Tested positive for Syphillis....

[BirminghamBB]

Should be fine @Cubbtm4poz. Syph is pretty much the oldest known STD to mankind, and also the most treatable with that one Doxycycline jab. The big needle they use is about the worst part of the whole process, but otherwise it's very much a "one jab and you're done and fine" thing. I see some others here have mentioned about the titre thing too. Can confirm from my last doctor who told me for most individuals who've caught syphilis before they will almost always show a false positive, but as long as you tell the doctor that you've had it in the past and you've been treated and recovered from it, they will know how to interpret your results accordingly.  

[Howller]

After regularly testing negative for syphilis every three months, I began having symptoms a month after a negative result (though I didn't recognise them as such) and by 6 weeks serious complications were already developing. My doctor had me test again and we got a positive result. In that total 8 weeks things moved very rapidly.  in addition to the common rash, I developed ocular involvement (bulged optic nerve) pericarditis, a flare in my arteritis and colitis, nodes in my lungs, an ulcer in my rectum, and atrial fibrillation. Due to the ocular involvement, I went straight into the hospital for a round-the-clock penicillin drip followed by a home infusion, totalling 2 weeks of 24-hour penicillin.

Had we caught it when the symptoms first appeared, I might have gotten by with the simple shot in the butt. In my case, I rapidly had an inflammatory cascade that did a lot of damage in a very short time. 

[RawNYTop]

What are the first initial symptoms?

[viking8x6]

The initial symptom is typically a sore called a chancre. It's typically round with a break in the skin in the center, and usually painless. It mostly happens at the site where the bacteria enter the body (mouth, genitals, or anus) and it can be internal. Because it's painless, it can easily go unnoticed, especially if it is internal. I've had syphilis twice and once I definitely did not notice it; the other time I might have but if so it was misdiagnosed (by a fairly skilled doctor who knew I was a sexually active gay man) as a hemorrhoid.

Syphilis, in any of its stages, can have symptoms that are very subtle and that vary widely from one individual to another, so much so that it has been called "the great imitator".  An ex-BF of mine had it misdiagnosed as scurvy, of all things, which is a much less probable affliction for someone in the 21st century western world, if you ask me.

More on symptoms here:

https://www.cdc.gov/syphilis/about/

[TaKinGDeePanal]

4 hours ago, viking8x6 said:

The initial symptom is typically a sore called a chancre. It's typically round with a break in the skin in the center, and usually painless. It mostly happens at the site where the bacteria enter the body (mouth, genitals, or anus) and it can be internal. Because it's painless, it can easily go unnoticed, especially if it is internal. I've had syphilis twice and once I definitely did not notice it; the other time I might have but if so it was misdiagnosed (by a fairly skilled doctor who knew I was a sexually active gay man) as a hemorrhoid.

Syphilis, in any of its stages, can have symptoms that are very subtle and that vary widely from one individual to another, so much so that it has been called "the great imitator".  An ex-BF of mine had it misdiagnosed as scurvy, of all things, which is a much less probable affliction for someone in the 21st century western world, if you ask me.

More on symptoms here:

[think before following links] https://www.cdc.gov/syphilis/about/

People's diets are worse than they used to be. Those who only eat processed/junk food would be at a heightened risk of contracting scurvy, wouldn't they?

[Knotme]

I got infected and it came out as a rash over my upper body.

My doc initially thought it was something called Guttatte psoriasis before the test results came back

[norefusal]

the rash is considered a stage II symptom. i'm still flabbergasted i missed all stage I symptoms but reading here this seems to be more common than i realized. 

[BootmanLA]

18 hours ago, TaKinGDeePanal said:

People's diets are worse than they used to be. Those who only eat processed/junk food would be at a heightened risk of contracting scurvy, wouldn't they?

Not necessarily. Many processed foods are bad for us, but not because they contain no nutrition; it's because they have so much junk added, including sodium and sugar. That doesn't mean they don't have any nutritive value; it's that the nutrition comes with a bunch of crap attached.

As long as a person's diet has sufficient vitamin C, scurvy is pretty much not even a potential issue. And while we think of that primarily as something to get from citrus (because some citrus have high levels of it), quite a few vegetables and fruits have significant levels of vitamin C. Sailors got scurvy because *all* they ate, generally, was preserved meat and hard tack (crackers in the US, biscuit in the UK), sometimes for months on end on a repeated basis, with no access to fresh fruits and vegetables.

[Theo8]

19 hours ago, TaKinGDeePanal said:

People's diets are worse than they used to be. Those who only eat processed/junk food would be at a heightened risk of contracting scurvy, wouldn't they?

No

[think before following links] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scurvy

[Sfmike64]

13 hours ago, norefusal said:

the rash is considered a stage II symptom. i'm still flabbergasted i missed all stage I symptoms but reading here this seems to be more common than i realized. 

I know someone who had this happen. The thing about Syph is that you very often don't notice the primary infection (not everyone gets the classic sore). My friend had to be hospitalized because he had been allergic to penicillin when he was a kid.  They discovered that he was no longer allergic (this is not uncommon) and had to wear an antibiotic pump for several weeks to clear the infection.

[rawfuckr]

On 7/1/2024 at 6:10 AM, Howller said:

After regularly testing negative for syphilis every three months, I began having symptoms a month after a negative result (though I didn't recognise them as such) and by 6 weeks serious complications were already developing. My doctor had me test again and we got a positive result. In that total 8 weeks things moved very rapidly.  in addition to the common rash, I developed ocular involvement (bulged optic nerve) pericarditis, a flare in my arteritis and colitis, nodes in my lungs, an ulcer in my rectum, and atrial fibrillation. Due to the ocular involvement, I went straight into the hospital for a round-the-clock penicillin drip followed by a home infusion, totalling 2 weeks of 24-hour penicillin.

Had we caught it when the symptoms first appeared, I might have gotten by with the simple shot in the butt. In my case, I rapidly had an inflammatory cascade that did a lot of damage in a very short time. 

How are you doing these days howller? This sounds horrendous. 

I've heard a few stories of syphilis going terribly wrong even on early phases of the infection so people should not take it lightly. 

[tbone1971]

I started having occular issues about 5 weeks ago, went to dr and diagnosed with syph.  Currently on day 3 of 24/7 penicillin via pump.  Titre was 1:128.  Never showed any signs or symptoms.  Get your regular check ups!