False Positive For Gonorrhea?

themains2009 · December 2011

I had my first doctor's appointment on Monday, and just got a call today saying that one of my two tests came back positive for gonorrhea. They said they only way to get it is through sexual contact with an infected person. I have only ever been with my husband, and he has only been with me for the past 6 years. I asked if it can lay dormant and then pop up but they answered no, so that would mean it would have to have been contracted recently. I know my husband has been faithful, so please no comments about him cheating... She said that of the two tests, vaginal and one other (not sure but I would assume urine, however she just called it a gonorrhea test) only the other one showed positive. The vaginal swab was negative which she seemed to think was odd. She said that it could have been a false positive, and I am going in to get retested on Friday. I am wondering if anyone else has had a false positive for gonorrhea. The nurse couldn't tell me how common it is to get false positives. I am very hopeful that it is false, as I have no idea where it would have come from. My husband is military and gets tested for STDs a couple times a year. In fact he just did about 2 months ago, and there was nothing. So we aren't sure where it would have come from if it is a correct positive. I am at a loss for words, I'm sick to my stomach, and have an awful headache from crying. I don't know what to do. I am only 11 weeks pregnant and I'm scared to death. If left untreated for a period of time (which I have no idea how long i've had it, if i do) it can cause miscarriage, preterm birth, and blindness in the baby, as well as future ectopic pregnancies, or infertility! Any advice or positive words would be much appreciated.

happyhoopla · December 2011

Based on what you said about there being little possibility of either you or your husband contracting gonorrhea, I think you need to calm down. In the lab, if your specimen was accidently tested incorrectly or if there was any contamination from another specimen, it is possible to get false positives. You said that you are being retested next week, so wait for that test and then go from there. Obviously if that test is positive, you will be getting the treatment you need (nothing too special, as gonorrhea is bacterial and will be taken care of easily), so you shouldn't worry yourself about the possible outcomes of going untreated. Stop crying and take a deep breath.

wh288205 · December 2011

Did they actually test you for gonorrhea? Or do you think it was for something else?

When I was TTC, the doctor told me that they were taking a culture for whatever reason (not really explained) and I got a phone call back a week later stating that I had tested negative for gonorrhea. It made me laugh because I had no clue that they tested me for it (my husband and I high-fived over that negative test), so I wonder if they took the culture for a different reason and it may have come out positive for that. Sometimes they use different tests that aren't really related to come up with whatever outcome. Another example would be prescribing Metformin, a high blood sugar medicine, to combat PCOS. I took it and the instructions mentioned NOTHING about PCOS. But it worked!

I would ask what they took that test for.

kibby1234 · December 2011

I'm so sorry you're going through this. I would just try to calm down, though. It sounds like it is quite possible that you don't have it. STD's can be caught in multiple ways, and I'm not an expert, but I believe gonorrhea is curable. Although it is rare, you can become infected by things such as public restrooms, trying on clothing, blood transmission, etc. I completely understand you saying that your husband is faithful. If something like this happened to me, I would 100% know my husband was faithful as well. There's no doubt in my mind. On the bright side, it's wonderful that you're with a man whom you can trust completely. I wish you the best and remember, just try to calm down. Like I said, I believe it's curable, you may not have it, and there are many explinations as to how you could have contracted it besides infidelity.

meg193 · December 2011

kibby1234:

I'm so sorry you're going through this. I would just try to calm down, though. It sounds like it is quite possible that you don't have it. STD's can be caught in multiple ways, and I'm not an expert, but I believe gonorrhea is curable. Although it is rare, you can become infected by things such as public restrooms, trying on clothing, blood transmission, etc. I completely understand you saying that your husband is faithful. If something like this happened to me, I would 100% know my husband was faithful as well. There's no doubt in my mind. On the bright side, it's wonderful that you're with a man whom you can trust completely. I wish you the best and remember, just try to calm down. Like I said, I believe it's curable, you may not have it, and there are many explinations as to how you could have contracted it besides infidelity.

You can't get STD's from public bathrooms or trying on clothes. Did you attend 8th grade health class?

OP - lab errors happen all the time so I would insist on getting a repeat test. I'm sure everything will be fine. FYI - If it does come back positive then the ONLY way you can get gonorrhea is through sexual contact with an infected person.

kibby1234 · December 2011

meg193:
kibby1234:

I'm so sorry you're going through this. I would just try to calm down, though. It sounds like it is quite possible that you don't have it. STD's can be caught in multiple ways, and I'm not an expert, but I believe gonorrhea is curable. Although it is rare, you can become infected by things such as public restrooms, trying on clothing, blood transmission, etc. I completely understand you saying that your husband is faithful. If something like this happened to me, I would 100% know my husband was faithful as well. There's no doubt in my mind. On the bright side, it's wonderful that you're with a man whom you can trust completely. I wish you the best and remember, just try to calm down. Like I said, I believe it's curable, you may not have it, and there are many explinations as to how you could have contracted it besides infidelity.

You can't get STD's from public bathrooms or trying on clothes. Did you attend 8th grade health class?

