http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090729/hl_nm/us_chlamydia_test_1

I meant "a giant leap." In any event, I'm hoping this can get into the category of a home testing kit you can buy at the drugstore. But even if it requires a visit to the doctor's office, it is better than having a q-tip stuck up your dick.

(Message edited by LAguy on July 28, 2009)

The local STD lab here has been using a urine test for Chlamydia for years now. If this is new, the new part is the quick result I guess. It takes a week to get your results here.

They do still stick a Q-Tip down your dick for Gonorrhea though and that is is still uncomfortable.

Take 2g of the Z-pack and don't worry about the test. That will kill both Gonorrhea and Chlamydia. No test needed. Just be prepared for a case of the shits....

Is a Z-pack Zithromax? A while back a CH member mentioned that Zithromax could be used for Gonorrhea but was more appropriate for Chlamydia (see quote below). He recommended Cipro as a better alternative. However, maybe Z-pack is easier to buy in certain places, like Brazil, without a prescription, than Cipro, I'm not sure. Other antibiotics mentioned on CH include Levaquin, Avelox, Ixtoc, Cefixime (Suprax), Ceftriaxone. But once again I’m not sure about how easy it is to get these antibiotics in different places around the world.

"Zithromax is an erythromycin derivative and can be used to treat either Chlamydia or GC. Dose for Chlamydia is one gram-- 4 tablets as one dose not over 4 days. Dose for GC is 2 grams or 8 tablets -- one dose again. Not the first choice for GC however . Cipro is.
Doxycycline is a cheaper alternative for treatment of Chlamydia and works just as well."

Actually a Z-pack will not kill some of the Asian strains of gonnorrhea. But the situation where one might find himself facing a q-tip is after returning to the U.S. and assuming one doesn't have a pharmacy at home, or at least a stash of STD medications. From my rather limited experience with this (and it is dated) some doctors will want to do the tests before prescribing medications, or, in some instances, to confirm they worked.

I picked up Chlamydia on a trip to Indo, then went to a clinic in Pattaya. I was given 2g Zithromax and it took care of it in about two days. I was told that the symptons for Gonorrhea are about the same. It is just one dose - 2g all at once (It used to be 1g). The doctor gave me the Z-Pack right after my initial visit and before the lap results came back. It worked great, but it gave me the shits for a day.

LM, sounds like a hell of a weekend. A sore dick and a the runs, I'm sure the girls were quite impressed

All you needed then was to sit in the sun for a few hours and get burned to a crisp. Or contract malaria.

Sounds like it makes sense to stock up on Zithromax, Cipro or other antibiotics just in case. Can you get this stuff without a prescription in Brazil? Are any of them easier to find than others? Does it go by the same name?

They're all available as far as I know.

Yup, all that stuff you can get in Brazil without a prescription. None of the antibiotics require a prescription. I believe the name for Zithromax is Azitromicina. Whatever it is, it is pretty close to the english generic name and the pharmacy will know. The usually sell them in packs of 2 of 500mg each. If you google the generic name for the antibiotics they generally match pretty closely to the Portuguese name.

In Brazil you can pretty much everything without a prescription, including Viagra, Levitra, or Allergy treatments, etc... the only exceptions are sleeping tablets (like Lunesta, which is called something else), and things like Valium. But, I do know one small pharmacy that will sell everything without a prescription to me.

Tip - Usually the smaller individual pharmacies are less strict with prescriptions then the large pharmacy chains

Azithromycin is not used to treat gonorrhea of any type. It's prescribed for chlamydia (1g. one time). Chlamydia is also treated with amoxicillin (500mg/3xday/7days) or doxycycline (500mg/2xday/7days).


Gonorrhea used to be treated with cipro, but that is no longer a recommended treatment, as cipro doesn't work with the resistant strains common in some places. So the official CDC recommendation for treating gonorrhea is one 400mg tablet of cefixime (oral) or an injection of ceftriaxone.

Here's the link for updated treatment regimens for gonorrhea:

http://www.cdc.gov/std/treatment/2006/updated-regimens.htm

And here's the link to the full set of treatment guidelines for all STDs:

http://www.cdc.gov/std/treatment/

In Brazil you can buy azithromycin 1g tablets. I have not seen cefixime anywhere in Brazil. Unfortunately, I believe there's only one manufacturer of cefixime, Lupin Pharmaceuticals, and since there's no generic version, it's a bit pricey. Doxycycline is also available in Brazil. No scrip needed for any of these.

