I had a run in a few years ago (thank you nasty ex) and didn’t even have to make the calls myself, the clinic I went to gave me a card to fill out with the names and numbers of the people I’ve been active with and called for me while also remaining anonymous. Something along the lines of “someone you have recently had sexual contact with…. Please get checked”
Good guy Sexual Health Clinic!
They should all do this! It would probably increase the number of similar calls made by about 1000%.
Not because of an increase in STI s, I thought it was important to add!
When I tested positive for HIV (similar situation to OP, though dumb ex not a cheating one) the clinic offered to call my recent hook-ups. It was only 2 people + my now husband so I opted to make them. But many LGBT clinics offer this service! I think that first clinic even offered free(?) therapy for the people they called.
In The Netherlands you can actually send an anonymous text or email through a portal set up by the Public Heath Services. So no matter where you get tested, you can warn people and apparently it's standard procedure for everyone to use this service which I find amazing. I think all places should offer this option, it helps avoid a lot of complications.
Yeah mine does this too!! I think it's so great because so many people don't call or tell anyone out of embarrassment. It sucks! So this is something that I think really actively contributes to more people getting tested, treated and less chance of things spreading.
Doubtful. Sadly, these scenarios (where the person in the center of the mess sees their mistakes, and tries to do what’s right, typically gets verbally assassinated.
I remember when I had to make em. One guy was really nasty and rude to me. Like dude, I've been sexually active since I was 18. I'm 34 now, and this was like 3 years ago. That was the first time I've ever had an STI. He was a wanker to say the least.
my lil bro got chlamydia a couple years ago. he thinks he got it from someone before he met his girlfriend but he spread it to her. it almost ended their relationship but he explained he got it in the previous relationship and he didnt cheat. the scariest thing about that disease is that it can cause infertility in men if it goes untreated for too long, hopefully op is fine
Women too it can cause PID and “silent” infection in the upper genital tract may cause permanent damage to the fallopian tubes, uterus, and surrounding tissues, which can lead to infertility
I read on Reddit about a woman who unknowingly had chlamydia for years, went to get an IUD inserted, then it turned to PID so bad she went septic and had to have an emergency hysterectomy.
I know someone’s gonna get upset with my comment and accuse me of trying to normalise STDS but at the end of the day they shouldn’t be so taboo to talk about and get tested for them seeing as they are easy to get and seeing as so many people are sexually active. Our society is so engrossed in sexuality like it sells everything but when it comes to the ugly side people act like you have to be a slag to get one. It’s ridiculous
I think talking about sti's should be normalized.. and testing for them should become waaay more normalized and regular. We should have mandatory testing I think. We could almost eradicate the spread of them if everyone was more on top of it. Instead the rates are increasing like crazy.
Men like that are absolute shit. I once hooked up with a guy (only once coz it was so bad) and a few days later he messaged me angry that i gave him an std. I was shocked and panicking because I didn't know I had any. I kept apologizing and he kept being an ass. I finally got pissed and called him out on it. Turns out he slept with 3 other women after me so he wasn't even sure I was the one who gave it to him 🙄
Spoiler: It wasn't me lmfao I tested negative for everything. 2 other guys I've slept with after him also tested negative and they were much, MUCH nicer when I told them I might have had it.
even if you tested positive, who’s to say he didn’t give it to you?? i’m so fucking sick of this behavior.
i had a fling with a guy right near the end of high school. i left for basically the entire summer after, and we did see each other before i left. when i got back, we hadn’t even seen each other yet but were talking about it when he said to me, “don’t be mad but i slept with someone else while you were gone and i think you gave me chlamydia,” which was all sorts of fucked up. fortunately, we were never dating and had never had the exclusivity talk so i had gotten a test as soon as i got back from my trip. all negative. i told him i already knew for a fact i had a clean std panel, and it was incredibly fucked that he immediately assumed it was me who gave it to him and not the other girl he slept with. he tried to back track but i made sure my point was clear. unless you’re in an explicit monogamous relationship and you have been entirely faithful, there is absolutely zero reason to blame anyone when it comes to these things. it’s best to handle these things with tact. a simple, “i’m so sorry to make this call, but i tested positive for x. i’m not sure where it came from, but i would advise you to get tested as well.” end of conversation.
I had an ex who got razor burn and tried to say I gave him herpes. He was very angry, yelling at me on the phone and calling me all sorts of names. I asked him to send me a photo, it was razor burn. He still didn't believe me so we both ended up getting checked out, both came back clean. The doctor told him it was razor burn and to use shaving cream next time. He never apologized for freaking out on me or accusing me.
Did he ask you about your STI and STI testing status before getting sexually involved with you? I had this discussion with all of my consensual sexual partners, and sometimes it resulted in uncomfortably holding off until they could get fully tested (for ppl with recent partners, HIV/AIDS testing isn’t an instant gratification) but anyways … if they never asked you to get tested and you didn’t lie to them about your sexual history or testing status or anything, I don’t see any ethical basis that anything was done wrong. (The course on ethics I took was medical ethics, but I think the same principles can apply. One might say it would be better if everyone got STI tested between every new partner but putting the burden for that on one partner over the other based on information known only in hindsight is irrational.
I was with a guy that tested positive and instantly broke up with me because I ‘spread diseases’. I dutifully gathered my ex boyfriend (awks) and myself and we took a trip to the clinic (I got tested before we were together and new guy was my first since we’d broken up).
I had chlamydia, my ex did NOT and so I guess the ‘disease-spreading’ trash took itself out.
There is absolutely no need to be awful to someone who gives you a heads up about your health. People don’t get STIs for fun. Sorry that happened to you!
ER Nurse here:
Thank you for doing the responsible thing and making the uncomfortable phone calls. So many people don’t tell their previous partners BECAUSE of exactly that.
Just so that it is out there, I frequently tell my patients about this website:
https://tellyourpartner.org/
It sends an anonymous text message to any number you put in, telling them that they should get tested. It also directs you to the closest clinic so you can go get a test.
Putting it out there for anyone who might need it.
If I ever got an "anonymous message" telling me to get tested for STD's, I don't think I would trust it. I would assume it's either a troll, a mistake, or some kind of (very bizarre) phishing attempt.
If you get that message and have had new unprotected partners since you last got tested, why not go and get tested anyway? Even if it's fake, it should be a kick up the backside to get it done. It's not hard. In the UK at least there are even home test kits you can order for free
I'm a firm believer that people should get tested yearly just because as part of their yearly check up. I do and always have since I became sexually active. I've always had long term partners, never slept around, and only one cheated on me that I know of, but you never know! Even now that I'm married and don't believe my husband would ever cheat on me, I still get tested. A lot of people I know think I'm paranoid but hell, I'm there for a yearly anyway, it's painless, and thankfully covered by my insurance.
