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I've been treated for PID, and am worried about relapse

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sophie53240
sophie53240

Basically I contracted chlamydia and was diagnosed a few weeks ago. I was prescribed a week-long course of doxycycline, which I took as instructed, despite some side-effects. After that, I had a bladder infection, so was put onto trimethoprim for 3 days. After finishing that course as prescribed, I went back to my doctor a few days later, to ask about pelvic inflammatory disease- more as a precaution than anything, as I'd had no symptoms. Due to my water infection and a slight tenderness (but no pain) upon pressing my abdomen, my doctor then concluded that I had PID, and prescribed 14 days of both doxycycline and metronidazole.

Due to a bad reaction to the doxycycline (increased pressure in the skull), I was taken off of this four days into my doxy/metronidazole treatment. There was no alternative prescribed, leaving me to take the metronidazole for a further 7 days (the doctor told me to take it for 7 days, when I explained the reaction to doxy and how long I had been on them).

I'm very confused about all of this. I guess in total, I have taken metronidazole for 12 days, and doxycycline/trimethoprim for 14 combined, with a few days' gap. I began to bleed, as a normal period, in the last few days of my metronidazole treatment. With all the antibiotic resistance stuff in the news, I'm scared about not having finished my courses! I'm sure my doctors know what they're doing but I'm an incredibly anxious person and am nervous that an abscess or other complication will have developed- I have some pain near my left hip every so often that feels a bit like a burning, but when I told my doctor this today he didn't seem concerned.

Really what I wondered is, the chance of 'relapsing'? And/or having developed an unnoticed complication from this? Doctors have pressed all over my tummy several times now, so surely anything worrying would have been noticed.... but is it worth going back to the GUM clinic, to see if the treatment has been successful?

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4 Replies

  • cathy69
    cathy69 sophie53240

    Posted

    Hi Sophie,

    A very similar thing happened to me around 4 years ago. I can't remember what medication I was prescribed, but I remember suffering some uncomfortable side effects. I've had numerous tests run over the years to find out if there is any lasting damage, but nothing concrete in terms of results and I still don't really know if everything is 'ok'.

    My main concern is that I had the infection Undiagnosed for up to a year so I am very concerned about underlying damage it may have caused, my main question being whether or not this has affected my fertility. Unfortunately I was told by my doc that until it come to me being ready to try for a family I won't really know, and he absolutely wouldn't budge on that decision. So I just have to wait and hope when it comes to it, everything is ok.

    Hope this helps a little smile

    • sophie53240
      sophie53240 cathy69

      Posted

      Thanks ever so much Cathy =)

      I'm in a very similar position, so know how worrying this must be for you. I'd possibly had the infection for a year, maybe even two.... so who knows, time will tell I guess.

      I really hope everything turns out okay for you. If you're having follow-up tests and there are no alarming results, that's always reassuring =)

  • matt82320
    matt82320 sophie53240

    Posted

    Regarding concern for not finishing the antibotic. I believe the problem the media has addressed, is overall, more from people consistently not taking the full dosage and then sharing or using another small dosage later. This practice over a period of time will allow the "bug" to become resistant before it can be completely destroyed. In your case you had other antibotics to cover the gap that most likely will work as well. Fortunately you will not have to wait long for a test to prove the outcome. Try not to worry beacuse worry alone can cause false symptoms which will make you even more anxious. Hope my non professsional opinion has helped.

     

    • sophie105
      sophie105 matt82320

      Posted

      Thank you too, Matt =) This was really good to hear to help me rationalise this whole thing. Anxiety makes everything worse!
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