Is it possible this GP is wrong about a UTI?
July 11, 2012 5:04 AM
Is my partner's GP missing something here? UTI vs. chlamydia details inside.
My partner has recently been experiencing discomfort when he urinates, with symptoms that matched up pretty close to how I've felt when I've had a UTI. He had an appointment with his GP today, where his urine was tested, and his GP said the result came back false. His GP then suggested that perhaps he had chlamydia, and should be tested for this. We have been trying to get pregnant for a year with no luck, and his GP suggested that perhaps I also had chlamydia and that was why we hadn't managed.
I am his only sexual partner, ever. I had unprotected sex with someone else one time (sexually assaulted), almost 5 years ago, but apart from that, he is my only sexual partner. A week after that sexual contact, I was tested for STIs, including chlamydia, all of which came back false. I have not been tested since. I have had UTI symptoms periodically (I have had a history of UTIs since I was a teenager), all of which have been cleared up with a round of antibiotics.
1) How likely is it that an actual UTI wouldn't register using their tests? Presumably a strip test was used. He has been pushing water as much as possible over the weekend to see if this would resolve itself -- could it be resolved "enough" that it wouldn't show up anymore?
2) Would a normal round of antibiotics to treat a UTI be enough to sort out chlamydia? Would taking antibiotics to treat a UTI actually make the chlamydia infection worse?
3) How likely is it that despite getting a negative result a week after sexual contact, chlamydia could still be present?
We are both getting tested for this tomorrow, so I suppose the question will be answered one way or the other, but I guess I'm just nervous and angry and triggered, and his GP kind of has a history of jumping to really weird conclusions...
My partner has recently been experiencing discomfort when he urinates, with symptoms that matched up pretty close to how I've felt when I've had a UTI. He had an appointment with his GP today, where his urine was tested, and his GP said the result came back false. His GP then suggested that perhaps he had chlamydia, and should be tested for this. We have been trying to get pregnant for a year with no luck, and his GP suggested that perhaps I also had chlamydia and that was why we hadn't managed.
I am his only sexual partner, ever. I had unprotected sex with someone else one time (sexually assaulted), almost 5 years ago, but apart from that, he is my only sexual partner. A week after that sexual contact, I was tested for STIs, including chlamydia, all of which came back false. I have not been tested since. I have had UTI symptoms periodically (I have had a history of UTIs since I was a teenager), all of which have been cleared up with a round of antibiotics.
1) How likely is it that an actual UTI wouldn't register using their tests? Presumably a strip test was used. He has been pushing water as much as possible over the weekend to see if this would resolve itself -- could it be resolved "enough" that it wouldn't show up anymore?
2) Would a normal round of antibiotics to treat a UTI be enough to sort out chlamydia? Would taking antibiotics to treat a UTI actually make the chlamydia infection worse?
3) How likely is it that despite getting a negative result a week after sexual contact, chlamydia could still be present?
We are both getting tested for this tomorrow, so I suppose the question will be answered one way or the other, but I guess I'm just nervous and angry and triggered, and his GP kind of has a history of jumping to really weird conclusions...
an anecdote which might help. A friend of mine used a hooker during a very lonley period of his life for a BJ.Once.
a few months later he met the love of his life who had never been sexually active and infected her unwittingly. He was asymptomatic always.
She had UTI like symptoms for about a year then the Chlamidya was diagnosed. She was terrified about scarring of the tubes but after treatment went of to concieve their kids with little difficulty.
posted by Wilder at 5:32 AM on July 11, 2012
a few months later he met the love of his life who had never been sexually active and infected her unwittingly. He was asymptomatic always.
She had UTI like symptoms for about a year then the Chlamidya was diagnosed. She was terrified about scarring of the tubes but after treatment went of to concieve their kids with little difficulty.
posted by Wilder at 5:32 AM on July 11, 2012
also, sorry just one more small thing that I hope helps. You use the word false in a way that might cause some problems on your journey to pregnancy. On each ocassion above it's used where the word negative fits, each of the tests came back negative.
Considering the wild and whacky world of false positives and false negatives in testing there's a potential for confusion if you think the opposite of positive is false.
posted by Wilder at 5:37 AM on July 11, 2012
Considering the wild and whacky world of false positives and false negatives in testing there's a potential for confusion if you think the opposite of positive is false.
posted by Wilder at 5:37 AM on July 11, 2012
As an anecdote, I get relatively frequent UTIs, and have had a strip test come back negative when there was a ton of visible blood in my urine, but I had been drinking lots of water. I thought I was going to die by the next day when they re-tested and gave me antibiotics.
So while chlamydia might be possible, a false negative is also likely.
posted by thejanna at 5:55 AM on July 11, 2012
So while chlamydia might be possible, a false negative is also likely.
posted by thejanna at 5:55 AM on July 11, 2012
1. Possible but not usual. GP may have sent the sample out to be cultured as well, which would be even more sensitive than dipstick. Still, I rarely send out for a urine culture if the dipstick is completely negative.
2. The antibiotics normally used to treat an UTI are not the same ones used for Chlamydia infections. UTI antibiotics would not make a chlamydia infection worse but it would not treat it either.
3. It is possible but unlikely.
This all sounds like a reasonable course of action to me, even if the likelihood of chlamydia is very low based on sexual history. Look at it this way, his GP has no way of knowing if the sexual history he is receiving from you/your partner is completely truthful. That may (or may not) be offensive to you but it happens not infrequently that patients lie straight out about things that are embarrassing or incriminating. So, really, he is doing the right thing here. At least, that is how I would proceed but IANYD.
posted by teamnap at 6:06 AM on July 11, 2012
2. The antibiotics normally used to treat an UTI are not the same ones used for Chlamydia infections. UTI antibiotics would not make a chlamydia infection worse but it would not treat it either.
3. It is possible but unlikely.
This all sounds like a reasonable course of action to me, even if the likelihood of chlamydia is very low based on sexual history. Look at it this way, his GP has no way of knowing if the sexual history he is receiving from you/your partner is completely truthful. That may (or may not) be offensive to you but it happens not infrequently that patients lie straight out about things that are embarrassing or incriminating. So, really, he is doing the right thing here. At least, that is how I would proceed but IANYD.
posted by teamnap at 6:06 AM on July 11, 2012
I'll just add that if a guy is having odd penis issues of any kind (and "experiencing discomfort when he urinates" definitely counts), getting an appointment with a penis specialist (aka urologist) isn't a bad idea. It's great that the GP is doing the tests and eliminating some basic stuff, but see if you can get him in at a specialist in case this is for whatever reason more complicated.
posted by Forktine at 6:23 AM on July 11, 2012
posted by Forktine at 6:23 AM on July 11, 2012
This thread is closed to new comments.
It is possible that the flare-ups feel like a UTI
It is possible that the courses of antibiotics were not long enough or of the right kind to clear the chlamidiya.
These are not very likely, but all are possible so in the presence of documented faliure to concieve (presuming all the tests on your husband's side came back OK) I think it is very reasonable for the GP to want to rule out chlamydia.
Look at it this way, if this is the case, you will have a treatment plan that helps with the infection and potentially improves your fertility.
(I'm no longer clinically active but I would not categorise your GP's actions in this instance as weird, I think your GP is being very responsible, best of luck with it)
posted by Wilder at 5:27 AM on July 11, 2012