My husband and I have been married for 24 years and I have had no other sexual partners during that time. I believe but he denies he had an affair with a mutual friend. I had been having what I thought were reoccurring yeast infections. I tried self medication and then finally went to the doctor. He told me I had Trichomonsis. He told me it could only be transmitted by sexual intercourse so I called my husband and told him he need to be treated. He said he was fine and I was a filthy *****. He says he went to the doctor today and was negative. Can someone give me a scientific explaination for this? I am falling apart.

Hi there feeling confused,

Welcome to our forums. I'm sorry this is so difficult, and can only imagine just how confused and frustrated you must be. First of all, you are NOT a "filthy" anything! Trichomoniasis (or trichomonas, or just "trich") is caused by a parasite that's typically harmless. I don't know that you can rule out other means of transmission, but trich is generally regarded as being transmitted through sexual contact.

Women often have a discharge and perhaps some irritation with the infection, whereas men often don't have symptoms. In fact, the parasite is not easy in most clinic settings to detect in men. A number of tests (including culture, microscopic exams of vaginal secretions, and rapid tests such as OSOM Trichomonas Rapid Test and the Affirmâ„¢ VP III ) work well in detecting trich with women. CDC guidelines indicate that false positives might occur with the rapid tests in a few cases, although they are generally considered to be reliable and have a specificity of better than 97%.

Trich can be completely cured with antibiotics (often metronidazole, sometimes branded as the drug Flagyl). It's critical to not have sex until all partners have been treated and are free of symptoms, otherwise there is a high risk of reinfection.

I wish I had more to offer beyond basic facts and figures. I know you must be hurting terribly. I wish you the best and please come to this board anytime, even if you just want a smile and a kind word.

All the best,
Fredo

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ASHA Moderator

It has certainly been a horrible time for my family. I just have to keep repeating the serenity prayer. I can't change this and I know who I am and what I have done. I have not been with anyone else and have been with the same partner since I was 14 and thought that as long as I was monogomous that something like this would never happen. Now I guess it is time to appreciate the fact that is was nothing worse and that I am healthy and have been treated. I just know it will be a long time if ever that I allow myself to have sex again.

Thank you for taking the time to listen. I means the world to me.

You hang in there, and come back to the forums every day if you like. You have a community of online friends here who are happy to listen to you and who want to see you in a good place, both with your health and happiness.

Keep in touch!
Fredo

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ASHA Moderator