| How many of you actually get tested for STD's? If not why?
Posted: 11/8/2007 4:20:31 PM | MOST people do NOT wait the 13 weeks after their LAST partner to be tested. I do, i don't date very often. I have had a few guys lie about being tested AND none knew the 13 week rule. It does not even matter if the person goes and gets tested WITH you. Who is to say that they did not sleep with another partner before that 13 weeks period for HIV to show up in their blood???? Point being, you are playing russian roulette with your life. Always use protection, today's world is sad, there are too many dishonest people NOT being tested correctly. Even some that say "I would know if i had an STD" or "I know my body". YOU DON'T KNOW.
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| How many of you actually get tested for STD's? If not why?
Posted: 11/25/2007 10:32:01 AM | | Until I lost my insurance, I did, especially after my husband's affair. My OB/GYN insisted on it frequently for a year, then annually after that. I'm divorced now and haven't been with all that many guys -- I was more concerned when I was married. Sick, huh? | |
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| How many of you actually get tested for STDs? If not why?
Posted: 12/26/2007 8:50:16 AM | | Blacat, thanks for adding to the discussion on types of tests. I mention the NAAT urine test for men because they are afraid of getting swabbed. In our clinic we prefer swabs for women, but if she can't stay for testing, we collect a urine sample and do a NAAT. | |
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| How many of you actually get tested for STD's? If not why?
Posted: 12/26/2007 9:01:42 AM | Im military and I'm not more promiscuous. Never had a one night stand, don't care to.
Meaningless sex I'll pass...I do get get tested once a month my doctor has me do this due to my body piercings and tattoos . I was a cop before I enlisted so I also do it because of the crap I had to deal with, there are some nasty people out there, who like to bite, spit and a whole bunch of other things I don't care to metion..... | |
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| How many of you actually get tested for STD's? If not why?
Posted: 12/26/2007 11:40:47 AM | | I read that in order to be 100% positive that you are not carrying the hiv or aids virus you must get your blood tested every 4 months for two years. It said that the virus can HIDE in the body and only many tests will catch it. One will not do. So, there is a lot of danger out there. | |
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| How many of you actually get tested for STD's? If not why?
Posted: 12/26/2007 12:28:08 PM | I tend not to have a lot of unprotected sex partners. (I am talking three in 10 years.) The last time I had an STD test was about a year ago. I had started a new relationship several months earlier and had some discomfort that turned out to be prostatitis. It turned out not to be and STD but it was a good excuse to get checked and everything came back negative.
HIV/AIDS in the US can be difficult to get a handle on. As more medications are brought to bear you can have the numbers "living with AIDS" increasing every year and that might not reflect the number of new cases every year. It isn't something to pass off lightly but you can greatly reduce your chances of infection by screening potential partners and taking additional precautions for partners who might be more likely to have it (history of drug use, male/male sex, sexually active in an inner urban scenario). I have not had a history of sex with these people (and I am circumcised which cuts infection rates by a further 50% for heterosexual sex).
While the notion of AIDS is scary, one still needs to keep things in perspective. It is still a tiny percentage of the population who have it and the majority are people who have engaged in high-risk activities with people who are at high-risk of being infected. For a heterosexual male living in an average middle class or rural area of the US who has no history if IV drug use or sex with those using IV drugs the chances of having sex with someone having HIV/AIDS is pretty slim. The chances of catching it even slimmer. A man in that demographic would have to work pretty hard to actually get the virus. You aren't going to get it from having unprotected sex with the neighbor lady. | |
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| How many of you actually get tested for STD's? If not why?
Posted: 12/26/2007 1:43:41 PM | | Regarding testing accuracy, Hearts, [you must get your blood tested every 4 months for two years], that is not correct. There are two tests. When the first comes back "reactive" it is sent for a confirmatory test. Even the rapid test is nearly 100% accurate. It is also sent for a confirmatory test when after 60 seconds it is reactive. These tests are accurate after the three month window period (after unprotected intercourse). | |
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| How many of you actually get tested for STD's? If not why?
Posted: 12/26/2007 1:50:52 PM | Dad, do not count on circumcision's protecting you from HIV ["I am circumcised which cuts infection rates by a further 50% for heterosexual sex"]. Yes, transmission has been shown to be reduced by up to 60% in several African countries. This research has not been replicated in the US for heterosexual transmission. There are several things which increase the risk of HIV:
- a pre-existing infection like chlamydia which compromises mucous membranes. HIV infects the white blood cells trying to fight the infection.
- being on the receiving end
- having unprotected sex with an infected person in the first three months of their infection (50% chance of transmission) which coincides with the window period when HIV would not be detected
If your "neighbour lady" recently just got infected with HIV and you have an untreated chlamydia infection from a former lover (50% of men have no symptoms) you are at increased risk. | |
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| How many of you actually get tested for STD's? If not why?
