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Negative tests, but strange symptoms
Dear Sir,
I don't seem to get the following figured out with my GP.
A few days after having unprotected sex (unwisely), I had severe, yellow penile discharge and I immediately suspected an STD. I went to my doctor, but because symptoms were severe she decided to give me treatment right away. Not knowing whether it was gonnorhea/chlamydia or perhaps something else, I was treated with azythromycin 1 g / cefixim 400 mg, after which the yellow discharge disappeared within a day. I also performed a urine test after two weeks, which showed no chlamydia, gonnorhea. It is now of course unsure if I had one of these from the beginning.
A very subtle, clear discharge remained after treatment, which I had never experienced before the whole event. I expected that it might be some damage that would repair over time. Confident that I was fine, and with negative test result, I had unprotected sex with someone who also knew that she had no STD's (we talked about this). After a week, I hear from her that she was suffering from what she called "bladder infection". I was very much afraid that somehow I caused this.
After this experience, and because the subtle discharge persisted over weeks, I went for another, more elaborate test. My urine was tested again for chlamydia, gonnorhea but also for the presence bacteria in general and mycoplasma genitalium. Nothing was found again.
Three weeks after the last test, I found a 10x5mm lump in my scrotum, attached to the soft mass, which is attached to the testis (some vessels or the epidydimus). I used a light to shine through it and it was transparent, so maybe a cyst from some damage/inflammation? I will have an ultrasound soon.
Also, I have intensified, but still subtle, cloudy discharge.
The question I have is: Is this related to my infection before? My doctor denies this, since nothing showed up in the urine tests. Can you bring all this together or are the events unrelated?
I don't seem to get the following figured out with my GP.
A few days after having unprotected sex (unwisely), I had severe, yellow penile discharge and I immediately suspected an STD. I went to my doctor, but because symptoms were severe she decided to give me treatment right away. Not knowing whether it was gonnorhea/chlamydia or perhaps something else, I was treated with azythromycin 1 g / cefixim 400 mg, after which the yellow discharge disappeared within a day. I also performed a urine test after two weeks, which showed no chlamydia, gonnorhea. It is now of course unsure if I had one of these from the beginning.
A very subtle, clear discharge remained after treatment, which I had never experienced before the whole event. I expected that it might be some damage that would repair over time. Confident that I was fine, and with negative test result, I had unprotected sex with someone who also knew that she had no STD's (we talked about this). After a week, I hear from her that she was suffering from what she called "bladder infection". I was very much afraid that somehow I caused this.
After this experience, and because the subtle discharge persisted over weeks, I went for another, more elaborate test. My urine was tested again for chlamydia, gonnorhea but also for the presence bacteria in general and mycoplasma genitalium. Nothing was found again.
Three weeks after the last test, I found a 10x5mm lump in my scrotum, attached to the soft mass, which is attached to the testis (some vessels or the epidydimus). I used a light to shine through it and it was transparent, so maybe a cyst from some damage/inflammation? I will have an ultrasound soon.
Also, I have intensified, but still subtle, cloudy discharge.
The question I have is: Is this related to my infection before? My doctor denies this, since nothing showed up in the urine tests. Can you bring all this together or are the events unrelated?
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Thanks for the follow-up and for your kind comment about our services. I'm glad it all worked out and to have been of help. Take care -- and in the future, keep those condoms handy!
Dear doctor,
Thank you for your comments.
My discharge has disappeared spontaneously. I was very tired last week, so maybe I was "weakened" a bit. Also in the light of your remark that my partner's UTI could very well be something not related to the infection I was treated for, I expect that my infection is now completely gone.
I was also rather anxious about the lump, although I knew it was most probably something benign. And indeed, my doctor told me that the ultrasound showed that it was a spermatocele. Although I've read multiple times that spermatoceles generally don't disappear spontaneously, a few days after the ultrasound I now actually cannot find it anymore, so maybe I'm one of the lucky few.
So, in the end it all turned out to be OK. Thanks again for the discussion, I appreciate the quality of your answers and this forum in general!
Thank you for your comments.
My discharge has disappeared spontaneously. I was very tired last week, so maybe I was "weakened" a bit. Also in the light of your remark that my partner's UTI could very well be something not related to the infection I was treated for, I expect that my infection is now completely gone.