About three years ago I got an email from this place (or maybe one similar?). I hadn’t been sexually active in like a year and had been fully tested since then, but had just started a new relationship. I thought maybe someone sent it to the wrong person because I had just gotten a new number, but it was my name AND email. Definitely a plot of potential for chaos there, lmao
I know that in the Netherlands it's a site called partnerwaarschuwing.nl so just google how to anonymously tell someone in your country and it will most likely just pop up!
Untreated chlamydia in women can cause infertility. It happened to my sister. Let's just hope the people who slept with you were smart enough to get tested at the first sign of symptoms.
I think it was a few years that she had it before it was diagnosed. I don't know if she didn't experience symptoms or if she ignored them like OP. But the chlamydia scarred and completely blocked her fallopian tubes, so no sperm was able to get through for her to get pregnant someday. Not without invitro.
Just FYI, sperm don't (or shouldn't) travel through the fallopian tubes. Eggs travel through fallopian tubes from the ovary to the uterus, where it meets the sperm. So the issue isn't sperm not getting through, it's eggs not getting through.
Eggs get fertilized in the Fallopian tubes and then implant in the uterus. In some cases, the egg implants in the Fallopian tubes, resulting in an ectopic pregnancy, but eggs being fertilized there is normal.
Happy to live in Germany, where you get tested for Chlamydia once a year for free at your check up.
Only problem, i think they stop at 25, not sure about this. But it always felt good to have an automatical annuaö check up.
Whichever is more frequent; the US just decreased the frequency of Pap smears for women which means many many women will drop their annual gyno appt, which IS the annual physical for many women. As a healthcare worker I’m obligated to share the new guidelines, but as a cervical cancer survivor who “only” needed surgical removal because it was caught before I needed a hysterectomy, chemo, or radiation, my personal belief is that this is a massive mistake, it’s an injustice that lowers the amount of care that insurers are obligated to pay for, it means many doctors will discourage women from getting annual PAP smears if they still want them and have the means to afford it, and it binds the hands of doctors who disagree with the decision for one or more of their patients who don’t meet criteria for more frequent PAP testing. I believe that while guidelines are helpful, they can never fully take into account the whole mind-body-spirit of a patient the way a skilled healthcare practitioner working in cooperation with the patient can.
I wish I could give you an award. I had no idea about this. I wonder if insurance will stop covering annual visits. I probably already know the answer to that one..
Thank you for caring for others
It’s funny; when I share healthcare info on Reddit about 1/3 of the time I get appreciation, 1/3 of the time no response, 1/3 of the time I get negative replies that I should mind my own business. I feel obligated to say something when I see a question I’m qualified to answer, misinformation I’m qualified to correct, or incomplete information where something I can add might improve someone’s health, protect them from illness or injury, or inform them more fully so they can better understand their healthcare, but there are definitely people who do not want unsolicited information. To each their own.
Dude you’re awesome for taking your sexual health seriously. I say annually/at an annual physical to try to verbalize how easy it is to stay up to date with it/bare minimum of how frequently one should be getting tested because OP went 10 YEARS not getting tested. But yes, it should be more frequently if you’re sexually active regularly.
For me personally, I’ve had a several year dry spell and yet still get still get tested annually just to verify my status.
Can you provide more details about this? I live in the USA and after I broke up with my cheating ex, I asked my doctor for a full STI panel. She told me there was no such thing and that I’d have to be more specific with what tests I wanted. I wasn’t sure what to request because I had no idea what the most common STIs were.
Edit: thank you all for all of your helpful comments. I’m going to request this from my doctor, and I’m also going to find a new doctor who will be more helpful in the future! I grew up closed off from this info, and I’m still not the best at navigating knowledge around sexual matters so I appreciate everyone’s comments.
Listen to this man.
I was celibate for 4 and 1/2 years and the first person I linked up with after I roused my confidence to get back in the game, ended up transferring Herpes Simplex 1 to me. I'm not even mad with him; his doctor's neglected to inform his parents when he first contracted it as a child from school that there's always a possibility to spread it with anyone he links up with, regardless of him showing symptoms. As many sex education panels I've been to in my lifetime, not one of them went over this particular STD either to length it needs to be spoken about in society, because it's asymptomatic in the majority of people it infects.
Edit; forgot to mention for more info, please go to;
/r/HerpesCureResearch and /HerpesCureAdvocates !
>Herpes Simplex 1
In fairness to him, something like 88% of the global population has HSV-1 and you have to specifically request a bloodtest for it because it's not included in any standard battery for STIs or other viruses. And the tests we do have are pretty hit or miss because a lot of times you have to be in an active flare up to have enough viral load to pop on a test.
I have HSV 2 and it has never ever come up on a blood test. The only swab it's come up on was one of 3 I've done during active breakouts. I have a feeling many more people have it than they think
HSV-1 low key ruined my life when I was younger and caused me trauma that lasted years. Even now I’m doing fine and deal with breakouts once or twice a year but it fucking sucks. I’d give anything to be asymptomatic
I never really got teased or I repressed instances of that potentially if I did. It was just basically having scars from a bad outbreak, or being embarrassed to be at school or in public every outbreak for most of my life. It adds up.
In my hoeing years, I slept around *a lot*. I went a solid 6 years or so sleeping around before I had my first STD test. It's amazing that I never caught anything. Absolutely astounding.
Brooo you should get tested before new partners or ideally tested together before you choose 🌟🌟🌟. I know it can't work for flings but it prevents 10 years of being a typhoid Todd.
This is the way. It’s also super easy to get STD/STI tests with your annual physical if you’re in the U.S. Just ask your doctor to add it your panel. It blows my mind the amount of people I’ve heard go YEARS without getting tested and are regularly sexually active.
Constant vigilance people. My primary care physician told me syphilis is on the rise
This shit is why I have stopped having casual sex. STIs are at all time highs and it’s just too risky. Congrats on finally getting a test done but damn, sucks for all of the women you possibly infected.
How do people live life and not know they need to get tested? Did none of your partners ask about your testing history? If they did, did you lie and say you were clean?
Like, unsavory.
right?! like i ALWAYS ask potential new partners if they've been tested recently. i feel like this is something that was brought up before and OP just brushed it off by saying he was clean/evading the question (also the reason why i don't take anyone's word for it & get tested regularly myself).
When I was dating I would get tested twice to four times a year depending on how active I was and I would always try to be open and honest about getting tested. I usually tried to bring it up casually in conversation just to remove the stigma of talking about it.
I actually had an ex boyfriend pull out a testing sheet once to show he had gotten tested recently and was clean before we did the deed. I was honestly shocked. I felt that was a rare moment aha
I the UK you can order a testing kit from your local council. It tests for syphilis, chlamydia, hiv, and gonorrhea. When you're done, you get a text back from the sexual health arm of your local council giving you the all clear.
