STIs: Personal Experience Story

If you, like me, have been lucky enough to have never gotten a STI you have no idea what it’s like. So here is a STI personal experience story as told to me by shy contributor. Let's call him Kevin Federline; I’m sure he’s probably caught a STI (or twelve) before.

She was so friggin’ hot, dude and we didn't have a condom. We were in the moment and since I was like 16 I wasn't even considering catching something. At that time I was most worried about pregnancy and since it was anal I just said screw it. I knew she was very vocal and open about her sexual experiences, but it never occurred to me that she would have something. Even from looking at her I had no idea what was going to happen. 

We had a good time. I woke up a few days later and went to pee and it burned so bad. I also noticed I had a clear discharge from my penis. At first  I didn't know what was going on and thought it would just go away on its own. After a bit it didn't so I went to my dad and told him what was going on. He took me to the doctor immediately. I'm not going to lie I was "scared, but I made my mistakes and had to take care of them."

My doctor was understanding and answered all of my questions. While the doctor and his resident were nice, the testing sucked. Initially the resident was in the exam room with me, he took a q-tip swab thing and shoved into my urethra, twisted and repeated. He repeated because they would have to do a separate scan for other bacterial things I could have gotten from her anus. When the doctor came in he had repeat the swapping to make sure the resident didn’t fuck it up. To say the least, it hurt like hell. The doctor said that I probably had a bacterial infection; I was given an antibiotic and went home to wait on my results.

Two weeks later I got my results confirming that I did have a bacterial STI, namely Chlamydia. I went back to the doctor where he gave me 2 pills of a stronger more specialized antibiotic. I took those pills as I was told and they knocked out the big C. I have been fine ever since and I have been more than a little diligent in making sure to wrap it up every time. My doc suggested I register with the CDC but I opted not to. I did tell the one partner I had between contracting it and getting it handled.

This whole thing could have been very bad, luckily I had a father that I could talk to and be open and honest with. Let me just add one last thing "In this society we are so concerned with feelings our feelings others feelings. But essentially no matter how awkward, just do what you need to. Go see a medical professional talk to your parent someone that can give you the help you need. Even a simple STI like mine can lead to sterility of left untreated."

Just so you know, a condom could have helped to prevent Kevin's situation. If you want to the best shot at avoiding this you should use a condom every time with any penetrative sex, including oral. Also make sure to visually inspect your partner’s genitals. It may seem weird but while you are using your hands you can just take a look and see what's going on down there. If you notice something out of sorts, raise the question. Make a decision with your best judgment.

To add your 2 cents leave a comment below, email me ltasexinfo@gmail.com or follow on Twitter @ltasex.

STIs (Sexually Transmitted/Transmissible Infections)

It is an unpleasant reality of sex today that STIs are a risk.  It is a calculated risk we all take to enjoy the many, many pleasures and benefits of sex. Below is handy chart for figuring out your chances of contracting a STI and what you can do to lower it.  You are going to want to click on the image for a bigger view. 

The gist for prevention is use a latex glove for your hands, a condom for the penis and a latex barrier for your mouth and other orifices.  If you notice a change in your body that is not normal: bumps, warts, open sores, white spots in the throat, swelling of the lymph nodes, fever, sore throat, rashes, discharge from any place it shouldn't, swelling, itching or burning sensations…

GO SEE A DOCTOR IMMEDIATELY!

The following is a list of all STIs, symptoms, and cures/treatments.

Curable (Bacterial)

Gonorrhea [More info]:

●     Symptoms - Inflammation of the urethra (urethritis) and a burning sensation in men, inflammation of the cervix (cervicitis) in women are the most common symptoms.

●     Treatment - Penicillin, for most strains. There is one rare strain with no cure.

Chlamydia (#1 Bacterial STI) [More info]:

●     Symptoms - Urethritis, cervicitis. Discharge from the penis, vagina and/or rectum. Can be in the genitals and in the eye (trachoma). 1 in 4 men are asymptomatic (no outward symptoms). Most women show no symptoms. In pregnant women, it can case stillbirths and premature deliveries.

