Recent blood test: STD? No way?

[mcboyt]

Kind of personal issue but I am at my wit's end and can't get enough response out of any doctors...

I am struggling with fertility and recently had a chlamydia antibody blood test which came back positive. As you can imagine, I was at the least shocked at these results since I have been married for almost 10 years and have had no indication of any infection. I have not ever had an STD culture done so have no idea if I had the chlamydia STD or not. My husband assures me and I have reason to believe that he has always been responsible prior to our marriage, so what do I do?

Of course, I go into crazy mode questioning my husband and searching the internet for any explanation. I found one long shot explanation on chlamydia pneumoniae and MS. My husband had walking pneumonia in 2004 (I was diagnosed with MS in 2002 and had walking pneumonia when I was a preteen). In March of 2005, I had a terrible flare up which could not be "cured" by Solumedrol, IVG, and other steroid treatments. After 8 months, most of the symptoms cleared up but I still have some residual impairment.

Am I completely crazy, or could it be that the chlamydia antibody test detected the chlamydia pneunmoniae in my blood? Has anyone ever encountered this problem? Someone in Britain seemed to have a similar issue but I never completely trust what I read on this internet-thing...Vanderbuilt U did a study but of course it is difficult to compare my personal situation with the case study.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. This could be a very personal and embarrassing topic which makes it difficult to consult loved ones. Thanks!

[gypsy]

The blood test you have is to screen for the chlamydia bacteria. It would not test positive for any other pneumonia. It's possible for someone to have chlamydia for a long period of time without symptoms. And scar tissue in the fallopian tubes is a leading cause for infertility. For you to have scar tissue there, the infection has to have been present for a very long time, meaning years.

Have you had a vaginal culture? And is your husband willing to take a test?

[Redwings]

Hi mcboyt:
Even though you haven't gotten "enough response" out fo your doctors, you're going to have to go back to your doctors and to your lab results to get enough information to answer your questions.

You're going to have to find out which kind of antibody test was run and which species of Chlamydia was tested for. Chlamydia pneumoniae is not the form involved in STDs and doesn't cause infertility. If the test was run as part of an infertility workup, it isn't likely that chlamydia pneumoniae was the form tested for. A fertility workup would be looking for Chlamydia trachomatis, which is the form involved with STDs and infertility.

You'll have to find out from your doctors whether the type of test you had is specific enough to differentiate antibodies to C. pneumoniae from those of C. trachomatis, and what the false positive rate for the test is. In theory, a very specific test that's negative for one form should not come up positive in the presence of the other. So if you were specifically tested for C. trachomatis, C. pneumoniae should not have made the test come up positive. That's what your doctors will have to go over with you.

If there's any question about which species you might have been exposed to or whether you even have antibodies to either species of Chlamydia, you should be tested again, perhaps for both species individually.

It seems like the issue here isn't whether C. pneumoniae is involved in MS -- there's been enough work done to suggest that it might be. But you weren't tested for C. pneumoniae (the non-STD form) in relation to MS. It appears that the issue is whether you were exposed to C. trachomatis (the STD form) and where you might have contracted it. You might like to have your husband tested for both forms, but it may not be possible to tell who passed the organism to the other. It's possible that your doctors don't want to get involved in a sticky situation between you and your husband. But, uncomfortable as it may be, you're going to have to press them for more information if you want to get answers.

[aitch10]

If it's affecting your fertility I'd have them do a gyn check.