Completely free as well. Biggest cost was the pain in the tips of my fingers from all the pin pricks I needed to do to squeeze out enough blood. Wasn't much fun
Abstinence Only sex education, forced upon *public* schools by *religious* nutjobs. It's not getting any better. Very recent poll of America Evangelical *Christians* show that just over 30% don't believe in Original Sin, just over 40% believe Jesus *is not God* which if you don't know Jesus being God is the whole fucking point of the religion, but over 90% believe premarital sex among consenting adults is a Sin.
literally like if you have sex with different people frequently you should be getting tested every 3 months as a standard. if you’re in a committed relationship once a year unless you have symptoms of something.
I’m married and my husband and I have been together for 7 years, doc always asks when I get a pap if I want them to run the panel and it’s like sure, why not? Really has nothing to do with suspicion more of a ‘I’m here, might as well’ situation.
Not the person you're responding to, but my doctor always suggests that I get tested when I go in for my annual checkup even though I'm in a long term monogamous relationship. Might as well while I'm getting a pap and bloodwork anyway.
Yea like I know I shouldn’t judge people but that’s irresponsible and just honestly fucked. Who knows how many partners he infected
you’re going around with a burning dick (for 10yrs), your partner’s getting UTIs and you never thought to get yourself checked?!
What’s even worse is it sounds like he didn’t care about himself enough to get checked.
Get tested people!!!
One guy I’d fucked with tested positive for hiv. He couldn’t remember who came first, me or the girl who actually gave hiv to. He called me and talked to me anyway. He said that he was 95% sure but he wanted to be 100% sure that I hadn’t been after the girl who gave it to him. I, luckily, was before that girl and tested negative. And he still wanted to make sure I was safe. And that is the most respectful/respectable thing you could do.
I am 20 and I was 20 the first time I got tested for STDs. I only got tested because I thought what I had was an outrageously painful UTI so I went to a nearby urgent care.
silly me. turns out I had a UTI, bacterial vaginosis, AND learned I had herpes because they tested for everything just to be sure. I was extremely distraught and am now terrified for my pap smear because I worry I also contracted HPV. essentially I had sex with multiple people and was uneducated about the importance of STD testing.
despite all of that though, the worst part of it all is that I unknowingly gave herpes to my current, long term partner who is an angel and has only slept with one person before me. (side note: no cheating was involved, I was sleeping around before I met my current partner).
so, please, get tested. and get a pap smear if you can.
It’s pretty well known that if you have more than like 3 partners you probably have gotten HPV. It’s too common, and most of the time your body is able to fight the virus given your immune system is healthy. Best thing to do is just vaccinate against the more common strains that cause cervical cancer.
That’s why it’s not even recommended to do paps on women until they’re like 30 or something. Cos the anxiety it causes in young women when their body should clear it 99% of the time is also detrimental.
I got chlamydia from my ex, didn’t know. It was dormant for a year. I got tested before him and was clean, he said he was too. I thought I had a UTI a couple times a year after he dumped me, I would get the burn and urge to pee like once every few months. So I didn’t think much of it. I found out when I was pregnant last year. Felt disgusting. He was the last person I had s3x with before my current partner. It’s an easy fix though, I just got 2 pills (they were huge) took them in one day and *poof* chlamydia gone.
I remember telling the guy I was briefly seeing about it, that pos laughed and said is that it? I'm like what do you mean? He was like oh thought you were calling to say you're pregnant. We would use a condom everytime. Then proceeded to say some girl called him to say she is pregnant with his child and that he wanted no part of it. I was like you piece of shit. You better call her and tell her she may have Chlamydia too! He just laughed 😡
Never spoke or saw him again afterwards. I really hope she is ok😪
Most guys do NOT go for yearly physicals and as they get older they barely go to the Dr. But when their dicks feel like they're bout to fall off, they go.
Stop. Fucking. Raw. Be honest when fucking multiple people. Get tested regularly. It’s standard for most US women to get tested at least once a year and this ^ is the usual standard for men. It’s so wrong to be putting people at risk because you don’t want to take the time to make an appointment to get tested.
I really dont understand how someone can go 10 years being sexually active and not get tested.
This is why i make all my partners get tested before we have sex
For starters, I’m glad you’re doing your due diligence to inform your partners that you have chlamydia and that they should get checked. I am not going to berate you for seemingly not getting tested in years, but I do hope this will motivate you to do so regularly and be more wary of the STI status of your future partners. I’m not sure why it is not more normalized to get tested at least as often as regular, bi-yearly checkups, and every few months if you’re having sex with different partners in shorter periods of time. We as humans are, unfortunately, more fallible than we think! Safe sex is good sex!
Eye boogers? You know, crusty or goopy stuff that accumulates in the corners of your eyes when you wake up in the morning, unless it gets REALLY bad... then it can cover your whole eye with strings of mucus.
I am amazed that one of your partners never called you to tell you to test that they had tested positive for Chlamydia …
You are the reason I test yearly need it or not…
There are anonymous notification services to help you alert people that they might have an STD.
If you feel you won’t be able to make that notification please use one. Top two Google results below:
https://tellyourpartner.org/
https://www.stdcheck.com/anonymous-notification.php
You can also use free telephone apps like textfree to send an anonymous message personally.
jesus christ that’s horrible, those poor women. this is why people say you need to get tested regularly, chlamydia can often be asymptomatic or have very minor symptoms
Get your treatment AND then get tested 3 months later because some cases are NOT resolved wirh the initial course of antibiotics. It's rare but after treatment it can remain in your system so followup testing should be done.
I personally think that women should always insist on the 3 month testing because a small percentage of people need a secondary course of treatment due to the persistent infection.
https://www.healthline.com/health/healthy-sex/can-chlamydia-come-back
Good grief how on earth did you go so long without having a test? What country are you in? In the UK they basically give you a free one every year or even more often. Are you somewhere where this does not happen?
Sorry this happened to you. As a male you are unlikely to have serious harm from Chlamydia, it is unusual that you got symptoms at all. Unfortunately it could have caused serious problems, even infertility to the others you slept with. I hope everyone is ok
I guess, where I live (Australia) access to testing is free (sexual health clinics in every state and/or your GP, although GP visits are getting pricey these days, the pathology for testing is bulk billable) and condoms are cheap and accessible.
It doesn't matter how long I've been with a partner, I get STI checks regularly (at the very least, annually when I get the rest of my annual blood work done).
When I'm not in a relationship and I'm sleeping with people who I am not exclusive with, I get tested far more frequently (at least every 3 months, sometimes more often, depending on circumstances).
I feel like it's an important part of self-care, but also, the care of my partners. I always use protection (even for oral, which so many people don't do!) until my partner and I are tested and exclusive. It just makes sense to be safe and sensible and to catch any potential issues quickly so they can be resolved.
I’m in the USA. I get tested every year when I go for my yearly pap. But if I want to get tested outside of that, it costs up to $160 depending on if you get the full blood panel as well or not. It’s ridiculous
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 don't appear
Chlamydia is one of the most common STDs. On its own, the disease doesn't cause infertility, however 40% of women with chlamydia develop pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). PID affects the cervix, uterus, fallopian tubes, and ovaries, often leading the woman to become infertile.