●     Treatment - Antibiotics tetracycline, azithromycin, or erythromycin.

Syphilis [More info]:

●     Symptoms: Can imitate many different diseases. Systematic, it travels through the blood and reproduces. Comes in three stages, 1. Primary Syphilis - Hard painless sores soon after contact; 2. Secondary Syphilis - A rash that does not itch, it is highly contagious at this stage; 3. Tertiary - Too late to treat, you would have bone deterioration. Children born at this stage can have encephalitis (water on the brain), no noses, eye bleeding, deafness and respiratory problems.

●     Treatment: At the first two stages, treatment is penicillin. There is no cure at stage three.

Non-Curable/Chronic (Viral)

Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) [More info]: Herpes like to hang out in the ganglion cells and can travel though your nervous system. Outbreaks last from 1-6 weeks. Shingles and chicken pox are both forms of herpes. Both simplex 1 & 2 can be transmitted to the mouth and the genitals.

●     HSV1 - This shows up as the common cold sore. It is not normally transmitted during sex but it can be. 

●     HSV2 - Shows up as genital herpes. It is highly contagious and is mostly contagious before symptoms in the prodomal stage.

●     Treatment - Treated by anti-viral medication, there are several prescription antiviral medications for controlling herpes simplex outbreaks, such as acyclovir (Zovirax®), valacyclovir (Valtrex®), famciclovir (Famvir®), and penciclovir (Denavir®).

Human Papaloma Virus (HPV) [More info]: HPV has 95 strains; the most common are 6, 11, 16, and 18. 90% of women are infected. It is the #1 STI.

●     Symptoms: Males show few or no symptoms and it usually shows up as warts that go unnoticed or are in the urethra. In females, the warts are usually in the vagina and if they are not caught, they will go unnoticed without regular screening.

●     Treatment: There is no treatment for HPV itself. Vaccines like Gardasil help prevent the most common strains. There are treatments for the diseases HPV causes. Visible genital warts can be removed by the patient him or herself with medications & cervical cancer is most treatable when it is diagnosed and treated early. However, women who get routine Pap tests and follow up as needed can identify problems before cancer develops. Prevention is always better than treatment. 

Hepatitis [More info]: Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver. B, C, and D are all sexually transmitted and can be transmitted through sweat, spit and other fluids.

●     Symptoms: Many people with hepatitis B or C do not have symptoms when first infected and can still develop liver failure later. Other symptoms include abdominal pain or distention, breast development in males, dark urine and pale or clay-colored stools, fatigue, general itching, jaundice, loss of appetite, low-grade fever, nausea and vomiting, weight loss.

●     Treatment:  There is no cure for hepatitis itself. There are vaccines for prevention.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) [More info]: HIV is a lentivirus that works by infecting white blood cells and turning them into HIV producing factories. It is spread through blood, semen, vaginal fluids, pre-ejaculate and breast milk. Shows up in 4 stages.

●     Symptoms: 1. Acute HIV Infection - Shows up as Flu or mononucleosis like symptoms. 2-4 weeks after contact, it is very contagious at this point.  2. Asymptomatic HIV - This period varies in length from person to person. The immune system degrades slowly but shows no symptoms. 3. PGL (Persistent Generalized Lymphadenopathy) - Lymphadenopathy is a term meaning "disease of the lymph nodes" and this is a swelling of the lymph nodes. 4. Full Blown AIDS - A severe suppression of the immune system caused by HIV. 

●     Treatment - There is no cure for HIV. The treatment for HIV consists of antiretroviral therapy to suppress the replication of the HIV virus in the body. A combination of several antiretroviral agents, termed highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), has been highly effective in reducing the number of HIV particles in the blood stream, as measured by the viral load (how much virus is found in the blood). Many patients have personal health and well being plans to help support their immune systems.