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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To want to print a t-shirt that says 'I DON'T have Chlamydia'?

28 replies

laweaselmys · 13/08/2009 20:19

I really don't.

Please world - stop offering me free tests. Especially when I sign in for my appointment at the GP the correct response is 'thank you' not 'do you want a free chlamydia test too?'

OP posts:
OrmIrian · 13/08/2009 20:25

Surely the correct response to "do you want a free chlamydia test too?" is 'do you want a smack in the teeth?"

I would pull myself up to my fullest height and sniff in outrage.

Infertilitygoddess · 13/08/2009 20:26

Speaking as someone who had undiagnosed and untreated chlamydia which was only picked up after trying unsuccessfully for 3 years to have a baby, you are being unreasonable.

I know you don't have chlamydia, the next person they ask to test may have it, and it could be caught and treated so they don't have to undergo several operations followed by repeated IVF cycles (like me)

Just say no thanks.

Woooozle100 · 13/08/2009 20:31

Ooh go on - wear the t shirt

It'll do a lot of good. Raise more awareness about chlamydia and make yr point to boot

I'm seeing it as a big baggy relax style white t, bold black print.. slouched over a belt, teamed with sparkly leggings

I would LOVE to be offered a free chlamydia test. It would mean people thought I looked under 25

Original poster
laweaselmys · 13/08/2009 20:34

LOL! Well it's true, I know chlamydia is very bad, but it really frustrates me how adamant they can be that I should have it.

I have had a test, I don't I have it. Would you persist at someone over 25 that perhaps their partner is being unfaithful and you can never know?

OP posts:
Original poster
laweaselmys · 13/08/2009 20:35

pixie - I'm thinking 'Frankie says Relax' print?

OP posts:
Woooozle100 · 13/08/2009 21:06

that's the one. I recommend WHSmiths for their T Shirt transfer kits

hester · 13/08/2009 21:23

You're over 25? Then I am surprised. I thought the current chlamydia screening campaign was aimed by under 25s. The thinking behind it is that if every young person is tested every year, it will become normal and routine and we will pick up all those asymptomatic cases.

You must have a very eager and committed GP

blueshoes · 13/08/2009 21:31

Mu aupairs (under 25) are sent free chlamydia testing kits in the post

proverbial · 13/08/2009 23:27

YANBU. Most countries don't offer it at all, you should count yourself lucky that you have such easy and free access to top class healthcare.
Just say no thank you.

Original poster
laweaselmys · 13/08/2009 23:28

I'm under 21 - so I know I am in their target audience.

I just think some of things they say to get you take them are really off! A HV suggested my friend's partner was cheating on her because two weeks post birth her baby had totally normal baby acne. Not the right time or way to get someone to take a test...

I think if I had been sent them in the post they would have been returned to sender quite forcibly.

OP posts:
Original poster
laweaselmys · 13/08/2009 23:30

No I'm not. I'm 22. urgh. I'm always saying I'm 21 on here!

OP posts:
Tidey · 13/08/2009 23:34

You know those STI ads? Well, can you really buy knickers that have 'gonorrhea' embroidered on the front? They'd be a brilliant gift for someone you hate.

PixiNanny · 13/08/2009 23:57

I'm 20 and keep getting that too. A few months back my Mum forwarded a nice parcel too me and I got all excited thinking it was something cool and fun!

...

Me and host Mum were in the kitchen, I opened it and... drumroll... it was a chlamydia test from the government!

T'was the highlight of mine and MBs day though, we were in stitches over that one!

Though I understand wanting to test people, I hate the assumption that every young adult is a whore. Though I admit I did whore a bit last year (slept with 4 guys last year eek to be fair, PGL life usually dictates more...) but it's my business to check myself, not theirs!

I went to the doctor a few weeks back and was chatting about my knee problems and she asked me 1) was I on the pill and sexually active? (yes and no); 2) why I wasn't getting sex atm (explains situ of bf working abroad); 3) oh, maybe I'd like to go to the sexual health clinic before he gets back, jic?

The receptionist in that particular docs has also asked me if I would like a free chlamydia test. At the desk. In front of other patients

Needless to say, I've found a different doc. One who thinks I'm a hypochrondriac because I went to her with numerous problems at once after avoiding Gloucs doctors for a while

PixiNanny · 13/08/2009 23:59

not weeks, I should say months now, it was back in April!

