Chlamydia Antibodies

[nojudgementplease1]

I have recently found out that I have chlamydia antibodies. (GP surgery told me my results were all normal but I have recently requested a printout of them and it clearly states antibodies consistent with previous infection of chlamydia. (im so angry about that as I thought I was ok for months now) I had chlamydia from a previous bf 11 years ago. I have done some reading and found that this has a high risk of associated tubal damage and now I am devastated. My dh has been aware from start of our relationship many years ago that I had this.
I have an appointment with fertility next week. Does anyone have any experience with this? Any good news stories of being able to conceive, is this something IVF has a high or low success rate for? I'm just so devastated that I have allowed this to happen to me. Something from when I was a teenager and young and stupid is affecting my and my dh chance of kids which we want so much. DH is being very supportive and telling me not to worry until we find out for definite what is happening.

[TheAuthoress]

I also had chlamidya 16 years ago from an ex. and also worried about conceiving, but had absolutely no problems conceiving my two kids and the pregnancies were fine and normal.

Haven't a clue about antibodies, but I assume anyone who has had chlamidya will have them?

[TheAuthoress]

Sorry about the spelling, on a tablet and couldn't spell check!

[nina1985]

I had chlamydia 4 years ago from a cheating ex as well, I had no idea this was a thing. Why wouldn't they have mentioned it?

Are you sure it's not just that anyone who has had chlamydia and treated it will have chlamydia antibodies but it's risky for tubal damage if it's left untreated (which yours isn't)?

[nojudgementplease1]

Hi Ally,

I am not sure why they don't mention it when being tested - I guess if it is treated early enough you do not have the opportunity to develop antibodies but if it is left untreated your body does build up antibodies to it. (so they cover it by saying untreated chlamydia). If you have had infertility tests/investigations this should have been one of the tests they have done. If you have antibodies I think they then do lap and dye...?

Mine I only found out I had it when my dh got symptoms as I had given it to him. I was with him for 10 months before we found this out. I was with x for 2 years before this and god knows when he gave it to me. So mine could have been untreated for quite a while I guess!

This is some information I have read up on

Blood tests to detect tubal damage from chlamydia

The most common test to detect chlamydia infection in women involves taking a swab from the cervix during a speculum exam in the doctor’s office. The swab is tested for chlamydia DNA. The problem with this test is that it does not tell the physician how long the infection has been present, how severe the infection is and whether the woman with the infection has sustained tubal damage. The swab test can also miss an infection that has moved up into the uterus or tubes and is no longer in the cervix.

Blood tests can also be performed to detect the antibodies the body makes when exposed to the chlamydia bacteria. These blood test are fairly predictive for finding women with tubal damage during laparoscopy. A recent study found that the presence of the chlamydia antibody predicted the presence of tubal damage (blockage or adhesions )correctly 62% of the time. Conversely, the absence of the chlamydia antibody predicted the absence of tubal damage 90% of the time.

[nojudgementplease1]

theaut thanks for sharing your story - did you ever get tested for antibodies - as not everyone develops antibodies (from my understanding)

[nina1985]

Oh right. So, does this mean I need to go to the doctors to establish if the infection moved up into my uterus etc? This is devastating I thought it was all sorted :(

I think I had it for 3 months or so before i realised and took medicine to treat it. But they never mentioned it might have moved up and be causing havoc in my reproductive system.

I'm not currently being treated for infertility, I just spotted this thread in active. But I do want children so this is fairly terrifying :(

[nina1985]

Sorry OP I appreciate I'm derailing your thread with my own worries.

My mums best friend had chlamydia for 20 years, throughout the 3 pregnancies she had and right through her adult life! So hope is not by any means all lost. There is so much they can do now anyway. I really hope everything is okay with you