Final note: don't take antibiotics unless you have STD symptoms. Overuse of antibiotics is what's primarily responsible for the rise of resistant superbugs.

Happy (and safe) fucking!

Bwana

(Message edited by Bwana_dik on July 30, 2009)

The doc in Thailand made me take 2grams of the Z-pack. It definitely worked....The drip was gone overnight.

Then you had chlamydia and not gonorrhea. The class of antibiotics that azithromycin is in simply does not work with gonorrhea. Symptoms for the two STDs can be identical, so most docs actually treat for both.

So it sounds like Sancho is right, the stick in the dick treatment can't be avoided because the antibiotics that cure gonorrhea (cefixime) can't be bought without a scrip (even in Brazil) and doctors won't write a scrip without first applying medieval torture methods.

At the clinic here, for Gonorrhea they give you a shot of Ceftriaxone in your ass. They only do that if they have a confirmed diagnosis of Gonorrhea via the q-tip in the pee hole method. They can get that result from the lab in 10-15 minutes and treat you on the spot.

For more generic, "it kind of burns when I pee" symptoms and absent large amounts of pus, they skip the q-tip in the pee hole test, have you pee in a cup, preemptively assume you 'probably' have Chlamydia, treat you before the have lab results with either Azithromycin or Doxycycline and have you check back in a week to see what the lab results of the pee test actually were and if the treatment was effective. The new test Laguy mentioned would apparently allow immediate positive diagnosis rather than guessing and waiting a week to see if it was the right guess.

They also usually throw in a dose of Flagyl tablets just for good measure if you have anything, on account of since you are obviously out there slutting around, no telling what else you may have.

But I thought that government health care killed you or something? It sounds like the San Diego free clinic does a pretty good job on VD. Of course, you are secretly helping the marxist/socialist movement by using the facility.

I simply accept that I am going to be taxed $100 whether I like it or not for a service that I should be paying $50 for out of my own pocket.

I don't get it? If they can diagnose you with the pee-in-the-cup, why not always do that instead of resorting to the q-tip? Is it just because the pee test takes longer to get back from the lab?

Is it really the size of a q-tip, that sounds like it could do permanent damage.

Sancho, there is no way that would cost $50 out of your own pocket. Try $500 and you would be closer to the mark. But since your employer provides you with health insurance, you have no clue about the modern reality of health costs these days.

BTW, I don't know what's up with all the bitching about a little q-tip up the penis. That's nothing. Try wearing a catheter for several days, then you can whine.

The Q-tip is the defacto standard for diagnosing suspected Gonorrhea. The pee test is only to diagnose suspected Chlamydia. If Gonorrhea is suspected you get the swab.


Murasaki, I said it SHOULD cost $50. I spent 5 minutes with a nurse practitioner. What's she make $50k-$60k/yr so what is 5 minutes of her time worth. Small office space in a bad neighborhood. How much could the lease on that be? Fresh out of high school bookkeeper $12/hr. Supplies a petri dish, q-tip, and a plastic cup. I'll bet you the guys doing the lab work don't spend 5 minutes on it or use allot of expensive materials on it either so they better not be charging a fortune. I'm quite certain the federal government could add all that up to $500 but no way I could if I were running it as a business. In any case the local STD clinic is ran by the County government, not the federal government. Being run by the county government makes then half as efficient as private industry but still 10 times more efficient that the Federal government.

For comparison, if I have an ear infection and no insurance I can be seen by a nurse practitioner on the spot with no appointment and get a prescription for the appropriate antibiotic at the 'for profit' CVS MinuteClinic down the street for from here for an unsubsidized price of $62. I bet you that visit would cost a HMO $150 and the federal government $250 and it wouldn't be done on the spot, I would be lucky if I could be seen sometime today. Not sure though if CVS MinuteClinic's will do dick inspection though. The nurse lady was kind of cute last time I was in there for a flu shot.

IAS-
Sounds like you would profit from dropping your health insurance. Go for it!

