Q&As Tagged Questions

Response from Men's Sexual Health:

As you've not mentioned it, can you please tell us if you have been receiving treatment at the same time. Also, though treatment is often a single dose of antibiotic, he must abstain from sexual activity for one week after taking it. Has this been the case? Is it possible you are passing it back and forth between yourselves? That would seem the simple answer, so please confirm you are taking neccessary precautions.

Answered by team member Mara
25th October 2009

Response from Men's Sexual Health:

You have stated that the Chlamydia is only showing up in blood tests, so it is just possible that what you partner is not actually infected with the Chlamydia Trachomatis bacterium, but the residue DNA from the original infection in his blood stream; this is quite rare, but not unheard of. If this is the case, then treatment is quite difficult, as he would need regular blood tests and only when the DNA count is low, would the doctor prescribe specific medication, and this would need be done two or three times before the blood is cleared of the residue DNA. The other aspect is that you have said your partner is in another country, though treatment for Chlamydia is quite universal today, there is evidence that show that in some countries not all antibiotics are as strong as they should be, or that the need to complete the full course is advised.

Answered by team member Tim
3rd December 2009

Response from Men's Sexual Health:

Oxytetracycline is part of a group of medications that are collectively are called Tetracyclines which are broad spectrum antibiotics. Oxytetracycline is still the antibiotic of choice for many Doctors in the treatment of many forms of infections, as there are very rarely any side effects.



A broad spectrum antibiotic is one that can be used to treat a wide range of bacterial infections, and is often used as they have a well proven track record in the treatment of both individual infections and more wide ranging infections.



Within the Tetracycline group is a range of antibiotics that can be used, some are more specifically targeted than others, but all treat Chlamydia effectively as well as respitory infections, so the fact that Oxytetracycline was prescribed may well just be because the Doctor prescribing them, prefers them.



So yes it is possible that the person being treated may have a respiratory co-infection, but it is more likely that the Oxytetracycline was give just to target the repsiritory infection.

Answered by team member Tim
14th December 2009

Response from Men's Sexual Health:

Unfortunately it is not possible to say with any degree of accuracy. Your partners Doctor will have carried out an examination and then prescribed according to what was diagnosed at the time. All we can say with any accuracy is that Oxytetracycline is a broad spectrum anti-biotic, and can be prescribed for many infections, this does include both for respiratory infections and Chlamydia infections. However, it is unlikely that the Doctor would have prescribed a single anti-biotic to treat both a chest infection and Chlamydia, they will have prescribed to treat one or the other. I appreciate that you Googled Oxytetracycline and found the Chlamydia link, but you may be inadvertently reading much more into the prescription than actually exists (especially as a chest infection caused by Chlamydia is not that common)

Answered by team member Tim
15th December 2009

Response from Men's Sexual Health:

Hi, thanks for getting in touch with your question. As your partner was being treated for a chest infection, the antibiotics he received were specific to treat that illness. When the medicine he was using wasn’t working, another one was tried, possibly before the first course of treatment was finished. Some antibiotics are used to treat a number of infections, so, might clear up a different infection to the diagnosed one being treated. The kind of treatment prescribed to treat Chlamydia will vary, depending on who is giving the medication, allergies, and other variables, and the number of days you take the antibiotics will depend on the illness and the type of antibiotic medicine. The most common antibiotics used to treat Chlamydia are azithromycin, which comes in a single dose, or doxycycline, sometimes called vibramycin, which is taken once or twice a day for at least one week, possibly two. Azithromycin and doxycycline cure chlamydia in up to 95 out of 100 cases. Some people may not be able to take these medicines but are able to take a different one. There can be many variables with these treatments. Also, even if your partner had the correct antibiotic and dosage for treating Chlamydia, if he didn’t abstain from sexual activity,during the treatment and for a week after, he risks recurrence of the infection. So, in summary, though it seems logical to think that if he had the type of antibiotics sometimes used to treat Chlamydia, that he should not have carried the infection since treatment for his chest infection, it is entirely possible that the Chlamydia could have survived through his 4 antibiotic treatments. I hope this helps clarify things for you. Please get back to us if we can help or if you have any further concerns.

Answered by team member Mara
30th June 2010

Response from Men's Sexual Health:

Hi Mike, Chlamydia can only be contracted from unprotected sexual contact, such as vaginal, oral, or anal sex, and cannot be caught by kissing.

If you have had unprotected sex and concerned you might have caught Chlamydia you can request a free test from us! Or pop along to you nearest GUM clinic for a full Screening

Answered by team member Matt
2nd August 2009

Response from Men's Sexual Health:

Chlamydia is a sexually transmitted infection that is passed on through unprocted oral, anal and vaginal sex. If you have tested positive it might be worth being re-tested as on occasion false positives have occured, they are very rare but for your own piece of mind a re-test might be an idea. If your test was done through a sexual health service like GU Medicine and you are now receiving treatment, then a re-test is no longer possible and you should continue with the treatment.

If you are confirmed positive, then your partner will need to be treated also, with a course of anti-biotics.

In regards to your question though I am afraid this is not something we can answer. If you have further questions or would like some further information on the transmission of STI's please do not hesitate to contact us again.

Answered by team member Alex
28th September 2009

Response from Men's Sexual Health:

Not at all. The only way you could have Chlamydia again is by having sex with someone who has got it and has not been treated for it. However don’t forget what they will have told you at the clinic: it takes a while for the treatment to be completely effective so don’t have sex with anyone until you have completely finished all your medication.

Answered by team member Dr Peter
8th December 2015

Response from Men's Sexual Health:

Hi Joe, thanks for getting in touch with your concern. Oral sex generally is a low risk activity, and you have reduced risk of transmission by using condoms when you give oral. But yes there is risk that you could catch something from someone when they perform oral sex on you without you also wearing a condom, for example, you can get chlamydia in the throat, so if you get sucked off by someone who has that, its likely this will be passed on to your penis, and then if someone else sucks you off, you could then infect their throat. Also multiple partners also increases risk, as shown in my previous example. Oral sex is very low risk of HIV, but yes there is risk of other STI's. We normally recommend getting tested after each new partner, but when engaging in multiple partners this isn't always practical, so maybe at least once a month, if you are constantly engaging in activity if any part of it is unsafe. But this could also be discussed with the person who treats you at the GUM clinic, they may suggest a different time frame. I hope this has helped answer your question, feel free to get back in touch if you would like further advice.

Answered by team member Matt
12th November 2012

Response from Men's Sexual Health:

Hi, from your message it's clear you need to get checked out for clamydia if for no other reason that to put your mind at rest. Go to your local STD / STI / sexual health clinic (if you're in the UK you can find your closest clinic by following this link) where they will test you and treat you if you have it. If you are in UK you might be able to get a home testing kit with follow-up support.

The general advice seems to be to test each year or change of sexual partner, which would indicate that serious infertility issues take longer to emerge. As you say it has been more than a year you really should get tested.

Impotency does not seem to be associated with chlamydia and it may instead be caused by your worrying: so get tested and treated if necessary, and this will probably help with your libido issues too. Remember also the other things that can affect libido, like smoking, diet, exercise, stress, alcohol and medication. A healthy body helps build a healthy sex life. 

Answered by team member Douglas
25th January 2016