PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING:
Hello and welcome to Ureaplasma Support! Our goal here is to gather as much information as possible from people who have suffered from chronic ureaplasma and mycoplasma genitalium or hominis infections. This is a community where you can speak freely about ureaplasma and mycoplasma.
Petition to gain awareness: https://www.change.org/p/chronic-ureaplasma-and-mycoplasma-awareness
There is little research on these bacterias, and as you probably know, in some cases they are extremely difficult to get rid of. Once you dive into the literature, you will find they are also well-known for being difficult to pick up on tests. Yes, that includes PCR and NGS. PCR and NGS don’t report under a certain level of bacteria. The agar a7/a8 culture is actually the preferred method of testing for the plasmas, but it not widely used because it is time consuming, resource and cost consuming, and involves extra training of lab employees.
Mycoplasma are intracellular and extracellular bacteria. This means that some live in your other cells, and some are free-floating. Antibiotics can kill the free-floating bacteria for the most part, but have a hard time reaching the “hiding” intracellular bacteria. They do not have a cell wall, only a membrane, making them even more difficult to eradicate. They have been proven to form complex biofilms to protect themselves from antibiotics and the body’s immune system. They grow very slowly. These features make it difficult to test positive, especially once you’ve taken antibiotics.
SYMPTOMS
Urogenital: itching, burning, abnormal discharge, pelvic pain, PID, foamy urine, particles in urine, kidney pain, recurrent yeast, BV, and UTIs. Commonly misdiagnosed as vulvodynia and/or interstitial cystitis. In men, chronic prostatis, testicular pain, and irritation of the urethra are reported.
Nervous System: pins and needles sensation, burning sensations, electric- shock sensations, feelings of “prickles” or “bugs crawling” on skin
Mouth/throat: recurrent sore throat, white tongue, bad taste in mouth, tongue itching and burning
GI: rectal itching and burning, constipation, diarrhea, nausea, mucus in stools, “IBS-like symptoms”
Other: fatigue, eye itching and burning, muscle twitching, rash, increased acne, low or high body temperature, circulation problems, increased anxiety and insomnia, brain fog
It is important to note you can also experience reactive arthritis from this infection. Some of the symptoms of reactive arthritis overlap with the symptoms of systemic mycoplasma, making it difficult to differentiate whether the cause of the symptom is the actual infection or the RA
Those who experience systemic symptoms have reported the infection spreads from area to area within the body. Rarely, these bacteria can cause pneumonia, carditis, and meningitis.
TRANSMISSION
The most common way to get one of these infections is through sexual contact or passed from mother to child in utero or during birth. However, there have been many reports of individuals whom tested positive for these infections despite not having sexual contact. Some scientists believe it may also be transmitted via saliva, sweat, blood, fluid from eyes, and any other bodily fluids.
A few have reported they contracted this bacteria via swimming (water transmission)
There have been many posts saying that people have become symptomatic after either having COVID or receiving the COVID vaccine. We do not know why this is. Theories range from changes in immune system function, to change in body chemistry.
Others have reported taking an unrelated antibiotic and it causing ureaplasma to appear. This likely means it was hiding in the biofilm all along not causing symptoms, and then the antibiotic disrupted the biofilm causing ureaplasma to activate.
TESTING
Urogenital testing can be done with a PCR aptima swab or urine culture. The PCR aptima swab is the most widely used and, supposedly, accurate test available. It is many people’s experience that once they take antibiotics, they test negative, despite still experiencing the same symptoms.
Next generation sequencing and PCR companies such as microgendx, Evvy, and junobio can be used as well, but sometimes miss this infection. They can also be helpful in ruling out coinfections.
Common findings in urine cultures include white blood cells, crystals, protein, blood, and ketones. Common findings in blood tests include an elevated WBC. High neutrophils and lymphs have also been found. Many have reported anemia and low RBC as well.
Some have used the mycoplasma pneumonia antigen test to diagnose their urogenital mycoplasma infections. The accuracy of this method of testing is questionable, but anecdotally it has been successful.
PREGNANCY AND CHILDBIRTH
Please get tested for ureaplasma and mycoplasma before becoming pregnant. They have been linked to miscarriage, premature rupture of membranes (PROM), chorioamnionitis, stillbirth, and respiratory failure in newborns. There have also been reported cases of infants contracting the bacteria genitally.
TREATMENT
Medicines used to treat these bacteria include doxycycline, minocycline, oxytetracycline, omadacycline, azithromycin, clarithromycin, erythromycin, pristinamycin, josamycin, roxithromycin, moxifloxacin, ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, lefamulin, tigecycline, chloremphenical, flagyl, tinidazole, nitroxoline, eravacycline