You just make shit up. There are a bunch of docs on this board who can tell you what it will cost you to walk in and get various services sans insurance. Since that's the real issue--what it costs you versus what it costs them--why are you pulling bogus and unrepresentative examples out of your ass? Let's say you need to have your gall bladder removed, or to have a hernia repaired. Are you gonna go to the "Anything for a Buck" medical clinic, See Homer Simpson's doctor, and get your work done there for $100. Are you going to walk into some "doc in the box" urgent care clinic and see if you can talk the PA into operating on you at a discount? I think not. Let's get real here.

I want a special button on my cp that, once clicked upon, allows me to give any member of my choosing an STD.

(Message edited by copperfieldkid on July 31, 2009)

I've been down to the CVS MinuteClinic. It is 4 blocks from here. I get flu shots there. They have a list of prices on the wall. Treatment for an ear infection or a bladder infection or various other minor easily treatable infections is $62. I do not know if they would treat VD or not but price wise I do not see how it SHOULD have a cost structure one bit different than any other kind of minor easily treatable infection. I don't doubt for a second that the insurance companies and the government would spend many many times more but the fact is that CVS MinuteClinic can treat minor easily treatable infections for $62 unsubsidized and make a profit doing it so if it cost everyone else allot more, they are wasting money somewhere and should not be in charge of our health care.

It's called "cherry-picking." Clinics like that will only perform procedures that are simple, low-cost, and can be done by paraprofessionals. They choose to treat problems that require simple, cheap diagnostics and can be treated with the drugs they sell, usually generics.

By cherry-picking the cheap and easy stuff, they become part of the problem. It's the flip side of dumping, which is what happens with many public hospitals.

Again, see what price you'll get for "unsubsidized" arthroscopic knee surgery, or a heart valve replacement. Health care involves more than simple infections. Just wait until you get old and start falling apart...shit happens, and those without really good insurance get shat upon.

I disagree.... why not cherry-pick simple procedures and then charge less at a clinic? The other option is to pay the regular doctor visit price which is going to be even more absurd. I do not see how they contribute to the problem!

I thought we were talking about STD clinics here???? I said that clinic probably costs the government $100 for a service that should cost $50. Murasaki $500 was closer to the mark. I provided an example a very similar medical service costing $62 at a profit to bolster my off the cuff remark the STD clinic should cost me $50 and I not get taxed for it. Then Branquinho said what if I need my gall bladder removed and accused me of making shit up. If I DID need my gall bladder removed I would not go to the STD clinic or CVS MinuteClinic so that whole statement confused me as to why it was dragged into a conversation about STD treatment.

Actually, I thought we were talking about STD diagnosis and remedies. But like everything these days its seems to turn into the political debate of the day - health care. A week ago this would've probably morphed into a debate about Goldman Sachs! Why don't we stick to stuff that's actually directly relevant to mongering and helpful to CH members and save political debates for a more appropriate forum.

I thought the clinics were mentioned in the context of STD testing and straightforward treatment. Not sure if those clinics do STD testing.... if you are worried about cost, you should be able to go to a public clinic. I thought those were free.... I think the best guide on how to treat both Chlamydia and Gonorrhea is the CDC website. Before going to a doctor if I had a dripping dick, I personally would always try the Z-Pack first. Chlamydia is incredibly common!

Back to STD treatment it is. Chlamydia is very common (probably the third most common), as LM suggests. If you have the drips, most docs will treat you for that first, or will treat you for both chlamydia and gonorrhea.

Other common STDs are:

Mycoplasama genitalium which is the second most common STD but is often undiagnosed because symptoms can be nonexistent or minimal. It's assumed to be a major cause of nonspecific urethritis in men, the symptoms of which are typically a burning sensation while pissing (but often no drip as with gonorrhea, which is another type of urethritis). It's treated best with azithromycin.

HPV is the most common STD for men and women. I would hazard a guess that 95% of guys who fuck prostitutes with some regularity have or have had HPV. It is generally harmless in men, but some virus subtypes (there are more than 40) cause genital warts, which for men are harmless but ugly. For women, the consequences of HPV can be far more serious, as some subtypes can produce cervical cancer. HPV is incurable, but it can clear itself in many cases over a long period of time. There is no treatment for the underlying virus, but warts can be removed (a topic that's been discussed elsewhere in the past few days, and yes, the "duct tape" treatment can work but is very slow, and no, Wartol has never been subjected to testing, and NIH and CDC both suggest that there's no reason to believe it could possibly have any effect whatsoever).

