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Possible gonorrhoea, trying to convince partner to get tested
Recently and in the past, I have been fairly sexually active. A couple of years ago, I had a nasty case of gonorrhoea that was confirmed with swab and urine tests. I've recently contracted another urinary tract infection and, although I've been treated and am waiting for test results, am trying to convince a partner that she should get tested right away. She is in a bit of denial that she might be infected with an STI, and I'm trying to convince her to take this seriously. Unfortunately, and I realize my judgement has been poor, I have had several partners in recent weeks and while I always used a condom during vaginal sex I have received unprotected oral sex.
The basic chronology is as follows:
In late June, I had unprotected oral sex and vaginal intercourse with condom with Partner 1.
Five days later, I had unprotected oral sex and vaginal intercourse with condom with Partner 2. Unfortunately the condom broke during intercourse. After this all unfolded and I notified Partner 2 that I had an STI, she informed me that at the time of our encounter she was three days into a 10-day course of amoxicillin for what she believed to be strep throat.
The next day, I went swimming in a heavily chlorinated pool and when I came out my eyes and urethra were quite irritated. That evening I masturbated fairly aggressively, which worsened the irritation. I did not have sex the next couple of days, although I became very aroused the next evening and had sore testicles.
The morning eight days after the initial encounter with Partner 1 (after the night of unrequited arousal) I woke up, and experienced significant pain in my urethra. It had that "glued shut" feeling, and peeing was difficult. Squeezing the shaft and looking into the opening, I could see a small amount of white discharge. I was sore through the day, but did not have any more discharge after first morning urination. At the time, I supposed it might have been irritation from chlorine and/or the rough masturbation two nights prior, or perhaps a small amount of ejaculate as I'd been aroused the night before but did not come.
Nine days after the initial encounter with Partner 1, I had protected vaginal sex with Partner 3. We did not have oral sex at all, and thankfully the condom did not break.
In the days after that, I went swimming some more in the same heavily chlorinated pool and this seemed to contribute to the stinging in my urethra.
Thirteen days after the initial encounter with Partner 1, I had yet another encounter with Partner 4. This included unprotected oral sex and vaginal sex with condom.
The next day, fourteen days after first encounter, there was visible external redness around my urethral opening and it was fairly sore.
The day after that (15 days after P1, 10 days after P2, 6 days after P3, and 2 days after P4) I noted further white discharge. There was more than I'd noted the previous week, but it was still evident only first thing in the morning and required some slightly aggressive squeezing to make it appear.
The following day (16 days after P1) I saw a doctor, who administered a urine test. Assuming it was likely to be gonorrhoea and/or chlamydia, she treated immediately with 800 mg Suprax and 1000 mg azithromycin in a single dose.
For about five days following the antibiotic dose, I continued to have soreness and a small amount of discharge visible first thing in the morning with palpation. There was not discharge later in the day, although the soreness continued throughout the day (I realize I probably went overboard with the palpation).
Six days after the antibiotic treatment, I had my first day with absolutely no visible discharge in the morning. The discharge has stayed away since, although the soreness has been persistent.
So here's the issue: I have notified all four partners, and three of them have indicated they will get tested and treated as required. Partner 4 has insisted that I probably just got a non-gonorrhoeal UTI from her because of her throat infection (which she insists can't be G or C because I was her first partner in a while). She knows I had other partners recently before her, but she thinks the timing of the soreness and discharge rules out G or C, at least when I was with her).
Unfortunately it takes several weeks for STI tests to come back where I live, so I'm having a hard time convincing her to go for followup. I'm also a bit paranoid because the confirmed gonorrhoea I'd had a couple of years back was found to be antibiotic resistant (based on lab culture and also the fact that an initial treatment with 2000 mg azithromycin didn't have the slightest effect and I suffered for weeks). The previous infection was eventually treated with IM injection of ceftriaxone, which hurt like hell but knocked out a brutal infection (heavy discharge, blood) in less then 24 hours. Some of my worry is because, even with 800 mg Suprax, the pain and discharge continued for almost five days (whereas the ceftriaxone worked almost immediately). This got me thinking maybe I'm unlucky enough to have caught one of the new suprax-resistant strains, although the fact that the discharge eventually did clear up is encouraging. Also the discharge I had in this episode was nowhere near what I'd had in my previous confirmed G case.
So is there a question in all this? Yes!
1) is 800 mg Suprax (double the older dose, as I understand) enough to reliably treat any of the strains of G seen in North America these days? I have seen that IM injection of ceftriaxone is really the treatment of choice, and it definitely worked wonders for me once before.
2) does it make sense that the Suprax (and azithromycin) took five days to knock out any G (or C)?
