Gonorrhea: What if it CAN'T go away?

When Teen Damien educates about HIV and other STDs, we often categorize them into "treatable" (ones that can be cured with antibiotics or other medication) or "untreatable" (ones that will stay with you forever, even if you don't always have visible sores or bumps). But one STD is starting to change...

At one point in time, we had 5 different medications that could be used to treat gonorrhea and rid the body of it entirely. However, the bacteria is getting SMARTER than the meds--we're now down to only one medication that we can use.

Gonorrhea, a sexually transmitted disease, shows up 2-21 days after having sex. Most men and women have no symptoms, but sometimes women will have thick yellow or gray discharge from the vagina, abnormal periods, burning or pain when peeing, or cramps; men may have thick yellow or greenish drip from the penis, burning or pain when peeing, or swollen testicles. Gonorrhea likes to hang out with Chlamydia, so if you have one there's a chance you have both.

This article describes gonorrhea as a "super bug" because it is becoming resistant to medication. There are some people that aren't responding to medication at all and have to come back to their doctor or clinic for a check-up three months after they've been treated to make sure their body reacted properly.

Think about what you can do to make sure you don't come in contact with this common STD that soon may be untreatable.

What you need to know about Chlamydia

 

This cute little guy's name is Chlamydia...he is not your friend.

In Marion County there were 4,134 cases of Chlamydia in 2011 for people ages 15-24. With numbers like that, do you feel safe? A lot of times people feel like they don't need to be tested for STDs if they don't have any symptoms EVEN if they had unprotected sex. The best way to fight Chlamydia is to know all about it. The first thing you should know is there is a cure for Chlamydia but most people don't have any symptoms.

For the folks that do have symptoms they may look like this:

 Men:

• Sores, bumps, or blisters near genitals, anus (butt) or mouth
• Burning or pain when you urinate (pee)
• Drip or discharge from the penis

     Women:

• Sores, bumps, or blisters near genitals, anus (butt) or mouth
• Burning or pain when you urinate (pee)
• Itching
• Bad smell or unusual discharge from vagina or anus
• Belly ache-normally in the lower belly area
• Bleeding from the vagina between periods

Health consequences:
Men: though rare, the infection can spread to the epididymis (a tube that carries sperm from the testes), testicles and prostate, causing pain, fever and, rarely, being unable to father a child.
Women: it can lead to scarring of the fallopian tubes. This can lead to infertility (being unable to have a baby).

If you have unprotected sex...GET TESTED! We do free testing for Chlamydia at the Damien Center. Call (317)632.0123 for an appointment. Walk-ins welcome.