Gonorrhea is less common than the others mentioned but still very common. "The Clap" usually is accompanied by a yellow, green or white discharge, and you'll feel like you're pissing razor blades. Yes, you can get gonorrhea in the throat if you go down on an infected puta. It's treated with cefixime or ceftriaxone.

Herpes is common among sex workers and, hence, common among mongers. Most cases of herpes start with a fever and lower back pain, followed by sores around the infected area. These sores can be very, very painful. It can be transmitted from genitals to mouth and from mouth to genitals (i.e., if you have a cold sore, which is a herpes virus, don't go down on a girl, and if you see that she has a cold sore...). There is no cure for this virus, and you can infect someone (or be infected by someone) even when there are no obvious sores. Viral shedding can occur well before sores appear and after they disappear. Sores will reoccur from time to time. You can have herpes without some of these symptoms.

Finally, condoms are very effective (caveat--when properly used) in preventing chlamydia, gonorrhea, and mycoplasma genitalium, and modestly effective in preventing herpes and HPV. The former are bacteria and are easier to block with condoms. The latter are viruses, and any exposed skin that makes contact with the virus can result in infection. So, if you're wearing a condom and she's riding you cowboy and her juices flow down onto the uncovered base of your dick, balls, crotch and ass, this can result in those areas becoming infected. Imagine herpes sores around your asshole!

Ok, that's all for today, kids. Class dismissed!

Thanks for the informative post Bwana! Since most people here do BBBJ but not BB sex, isn't gonorrhea more of a concern than chlamydia since the former is more transferable through oral sex than the latter. I've heard that Amoxicilina is sometimes used in Latin America for gonorrhea, have you heard of this?

If HPV is so common and does not have symptoms but is dangerous for woman, is there anything mongers can do to protect the regular girls in their lives?

They may use amoxicilan in LA, but they shouldn't, as it's not an effective treatment for gonorrhea. It is a treatment for chlamydia.

About all you can do with respect to HPV is 1) use condoms and 2) get tested. Not much else. The only other option is to stop fucking whores.

Lennox says: Is it really the size of a q-tip, that sounds like it could do permanent damage.

It is actually quite a bit smaller than a real Q-Tip and they only stick it in about an eight of an inch. It IS somewhat uncomfortable but not nearly as bad as it sounds and hardly what you would describe as painful of torturous. It sounds way worse than it is. Don't fear the swab.

The HPV vaccine they tout for women works for men too. But if you have banged a few whores already it is probably way to late for you. Vaccine only works BEFORE you are exposed.

Sanch, I agree that many things in health care SHOULD cost a lot less - and I'm talking about the private sector, putting aside any government clinic entirely.

But many of us must deal with the reality as it is. Here is a rough estimate of what a visit to an HMO doctor, plus tests for the big 3 STDs, plus a dose of meds for gonorrhea, plus the inevitable follow up would cost, for people with no health insurance or a catastrophic plan (high cost geographic area):

Doctor visit: $150
Gon/Syph tests: $70
Chly test: $120 (these tests are actually quite expensive)
Cefixime for your clap: $45
Follow up visit: $150
Second test to make sure it's all gone: $70
Not to mention the little supply fees your doctor office probably charged for something or other.

Your theoretical government clinic at $100 would be a steal.

I agree with everything and ultimately the condom certainly is the safest route to go for sex, but I am extremely skeptical of catching anything via BBBJ. It is possible - but very very remote, at least that has been my own personal experience. While I have gone BB at times, it has not been even 1% compared to the number of times I have received BBBJ. I have never caught anything from a BBBJ and I have received countless ones. I would say BBBJ has been the case 99% of the time in more then a decade of mongering on multiple continents (including some questionable ones in the Miami area). So, I can only speak for myself and my own personal beliefs - BBBJ are safe with a very remote chance of being catch anything. I would not even consider a program with CBJ if I can help it (Little LM would almost certainly go limp immediately after that is suggested)

Now BB is a different story - the chance of catching at minimum Chlamydia from a provider is very great....

Thanks for all the info guys. I will be taking my first trip to Medellin and want to do some mongering. I will make sure i scope out a clinic while i am there in case i catch any STDs. How much does it cost to cure something like Chlamydia or Gonorrhea in a colombian clinic?

CL

If you're worried, just use condoms.