never given me any reason to doubt him. I know he love me very much. I have phoned him today and he was lovely about it. He said he would come to the doctors with me which is nice because i guess he needs treating too. I think it must have just been there for all of these years which is very scary to think. Will the doctor test for other things too? what scares me the most is what I dont know. Thank you again for your replies.

Shona_3

Pelvic pain can be caused by lots of things so your doc will have a chat with you about what might be causing it. If it is the chamydia then the pain should settle with the antibiotics.

A proper set of swabs from high in the vagina and the cervix will test for a lot of infections, like gonorrhoea and thrush. The only things not really covered are hepatitis and HIV (both need blood tests), and herpes which needs to be a viral swab from the actual cold-sore type blister it causes.
Whether you want to go down the road of further testing is really down to personal choice and your sexual history. If you are an average british women with no major risky behaviours most GPs will say the swab tests are enough and you should be reassured.

If you have any further worries you can make an appointment at a sexual health clinic for a full screen which will include HIV etc. This is usually kept secret from your GP and no results will appear on your GP record.
Hope you get a good result.

I see women and girls with chlamydia all the time, it is one of the most common STIs in the country and straight forward to treat. Please don't worry too much.

SaffronSky

Thank you shona I feel better about it already. Ill let you know how it goes when i see the doctor on wednesday.

Bun

Hi, hope it works out ok for you, but just to let you know that if you would like children later on, syphillis and HIV are tested for as a matter of course in pregnancy if you consent (so you can have the syph treated as it can cause miscarriages etc, and the HIV can be controlled so you vastly reduce the chances of it going to the child), so aren't as out of the ordinary as they used to be. For this reason, life assurance forms etc only ask if you have had a positive HIV test, rather than the fact you have had one full stop, which they used to do years ago apparently.

Shona_3

Hey Bun, my baby due 1 month after yours!
Glad you are feeling a bit better Saffronsky, sure Gp will be understanding!
Its v good now that normal HIV tests are not included in insurance forms, in the 80s and early 90s they took the view 'no smoke without fire' but this was deemed prejudiced against people who were being sensible and looking after themselves.
What a lovely OH you have to go with you to the doctors! Keep him close, he sounds like a honey.
x

dmg24

Hi SaffronSky,

Just to say hope it all goes well at the docs. Don't worry about any embarrassment, I used to have regular check ups (trying for a baby with a high risk partner, long story!), and there really is nothing to worry about.

Your husband sounds fantastic, and you are both clearly responsible people.

Excellent, balanced advice from Shona (and others too). My best friend tested positive for chlamydia and became quite hysterical about it, she even rang her parents to tell them( :eek: )! If you do test positive, no one will bat an eyelid, it is so common nowadays, and doesn't mean that either of you have been promiscuous or irresponsible, just one of those unfortunate things!

Take care, and give your husband a big hug from me (and treat yourself to a big glass of wine too!) x

honeypop

How did your appointment go yesterday OP?

skintas_2

i had this previously over 10 years ago... i thought i got rid of it, my partner still had this even thou...the antibiotics did it for me... it kept being passeed back and forward between us. i got it from a previous finacee who cheated on me with my best friend. i didnt have any syptoms for years, when i did it was a bad pain worse than labour. good luck..... when i had my first soon, i still had it , my just had sticky eyes when he was born. good luck with ur results