OP - lab errors happen all the time so I would insist on getting a repeat test. I'm sure everything will be fine. FYI - If it does come back positive then the ONLY way you can get gonorrhea is through sexual contact with an infected person.

https://www.ehow.com/facts_5848463_diseases-can-contract-toilet-seat_.html

https://www.webmd.com/balance/features/what-can-you-catch-in-restrooms

mego1988 · December 2011

The test for STD's is either your Pap or the blood tests. Either way you are probably safe, things get mixed up or someone when they input it in the system probably clicked the wrong thing. The person calling to tell you is almost never the person who actually did the test, and the same with the person that inputs the info into their patient chart system I'm a trained medical administrative assistant and these things happen because almost everything is computerized now so miss types can happen very easily, more so than if someone were to physically write this in a chart. I wouldn't worry and just go in for a re test and make sure it is the correct chart they are reading, and the results are straight from the machine, not something they just typed up in your chart.

meg193 · December 2011

kibby1234:
meg193:
kibby1234:

I'm so sorry you're going through this. I would just try to calm down, though. It sounds like it is quite possible that you don't have it. STD's can be caught in multiple ways, and I'm not an expert, but I believe gonorrhea is curable. Although it is rare, you can become infected by things such as public restrooms, trying on clothing, blood transmission, etc. I completely understand you saying that your husband is faithful. If something like this happened to me, I would 100% know my husband was faithful as well. There's no doubt in my mind. On the bright side, it's wonderful that you're with a man whom you can trust completely. I wish you the best and remember, just try to calm down. Like I said, I believe it's curable, you may not have it, and there are many explinations as to how you could have contracted it besides infidelity.

You can't get STD's from public bathrooms or trying on clothes. Did you attend 8th grade health class?

OP - lab errors happen all the time so I would insist on getting a repeat test. I'm sure everything will be fine. FYI - If it does come back positive then the ONLY way you can get gonorrhea is through sexual contact with an infected person.

https://www.ehow.com/facts_5848463_diseases-can-contract-toilet-seat_.html

https://www.webmd.com/balance/features/what-can-you-catch-in-restrooms

You might want to actually read the articles you post before posting them. This is a direct quote from the webmd article.

"To my knowledge, no one has ever acquired an STD on the toilet seat -- unless they were having sex on the toilet seat!" says Abigail Salyers, PhD, president of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM).

themains2009 · December 2011

meg193:
kibby1234:
meg193:
kibby1234:

I'm so sorry you're going through this. I would just try to calm down, though. It sounds like it is quite possible that you don't have it. STD's can be caught in multiple ways, and I'm not an expert, but I believe gonorrhea is curable. Although it is rare, you can become infected by things such as public restrooms, trying on clothing, blood transmission, etc. I completely understand you saying that your husband is faithful. If something like this happened to me, I would 100% know my husband was faithful as well. There's no doubt in my mind. On the bright side, it's wonderful that you're with a man whom you can trust completely. I wish you the best and remember, just try to calm down. Like I said, I believe it's curable, you may not have it, and there are many explinations as to how you could have contracted it besides infidelity.

You can't get STD's from public bathrooms or trying on clothes. Did you attend 8th grade health class?

OP - lab errors happen all the time so I would insist on getting a repeat test. I'm sure everything will be fine. FYI - If it does come back positive then the ONLY way you can get gonorrhea is through sexual contact with an infected person.

https://www.ehow.com/facts_5848463_diseases-can-contract-toilet-seat_.html

https://www.webmd.com/balance/features/what-can-you-catch-in-restrooms

You might want to actually read the articles you post before posting them. This is a direct quote from the webmd article.

"To my knowledge, no one has ever acquired an STD on the toilet seat -- unless they were having sex on the toilet seat!" says Abigail Salyers, PhD, president of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM).

Right above the quote you used however...

for an infection to occur, the germs would have to be transferred from the toilet seat to your urethral or genital tract, or through a cut or sore on the buttocks or thighs, which is possible but very unlikely.

Sure unlikely... but still possible. I talked to my friend who is a nurse for an obgyn and she said you can get it by coming in contact with something someone else has touched (whether by hand, or other body part, yuck!). So if someone wipes and gets it on their hands, and then touches something that I then touch, and then I wipe.... it's possible. Very rare. But possible. And unfortunately, I'm the type of person who has the luck to have all the "very rare" things happen to me.

Anyways!... Thank you all for the encouragement and opinions. Much appreciated. I've done some research online and it sounds like false positives are quite common with gonorrhea.

meg193 · December 2011

The problem with your theory of touching something that someone else touched is that Gonorrhea can live for seconds to a few minutes outside the body and only in perfect conditions. I can't think of any instance where somone would put there finger in their vagina, touch something then I touch it and touch my own vagina (except sex). You may not want to believe it but if you have gonorrhea, your husband cheated on you. Ask your OB and see what they say.

rachie1019 · December 2011

Yikes! I'd like to be hopeful like the rest of the ladies on here. But I am a bit more realistic, like meg193. I wouldn't completely rule out that your Husband has been faithful...

rachie1019 · December 2011

PS - It is much more likely to obtain an STD from your partner cheating, rather than from a toilet seat. WTH?? Sorry if you're in denial. I'd love for you to prove me wrong.

BTW: I read this to Hubby last night and said I'm pretty sure you're husband is cheating. I told him if I were YOU, I would beat his ass. LMAO

Truthsnark · December 2011

rachie1019:

PS - It is much more likely to obtain an STD from your partner cheating, rather than from a toilet seat. WTH?? Sorry if you're in denial. I'd love for you to prove me wrong.

BTW: I read this to Hubby last night and said I'm pretty sure you're husband is cheating. I told him if I were YOU, I would beat his ass. LMAO

Orrrrrr it was a lab mix-up, Doomy McGloomersons. Heck, my lab told me I WASN'T pregnant, but then called me back in because they tested the wrong sample and oh heck you are pregnant, now take your pants off again. Confidence-inspiring, let me tell you.

Want a personalized experience?

False Positive For Gonorrhea?

Re: False Positive For Gonorrhea?

Choose Another Board

Search Boards