STDs

[tooworriedforwords]

Dp and I were watching hollyoaks (for those who aren't familiar there is a storyline about a woman who hadn't been sti tested and has gone a number of years with untreated chlamydia)
I said she was stupid and ofcourse if your sexually active you get tested. Dp then says he's never been tested..
Im gobsmacked and skslightly concerned. We've been together years and have two children.
Iv never been sti tested whilst with him. I have no symptoms but I'm a little worried and unsettled by this. What if Iv got it and Iv had it all these years and Iv given birth and everything!
P.s I'm abit if a hypocondriact...

Very sensible.

As far as I remember (to the poster who was wondering what it involved) I think it was a pee test, a blood test and a cotton wool stick up the foof to take a swab. Easier than a smear.

Depends on the test. A chlamydia test would just be a peectest.. anything else I think would be as eurochick said above :)

My GP sent me for an HIV test when I had my coil out. I'm still not quite sure why!

Don't the pre-natal blood tests test for STDs?

No formerbabe, just hiv, syphilis and hepatitis

Don't worry OP, you really will be ok.
I'm sexual health nurse so feel free to pick my brain and I'll answer as well as I can.

It varies from clinic to clinic but in general its likely if you went for a screen they'd test you for gonorrhoea, chlamydia, syphilis and HIV. They might want to do a bit more if you have any symptoms or disclose any specific risk factors.
Pretty much everything that might show up on these tests can be cured and if it can't, can be very well managed so the impact on your life should be minimal. Even HIV.

As far as your babies go, as far as I know gonorrhoea and chlamydia mostly cause conjunctivitis when they are new borns and not too much else. I'm really not hugely sure about this though, but I'm sure a big brain will be along shortly :)
You've already been tested twice for the blood borne things when you were pregnant and have been negative so that's very reassuring.

The tests are really straight forward as well, blood for both of you, a pee for the men and a self taken vaginal swab for the ladies.

Thanks so much mrswedge! You've answered pretty much anything I could have asked.
Impretty sure if we did have anything serious iwould have had it by the time iI had bloods done with ds during pregnancy (just 6 months ago)
Was just concerned one of my poor babies cocould have caught something off of me when I gave birth more than anything. I'd never forgive myself

Ds did have sticky eyes after birth but so do a lot of babies. He did see gp for sticky eyes and gp wasn't concerned

Ds did have sticky eyes after birth but so do a lot of babies. He did see gp for sticky eyes and gp wasn't concerned

Now this has made me really paranoid as my baby had sticky eyes and I never knew about this! I thought sticky eyes was common in babies anyway?

Yeah it is formerbabe, I think most babies get a little bit if a sticky eye. Don't let my hypocondria scare you too! Iv probably got nothing and both my kids will be absolutely fine but I just worry about everything.

Yes I worry about everything too!!

Pregnancy tests are usually just blood tests... Round here they don't test for chlamydia, gonnorrea etc.

Occupational hazzard formerbabe! My poor Dh must think I'm a loon :)
Iv never had any symptoms, neither has Dh or kids (besides sticky eyes but most babies have that) and I'mconvinced dh and I both have chlamydia and have given it to my poor babies during childbirth!

I thinking exactly the same thing as you....no symptoms at all but I am a paranoid person so now can't stop thinking about it?! Why don't they test pregnant women routinely for this?!

I thought the same thing. It's just not routine, neither is gonorea. I also think strep B should be routine.

formerbabe please don't be paranoid, from the stories I've heard this kind of conjunctivitis looks quite bad. You'd probably know something wasn't right and if you missed it your HV or midwife would be likely to spot it.
If you're worried though call your local GUM clinic, a lot of them will have people employed just to give you this kind of info and you can find out about testing too.
Come in an see us, we're nice :)

OP, I agree step B should be routine, its such a simple test and can have such an effect on the outcome of a pregnancy.

Thank you...I am a massive hyperchondriac (sp)!

Me too, I had to become a nurse to get over it :)

No pee test whenn I last went or one ( about 4 months ago) - a swab for chlamydia, gonhorrea (spelling fail), blood test for HIV which was back before I'd finished the session. Less scary than I thought.

Generally GPs/nurses test for chlamydia during your smear test. Or at least mine always have.

We

We

We don't get std tests with smears here.. I did have a few swabs taken while pregnant for possible waters leaking/strep B with my first but turned out to be nothing(midwife said it was probably just pee,cringe!, would they have detected it then?

They test u for everything when pregnant