quietkettle
Forum Replies Created
Ask the clinic to tell you what interval they would suggest for you specifically. They ask a few questions and give you a number, and it takes two minutes. Far better than assembling a rule out of forum posts, this one included.
It does not. Itching is an allergic reaction to the bites and it can take a while to develop, so someone can carry them and feel nothing for a period.
They need checking and treating regardless of symptoms, same as with everything else here. Treating one of you and not the other is how this goes in circles.
Mouthwash has been studied as a possible measure and the results have been mixed at best. Not something to rely on.
Also mention if you have an IUD or any recent gynaecological procedure. It changes what they consider.
Follow the second application if the product tells you to. The reason is eggs. Treatments are not uniformly reliable at killing eggs, so the repeat exists to catch anything that hatches after the first go.
Skipping it because you cannot see live lice is how people end up back at the start two weeks later.
Your reading is right about the current CDC position. For women the recommendation moved to a seven day course rather than the single dose, because the trial comparing them found the longer course roughly halved the proportion of women testing positive again at the follow up visit.
For men the single dose is still the recommended approach.
The procedure itself is far more ordinary than its reputation. If it comes to it, ask them to walk you through what happens on the day rather than reading accounts online.
It varies enormously by country and by service, so the only real answer is to ring and ask.
What is fairly consistent: sexual health services are used to this question and are generally bound by strict confidentiality rules, often stricter than general medical records. Some services operate genuinely anonymously, some take a name but keep the record separate from your main file.
It can be, and this is exactly the conversation to have with whoever ordered it rather than deciding here.
The relevant question is where your result sat relative to the cutoff. Results close to the line are the ones where a second, different test is sometimes recommended before anyone treats it as settled. Ask for the actual value.
Treating the warts reduces visible lesions. It does not reliably clear the virus, which is why the transmission conversation does not fully close when the warts do.
It can, and timing is the usual reason. A swab looks for virus present in the lesion, so the amount you can detect drops as the sore heals. Swabbed early in a fresh lesion it is a strong test. Swabbed once it has crusted over it is much less reliable.
How many days in were you when they took it?
If you are already on suppressive treatment and still getting monthly episodes, say so clearly at your review. There is more than one drug in the class and doses can be adjusted.
Worth saying it is not the infection sitting in the joint, it is a reaction that follows it, which is why it can appear after treatment. That confused me for a while.
Do keep up with whatever routine screening applies to you, though. Not because of the warts, just because screening is what actually catches the thing people worry about, and worry is a poor substitute for an appointment.
If the schedule is hard to keep, say so rather than quietly missing appointments. Some services can adjust intervals or do part of it remotely, and they would much rather rearrange than lose track of you.
What helped me was remembering the message isn’t about the relationship, it’s about someone getting a test they wouldn’t otherwise get. You are doing them a favour, even if it doesn’t land that way in the moment.
The other half is that treating both of you at the same time is what stops the ping pong pattern. If you wait to test positive before being treated, you spend that window potentially passing it back.
Itching can carry on for a while after successful treatment because it’s a reaction in the skin, not proof that anything is still alive. That’s the bit that isn’t explained often enough.
What actually settles it is looking for live lice or eggs attached to the hair in good light, rather than going by the itch. If you find nothing moving, the treatment has probably worked.
Do go. It is the cheapest possible way to catch the thing that actually causes the long term problems, which is repeat infection rather than one episode.