Hello!
First of all, I’d like to say that the reason for writing this post is to hopefully offer some help and reassurance to anyone else who found themselves in a position that I was in over the last few weeks…
I’ve been punting for the best part of 5 years now, I wouldn’t say I’ve seen loads of WG’s, but at the same time I’ve had a good crack at it (and for the record had lots of fun along the way thanks to this site)…
Two weeks ago I was woken up in the early hours of the morning with a dull pain in my balls. It wasn’t excruciatingly painful, but enough to wake me from my sleep. At first I thought it may just be the desperate need to go to the toilet, so I went, but unfortunately the pain kept coming back. Throughout the rest of that day I sporadically experienced a dull pain, a need to frequently urinate, and a slight burning sensation when urinating. Considering I’d seen a WG two days ago for OWO… Understandably, I started to panic…
Now at this point, I did what I recommended NOBODY should do… I started searching Google. After an hour of intensive searching online, I’d self-diagnosed myself with an STD… Wasn’t sure which one it was, but I was convinced I had one.
A few days later I conjured up the confidence to book an appointment with my GP (at this point the thought of doing an STD test, online or virtual, was too much). When I went to see my GP he asked me some questions and took a urine sample, there was a chance this could be a UTI… However after swabbing the urine sample, he ruled this out relatively quickly, although said they would text for it just incase. He asked me some questions about my sex life, and I provided honest answers. He concluded by strongly advising me to go to the GUM clinic. At this point, I am literally shitting myself.
I went home that night, and my partner knew I was clearly not right. I was so anxious that I was struggling to eat, sleep or concentrate on anything. Quite honestly, I wouldn’t wish the feeling on my worst enemy…
The next day I attended a walk-in centre to get a full STD check. I was extremely apprehensive about going, but at the same time I didn’t want an STD kit being delivered to my house (for obvious reasons when you live with your partner)…
I must admit, I was extremely surprised at the experience I had at the walk-in centre. They really couldn’t have been more friendly, accommodating and understanding. The staff at these places genuinely are incredible, and there’s no judgment. I was totally honest about everything I’d done and who I’d met, I came away feeling like the person I’d spoken too had heard this all before a few times (not even an eyebrow raised!).
I did a urine sample and also a blood test, and was told that the results could take between 7-10 days to come back. If there was a problem, I’d get a phone call asking me to come back, if there was no issue, I’d get a text message. Interestingly enough the person I spoke to told me that if something comes back positive, they are more likely to get in touch sooner within the 7-10 day timeframe.
As you can probably imagine I spent the next week Incredibly anxious… Dreading that my phone does not ring, and instead I hear the SMS text message sound instead. On a more positive note, I’d noticed that my symptoms weren’t still there, the dull pain had become far less frequent and I wasn’t needing to pee as much.
It’d got to the 7 day point, and I was starting to contemplate calling them up and asking if the results were back, purely because I was struggling to wait any longer. However when you phone the clinic, it does say you must wait at least 14 days before calling and asking for results.
But to my absolute amazement (and utter relief); I got a text message that afternoon to say that they were all clear (negative). I can’t describe how I felt in this moment…
There’s two things I’ve learnt from this experience:
Firstly, if you do what we do for long enough, you have to be mentally prepared to deal with a moment where your luck may run out. I’ve no doubt that some of us have more to lose than others, and contracting an STD comes with different consequences for each of us depending on your circumstances. But as the old saying goes, you can’t go swimming without getting wet. If your meeting WG’s and engaging in acts likes OWO, there’s risks involved to that. You might be lucky and not catch anything, but even still if your anything like me then you still have to go through with the impending worry and stress that you have got something… So is it worth it?
Secondly, this is a wake up call for me. I never want to put myself in the position that I’ve just been in, and I don’t want to risk losing what I have (e.g my partner). So as much as I’ve had plenty of fun over the last 5 years which have alllowed me to indulge in multiple fantasies, I’m giving it all up for peace of mind.
Finally if your somebody who’s reading this and heaven forbid is going through a similar set of circumstances, please try not to panic. There’s literally hundreds of different things which cause your balls to hurt, or for your urinations to hurt etc. My advice would be DO NOT self-diagnose anything from what you read online… Instead, go and get tested straight away. They are very understanding at the clinic and to some extent, help to put you at ease. The worst thing about all of this is the anxiety of thinking what you could have, so try not to let that get on top of you (like it did for me).
