His and Her Health

I'm a forty yr. old woman who's been married for 6 years. After many conversations with my husband I decided to go to an ob/gyn to see about the possibilities of having children. During my pap smear my Doc saw something that lead her to do a wet swipe for Trich and low and behold the test results were positive for this std. Now my whole world is shattered and my marriage is in jeopardy because either I have had this std for 7 years or my husband has had an affair.<BR>I have asked this question to the nurse since it's impossible to reach the Doc, and apparently it's a good question since the nurse is now puzzled and is doing her own research. Is it possible to have this std for 7 years? Is this a std that continues to grow as time goes by? And if it does, then this means a doctor should be able to tell approx. how long a patient has had it due to it's growth, which my doc did tell me that first day that this is something that can't be determined. That statement says to me that the answer is no, that the symptoms do not get more extreme with time.<BR>And the symptoms themselves are puzzling to me. I have had a yellowish-brown tint to my discharge for as long as i can remember. I thought this was normal...I mean let's face it, women do not sit around and compare the colorization of their discharge during a Sunday brunch, so I just didn't know. So I don't know if this is normal or was a sign of trich. Next symptom is the "fishy" odor. This is also something that, though it's not present on a dialy basis, I have noticed after my periods for many years and once again I shrugged this off figuring all women had a "funky" smell during this time. A third symptom of trich was pain during intercourse. Yes, I have always experienced this with my husband during certain sexual positions but never contributed it to trich.<BR>My last check up was 3 years ago and was done by a MD not an ob/gyn. My nurse yesterday did tell me that she thought it was highly possible for me to have this std and it go unnoticed during a reg. routine pap smear so the question still remains of could I have had this for 7 years and shrugged off all the symptoms because though present never worsened, or is this a bacteria that would have continued to grow in numbers and now I would be overwhelmed with smell and discharge, and since I'm not, then my husband has had a recent affair?

Well, this is what I learned from a bit of research. Although it's very unlikely, Vag. Trich. CAN also be transmitted through things like toilet articles and clothing. Also, it has been reported to be transmitted through the fingers during masterbation. If you think it is possible that you have had this for seven years and not detected it, your husband could have too, right? Especially since they are asymptomatic carriers. Also it seems that a large number of people may carry it but have no real symptoms. It can go undetected by microscopists and the number of the organism seems to depend on the pH of your vagina, not length of time that it has been present. From the symptoms that you have described having in the past, I would say that it appears very likely that you may have had this for quite some time and just didn't know about it. I just did some research in medical microbiology books, and on the internet, so I am no expert.<BR>First of all, I would recommend that you have a yearly checkup done and even though you wouldn't talk about symptoms at Sunday brunch with the ladies, you could talk about them with your doctor. It is SO important to have these yearly checkups w/ you gynocologist.<BR>Next, do you have any OTHER reason to think that your husband is having or had an affair, other than the Vag Trich? It seems to me that if you don't-you still don't now. I know that if my doctor told me I had an STD, I would see a great big red flag, however, if you take a step back you might see that this is not necessisarily a sign of infidelity.<BR>I'm sorry, your visit had to be a punch in the stomach, I hope things work out for you.

Sorry to hear of your current dilemna. It must be distressing. I don't know the answer to your very pertinent questions. I hope it transpires your husband didn't have an affair.<P>Perhaps some of my following comments may be of some relevance:<P>I don't have any std's (have been checked out recently for all of them)and yet I, not infrequently, do have a yellowish discharge during my cyle. Occasionally there has also been brown spotting, sometimes on a regular basis. Brown discharge or spotting (these are not necessarily the same thing) is usually due to old blood. I probably had the brown spotting due to hormonal imbalance. In other words, perhaps your yellow discharge is normal. Similarly brown discharge can be normal enough too. And sometimes my "yellow" discharge can be a very light brown, so if you have had that, it could be normal. <P>As regards the fishy smell from vagina: this might be a better indicator of the duration of the presence of the std. Many unflattering jokes abound (from adolescent males, usually) about the "fishy" fragrance of a woman's menstrual discharge. Good personal hygiene doesn't always solve this problem for women either: for instance when one doesn't get up to change one's sanitary towels at nightime. However, to have this "fishy" perfume during or even non-menstrual phases of the cycle is not, in my (uninformed and unmedical) view, normal(although, I should add that I noticed a few months ago, upon awakening one morning, that I had that "fishy" fragrance even though my over-due period still hadn't arrived and didn't arrive until another day or too later). If it is the case that you have had this fishy perfume during non-menstrual times in your cycle, then I would suspect that to be a symptom of the std. <P>Hugs,<BR>Pinky.<P>

Thank you for your response.<BR>No, my husband has shown no other signs of infidility which is why I'm posing the above questions. When I was first diagnosed one week ago, my first response was, of course he had to have had an affair because i had not. For the past week I have searched for an apartment, talked to lawyers about legal seperation, etc because of what I thought was the only conclusion. He on the other hand has gone to a doctor and instead of just being treated like most men do when their sex partners have this std, went thru the ordeal of a q-tip being inserted into his penis and having a culture grown, (takes two weeks to get the results). He also knows that I am about to walk out the door and yet still claims he has been faithful. Now I'm not stupid, I know the rule of deniel deniel deniel. But there is something deep inside of me that says my husband is telling the truth, though the medical facts seem to say otherwise.<BR>Before I meet my husband 7 yrs ago i had a very permiscious (sp?) life. I was devorced and free, and took full advantage of the nightlife, (getting drunk) and sexlife, (getting laid) around me (I was a bartender at a college nightclub). My husband also, before meeting me enjoyed a free open sexlife with many partners. So it is highly possible for either one of us to have caught something before marriage. And yes, I know that if I had kept better care of myself by having yearly checkups, etc that I might not be asking the qustions I'm asking now. But what done is done. I'm under treatment and taking care of it. But I still need to know about the possibility of having this std for 7 years, or are the facts the facts and he's cheated on me.

I'm sorry, I obviously don't know the facts about having it for 7 years, but, I really do THINK it could be possible, due to the research I have done. I wish I could tell you the definite answer to this, but I can't, hopefully someone else will know.<BR>I do know that if your gut feeling says something, you should seriously consider listening to it. It sounds to me like your husband is really trying to get through this. In my marriage, I too have had suspicions (for our own reasons) but something in the little voice in the back of my head says that he is truthful. I also am not stupid or naive, but something just says he is telling the truth. <BR>I am sorry for lecturing you about the gyno. I didn't mean to, I guess it is just one of those things in my nature.<BR>I really hope everything works out for you and I also hope that someone else gives you the answers that you not only need, but also want. Good luck and best wishes!!

Sorry Darc, didn't mean to sound like i was jumping on you, i was just expanding on the details i had given earler. Your respondences have been helpful. )