About a month and a half ago, I wrote about testing positive for Chlamydia. It’s been hard on me ever since then to really come to terms with it. Sure, it was easy to get rid of (just a few pills) and I don’t have to relive it by telling every past or future partner that I have an STD, but the worst part for me is the stigma. It is a sad but true fact that I chose not to tell anyone close to me. Not even my friends. I was afraid of being judged. No matter what kind of STD you get, curable or not, there is a stigma that comes along with being a person who has one.

I know, I’ve been one to judge before. Read More »

Did you know that cases of Chlamydia in the U.S. have increased by 41% in the past 10 years? And that is only reported cases. Experts estimate that the true number of men and women with Chlamydia is actually double the amount reported each year.

Did you also know that African Americans are 8 times more likely to contract Chlamydia than Caucasians? Scary stuff.

Since Chlamydia often has no symptoms many people don’t get tested, which can lead to the infection of others and serious health risks down the road. Women are most at risk as their infected partners can continually re-infect them.

Jill Grimes, MD, is a board-certified family practice physician in Austin, TX. She is an associate editor for the 5-Minute Clinical Consult textbook, and clinical instructor at UMASS Medical School.  Her book, Seductive Delusions: How Everyday People Catch STDs, proves how serious STDs are for all of us – yes, even you! We had a chance to speak with Jill and she had this to share with everyone at CollegeCandy:

Okay, ladies, it’s time for a sneak peak behind closed exam-room doors. Outside, we are bombarded with the constant message that sex is all about fun, excitement, and personal empowerment – our bodies, our choice. Inside, however, we see a disconnect between these choices and unexpected consequences. People like “us”- whether that’s preppy Greeks, computer geeks, scholarship athletes, nurturing elementary ed majors, intense pre-law or pre-med majors, or any other student – these aren’t the kind of people who would be at risk of carrying a sexually transmitted disease, right?

WRONG!

As a private practice family physician located near a major university, I’m here to give you the REAL scoop about the STDs we diagnose every day, in women just like you.

The majority of my patients have had fewer sexual partners than they can count on one hand, and yet my colleagues and I diagnose genital herpes, chlamydia, and HPV (either obvious genital warts or abnormal Pap smears) like crazy! To be honest, one of the most common things we hear when we diagnose someone with genital herpes is “but there’s NO WAY I can have herpes, because I haven’t even had sex yet!” Of course, they’ve had oral sex, but they didn’t realize that cold sores = Herpes and cold sores in the mouth + genitals = Herpes down low. Read More »

When I found out that 25% of college students have a Sexually Transmitted Disease, I laughed. Surely that statistic referred to the more promiscuous students, or those who were dumb enough not to use a condom during sex.

Then I found out that two of the eight girls living in my house (25%) had contracted an STD. These two girls weren’t promscuous – one was a virgin! – and the other was always safe. And that was when I realized just how serious STDs were for all women on college campuses.

The problem with STDs is that people don’t talk about them. We all think that by practicing safe sex – using a condom – we are safe from everything and because we have this false sense of safety, many of us never get tested. And that is why 1 in 4 college students currently have an STD.

April is STD Awareness Month and in conjuction with that, we at CollegeCandy decided to stop regular posting and turn today into STD Awareness Day. We have teamed with with many experts in the field – doctors, nurses, STD specialists, etc. – to bring you the information you need to protect yourself and start a necessary dialogue on a serious issue.

We urge you to learn a little bit and make an appointment to get tested!

Below are some pretty serious and scary facts about STDs that we never knew. Chances are, you don’t know about them either and that is dangerous. Knowledge is power and when it comes to STDs, it is the power to protect youself: Read More »

April kicks off national STD Awareness month. I know it doesn’t sound like much fun, but neither does Syphillis.

In conjunction with the national effort to raise awareness of the spread of Sexually Transmitted Diseases across college campuses (1 in 4 young women have them!), CollegeCandy will be having our very own STD awareness day on Thursday, April 2nd.

We have invited experts in the field to share their knowledge and experience with us in hopes that we can prevent the spread of these diseases and protect ourselves.