3) is it at all possible that I could have caught a non-G bug through oral sex with Partner 3, and that the amoxicillin she took is sufficient?
I'm suspecting the slow resolution of my symptoms is partly due to my obsessive palpation to check for discharge. It's possible I have some scarring from my previous case of G, which was really, really bad (intense pain, bleeding, took a couple of weeks before finding a treatment that worked). Also I think I might be sensitive to latex condoms because in the past I've had redness around my urethra after sex even when there was only vaginal intercourse with condom (no oral at all, careful removal of condom). Obviously I just have to wait for my tests - actually the other reason I'm paranoid is that the first tests I had for my horrible, previous case of G gave false negative results (both swab and pee). It wasn't until a second swab test, jabbed in much deeper, that they were able to confirm with microscope and later culture to confirm the antibiotic resistance.
As you can imagine, this has been a bit of a reality check about my sexual habits…
The basic chronology is as follows:
In late June, I had unprotected oral sex and vaginal intercourse with condom with Partner 1.
Five days later, I had unprotected oral sex and vaginal intercourse with condom with Partner 2. Unfortunately the condom broke during intercourse. After this all unfolded and I notified Partner 2 that I had an STI, she informed me that at the time of our encounter she was three days into a 10-day course of amoxicillin for what she believed to be strep throat.
The next day, I went swimming in a heavily chlorinated pool and when I came out my eyes and urethra were quite irritated. That evening I masturbated fairly aggressively, which worsened the irritation. I did not have sex the next couple of days, although I became very aroused the next evening and had sore testicles.
The morning eight days after the initial encounter with Partner 1 (after the night of unrequited arousal) I woke up, and experienced significant pain in my urethra. It had that "glued shut" feeling, and peeing was difficult. Squeezing the shaft and looking into the opening, I could see a small amount of white discharge. I was sore through the day, but did not have any more discharge after first morning urination. At the time, I supposed it might have been irritation from chlorine and/or the rough masturbation two nights prior, or perhaps a small amount of ejaculate as I'd been aroused the night before but did not come.
Nine days after the initial encounter with Partner 1, I had protected vaginal sex with Partner 3. We did not have oral sex at all, and thankfully the condom did not break.
In the days after that, I went swimming some more in the same heavily chlorinated pool and this seemed to contribute to the stinging in my urethra.
Thirteen days after the initial encounter with Partner 1, I had yet another encounter with Partner 4. This included unprotected oral sex and vaginal sex with condom.
The next day, fourteen days after first encounter, there was visible external redness around my urethral opening and it was fairly sore.
The day after that (15 days after P1, 10 days after P2, 6 days after P3, and 2 days after P4) I noted further white discharge. There was more than I'd noted the previous week, but it was still evident only first thing in the morning and required some slightly aggressive squeezing to make it appear.
The following day (16 days after P1) I saw a doctor, who administered a urine test. Assuming it was likely to be gonorrhoea and/or chlamydia, she treated immediately with 800 mg Suprax and 1000 mg azithromycin in a single dose.
For about five days following the antibiotic dose, I continued to have soreness and a small amount of discharge visible first thing in the morning with palpation. There was not discharge later in the day, although the soreness continued throughout the day (I realize I probably went overboard with the palpation).
Six days after the antibiotic treatment, I had my first day with absolutely no visible discharge in the morning. The discharge has stayed away since, although the soreness has been persistent.
So here's the issue: I have notified all four partners, and three of them have indicated they will get tested and treated as required. Partner 4 has insisted that I probably just got a non-gonorrhoeal UTI from her because of her throat infection (which she insists can't be G or C because I was her first partner in a while). She knows I had other partners recently before her, but she thinks the timing of the soreness and discharge rules out G or C, at least when I was with her).
Unfortunately it takes several weeks for STI tests to come back where I live, so I'm having a hard time convincing her to go for followup. I'm also a bit paranoid because the confirmed gonorrhoea I'd had a couple of years back was found to be antibiotic resistant (based on lab culture and also the fact that an initial treatment with 2000 mg azithromycin didn't have the slightest effect and I suffered for weeks). The previous infection was eventually treated with IM injection of ceftriaxone, which hurt like hell but knocked out a brutal infection (heavy discharge, blood) in less then 24 hours. Some of my worry is because, even with 800 mg Suprax, the pain and discharge continued for almost five days (whereas the ceftriaxone worked almost immediately). This got me thinking maybe I'm unlucky enough to have caught one of the new suprax-resistant strains, although the fact that the discharge eventually did clear up is encouraging. Also the discharge I had in this episode was nowhere near what I'd had in my previous confirmed G case.