Posted: 12/26/2007 1:51:19 PM | I do and I spend years on end sexually inactive. Some things like that cervical cancer virus are new developments that wouldn't have showed up in the past because nobody ever heard of it before.
I want to know that if I ever do get involved with someone that I have no issues to deal with first. | |
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| How many of you actually get tested for STD's? If not why?
Posted: 12/26/2007 2:41:27 PM | I never said that I was "counting on it". I said that statistically speaking, circumcised individuals have 50% lower infection rate when engaged in the same activities than a non-circumcised individual. But I don't have an STD phobia either. I think I look at them realistically for what they are a deal with them accordingly. The 50% thing would be more a risk factor mitigation for women. An uncircumcised man is twice as likely to have HIV if he has engaged in heterosexual sex with an HIV+ partner than a circumcised man would be.
For example ... a woman who isn't from an inner city urban area over 25 years old who has never used IV drugs, had fewer than one unprotected sex partner per year, has not had sex with a man who has had sex with other men, has had no tattoos or piercings since her last STD test, has no std's that she is aware of, is not experiencing any pain or unusual physical symptoms and visual inspection shows nothing suspicious, then she is probably STD free. I would say that more people get struck by lightning every year than pass all those criteria and still have an STD.
BUT people particularly on internet sites tend to have germ phobias ... or to be more accurate, people with germ phobias tend to flock to internet sites rather than meet people in real life. You would find someone like Monk, for example, on an Internet site checking people out six ways to Sunday and endless emails and phone conversations and endless hand wringing over STDs. | |
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| How many of you actually get tested for STD's? If not why?
Posted: 12/26/2007 2:48:09 PM |
if i have had unprotected sex then i get checked out straight away
I am not sure that sentence says what you wanted it to. Have your partner get an STD test and then you can have all the unprotected sex you want with them without worry. That beats you going to get tested after every time you have unprotected sex. That says that you don't get sex very often and when you do it is with people whose STD status is unknown to you and you run straight away to the clinic.
If your partner doesn't have an STD, you can have ALL THE SEX YOU WANT with them and you will never get an std from them. STDs are not caused by having sex. They are caused by having sex with infected people. You can screw someone 84 times a day that doesn't have an STD and you can get tested every single day but the test result will be the same on the last day as it was the first. If she doesn't have an STD, you aren't going to catch one. Some people seem to think that STDs are caused by sex ... like all that friction will cause genital cells to suddenly mutate into a disease and they need to be checked each time they have sex. | |
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| How many of you actually get tested for STD's? If not why?
Posted: 12/26/2007 8:03:47 PM | I technically have got tested yet technically not.
I donate plasma far more often than i get laid wich amounts to getting an std test for the most important diseases and viruses with every bag of plasma. If i had gotten hiv, hepetitis, hpv or other major viral thing i would be getting a private chat with the clinic's doctor the next time i went in. I also get a yearly exam as part of the donation requirements which is included in the process.
As for whats left men are much more likely to show or experience symptoms than a woman is so either i would know about it right away or i would know when i get the exam.
In spite of having a crappy diet, poor exercise, occasional drug use and inadequite clothing for the climate i live in i have an excellent immune system and only get sick once per year if im unlucky. I know my body enough to know if something was wrong. | |
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| How many of you actually get tested for STD's? If not why?
Posted: 12/26/2007 10:36:29 PM | I hate to burst your bubble shy, but I want to comment on a few things:
1) Blood donation only requires testing for SOME of the STI's as not all of them exclude you from being a donor. For instance - you can donate blood if you have Herpes because its not blood borne virus. I have donated blood and never ever been tested for Herpes in the process. Also, many STI's aren't tested by blood test, but rather a swab or urine sample.
2) There is no such thing as an HPV test for males. So NO male can ever say with any accuracy that they are "disease free". Plain and simple!
3) The vast majority of people with STI's DO NOT REALISE THEY HAVE ONE ! (Regardless of how well they know their body). Sometimes this is due to very minor symptoms very easily mistaken for something minor like a cut or ingrown hair, and sometimes its because the virus or infection is completely asymtomatic. It has little to do with knowing your own body...its just a fact that most people have mild or no symptoms!
Some excellent sources of accurate information are the CDC website, and www.ashastd.org (American Social Health Association). For blood testing info the FDA and Red Cross have good info on guidelines etc. | |
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| How many of you actually get tested for STD's? If not why?
Posted: 12/27/2007 2:02:08 AM | | After my ex decided to confess 3 years into the relationship that he had Hep C (drug use long before me.. apparently), I've been super careful and tested, regularly. I was lucky and negative, but I was also really angry because I was insistent on us both being tested before unprotected, and he lied. I was young and trusting. So, now, either I'm in the room for the results, or no glove, no love. | |
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