There is so much that young women don’t know about STDs – how they spread, how they can affect our health, if we have them…. – so we thought we’d bring in a doctor to answer everything.

Is there anything you’d like to know? Really, anything. Let us know in the comments section and we’ll pass it on to our friend, Dr. Lissa Rankin. There is no question too “icky” to ask. If you’re a little shy about your issue, email us and we’ll pass it on anonymously.

The more we know the safer we will be, so ask away and come back April 2nd to get your answers. In the meantime, go get tested! We did.

You hear it all the time – in sex ed class, during your yearly trip to the doctor, and during every commercial break on MTV: always use a condom.

But I think we all know that sometimes you can get really caught up in the heat of the moment and you might, well, forget to put one on. Or think to yourself, “I’m clean (and on the Pill), he’s clean – we’re fine!”

I’m not proud, but I know I’ve had a few moments like that.  And never did I ever think anything would happen to me.

Until recently. I went in for my yearly PAP at my campus health center, where testing for Chlamydia and Ghonorrhea is standard procedure. I didn’t think much of it, until I got a call a couple days later to come back in to discuss the results. I got a little nervous, but I definitely didn’t think they would tell me I have an STD.

The doctor came in and told me that I had tested positive for Chlamydia. Read More »

[For many of us, sex and college go together like Uggs and snow - you can’t have one without the other. So, we brought in one of Berkeley’s finest sex columnists, Elizabeth, to start a dialogue about the topic (and act) that is very near and dear to our hearts. Every Thursday she will get your day goin’ with a little somethin’ somethin’ that’s on her mind.]

Deep inside of my computer, within file upon file, lies a mysteriously lonely Excel spreadsheet titled “Hit List.” This, my friends, is where I keep a list of every single person I’ve hooked up with. I keep it tucked away as far in there as possible so that nobody, especially parents or siblings, can ever find it.

Some may think it ridiculous, other may think it slutty, but I like to think of it as a responsible way to keep track of one’s sexual partners. There are many reasons and methods to keeping a hit list, and, via extensive research in the field, I have gathered the best evidence out there in support of the sExcel spreadsheet (pun intended).

A wholesome feeling of accomplishment: My friend Meegan periodically sneaks a peek at her list as a means to see how far she’s come over the years. Think of it as the trophy case of hook-ups. If you’re like Meegan and can hook-up without getting attached, it can turn into a way to record “achievements.” It almost acts like an addendum to your “Things to Do Before I Graduate” checklist. Live your lifelong dream of banging your GSI? Add that baby to the list, sit back, let out a big sigh, and bask in your accomplishments. Read More »

The first time I heard about HPV (Human papillomavirus), I’m pretty sure it was during a flash of a Gardisal commercial where a fresh faced young women talked about a vaccine to help prevent it.

My first thought? What is HPV? My second thought, if there’s no signs of symptoms, how do I know I don’t have it?

In school, Sex-Ed visuals of puffy soars, warts, and growths scared me so much I barely wanted to touch a penis (though, I still did) but THAT was the connotation I had of sexually transmitted diseases. I figured it there was ever a burning sensation, I should seriously get my stuff checked, otherwise smooth sailing.

Being the smart woman I am, I “maned up” and got tests, visited my lovely gyno-lady and thankfully that all came out super clean, but here’s the thing;

With diseases like HPV, there are no signs of the virus–only rarely are there types of warts. And the scariest part about it, there are 30-40 types of the disease and the most commonly transmitted HPV types may lead to HPV-induced cancer. Cervical cancer being one of them. Hi, terrifying. Read More »

Along with the joys of college sometimes come a few unwanted visitors, aka sexually transmitted diseases. With all of the drunken or random hookups going on, most girls are bound to have at least one “ummm, something is not right down there” moment. Let’s be honest, it happens to the best of us, not just the raging sluts.

The initial conversation with the doctor or nurse at the university health center is never fun. A lot of embarassing questions are asked that you would probably rather not discuss with someone who looks like they could be one of your parents.

Now, a new website, stdwizard, takes care of those annoying beginning steps. All you have to do is answer questions relating to your specific symptoms and keep on clicking through the website until the end to see if you need to go get tested. Read More »