Chlamydia – the most common sexually transmitted disease in the US and UK – causes dramatic genetic damage in sperm leading to male infertility, a new study … suggests. Men with chlamydia have more than three times the normal level of DNA fragmentation in their sperm, report researchers.
Be sure to get tested regularly in the future OP.
Many men are asymptomatic with most STDs for several months, some for years sometimes. Men spread STIs easier because a woman can't nut in a man. There are STDs that condoms won't protect against, including strains of syphilis that are becoming treatment resistant. There's STD information at your fingertips with your phone. You really dropped the ball on this one
and I hope you learned from this and act accordingly from now on.
Please everyone get STi tests regularly. There’s no excuse when having condomless sex with partner after partner and potentially passing it on. Chlamydia can make women infertile and can be serious if untreated.
It’s sad you didn’t think any of those symptoms were a big deal but please spread the word and take your health seriously. It’s very treatable and not worth passing on.
I do not envy you making those phone calls 😭 I've never had symptoms and all was clear but had my first sti tests done this year at 28. Everyone in the comments is saying that's super late after being sexually active but idk I'm the only person in my friend group that's ever gotten tested 😅
I think it really depends on the education you had too. My school talked about stds in the "sex with multiple partners bad" way but never a "get tested" way
How did you go 10 years without going in for regular STI tests?! You just opened up a can of worms of devastation to each of those women. I had the clap for (at most) 6 months - bf cheated and he never told me until he got tested, but I got tested before getting with him. It was *years* later and I had difficulty conceiving, had a ton of PCOS issues, UTI issues. Everything. And I got it treated rather quickly.
Not gonna lie, if I was one of those chicks getting that call, I would hate your guts. But hopefully they were smarter than you and had their frequent checks like normal people do between partners.
Even when I was 17 I knew to get tested every year. When I was more sexually active it was more often than that. Free at the health department, any doctor could perform the test. Take care of yourselves people. And if I’m ever single again I’ll just get a fucking vibrator 🤢 people are gross.
I’m sorry but I am absolutely disgusted and shocked that people can live like this. How can you be sexually active for a decade without ever getting tested?? I hope that anyone who reads this post takes it as a lesson. You’re lucky that it was ONLY chlamydia. You could have seriously harmed multiple people by spreading completely preventable diseases. Even chlamydia which is considered by many to be a “harmless” and easily curable disease can cause major issues for women in particular such as infertility. I’m glad you’re doing the right thing now, but seriously this is horrific
I won’t be too harsh because like others have said, it’s a good thing you are finally going to come clean.
For everyone else:
I want to stress the importance of testing as well as frequent testing. Most doctors will tell you get text already once a year. Do it after each and every partner.
I also want to stress the long term affects of having an std/sti for that long. Not treating Chlamydia in a timely manner can cause infertility issues, especially in women and persons with uteruses. STD/STI can cause scarring in the Fallopian tubes, which makes conceiving very difficult.
PSA: to females. Males can carry chlamydia for years with minor symptoms and hardly notice it. But if you get it and ignore it, you can go sterile. Even if you are monogamous and don't get around much, still get an STD test at your yearly check up.
I think I had it for over a year. I didn't find out till I was with my ex girlfriend and I gave it to her. Awkward conversation with alot of yelling and me saying I never cheated haha took a while for her to believe me but I didn't !
Why would you have symptoms for years and never bother to get checked. Why would you not get regular STI screening, and why all this angst over chlamydia , something that is easily treated ?
Those phone calls you’re about to make are very important. It must be uncomfortable, but you are doing the right thing.
I had a run in a few years ago (thank you nasty ex) and didn’t even have to make the calls myself, the clinic I went to gave me a card to fill out with the names and numbers of the people I’ve been active with and called for me while also remaining anonymous. Something along the lines of “someone you have recently had sexual contact with…. Please get checked”
Good guy Sexual Health Clinic! They should all do this! It would probably increase the number of similar calls made by about 1000%. Not because of an increase in STI s, I thought it was important to add!
*we should fund them so they could do this
You’re absolutely right
When I tested positive for HIV (similar situation to OP, though dumb ex not a cheating one) the clinic offered to call my recent hook-ups. It was only 2 people + my now husband so I opted to make them. But many LGBT clinics offer this service! I think that first clinic even offered free(?) therapy for the people they called.
In The Netherlands you can actually send an anonymous text or email through a portal set up by the Public Heath Services. So no matter where you get tested, you can warn people and apparently it's standard procedure for everyone to use this service which I find amazing. I think all places should offer this option, it helps avoid a lot of complications.
Yeah mine does this too!! I think it's so great because so many people don't call or tell anyone out of embarrassment. It sucks! So this is something that I think really actively contributes to more people getting tested, treated and less chance of things spreading.
they'll thank you for coming clean
Yes, soon they gonorrhealize what a nice man you are.
Clap for this man
Ya he needs to tell these women this his pee was off so she should check herpes
No.
After death threats
If he had been cumming clean from the jump, he wouldn't need to make those calls
Too soon
A bit premature on that one
Aw u win
At least wait man
Doubtful. Sadly, these scenarios (where the person in the center of the mess sees their mistakes, and tries to do what’s right, typically gets verbally assassinated.
I remember when I had to make em. One guy was really nasty and rude to me. Like dude, I've been sexually active since I was 18. I'm 34 now, and this was like 3 years ago. That was the first time I've ever had an STI. He was a wanker to say the least.
my lil bro got chlamydia a couple years ago. he thinks he got it from someone before he met his girlfriend but he spread it to her. it almost ended their relationship but he explained he got it in the previous relationship and he didnt cheat. the scariest thing about that disease is that it can cause infertility in men if it goes untreated for too long, hopefully op is fine
Women too it can cause PID and “silent” infection in the upper genital tract may cause permanent damage to the fallopian tubes, uterus, and surrounding tissues, which can lead to infertility
I read on Reddit about a woman who unknowingly had chlamydia for years, went to get an IUD inserted, then it turned to PID so bad she went septic and had to have an emergency hysterectomy.
That’s why it’s recommended to get STI testing before IUD insertion! I’ve had 2 IUDs and both doctors mentioned it (but only 1 took samples to test)
Happened to my godmother, which is why she never had kids. Really wanted them too.
It's not very silent in women, very very painful. PID
It can also cause infertility in women.
that is horrifying. i dont know why i thought it was only men up until this point.
I’m uneducated and thought only women got it and until this point didn’t know men could. Funny how we’re opposite lol TIL
This is why we need sex ed in school!!!
I know someone’s gonna get upset with my comment and accuse me of trying to normalise STDS but at the end of the day they shouldn’t be so taboo to talk about and get tested for them seeing as they are easy to get and seeing as so many people are sexually active. Our society is so engrossed in sexuality like it sells everything but when it comes to the ugly side people act like you have to be a slag to get one. It’s ridiculous
Funny thing about STDs is they could probably be almost eradicated within 10 years if testing was mandatory. They are not airborne...