Original poster
laweaselmys · 14/08/2009 00:09

Yes that is exactly it - you are under 25 therefore you must automatically be a slag with an STI! (even though neither makes any sense, or even that having an STI means you were too casual about sex)

I'm sure I read somewhere that older people are more likely to have an STI and not know it, because they are less likely to get tested and if they aren't fertile anymore less likely to use condoms. Can't find anything about it though (typical).

Tidey I love the idea of those pants. It would be the most fantastic present opening moment, quite pleased to catsbum in less than three seconds.

OP posts:
shelleylou · 14/08/2009 00:23

I'm 23 and I've never been asked at my doctors if i want to be tested. They do have a space on the toilet door for the request for free tests i think. Had a memo there but no 'forms'

poshwellies · 14/08/2009 00:27

I think my shirt will say 'I don't have Chlamydia but I regularly have episodes of thrush and piles'

hester · 14/08/2009 19:07

But that's the whole point: by normalising chlamydia testing for ALL young people, it avoids any sense of value judgement on those who get tested for chlamydia. Lots of research shows that young people are happy to be tested for chlamydia IF they think everybody else is being tested and there is no suggestion that they are skanky.

In any case, you don't have to be a slag to get chlamydia. And up to 75% of women are asymptomatic. So it's a good idea to just make the test as routine as possible.

SpawnChorus · 14/08/2009 19:31

lol @ poshwellies

lizjonesatemyhamster · 14/08/2009 19:34

You lot are nuts. Anyone can get chlamydia - as hester says it is mainly asymptomatic and the consequences of having it can have profound implications for women's fertility. So you can take a test, like you have a smear test and potentially avoid massive heartache. What's the problem?

motherbeyond · 14/08/2009 20:19

yanbu!when ds was 2 weeks old,he had post natal conjunctivitus.it was bad,and our gp sent us straight to the hospital.in triage,the nurse said (tactfully-not)that he could have 'the clap' ifmyself or my dh haad it!cue,lots of accusatory looks between him and i at a very stressful time.

when she left the room,it was ..if youv'e given my baby bloody chlamydia,i'll kill you!
we had to wait 24 hors to get the all clear,but it was most unhelpful,to say the least!

i think she should have kept her big trap shut,they were going to test him for it anyway,and i really didn't need the extra worry/guilt!

PixiNanny · 14/08/2009 20:51

I think it's less about the chlamydia testing and more about the testing in general, and the way docs/pharmacists/everyone asking has a tendancy to make you feel so belittled and stupid about it.

Being on the wrong end of this thing, I feel like I'm being accused and judged just for being a young adult every time I see a doctor because every time they bring the convo to my sexual health and are disbelieving when I say I'm not sexually active at the moment. I'm more embarassed to speak to my doctor about my sexual health now then I was before this testing thing came about tbh :/

hester · 14/08/2009 21:51

I'm sorry it feels like that to you, Pixi. But surely, if you know that EVERYBODY under 25 is being offered the test, it shouldn't make you feel judged?

Fact is that Chlamydia is most widespread among young people because young people are more sexually active than us oldies. There's no judgment in that; it's just the natural order of things.

It's also worth knowing that the Government has set national targets for Chlamydia testing, so actually the health authorities just want all young people tested all the time, to meet the targets as well as to normalise it. The targets don't specify that you should be at risk of contracting Chlamydia; the targets don't care whether or not you have ever had sex.

I do know how irritating it is when you get disbelieved about your sexual activity, though. I've had 25 years of being challenged on WHY I don't need contraception by health professionals (answer: because I only sleep with girls).

TrillianAstra · 14/08/2009 21:59

I'm sorry that you feel judged, but really the campaign is there to do good, to help people, and if a few people get a bit huffy then that's nothign compared to the number of people who discover that they have a (treatable) disease now rather than later.

TheHeathenOfSuburbia · 14/08/2009 22:36

It's only pissing in a pot (on a stick?)isn't it, what's to lose?

I'm assuming since you're on MN you've had a kid, I'm surprised you don't carry a small sample of wee with you to all medical appointments just in case!