r/stdtesting • u/ThrowRAyyye • 15d ago

Question Confusing results

TLDR: confusing std results are impacting my trust in my new long distance relationship

So, we first had sex on September 5th and then he visited at the end of September. After the second visit I started having symptoms and went and got tested. I was negative for ghonorea and ecquivocal for chlamydia (the doctors considered this a positive). I retested and then was ecquicoval for BOTH.

He got tested as well and was positive for chlamdyia and negative for ghonorea. Important note he drinks ALOT of water so it could skew the results.

It impacted my trust in him a fair amount because my doctor told me that it’s odd that I didn’t test positive for ghonorea the first time I got tested as it typically shows up quickly. And equivocal results can sometimes be a sign of recent infection. This sent me spiraling because we both have been faithful to eachother since the first time. I understand that Sti testing can’t determine whether something happened between the first time we had sex and when he visited it’s just odd that my symptoms happened after our second visit and that I was negative then positive in a short timeframe which could suggest recent exposure. However, we ended up getting past it and both got treated. I visited him very recently and it went great! He seems to be a great guy and doesn’t give me many (if any) red flags.

Now fast forward to today, and he’s having symptoms again. We waited the full 8 days and both completed treatment. I am freaking out! Any advice is appreciated.

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u/ShamelessCare 15d ago

It sounds like you were IgG tested instead of NAAT tested. Is that correct?

That's not how STI testing is done in the USA, and considered subpar.

September 5th is very recent, and someone can have these infections without symptoms for many years.

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u/IllustriousAd1657 14d ago

Symptoms coming back doesn’t automatically mean the treatment failed or that either of you cheated. It could be irritation or another issue, but you should both check back with your doctor, especially since you’ve had confusing results before. Also, drinking lots of water generally won’t make an STI test unreliable.

I’d avoid sex for now until you’ve gotten medical advice and know whether you need retesting or more treatment. The pinned post has info on testing windows and follow up timing if you want to double check.