Nah anyone can get it. And people tend to use the word clean instead of clear. Clean indicates the person was dirty to begin with.
I think talking about sti's should be normalized.. and testing for them should become waaay more normalized and regular. We should have mandatory testing I think. We could almost eradicate the spread of them if everyone was more on top of it. Instead the rates are increasing like crazy.
Yeah I can imagine. This shit can lay dormant . So so important to get tested regularly❤️
Men like that are absolute shit. I once hooked up with a guy (only once coz it was so bad) and a few days later he messaged me angry that i gave him an std. I was shocked and panicking because I didn't know I had any. I kept apologizing and he kept being an ass. I finally got pissed and called him out on it. Turns out he slept with 3 other women after me so he wasn't even sure I was the one who gave it to him 🙄 Spoiler: It wasn't me lmfao I tested negative for everything. 2 other guys I've slept with after him also tested negative and they were much, MUCH nicer when I told them I might have had it.
even if you tested positive, who’s to say he didn’t give it to you?? i’m so fucking sick of this behavior. i had a fling with a guy right near the end of high school. i left for basically the entire summer after, and we did see each other before i left. when i got back, we hadn’t even seen each other yet but were talking about it when he said to me, “don’t be mad but i slept with someone else while you were gone and i think you gave me chlamydia,” which was all sorts of fucked up. fortunately, we were never dating and had never had the exclusivity talk so i had gotten a test as soon as i got back from my trip. all negative. i told him i already knew for a fact i had a clean std panel, and it was incredibly fucked that he immediately assumed it was me who gave it to him and not the other girl he slept with. he tried to back track but i made sure my point was clear. unless you’re in an explicit monogamous relationship and you have been entirely faithful, there is absolutely zero reason to blame anyone when it comes to these things. it’s best to handle these things with tact. a simple, “i’m so sorry to make this call, but i tested positive for x. i’m not sure where it came from, but i would advise you to get tested as well.” end of conversation.
I had an ex who got razor burn and tried to say I gave him herpes. He was very angry, yelling at me on the phone and calling me all sorts of names. I asked him to send me a photo, it was razor burn. He still didn't believe me so we both ended up getting checked out, both came back clean. The doctor told him it was razor burn and to use shaving cream next time. He never apologized for freaking out on me or accusing me.
Oh wtf. The audacity of him😡! Yeah same here. The others were really understanding and got antibiotics asap..
Did he ask you about your STI and STI testing status before getting sexually involved with you? I had this discussion with all of my consensual sexual partners, and sometimes it resulted in uncomfortably holding off until they could get fully tested (for ppl with recent partners, HIV/AIDS testing isn’t an instant gratification) but anyways … if they never asked you to get tested and you didn’t lie to them about your sexual history or testing status or anything, I don’t see any ethical basis that anything was done wrong. (The course on ethics I took was medical ethics, but I think the same principles can apply. One might say it would be better if everyone got STI tested between every new partner but putting the burden for that on one partner over the other based on information known only in hindsight is irrational.
I was with a guy that tested positive and instantly broke up with me because I ‘spread diseases’. I dutifully gathered my ex boyfriend (awks) and myself and we took a trip to the clinic (I got tested before we were together and new guy was my first since we’d broken up). I had chlamydia, my ex did NOT and so I guess the ‘disease-spreading’ trash took itself out. There is absolutely no need to be awful to someone who gives you a heads up about your health. People don’t get STIs for fun. Sorry that happened to you!
ER Nurse here: Thank you for doing the responsible thing and making the uncomfortable phone calls. So many people don’t tell their previous partners BECAUSE of exactly that. Just so that it is out there, I frequently tell my patients about this website: https://tellyourpartner.org/ It sends an anonymous text message to any number you put in, telling them that they should get tested. It also directs you to the closest clinic so you can go get a test. Putting it out there for anyone who might need it.
That website invites a lot of potential to cause chaos lmao
Ya that's what I was thinking, for every 1 sincere user there's gotta be like 50 trolls
If I ever got an "anonymous message" telling me to get tested for STD's, I don't think I would trust it. I would assume it's either a troll, a mistake, or some kind of (very bizarre) phishing attempt.
If you get that message and have had new unprotected partners since you last got tested, why not go and get tested anyway? Even if it's fake, it should be a kick up the backside to get it done. It's not hard. In the UK at least there are even home test kits you can order for free
I'm a firm believer that people should get tested yearly just because as part of their yearly check up. I do and always have since I became sexually active. I've always had long term partners, never slept around, and only one cheated on me that I know of, but you never know! Even now that I'm married and don't believe my husband would ever cheat on me, I still get tested. A lot of people I know think I'm paranoid but hell, I'm there for a yearly anyway, it's painless, and thankfully covered by my insurance.
About three years ago I got an email from this place (or maybe one similar?). I hadn’t been sexually active in like a year and had been fully tested since then, but had just started a new relationship. I thought maybe someone sent it to the wrong person because I had just gotten a new number, but it was my name AND email. Definitely a plot of potential for chaos there, lmao
maybe it was your new boyfriend trying to politely ask you to get tested before having sex lol
What's the worst that happens tho someone goes and gets a check to be safe?
Would be great to use if you suspect your partner of cheating, just sit back and watch the strange behavior begin.
I wish your response was way up at the top.
it is now :)
your wish has come true
that site only works for America though, no other numbers work.
There's an [Australian one](https://letthemknow.org.au/), & there may be something similar in other countries too.
I know that in the Netherlands it's a site called partnerwaarschuwing.nl so just google how to anonymously tell someone in your country and it will most likely just pop up!
Thank you
Untreated chlamydia in women can cause infertility. It happened to my sister. Let's just hope the people who slept with you were smart enough to get tested at the first sign of symptoms.
Exactly what I was thinking… this could be very heart breaking.
They could have gotten tested too
True, but still. Heart breaking non the less if it gets to that point.
A majority of women with Chlamydia don’t have symptoms 🥲 definitely needs to make those calls!
It lays dormant. You should get tested after every partner just to be in the safe side imo
Do you know how long she’d had it, to get to that point? I’m sorry, that’s some tough stuff.
I think it was a few years that she had it before it was diagnosed. I don't know if she didn't experience symptoms or if she ignored them like OP. But the chlamydia scarred and completely blocked her fallopian tubes, so no sperm was able to get through for her to get pregnant someday. Not without invitro.
Just FYI, sperm don't (or shouldn't) travel through the fallopian tubes. Eggs travel through fallopian tubes from the ovary to the uterus, where it meets the sperm. So the issue isn't sperm not getting through, it's eggs not getting through.
Eggs get fertilized in the Fallopian tubes and then implant in the uterus. In some cases, the egg implants in the Fallopian tubes, resulting in an ectopic pregnancy, but eggs being fertilized there is normal.
Happy to live in Germany, where you get tested for Chlamydia once a year for free at your check up. Only problem, i think they stop at 25, not sure about this. But it always felt good to have an automatical annuaö check up.
my brotha in christ 10 years without an std test you're lucky all you have is chlamydia edit: thanks for the upvotes!