So is there a question in all this? Yes!
1) is 800 mg Suprax (double the older dose, as I understand) enough to reliably treat any of the strains of G seen in North America these days? I have seen that IM injection of ceftriaxone is really the treatment of choice, and it definitely worked wonders for me once before.
2) does it make sense that the Suprax (and azithromycin) took five days to knock out any G (or C)?
3) is it at all possible that I could have caught a non-G bug through oral sex with Partner 3, and that the amoxicillin she took is sufficient?
I'm suspecting the slow resolution of my symptoms is partly due to my obsessive palpation to check for discharge. It's possible I have some scarring from my previous case of G, which was really, really bad (intense pain, bleeding, took a couple of weeks before finding a treatment that worked). Also I think I might be sensitive to latex condoms because in the past I've had redness around my urethra after sex even when there was only vaginal intercourse with condom (no oral at all, careful removal of condom). Obviously I just have to wait for my tests - actually the other reason I'm paranoid is that the first tests I had for my horrible, previous case of G gave false negative results (both swab and pee). It wasn't until a second swab test, jabbed in much deeper, that they were able to confirm with microscope and later culture to confirm the antibiotic resistance.
As you can imagine, this has been a bit of a reality check about my sexual habits…
If your girlfriend has something from you and has passed it to other partners, she gets treated and she notifies the other partners. Don't push her until you get your results.
Good luck deciding what to do about taking time off to be seen at a walk-in clinic. Chances are they will tell you that they can't do much until your test results come back, but if you are that anxious, maybe it will make you feel better to see them.
Good luck deciding what to do about taking time off to be seen at a walk-in clinic. Chances are they will tell you that they can't do much until your test results come back, but if you are that anxious, maybe it will make you feel better to see them.
Thanks for the comments Annie,
Actually the girlfriend (we are, clearly, not in a monogamous relationship) is not aware of the extent to which I've analyzed this. The bigger concern, which I can't really control, is if she has other sexual encounters while in denial that she might have been exposed to G.
The admittedly extensive timeline is not really a compelling reason for this girlfriend to assume she has G. I'm also trying to figure out if I might have something other than G, for which the prescribed dual antibiotic treatment will not be effective. That probably wasn't clear from my questions, and the emphasis in the post title was kind of on the girlfriend so I can understand your point of view.
What I'm hoping to get on the forum is info I can use to decide if I'll take a big chunk of a day off work this week (very difficult) to get seen at a walk-in clinic before my initial test results come back in several weeks. I still have a fair bit of pain (although no discharge now) and my last bout of clap could have ended up with serious complications. Needless to say, I have eased off on the palpation...
I didn't read the complete timeline but I did read your issue, which is that you are attempting to get your girlfriend to go in for testing for gonorrhea, and she is resisting until your tests show that you actually do have gonorrhea. And now you're trying to convince her through a brain-bedazzling chronology, analysis and suspicions that tests are not accurate, that perhaps you do have it, in order to get her to go in for testing before your possible present case of gonorrhea is confirmed.
Does she know you quite well? It kind of sounds like she does, and has heard you react like this other times about other things that didn't turn out to be emergencies. Perhaps she thinks you are kind of over-the-top about your worries. If so, it is not illogical for her to react by not jumping until the test comes back and says it is time to jump. If I were your girlfriend and you hit me with the list above, I would assess the situation as more you in panic than me in danger. (Even a very nasty strain of the clap is not going to kill her tomorrow.)
Anyway, good luck convincing her, but just the fact that you have told her it might be something she needs to test for, is enough. She'll probably get around to it soon enough, especially if your suspicions are correct and you have a new case.
Does she know you quite well? It kind of sounds like she does, and has heard you react like this other times about other things that didn't turn out to be emergencies. Perhaps she thinks you are kind of over-the-top about your worries. If so, it is not illogical for her to react by not jumping until the test comes back and says it is time to jump. If I were your girlfriend and you hit me with the list above, I would assess the situation as more you in panic than me in danger. (Even a very nasty strain of the clap is not going to kill her tomorrow.)
Anyway, good luck convincing her, but just the fact that you have told her it might be something she needs to test for, is enough. She'll probably get around to it soon enough, especially if your suspicions are correct and you have a new case.
You are reading content posted in the Sexual Health Community
Millions of people are diagnosed with STDs in the U.S. each year.
STDs can't be transmitted by casual contact, like hugging or touching.
Syphilis is an STD that is transmitted by oral, genital and anal sex.
Discharge often isn't normal, and could mean an infection or an STD.
STDs aren't transmitted through clothing. Fabric is a germ barrier.
Normal vaginal discharge varies in color, smell, texture and amount.