I was also rather anxious about the lump, although I knew it was most probably something benign. And indeed, my doctor told me that the ultrasound showed that it was a spermatocele. Although I've read multiple times that spermatoceles generally don't disappear spontaneously, a few days after the ultrasound I now actually cannot find it anymore, so maybe I'm one of the lucky few.
So, in the end it all turned out to be OK. Thanks again for the discussion, I appreciate the quality of your answers and this forum in general!
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Welcome to the forum.
Most likely you had gonorrhea -- suggested by the short time from exposure to symptoms and the "severe" yellow discharge. You were treated appropriately, and it sounds like it cleared up just as expected. About a third of people with gonorrhea also have chlamydia, and the treatment covered that as well as gonorrhea. You'll never know for sure; you correctly understand that your negative test results only tell that you weren't infected at that moment. There is no test for past infection (for either gonorrhea or chlamydia) that has been cured.
Subtle, minor symptoms such as scant clear discharge often continue for a couple of weeks, often longer, after successful treatment of gonorrhea or chlamydia. With your more prolonged symptoms, you did exactly the right thing to be re-evaluated and you can now be even more confident you don't have any important STD. It is conceivable you still have a trace of non-chlamydial, nongonococcal urethritis (NGU) -- but if so, it may be a minor immunologic reaction to the previous infections, not an active infection per se, and unlikely to harm a sex partner. However, with the discharge now slightly cloudy, you should be re-treated. The standard approach would be doxycycline for a week, plus a single dose of metronidazole or tinidazole (in case of trichomonas, which is hard to diagnose).
Probably your partner indeed had a garden-variety bladder infection. Most women experience UTIs from time to time, often triggered by sex -- not an STD, but E. coli and other non STD bacteria are common in the vaginal area and can be "massaged" into the urethra during sex. Diagnosis of UTI usually is straightforward, and probably that's what she had. However, it's also possible she is experiencing symptoms of an infection that is continuing your NGU. To be maximally safe, she should be treated at the same time you are, especially if there was anything atypical about her UTI (e.g., no bacteria on culture).
Your testicular lump sounds like a hydrocele (you have self-performed the main diagnostic test by shining a light through it). I doubt it is related to your earlier urethritis. Hydroceles are benign and often shrink on their own. Still, you're doing the right thing in having it evaluated by ultrasound. Follow your doctor's advice from there.
I hope this information has been helpful. Let me know how it all shakes out.
Regards-- HHH, MD
Most likely you had gonorrhea -- suggested by the short time from exposure to symptoms and the "severe" yellow discharge. You were treated appropriately, and it sounds like it cleared up just as expected. About a third of people with gonorrhea also have chlamydia, and the treatment covered that as well as gonorrhea. You'll never know for sure; you correctly understand that your negative test results only tell that you weren't infected at that moment. There is no test for past infection (for either gonorrhea or chlamydia) that has been cured.
Subtle, minor symptoms such as scant clear discharge often continue for a couple of weeks, often longer, after successful treatment of gonorrhea or chlamydia. With your more prolonged symptoms, you did exactly the right thing to be re-evaluated and you can now be even more confident you don't have any important STD. It is conceivable you still have a trace of non-chlamydial, nongonococcal urethritis (NGU) -- but if so, it may be a minor immunologic reaction to the previous infections, not an active infection per se, and unlikely to harm a sex partner. However, with the discharge now slightly cloudy, you should be re-treated. The standard approach would be doxycycline for a week, plus a single dose of metronidazole or tinidazole (in case of trichomonas, which is hard to diagnose).
Probably your partner indeed had a garden-variety bladder infection. Most women experience UTIs from time to time, often triggered by sex -- not an STD, but E. coli and other non STD bacteria are common in the vaginal area and can be "massaged" into the urethra during sex. Diagnosis of UTI usually is straightforward, and probably that's what she had. However, it's also possible she is experiencing symptoms of an infection that is continuing your NGU. To be maximally safe, she should be treated at the same time you are, especially if there was anything atypical about her UTI (e.g., no bacteria on culture).
Your testicular lump sounds like a hydrocele (you have self-performed the main diagnostic test by shining a light through it). I doubt it is related to your earlier urethritis. Hydroceles are benign and often shrink on their own. Still, you're doing the right thing in having it evaluated by ultrasound. Follow your doctor's advice from there.
I hope this information has been helpful. Let me know how it all shakes out.
Regards-- HHH, MD
You are reading content posted in the STDs Forum
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