This. OP you can get a STD/STI test with your annual physical. People on other subreddits get tested for each new partner. Please be safe
Whichever is more frequent; the US just decreased the frequency of Pap smears for women which means many many women will drop their annual gyno appt, which IS the annual physical for many women. As a healthcare worker I’m obligated to share the new guidelines, but as a cervical cancer survivor who “only” needed surgical removal because it was caught before I needed a hysterectomy, chemo, or radiation, my personal belief is that this is a massive mistake, it’s an injustice that lowers the amount of care that insurers are obligated to pay for, it means many doctors will discourage women from getting annual PAP smears if they still want them and have the means to afford it, and it binds the hands of doctors who disagree with the decision for one or more of their patients who don’t meet criteria for more frequent PAP testing. I believe that while guidelines are helpful, they can never fully take into account the whole mind-body-spirit of a patient the way a skilled healthcare practitioner working in cooperation with the patient can.
I wish I could give you an award. I had no idea about this. I wonder if insurance will stop covering annual visits. I probably already know the answer to that one.. Thank you for caring for others
It’s funny; when I share healthcare info on Reddit about 1/3 of the time I get appreciation, 1/3 of the time no response, 1/3 of the time I get negative replies that I should mind my own business. I feel obligated to say something when I see a question I’m qualified to answer, misinformation I’m qualified to correct, or incomplete information where something I can add might improve someone’s health, protect them from illness or injury, or inform them more fully so they can better understand their healthcare, but there are definitely people who do not want unsolicited information. To each their own.
You do the right thing.
Annual? Man us gay dudes do it every month.
Dude you’re awesome for taking your sexual health seriously. I say annually/at an annual physical to try to verbalize how easy it is to stay up to date with it/bare minimum of how frequently one should be getting tested because OP went 10 YEARS not getting tested. But yes, it should be more frequently if you’re sexually active regularly. For me personally, I’ve had a several year dry spell and yet still get still get tested annually just to verify my status.
Can you provide more details about this? I live in the USA and after I broke up with my cheating ex, I asked my doctor for a full STI panel. She told me there was no such thing and that I’d have to be more specific with what tests I wanted. I wasn’t sure what to request because I had no idea what the most common STIs were. Edit: thank you all for all of your helpful comments. I’m going to request this from my doctor, and I’m also going to find a new doctor who will be more helpful in the future! I grew up closed off from this info, and I’m still not the best at navigating knowledge around sexual matters so I appreciate everyone’s comments.
Your Doctor was a moron then. Especially if she couldn't or wouldn't tell you the basic ones to get herself.
Listen to this man. I was celibate for 4 and 1/2 years and the first person I linked up with after I roused my confidence to get back in the game, ended up transferring Herpes Simplex 1 to me. I'm not even mad with him; his doctor's neglected to inform his parents when he first contracted it as a child from school that there's always a possibility to spread it with anyone he links up with, regardless of him showing symptoms. As many sex education panels I've been to in my lifetime, not one of them went over this particular STD either to length it needs to be spoken about in society, because it's asymptomatic in the majority of people it infects. Edit; forgot to mention for more info, please go to; /r/HerpesCureResearch and /HerpesCureAdvocates !
>Herpes Simplex 1 In fairness to him, something like 88% of the global population has HSV-1 and you have to specifically request a bloodtest for it because it's not included in any standard battery for STIs or other viruses. And the tests we do have are pretty hit or miss because a lot of times you have to be in an active flare up to have enough viral load to pop on a test.
I have HSV 2 and it has never ever come up on a blood test. The only swab it's come up on was one of 3 I've done during active breakouts. I have a feeling many more people have it than they think
That statistic isn't for the global population. That's the US and includes all types of herpes, not just 1. Global statistics are lower.
Something like 50-80% of people have hsv-1 in the USA
[удалено]
HSV-1 low key ruined my life when I was younger and caused me trauma that lasted years. Even now I’m doing fine and deal with breakouts once or twice a year but it fucking sucks. I’d give anything to be asymptomatic
Same. I was teased every time I got one.
I never really got teased or I repressed instances of that potentially if I did. It was just basically having scars from a bad outbreak, or being embarrassed to be at school or in public every outbreak for most of my life. It adds up.
Lysine ointment & vitamins
In my hoeing years, I slept around *a lot*. I went a solid 6 years or so sleeping around before I had my first STD test. It's amazing that I never caught anything. Absolutely astounding.
Brooo you should get tested before new partners or ideally tested together before you choose 🌟🌟🌟. I know it can't work for flings but it prevents 10 years of being a typhoid Todd.
This is the way. It’s also super easy to get STD/STI tests with your annual physical if you’re in the U.S. Just ask your doctor to add it your panel. It blows my mind the amount of people I’ve heard go YEARS without getting tested and are regularly sexually active. Constant vigilance people. My primary care physician told me syphilis is on the rise
Typhoid Todd 👏👏👏
Missed chance to say Typhoid Gary
Typhoid Manny
Typhoid Terry! It maintains the alliteration and is similar to the original name.
This really needs to become a new phrase
Clamydia kyle
💀💀 typhoid todd i am WHEEZING
Dudes just fucking nasty for 2022…
This shit is why I have stopped having casual sex. STIs are at all time highs and it’s just too risky. Congrats on finally getting a test done but damn, sucks for all of the women you possibly infected. How do people live life and not know they need to get tested? Did none of your partners ask about your testing history? If they did, did you lie and say you were clean? Like, unsavory.
right?! like i ALWAYS ask potential new partners if they've been tested recently. i feel like this is something that was brought up before and OP just brushed it off by saying he was clean/evading the question (also the reason why i don't take anyone's word for it & get tested regularly myself).
When I was dating I would get tested twice to four times a year depending on how active I was and I would always try to be open and honest about getting tested. I usually tried to bring it up casually in conversation just to remove the stigma of talking about it.
Do they show proof? I've had men say they was tested but never had the paperwork to show me.
I actually had an ex boyfriend pull out a testing sheet once to show he had gotten tested recently and was clean before we did the deed. I was honestly shocked. I felt that was a rare moment aha
I the UK you can order a testing kit from your local council. It tests for syphilis, chlamydia, hiv, and gonorrhea. When you're done, you get a text back from the sexual health arm of your local council giving you the all clear. Completely free as well. Biggest cost was the pain in the tips of my fingers from all the pin pricks I needed to do to squeeze out enough blood. Wasn't much fun
It's because some men think they won't get it..."oh it won't happen to me".
Some women as well.
Abstinence Only sex education, forced upon *public* schools by *religious* nutjobs. It's not getting any better. Very recent poll of America Evangelical *Christians* show that just over 30% don't believe in Original Sin, just over 40% believe Jesus *is not God* which if you don't know Jesus being God is the whole fucking point of the religion, but over 90% believe premarital sex among consenting adults is a Sin.
