STDs - how are they tested for?

[Alambil]

I left my ex 5 years ago but every so often I get paranoid incase I have anything ...

Is that totally irrational? Is it at all possible to have something but not know a thing for FIVE YEARS? It's a long time for no symptoms ... or is it?

I don't know why I get like this - but sometimes I just think, what if...?

Please slap me - I need to come back to reality

Go to your local GUM clinic and get checked. Is good thing to do anyway and will put your mind at rest They test differently for different things. I went for full checkup a few years ago, they took smears and blood from me, I got the results same day.

hth

Chalmydia can lay dormant for quite some time with no symptoms.

not sure about other STD's.

You should definately go and get yourself tested if you worry about the possibility of having something.

I was tested for chlamydia recently as I am trying to conceive. It was the same as a smear. I think you can also do a urine test - you can either go to a GUM clinic (my doctor tested because I had an infection and I asked her to) or you can send off for Chlamydia tests online for about £25. I think you would have to go to a clinic for a full test thought

It's not irrational to worry about this. It is possible to have a STD with no symptoms, though some have more obvious symptoms.

Most are easily sorted so don't be afraid. I left a long term partner for my boyfriend and was very scared about all this. I called the gum clinic twice and hung up!

Go to GU clinic for a full, free confidential check up.

A lot of people do it for their peace of mind or prior to starting new relationship. It really isn't full of promiscuous teenagers- all sorts go there!

You will usually be offered urine tests, internal swabs and blood tests which will cover everything. You can opt in or out of as much or as little as you like.

If you're in London and under 25 you can get free at home Chlamydia tests from Boots I was reading yesterday.

My old GP did STD tests and a smear upon registering as standard practice so you don't have to necessarily go to a GUM clinic if you would feel more comfortable at your local surgery.

To be honest, even if your GP will do the testing, it is done better at GU clinic.

DOI- GP

i went to a gum clinic on tuesday

it was all by appointment no real wait

only a coupl,e of people in the waiting area

staff wer pleasant

the doctors operated as a team

they did ask a lot of very intimate questions which i found embarrassing and detailed

then feet up on stirrups and the use a spoeculum and take some samples i found this excruciatingly embarrassing again with two docs and a nurse

then blood samples

then produced a urine samples

they doid some resul;ts on the same day and the others for chlamydia hepatitus hiv gonorrhiea i think you ring after a week

all free

and they give you condoms too

zippitippitoes - weird that so many people were present, were they student doctors?

no not unless they were mature students i assumed the two guys chaperoined each other

no actually they iontroduced themselves as doctors

maybe you have an interesting fanjo zippi

So what is it you get done when you are PG? I seem to remember getting tested for bits and bobs when I was pregnant? But that was only bloods, no swabs.

lol

i dont think they could tell that before i took my clothes off

as medical experiences go it was on a par with a private clinic

i was expecting somewhere more like a normal hospital waiting room with everyone having the same appointment time and a three hour wait

i actually meant to say that if you are concerned then go along and be tested

i found it mortifying but only while i was there

once out of the door it is over with

and they are just professional medics

i went to the gum clinic after me and dp had a "break".....it was not as bad as i thought it would be...apart from a little mishap on my part....i was in the stirrups getting swabbed off a male doctor and was rather embarrassed so when he finished i jumped down forgetting he was still there....the poor man nearly had my fanjo on his face...he was all "WOAH WOAH WOAH" trying to bugger off with his wheely chair

I have been to my local GUM clinic and they are lovely and much more knowledgeable and efficient than the GP's.

Think of it as a rather intimate MOT.

PMSL at fawkeoff

i was mortified...the look on the doctors is etched in my brain forever, i bet he wont forget me either....i could see that the nurse wanted to piss herslef.....