If you have no symptoms, your doctor will ask you for a sample of urine and a blood test. Most men will not require any more testing, but women may also need a swab taken from the vagina (which you may do for yourself if you prefer).
If you do have symptoms, your doctor will need to examine your genital area, take swabs from the penis or vagina, and a blood test. If you have had anal or oral sex, your doctor may also recommend testing these areas. If you have an ulcer in the mouth or genital area which could be caused by an STI, samples might be taken directly from the ulcer itself.
Testing for syphilis, hepatitis B, HIV is conducted via a blood test which looks for the presence of antibodies to each of these infections. It can take up to 12 weeks for these antibodies to be detected by a test and therefore you may need to have a test after this period of time. Testing can only be conducted with your consent.
Test results usually take about a week to come back. If results show you have an infection, sexual partners also need to be tested and treated, otherwise reinfection can occur.
Avoid having unsafe sex while you or your partner are taking the treatment. You could infect each other again.
Do not drink alcohol while taking the treatment. The alcohol will reduce the effectiveness of the treatment. You might also forget about having safe sex while under the influence of alcohol.