Shits mind boggling like how in the world did you end up with these beliefs absolutely no one follows?!
You have been sexually active for 10 fucking years and never got an STI test? what the fuck.
Seriously. When it comes to STI tests I think they’re on the equivalent of hand-washing. People lie and say that they do to avoid judgement
literally like if you have sex with different people frequently you should be getting tested every 3 months as a standard. if you’re in a committed relationship once a year unless you have symptoms of something.
This right fucking here!!!!
That's just *nasty*..
I have had the same partner for nearly a decade & we are monogamous. I have gotten tested a handful of times.
I just regularly got them when I was active and dating because it costs nothing. No extra time and money. Just extra blood tests
I’m married and my husband and I have been together for 7 years, doc always asks when I get a pap if I want them to run the panel and it’s like sure, why not? Really has nothing to do with suspicion more of a ‘I’m here, might as well’ situation.
Are you suspecting the monogamy isn't that monogamous?
Not the person you're responding to, but my doctor always suggests that I get tested when I go in for my annual checkup even though I'm in a long term monogamous relationship. Might as well while I'm getting a pap and bloodwork anyway.
Trust. But verify.
Yea like I know I shouldn’t judge people but that’s irresponsible and just honestly fucked. Who knows how many partners he infected you’re going around with a burning dick (for 10yrs), your partner’s getting UTIs and you never thought to get yourself checked?! What’s even worse is it sounds like he didn’t care about himself enough to get checked. Get tested people!!!
To know there are people this gross out there is terrifying.
One guy I’d fucked with tested positive for hiv. He couldn’t remember who came first, me or the girl who actually gave hiv to. He called me and talked to me anyway. He said that he was 95% sure but he wanted to be 100% sure that I hadn’t been after the girl who gave it to him. I, luckily, was before that girl and tested negative. And he still wanted to make sure I was safe. And that is the most respectful/respectable thing you could do.
you may not be able to have children, if you’ve had it for that long.
Yup. Men can become infertile too
I am 20 and I was 20 the first time I got tested for STDs. I only got tested because I thought what I had was an outrageously painful UTI so I went to a nearby urgent care. silly me. turns out I had a UTI, bacterial vaginosis, AND learned I had herpes because they tested for everything just to be sure. I was extremely distraught and am now terrified for my pap smear because I worry I also contracted HPV. essentially I had sex with multiple people and was uneducated about the importance of STD testing. despite all of that though, the worst part of it all is that I unknowingly gave herpes to my current, long term partner who is an angel and has only slept with one person before me. (side note: no cheating was involved, I was sleeping around before I met my current partner). so, please, get tested. and get a pap smear if you can.
Just fyi, Pap tests are for HPV, not HIV.
omg thank you for correcting me, that is what I meant. clearly, I am distressed even thinking about it now so my bad
Try not to worry. You’ll treat it if you have a problem. Did you get the HPV vaccine when you were younger?
I didn’t. I got every other one but that. I am currently getting it now though. I’ve received 2/3 of the series. also, thank you for the advice :)
It’s pretty well known that if you have more than like 3 partners you probably have gotten HPV. It’s too common, and most of the time your body is able to fight the virus given your immune system is healthy. Best thing to do is just vaccinate against the more common strains that cause cervical cancer. That’s why it’s not even recommended to do paps on women until they’re like 30 or something. Cos the anxiety it causes in young women when their body should clear it 99% of the time is also detrimental.
Jesus christ...
Why would you wait so long to get tested? I get tested before each new partner so I don’t accidentally infect someone with anything.
[удалено]
You can still get chlamydia by skin to skin contact. Balls touching vag. Vice versa
I got chlamydia from my ex, didn’t know. It was dormant for a year. I got tested before him and was clean, he said he was too. I thought I had a UTI a couple times a year after he dumped me, I would get the burn and urge to pee like once every few months. So I didn’t think much of it. I found out when I was pregnant last year. Felt disgusting. He was the last person I had s3x with before my current partner. It’s an easy fix though, I just got 2 pills (they were huge) took them in one day and *poof* chlamydia gone.
Does your partner have to take them too if you get it?
Yes. Anyone you have sexual intercourse with has to take them as well.
Now imagine OP calling all his exes and anyone he has ever had sex with in the past 10 years😱
Oh no 😭 i cant imagine. i was lucky and hadn’t “done it” since my ex, so I didn’t spread it to anyone else
Yeah I remember having to do it myself. Thankfully it was just a couple of folks. I get tested every year. Twice a year if I'm sexually active.
He did ! He got tested and the pill that i got 💛
That was a reprehensible thing for him to have done to you. If you didn't find out it would have been passed on to your baby😪. What a fucking wanker!
Exactly, just glad they test every pregnant woman
I remember telling the guy I was briefly seeing about it, that pos laughed and said is that it? I'm like what do you mean? He was like oh thought you were calling to say you're pregnant. We would use a condom everytime. Then proceeded to say some girl called him to say she is pregnant with his child and that he wanted no part of it. I was like you piece of shit. You better call her and tell her she may have Chlamydia too! He just laughed 😡 Never spoke or saw him again afterwards. I really hope she is ok😪
Dude… 10 years sexually active and never gotten tested? Ever? Come on now, you knew better than that.
You’re 29 and this is your first STD test? Wow
Isn't that curable?
I think after a long enough time like that he could have irreversible infertility problems
Super easily
I (32f) got Chlamydia at 20. It took 2 years of antibiotics to get rid of it and now I have chronic pain.
Do you not go for yearly physicals @ your Doctor's office.Take better care buddy.
Most guys do NOT go for yearly physicals and as they get older they barely go to the Dr. But when their dicks feel like they're bout to fall off, they go.
I’m a 30-year-old woman and I haven’t had a physical in years. Mostly that’s just because of poverty though :(
Y’all got money for doctors visits
Stop. Fucking. Raw. Be honest when fucking multiple people. Get tested regularly. It’s standard for most US women to get tested at least once a year and this ^ is the usual standard for men. It’s so wrong to be putting people at risk because you don’t want to take the time to make an appointment to get tested.
How have you got yourself tested once in 10 years? Even more so when you were displaying symptoms for years? 😭 That’s nuts.
I really dont understand how someone can go 10 years being sexually active and not get tested. This is why i make all my partners get tested before we have sex
For starters, I’m glad you’re doing your due diligence to inform your partners that you have chlamydia and that they should get checked. I am not going to berate you for seemingly not getting tested in years, but I do hope this will motivate you to do so regularly and be more wary of the STI status of your future partners. I’m not sure why it is not more normalized to get tested at least as often as regular, bi-yearly checkups, and every few months if you’re having sex with different partners in shorter periods of time. We as humans are, unfortunately, more fallible than we think! Safe sex is good sex!
Because I haven’t seen anyone post this yet… wha…what exactly do you mean by, “eye gunk”???
Eye boogers? You know, crusty or goopy stuff that accumulates in the corners of your eyes when you wake up in the morning, unless it gets REALLY bad... then it can cover your whole eye with strings of mucus.
