Hello Docs,

2 years ago I was diagnosed with syphilis (all other tests - HIV, Hep B...etc - were clear). This was treated successfully and there has been no possible contact where reinfection could have occurred.

A couple of weeks after the final penicillin injection (3x intramuscular) I began to feel hot all the time. It has got better but not gone away. The hot feelings which now come and go are like hot flushes all over my body and my skin is red when pressed on. I don't have a rash as the skin is not raised, but it is dry.

Just wondering what your opinion is concerning this? Do you think it may be syphilis related?

I have also been incredibly stressed (anxiety) relating to this episode in my life. Do you think this may be related? Also I had a general health check done recently. My BMI was 27.8 and the percentage of water in my body was 50.1% (it should be 60%+). Again do you think these might be contributing factors to the hot flushes?

Thanks for your time.

[Dr Jose]

Hello,
Thank you very much for your post and welcome to our forum.
If your syphilis was treated sucessfully and usually three intramuscular injections of high dosages of penicillin are effective, I do not see that these symptoms can have anything to do with this condition. I assume that you have had a follow-up VDRL test after 3 months of the treatment in order to ensure its success. If you did not have this test, I would advice you to have it, just in case.
What you describe is most likely to be caused by something totally unrelated, perhpas anxiety, perhaps being a bit overweight.
Best wishes,
José

Hi Dr. Jose,

Thank you for your message. I had the follow up VDRL at 3, 6, 9, 12, 18 and 24 months. All have come back negative (although a couple came back as 1:1 which I understand is ok). Do I still need to go back for further VDRLs or can I stop now?

I do find the hot flushes lessen at weekends and during holidays when I am more relaxed which has led to me think it might be stress related triggered by the initial syphilis diagnosis.

I realise this post may have been a bit pointless, but thank you for being a sounding board.

Best,

Tom

[Dr Jose]

You have had more test than you would need. Then defintiley not, your syphilis had been successfully treated and fully resolved.
I think that you have probably answered your question yourself; it does sound stress related from what you are saying.
Best wishes,
José