Welcome to EmpowHer, and thank you so much for writing.
First, I'm so sorry that you had an ectopic pregnancy and such a tough time with pelvic inflammatory disease. It sounds like that was a rough time in your life in more than one way.
But congratulations on your recovery and on your planned marriage next year!!
Here are a few facts about PID that may help you know your situation better:
-- Yes, you were cured of your infection when you took the antibiotics and had the follow-up care. There's not a need to worry whether you still have that infection from way back then.
-- However, one in three women who have had PID do develop the infection again. All this means is that you have to be alert to the symptoms and, if you feel them, to make an appointment with your health-care provider right away to get it taken care of.
-- On fertility: The Merck Manual says that infertility happens in about 1 of 5 women who have had PID. But note this: infertility does not mean you cannot have a baby! It is defined as trying to get pregnant for a year without having it happen. So even if you have infertility issues, you may still get pregnant but just need some medical intervention (like fertility medicine, for instance) to help you.
Here's the page where this info is from:
http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec22/ch248/ch248a.html
The CDC says that it is just 1 in 10 women that become infertile, but the chances rise the more times the infection recurs. Here's the CDC page:
So in other words, you might be fine, or you might have some challenges getting pregnant. Either way, the chances of infertility are between just 10% and 20%.
Comment Reply
Anon,
Welcome to EmpowHer, and thank you so much for writing.
First, I'm so sorry that you had an ectopic pregnancy and such a tough time with pelvic inflammatory disease. It sounds like that was a rough time in your life in more than one way.
But congratulations on your recovery and on your planned marriage next year!!
Here are a few facts about PID that may help you know your situation better:
-- Yes, you were cured of your infection when you took the antibiotics and had the follow-up care. There's not a need to worry whether you still have that infection from way back then.
-- However, one in three women who have had PID do develop the infection again. All this means is that you have to be alert to the symptoms and, if you feel them, to make an appointment with your health-care provider right away to get it taken care of.
-- On fertility: The Merck Manual says that infertility happens in about 1 of 5 women who have had PID. But note this: infertility does not mean you cannot have a baby! It is defined as trying to get pregnant for a year without having it happen. So even if you have infertility issues, you may still get pregnant but just need some medical intervention (like fertility medicine, for instance) to help you.
Here's the page where this info is from:
http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec22/ch248/ch248a.html
The CDC says that it is just 1 in 10 women that become infertile, but the chances rise the more times the infection recurs. Here's the CDC page:
http://www.cdc.gov/std/pid/stdfact-pid.htm#complications
So in other words, you might be fine, or you might have some challenges getting pregnant. Either way, the chances of infertility are between just 10% and 20%.
Does that help?
April 1, 2010 - 8:43amThis Comment
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