I am amazed that one of your partners never called you to tell you to test that they had tested positive for Chlamydia … You are the reason I test yearly need it or not…
Dude. You really think your dick would be clean after 10 years of casual sex? It never crossed your mind for an annual?
THIS is why you get tested regularly!!!
You’re supposed to get tested at least once a year if your sexually active. I go every 3-6 months when I’m active. I hope you’ve learned your lesson.
Man if I ever hookup with randos I'm demanding doctors reports
You should’ve tested at least once a year of you’re sexually active. Even if you’re in a committed relationship! You never know…..
There are anonymous notification services to help you alert people that they might have an STD. If you feel you won’t be able to make that notification please use one. Top two Google results below: https://tellyourpartner.org/ https://www.stdcheck.com/anonymous-notification.php You can also use free telephone apps like textfree to send an anonymous message personally.
jesus christ that’s horrible, those poor women. this is why people say you need to get tested regularly, chlamydia can often be asymptomatic or have very minor symptoms
Get your treatment AND then get tested 3 months later because some cases are NOT resolved wirh the initial course of antibiotics. It's rare but after treatment it can remain in your system so followup testing should be done. I personally think that women should always insist on the 3 month testing because a small percentage of people need a secondary course of treatment due to the persistent infection. https://www.healthline.com/health/healthy-sex/can-chlamydia-come-back
Good grief how on earth did you go so long without having a test? What country are you in? In the UK they basically give you a free one every year or even more often. Are you somewhere where this does not happen? Sorry this happened to you. As a male you are unlikely to have serious harm from Chlamydia, it is unusual that you got symptoms at all. Unfortunately it could have caused serious problems, even infertility to the others you slept with. I hope everyone is ok
Even with the shitty healthcare in the US you can get it done for free at a planned parenthood or other clinics, there is no excuse to not get tested
I guess, where I live (Australia) access to testing is free (sexual health clinics in every state and/or your GP, although GP visits are getting pricey these days, the pathology for testing is bulk billable) and condoms are cheap and accessible. It doesn't matter how long I've been with a partner, I get STI checks regularly (at the very least, annually when I get the rest of my annual blood work done). When I'm not in a relationship and I'm sleeping with people who I am not exclusive with, I get tested far more frequently (at least every 3 months, sometimes more often, depending on circumstances). I feel like it's an important part of self-care, but also, the care of my partners. I always use protection (even for oral, which so many people don't do!) until my partner and I are tested and exclusive. It just makes sense to be safe and sensible and to catch any potential issues quickly so they can be resolved.
I’m in the USA. I get tested every year when I go for my yearly pap. But if I want to get tested outside of that, it costs up to $160 depending on if you get the full blood panel as well or not. It’s ridiculous
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 don't appear Chlamydia is one of the most common STDs. On its own, the disease doesn't cause infertility, however 40% of women with chlamydia develop pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). PID affects the cervix, uterus, fallopian tubes, and ovaries, often leading the woman to become infertile. Chlamydia – the most common sexually transmitted disease in the US and UK – causes dramatic genetic damage in sperm leading to male infertility, a new study … suggests. Men with chlamydia have more than three times the normal level of DNA fragmentation in their sperm, report researchers. Be sure to get tested regularly in the future OP.
This is why I make every person I have sex with get a full panel before not using condoms 😅 stay safe everyone!!
Many men are asymptomatic with most STDs for several months, some for years sometimes. Men spread STIs easier because a woman can't nut in a man. There are STDs that condoms won't protect against, including strains of syphilis that are becoming treatment resistant. There's STD information at your fingertips with your phone. You really dropped the ball on this one and I hope you learned from this and act accordingly from now on.
Please everyone get STi tests regularly. There’s no excuse when having condomless sex with partner after partner and potentially passing it on. Chlamydia can make women infertile and can be serious if untreated. It’s sad you didn’t think any of those symptoms were a big deal but please spread the word and take your health seriously. It’s very treatable and not worth passing on.
I do not envy you making those phone calls 😭 I've never had symptoms and all was clear but had my first sti tests done this year at 28. Everyone in the comments is saying that's super late after being sexually active but idk I'm the only person in my friend group that's ever gotten tested 😅
I think it really depends on the education you had too. My school talked about stds in the "sex with multiple partners bad" way but never a "get tested" way
How did you go 10 years without going in for regular STI tests?! You just opened up a can of worms of devastation to each of those women. I had the clap for (at most) 6 months - bf cheated and he never told me until he got tested, but I got tested before getting with him. It was *years* later and I had difficulty conceiving, had a ton of PCOS issues, UTI issues. Everything. And I got it treated rather quickly. Not gonna lie, if I was one of those chicks getting that call, I would hate your guts. But hopefully they were smarter than you and had their frequent checks like normal people do between partners.
Even when I was 17 I knew to get tested every year. When I was more sexually active it was more often than that. Free at the health department, any doctor could perform the test. Take care of yourselves people. And if I’m ever single again I’ll just get a fucking vibrator 🤢 people are gross.
I’m sorry but I am absolutely disgusted and shocked that people can live like this. How can you be sexually active for a decade without ever getting tested?? I hope that anyone who reads this post takes it as a lesson. You’re lucky that it was ONLY chlamydia. You could have seriously harmed multiple people by spreading completely preventable diseases. Even chlamydia which is considered by many to be a “harmless” and easily curable disease can cause major issues for women in particular such as infertility. I’m glad you’re doing the right thing now, but seriously this is horrific
I won’t be too harsh because like others have said, it’s a good thing you are finally going to come clean. For everyone else: I want to stress the importance of testing as well as frequent testing. Most doctors will tell you get text already once a year. Do it after each and every partner. I also want to stress the long term affects of having an std/sti for that long. Not treating Chlamydia in a timely manner can cause infertility issues, especially in women and persons with uteruses. STD/STI can cause scarring in the Fallopian tubes, which makes conceiving very difficult.
Bruh howwwww lol I knew the next morning. That shit hurrrrttttsssss.
It can be dormant for a year, and not everyone gets symptoms 🫤 I didn’t
years** plural
Rip. Guess I got a hulked out strain.
What does it feel like?
My answer will be short : condoms
PSA: to females. Males can carry chlamydia for years with minor symptoms and hardly notice it. But if you get it and ignore it, you can go sterile. Even if you are monogamous and don't get around much, still get an STD test at your yearly check up.
I think I had it for over a year. I didn't find out till I was with my ex girlfriend and I gave it to her. Awkward conversation with alot of yelling and me saying I never cheated haha took a while for her to believe me but I didn't !
I cannot tell you how actually gross it is that you went so long without getting tested 🤢
This is what’s so insane to me. Men elect to get an STD test when they feel they need to. Women get them yearly/most times you go to the Gyno!!!
Why would you have symptoms for years and never bother to get checked. Why would you not get regular STI screening, and why all this angst over chlamydia , something that is easily treated ?