Infertile from PID

[Skeezix]

Hi everyone,

I was diagnosed with PID several years ago, probably from chlamydia that was never found but who knows. Anyway, my doctor thinks it got bad enough so my tubes are messed up and I might not be able to have a baby. My thing is if I'm with a future husband and he wants to know what happened, I don't want to have to tell him I might have had chlamydia blah blah. It's bad enough I might not be able to have kids, but to have to talk about it with someone is more than I want to deal with!

[Victoria]

Hi everyone,

I was diagnosed with PID several years ago, probably from chlamydia that was never found but who knows. Anyway, my doctor thinks it got bad enough so my tubes are messed up and I might not be able to have a baby. My thing is if I'm with a future husband and he wants to know what happened, I don't want to have to tell him I might have had chlamydia blah blah. It's bad enough I might not be able to have kids, but to have to talk about it with someone is more than I want to deal with!

Hi Skeezix,

First, let's cover a little background. PID is Pelvic Inflammatory Disease, and is caused when bacteria moves from the vagina to the upper genital tract (such as the uterus or ovaries). If undetected it can lead to a host of complications including tubal pregnancy, chronic pelvic pain, and infertility.

If I'm reading you correctly, you were never actually diagnosed with chlamydia and it's just an assumption that's what caused your PID. While it's true that many cases of PID related to gonorrhea or chlamydia infections that aren't detected and cured, there are many different organisms that can cause this disease. For example, douching or having an IUD inserted can lead bacteria that is naturally found in a healthy vagina to be introduced into the upper genital tract.

So it may not be certain that your PID was in fact the result of an STD. Even if it were, don't be too hard on yourself. Chlamydia is very, very common, with an estimated 3 million cases occurring in the U.S. each year. Most women don't have symptoms, so aren't always thinking about testing and treatment. All sexually active women 25 and under should be tested each year for this infection (as should older women with risk factors like new, anonymous, or multiple partners). Pregnant women should be checked, too.

I hope this helps. Read more on this site at http://getstdtested.com/forum/chlamy...ydia-faqs.html

[Hockey Girl]

Hey sweetie,

I am so sorry you had to go through this. If you don't mind my asking, what happened? Did you ever feel anything, or what?

[Skeezix]

Hey sweetie,
I am so sorry you had to go through this. If you don't mind my asking, what happened? Did you ever feel anything, or what?

Thank you so MUCH! I appreciate the response!

I had some tenderness in the pelvic area and a discharge, so I went to the clinic, was referred on, and eventually diagnosed with PID. Victoria, thanks for your reply, too, it was really helpful. To answer your question, no, I was never diagnosed with chlamydia, they just think that's probably what did it. My chlamydia test was negative, so who knows.

Thanks again, really means a lot to hear from people.

[Victoria]

Someone asked me not along if men have a complication similar to PID. It isn't very common, but sometimes untreated chlamydia does cause difficulties in men, including infertility.

One thing that comes up sometimes is epididymitis, an inflammaion of the structure (the epididymis) within the testicles where sperm is stored. It can be painful, sometimes very much so and in some cases leads to infertility.

This is uncommon, though...men are much more likely to have symptoms and to seek testing/treatment.

Which is why testing is so important! Chlamydia Test | Chlamydia Testing | NAAT Test for Chlamydia