WorriedEx
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 Posted: 07/10/08 - 16:33 Post subject: Can an STD from 1980s lead to peripheral neuropathy in 2008? |
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I'm male & turning 50 years old next week. This may sound farfetched, but it's all really happening. In 1986 I had unsafe sex one time with a woman I barely knew, who evidently wasn't clean, and I developed a bad case of Reiter's syndrome as a result. I was in pretty bad pain for months but took the antibiotics & anti-inflammatories and most symptoms were gone after 5-6 months. At the time I asked the doctor two things: could this develop into anything worse, and could I pass anything on to someone else? He said there was some possibility of developing chronic rheumatoid arthritis in the future but probably not, and not to worry about spreading anything to anyone. I was left only with a right index finger I can't fully close. All the other pains in my feet & back went away for good (I thought).
In the 1990s my fingernails and toenails started to change, eventually looking very bad -- oddly shaped, pitted, raised from the nail bed -- but not painful. It was unsightly but didn't cause me any problems, I assumed it was fungus that I could treat anytime with Lamisil or something. I just kept putting that off. Then in early 1997 I began a relationship with a woman that ran about 6 months. She was/is unable to get pregnant and enjoyed frequent spontaneous sex a great deal. We had unprotected sex very, very many times before going our separate ways.
(Strange as it may sound, by this time, I had forgotten all about my huge mistake from 10 years earlier, blocked it out maybe, and thought of nothing but the good times we were having. She said she was disease-free, and I truly thought I was too. After all, that doctor told me it was a one-time occurrence, and that there wouldn't be any future consequences...)
Fast forward to 2008. I'm finally trying to clear up my nails (they'd looked really bad for about 15 years) and see about this small pain I've been having in my right hand. To make it brief, after seeing my regular doctor, three dermatologists, and a rheumatologist, trying cortisone and Naproxen, having X-rays and an MRI, the final diagnosis is that I now have psoriatic arthritis: a combination of arthritis in the joints and psoriasis in the nails (it wasn't fungus after all). I was astounded. And when I remembered the Reiter's syndrome from 22 years ago, all doctors tell me that must be the reason. I know nothing of medicine, but I'm simply amazed that one incident from 22 years earlier is now going to cause lifelong consequences.
But forget about me. My biggest worry of all is my ex from 1997. Very sad to say, she has been suffereing for about a year now with a serious case of peripheral neuropathy. So far it's affecting mostly her arms and legs, hands and feet, and she's dealing with it, but it's only getting worse. She says it runs in her family, like she half expected to inherit it, but I've read that there can be other causes too, such as autoimmune diseases, such as what I had.
So after all that chattering, THIS is my question: How likely is it that in 1997, I could have passed to this woman the STD I caught in 1986, and if I did, how likely is it that I am responsible for her suffering now?
I really, really thought I was healthy, but the disease I caught in 1986 is obviously still in me. And I can't help but think that it might not be a coincidence that she and I are having these troubles at the same time -- hers much worse than mine.
Sorry to type this much, but if anyone has read this far and can tell me anything, I'd very much appreciate a reply. Thanks to all |
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