Video
Dr Christian:
Loads of you are leaving comments on the Embarrassing Bodies site about chlamydia. The first question: ‘what symptoms does chlamydia cause?’ And the answer’s easy—none. A lot of the time, you won’t know you have it. You can carry it, you can walk around with chlamydia and it won’t cause any problems at all, until later on. When it does cause symptoms, in men, it can give you some discomfort, some burning, some stinging when you pee. It can make you feel like you need to pee more often, and it can give you a discharge from the end of your penis, either clear or a sort of pussy yellow colour. If you’ve got that, you need to go see a doctor, quickly.
If you’re a woman, again, very very commonly no symptoms at all, and that’s the main problem with chlamydia. But when you do get them, and it causes them in about 40, 50% of women, it can again give you discomfort when you pee, it can give you some discharge and bad smells. It can also give you cysts, it can give you some pain during sex, and it can give you some irregular periods or bleeding in between your periods. Any of those symptoms, you should be checked out.
Another question we’re getting asked is ‘what happens if I don’t treat chlamydia, is that bad?’ Well, that is the million dollar question, and it’s the reason we doctors get so worried about chlamydia in the first place. If you’re a woman, and you have untreated chlamydia for a while—for a year or more—it can lead toward a problem called pelvic inflammatory disease, and this is where the reproductive organs, the tubes, get scarred up and blocked. And that can lead to infertility, it can lead to chronic pelvic pain, particularly pain during sex, it can lead to irregular periods and bleeding in between your periods, it can lead to ectopic pregnancy, which is when the pregnancy occurs outside of the womb…and that can be life-threatening. So, if in doubt, even if you have no symptoms at all, you should get checked for chlamydia.
Another really common question that a lot of you have asked me is ‘can you get chlamydia in your mouth, can you get it from oral sex?’ That one’s easy. Yes, absolutely you can. If you have unprotected oral sex, you can carry chlamydia in your throat and give it to someone else, if you’re receiving oral sex from somebody with chlamydia in their throat, they can also give you chlamydia.
Another question here is ‘if you get treated for chlamydia, will it definitely go away? Can you relax or can it come back?’ Well…if you take the tablets exactly as instructed by your doctor, without indigestion remedies, without too much food and you don’t vomit quickly afterwards, then yes, most cases it will absolutely treat your chlamydia successfully. If there’s any sort of doubt, then go back and talk to the doctor that gave them to you.
We keep advising you to go and see a sexual health clinic if you’re worried about any of these infections. But, it seems a lot of you are stressing about whether they’re actually confidential or not. Well, absolutely, yes they are. When you go along, you don’t have to give your real name if you don’t want to, or you don’t even have to give a name at all. Very often, clinics will just give you a code number that will represent you and tie up your results with who you are. So it’s as simple as that, they can be completely anonymous, so you don’t need to worry.
Doctor Responses: Chlamydia
Dr Christian answers your most frequently asked questions about Chlamydia such as: What are the symptoms? Can you get Chlamydia in the mouth? Are STI clinics confidential?
A free online Chlamydia postal test for people aged under-25 is available in most areas. Go to www.freetest.me. for more details.
With thanks to the Baker Street Medical Centre
Yes
NoComments and Questions
You can share your experiences and thoughts with other Embarrassing Bodies site-users below. Comments & Questions are reviewed by moderators, but if you see anything on the site that worries you, please report it and one of our moderators will look at it as soon as possible.
Please note: Unfortunately Channel 4 cannot respond to individual inquiries. If you have any concerns, you can check out NHS Choices, but ultimately it is always best to check with a health professional.
What is the difference between chlamydia in the mouth & chlamydia in the genitals , what's the risks of chlamydia in the mouth , what can happen if its left untreated , will the chlamydia spread to your genitals ???j
What happens if you kiss someone who has chlamydia in the mouth , do you get it too ??? Somone answer please :(
My boyfriend was told he had a bacterial infection that could turn into chlamydia but was then given a tablet to kill the germ just incase. We have had unprotected sex many times prior to this so do i need to be tested, or can i also be given a tablet just in case?
A girl performed fellatio on me and I found out she also "did stuff" with a guy that apparently had chlamydia. I got tested before this happened and I was all clear. Should I be concerned? I'm getting sick of getting tested.
If i have contracted chlamydia orally does that mean i am also infected in my genitals or just in my throat. if it is just in my throat how do i get tested?
If you have a normal screening for chlamydia does that include checking for chlamydia in your mouth?
i have had the same partner for the last 6 + years. just before i got my periods i was realy sore down below.i thought it was thrush.went to gp got swabs done and they came back i had chlamydia and thrush.i got a shock...they said that myself or my partner has had unproteced sex within the last six months...i have not and my partner says he has not been with anyone....now iam feeling so inscure ...he said he has looked it up on the net and it can lie dormant for years.he's done a test and hes clear
how can you detect chlamydia of the mouth?
hi i am a 20 year old year male and have recently have had sex with my girlfriend but after we have sex its really sore when i urinate and i get a sharp pain down my right side and this happens all the time. would this be claymadia or a kindey infection, i am really not sure what it is.. help????
i am 6 and a half months pregnant n my longterm partner has found out he has chlamydia from a general check up at the gp's ... i however have had tests 3 times in the past year all showing up negative one just 2 months ago on the 2nd of july, im confused and am going for more tests and going to take the medication to treat chlamydia even if it doesnt show up this fourth time, could i be a carrier? could he not have given me it? i dont understand how this is not showing up if someone cud let me kno if they had something similar please let me kno, im uite worried for my little one who will be here in 13 weeks!