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STDs (Expert Forum)
Not sure what this is...
Answered by
University of Washington
Seattle - WA
This forum is for questions and support regarding STD issues such as: Chlamydia, Crabs (pubic lice scabies), Gonorrhea, Hepatitis (viral), Herpes, HPV, Molluscum Contagiosum, PID, Rectal Infections, Syphilis, Trichomoniasis, Warts, Yeast Infection.All questions will be answered by H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D. or Edward W Hook, MD.
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Not sure what this is...
by Need help UK, Jan 05, 2006 12:00AM
Hello Doctor. I was hoping you could help me with a bit of a persistant problem.
I am a 24 year old, uncircumsised male. Around 4.5 months ago, I had unprotected sex with a female friend. Following this I went to my GUM clinic to get tested where they found I had NSU, but was negative for all other STDs (as was she).
I was prescribed doxy for 10 days, which cleared the infection (they retested and it was clear).
However, symptoms have persisted - wetness at tip of penis and just inside, and an 'uncomfortable' feeling (I cant pinpoint the exact feeling) just inside the tip. There may be more frequent urination, but I could not honestly say as this has been going on for so long!
Fast forward to now and the symptoms are still there. I revisited the GUM clinic who did further testing, and found that I had a pus count of 7 and said it was NSU again. They therefore put me on 2 weeks of Erythromycin.
They said that should the symptoms persist, I need to be referred to a Urologist, but that the only STD it could be (if it did continue) was HPV in the urethra (there is nothing visible)
Note: I have also tested negative for both Herpes types using HerpeSelect at 14 weeks.
Other 'symptoms' that I have noticed more recently include a sticky, stringy substance (clear) from the tip a few hours after ejaculation and also at the time of a mild erection (which has never been the case prior).
Do you think that HPV in the urethra could cause these symptoms, or is it just the NSU?
Or, does HPV cause NSU?
Are there any other possibilities?
I am obviously a bit freaked out at the moment and worried that this latest course of antibiotics may not do the trick!
Any help you can give me would be great!
I am a 24 year old, uncircumsised male. Around 4.5 months ago, I had unprotected sex with a female friend. Following this I went to my GUM clinic to get tested where they found I had NSU, but was negative for all other STDs (as was she).
I was prescribed doxy for 10 days, which cleared the infection (they retested and it was clear).
However, symptoms have persisted - wetness at tip of penis and just inside, and an 'uncomfortable' feeling (I cant pinpoint the exact feeling) just inside the tip. There may be more frequent urination, but I could not honestly say as this has been going on for so long!
Fast forward to now and the symptoms are still there. I revisited the GUM clinic who did further testing, and found that I had a pus count of 7 and said it was NSU again. They therefore put me on 2 weeks of Erythromycin.
They said that should the symptoms persist, I need to be referred to a Urologist, but that the only STD it could be (if it did continue) was HPV in the urethra (there is nothing visible)
Note: I have also tested negative for both Herpes types using HerpeSelect at 14 weeks.
Other 'symptoms' that I have noticed more recently include a sticky, stringy substance (clear) from the tip a few hours after ejaculation and also at the time of a mild erection (which has never been the case prior).
Do you think that HPV in the urethra could cause these symptoms, or is it just the NSU?
Or, does HPV cause NSU?
Are there any other possibilities?
I am obviously a bit freaked out at the moment and worried that this latest course of antibiotics may not do the trick!
Any help you can give me would be great!
Doctor's Answer
by H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D., Jan 05, 2006 12:00AM
, Jan 05, 2006 12:00AM
I really can't say very much. I would not dream of guessing at alternate diagnoses or treatments based on online description when a person has been under the personal care of a UK GUM clinic, which generally are highly expert and the care highly reliable. I am unaware of data to suggest HPV as a cause of nongonococcal urethritis (the Brits call it NSU, but everyone else calls it NGU)--but perhaps your urologist has seen cases that make him suspicious of it.
In any case, you probably can stop worrying about it. No serious long term outcomes have ever been linked to chronic/persistent NGU: no cancer, no infertility, no urethral stricture, no known adverse outcomes of any kind in affected persons' sex partners. It is a good bet that many (most?) such cases are due to inflammation, not infection. Just as a sprained ankle may periodically hurt or swell up months or years later, after the sprain has healed by all available measures, any injured body part may have persistent symptoms after the initial event has resolved.
Bottom line: Follow your GUM providers' advice, including just living with the symptoms, if that is what they suggest.
Good luck-- HHH, MD
In any case, you probably can stop worrying about it. No serious long term outcomes have ever been linked to chronic/persistent NGU: no cancer, no infertility, no urethral stricture, no known adverse outcomes of any kind in affected persons' sex partners. It is a good bet that many (most?) such cases are due to inflammation, not infection. Just as a sprained ankle may periodically hurt or swell up months or years later, after the sprain has healed by all available measures, any injured body part may have persistent symptoms after the initial event has resolved.
Bottom line: Follow your GUM providers' advice, including just living with the symptoms, if that is what they suggest.
Good luck-- HHH, MD
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I suppose I was also wondering what kind of discharge a wart in the uretha can cause, whether it would be thick or thin, or just a 'wetness'.
Any reading I can find is really vague on the symptoms this could cause - what do you think?