Dear Team,

I am a female straight (X) who had a sexual partner (A) for two years. This happened four years ago, and at that time he had been my only sexual partner and so was I, his only sexual partner - ever.

After that we split and A admits having had:
- A partner with whom he only kissed.
- A partner with whom he had sexual intercourse with penetration, always using a condom.
I do not know whether he has had more encounters than the above, this is what he says.

Myself, X, I had:
- A partner who I kissed. After this relationship I was diagnosed mononucleosis, and after a couple of weeks I was fine. I was also diagnosed oral candidiasis (mouth). The doctor said it could be caused by a number of factors, not only the kissing.
- A partner with whom I had vaginal sex - protected; and oral - unprotected.

After this A and X met again and kissed romantically. Just after this (August 2010), I got the worst sore throat ever. Even mononucleosis seems like nothing compared to this. I had an itchy skin all over my body, mucus in my chest, eyes and ears; pain in my chest as I slept, sore joints and bones. It all went away in ten days, without significant medication (perhaps aspirin?), and then never felt it again.

In November 2010 I got tested of HIV, Chlamydia, Hep C, Syphilis - all negative.

A has never been tested of anything.

We live apart, so we have then met in three more times, two of them have included vaginal protected sex & oral unprotected sex, the other one was only kissing. However, after each of these encounters I have had the same symptoms in greater or lesser intensity.

The second time I was sick, had a sore throat and body, very high fever (40ºC), severe dehydration, fainted, diarrhea, mucus. Went to GP - he said it was a very bad chest infection.
The third time it was milder, sore throat, sore body, mucus, moderate fever.
The fourth and last time is at the moment - same symptoms. It always goes on for about four days, it seems to get better; to then get a lot worse for another ten days or so.

These three times are apart about three months of each other, I haven't had any other partners in between, and A says he hasn't either. Of course he could be lying, that I don't know.

I haven't been ill at all in between, either.

I hope this is clear, please do not hesitate to ask any questions you might have.

What I'd like to know is whether I should connect the sexual intercourse to the repeated chest infections I've been having, (it has happened four times now), or whether they are separate events.
Also, I'd like to know whether it could be a symptom of something else, or if it is a diagnose in itself.

Thank you and regards.

[Dr Jose]

Hello,
Thank you for your post.
None of your sexual encounters were high risk and all penetrative sex was protected.
You have had a negative STD screening.
Therefore I do not believe that your health problems are related to any of those encounters.
I would recommend consulting with your GP to try to find out why you keep getting these infections.
Kind regards,
José

Dear Dr Jose,

Thanks for your prompt reply. As I understand you would not relate these infections to sexual intercourse, is that right? They might be caused by something else?

Thank you very much for your reply.
Regards.

[Dr Jose]

Exactly.
Best wishes,
José