How long can you have STD without knowing?

It depends on which sexually transmitted infection (STI) you have. Symptoms can develop within a few days or weeks, but sometimes they do not appear until months or even years later. Often there are few or no symptoms and you may not know you have an STI.

How long can an STD go undetected?

Some STDs have symptoms, but many don't, so they can go unnoticed for a long time. For example, it can take more than 10 years for HIV symptoms to show up, and infections like herpes, chlamydia, and gonorrhea can be spread even if there are no symptoms.

Can you have a STD for 7 months and not know?

It's possible to have an STD and not know it. Sometimes symptoms are mild. Sometimes they can be mistaken for other conditions, like when women have discharge from a yeast infection. Sometimes STDs don't have symptoms at all.

How long can a STD stay dormant without symptoms?

The time from exposure to when symptoms appear can range from a few days to as long as six months. In addition, some STIs may not cause symptoms at all. That means you may be infected but be unaware of it. That's why regular STI testing is essential.

How likely is it to have an STD without symptoms?

Many people have been reported to have silent STDs; STDs without symptoms. According to some studies, about 60 percent of patients suffering from any STD have no symptoms.

How do you know if you have a sexually transmitted infection (STI)?

Can an STD lay dormant for 20 years?

There are STDs that can lie dormant and you can continue to be asymptomatic for years. The most important STD to test for in this regard is HIV, which can lie dormant for many years. Anyone who has ever had unprotected sex should consider getting this blood test.

Can STD cure itself?

The upshot is that it's possible for some — not all — STDs to go away by themselves, but it's also possible for STDs to persist for months, years, or the rest of your life. If you could have been exposed to an STD, the best thing to do is get tested — not to hope that if you did get something, it'll just go away.

Can you have chlamydia for 10 years?

How long can you have chlamydia for? An untreated chlamydia infection can persist for several years. Although this goes for both men and women, it is believed that men are less likely to carry the bacteria for several years. If you remain infected for a long time you have an increased risk of complications.

Can you have chlamydia for years and not know it?

Anita Ravi, MD, MPH, MSHP, a practicing family physician in New York City, urges physicians to make STI screenings a routine part of patient care so as to help catch and treat chlamydia, which can have long term health repercussions if not treated. “You could have chlamydia for years and not know it,” Ravi says.

What STD can a man have and not know it?

Gonorrhea

Like chlamydia, gonorrhea is a bacterial infection that may not always cause signs and symptoms and can remain undiagnosed. Also similar to Chlamydia, gonorrhea can cause urethritis in men, leading to burning or pain on urination and discharge from the urethra.

Can gonorrhea go undetected for years?

If gonorrhea remains undetected and undiagnosed for a long period of time, the infection is likely to spread and affect other parts of the body. Patients who have carried the infection for a long time are at risk of complications and may begin to experience gonorrhea symptoms months or even years after infection.

How long can chlamydia lay dormant?

The majority of people who have chlamydia don't experience any symptoms at all. And even if you do have symptoms, they may not show up for anywhere from 1 week to 3 or more months after the infection's been transmitted to you through sexual intercourse.

How do you tell if a girl has an STD?

Can STD show up years later?

Symptoms can develop within a few days or weeks, but sometimes they do not appear until months or even years later. Often there are few or no symptoms and you may not know you have an STI. If there's any chance you have an STI, go to a sexual health clinic or GP for a free and confidential check-up.

When do STD symptoms start?

Some people have symptoms within 1 to 3 weeks. Others don't have symptoms for months or even years. And many people never have any symptoms from any of these STIs.

Can you test negative for STD and still have it?

It is possible to get a negative test result and still have an STD. Given the potential impact of some STDs—from genital warts to fertility issues to cancer and more—it may seem unlikely that you could have one and not know it. But very often, that's the case.

How did I get chlamydia if I didnt cheat?

Apart from being infected at birth you can not catch chlamydia without performing some form of sexual act. However, you don't have to have penetrative sex to get infected, it is enough if your genitals come in contact with an infected person's sexual fluids (for example if your genitals touch).

Can chlamydia lay dormant for 2 years?

Because chlamydia can be dormant for years without being symptomatic, infected persons may easily transmit the disease to sexual partners without knowing. The ability to lie dormant may also be a reason why chlamydia is so good at hiding in the digestive system despite being eradicated elsewhere.

What happens if I've had chlamydia for 4 months?

People who have chlamydia for long periods without treatment risk becoming infertile or developing arthritis. For women, chlamydia can spread into the uterus and fallopian tubes, causing pelvic inflammatory disease. Pelvic inflammatory disease can lead to ectopic pregnancies, chronic pelvic pain and infertility.

Can chlamydia be treated after 3 years?

Nope! Chlamydia is easily cured with antibiotics. Chlamydia is a bacterial infection (like strep throat or an ear infection), which means that once you've been treated and tested negative for it (to make sure the antibiotics worked), it's gone.

What is late stage chlamydia?

If chlamydia is left untreated, it can damage a woman's reproductive organs. The infection can spread into the uterus or fallopian tubes and cause pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). This happens in about 10 to 15 percent of women with untreated chlamydia.

What happens if chlamydia goes untreated for a year?

If a person is not treated for chlamydia, complications may occur. Women frequently develop pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). PID can cause infertility (not being able to get pregnant), chronic pelvic pain, tubal pregnancies, and the continued spread of the disease.

Does an STD smell?

There could be an odd smell, too. These are all signs of an STD discharge. These changes can cause orange vaginal discharge, chunky yellow discharge, and other abnormal discharges. A change in how your discharge smells—such as having a foul odor—is another sign your abnormal discharge might be due to an STD.

What happens if you leave STD untreated?

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) or sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) as they are also referred to, often have no symptoms. However, if left untreated there can be serious consequences including blindness and other neurologic manifestations, infertility, mother-to-child transmission or birth defects.

How do I know if I have an STD male?