Nov 16, 2022 7 min read antibiotic

Azithromycin: All You Need to Know about Single Dose Treatment for Chlamydia

STIs like chlamydia carry an unfortunate and unfair stigma. While any kind of health problem can feel scary and embarrassing, by keeping STIs in the shadows, our culture has made them into unnecessarily scary monsters.

The truth is, chlamydia is an easily treated STI, and it might be more common than you think. Becoming infected with an STI is never going to feel like winning the lottery, but with intervention, it can be a quick and nearly unnoticeable blip on your health radar.

What is Chlamydia?

Chlamydia is the most frequently reported bacterial STI in the US. It’s a bacterial infection caused by infection with chlamydia trachomatis.

The CDC estimates that there are around 4 million chlamydial infections yearly. That means that even if you suffer anxiety and shame from contracting chlamydia, you should know that you’re not alone.

How Does Chlamydia Spread?

Chlamydia spreads from unprotected sexual contact between genitals, the mouth, and/or the anus. Chlamydia can infect rectum in both men and women, either directly through receptive anal sex or via spread from cervix and vagina in women

Chlamydia can spread through penetrative sex from an infected partner to a non-infected partner. It can also spread to the through by having oral sex with someone who is infected, though it is rare to see symptoms with this type of infection.

How to Prevent Chlamydia

The only 100% foolproof way to protect against chlamydia is abstinence.

A fulfilling sex life is an important part of having an overall healthy life, so most people will consider other highly effective prevention solutions. Another way to ensure you are protected is to be certain of your status as uninfected, and to have mutually monogamous sex with another person who is uninfected.

If mutual monogamy is not on the table, condoms are highly effective barriers against sexually transmitted infections. However, even when used correctly, condoms are not 100% effective, so if you;re wondering if you can catch chlamydia even if you used a condom, the answer is yes.

Regardless of how you choose to protect yourself, if you are choosing any method other than abstinence, you may consider regular testing as a part of your sexual health routine, especially since chlamydia can set up shop in your body completely unnoticed.

Symptoms of Chlamydia

Chlamydia is known as “silent” infection because in many cases, an infected person will show no symptoms or abnormal findings from a physical exam. Many people infected with chlamydia are asymptomatic, especially men.

Women are more likely to develop symptoms, with anywhere from 5-30% of women reporting symptoms. Only about 10% of men will ever report symptoms.

To make matters more mysterious, the incubation period for chlamydia is unclear. Symptoms may not develop until weeks after exposure, sometimes making it hard to pinpoint.

Untreated chlamydia can have secondary complications that affect both men and women. Reactive arthritis can occur in both men and women. Like the name suggests, reactive arthritis is triggered by a bacterial infection, although arthritis symptoms may not set in until after recovery from the infection. The hallmarks of reactive arthritis are inflammation in the urinary tract, eyes, and joints.

Untreated chlamydia may also increase a person’s chances of getting or transmitting HIV, because infected bodies are less capable of fighting off invaders.

Symptoms of Chlamydia in Men

When men do show symptoms of chlamydia, it’s commonly in the form of watery urethral discharge and painful or uncomfortable urination. This is the result of urethritis, an infection in the urinary tract that causes inflammation in the urethra.

Epididymitis, which is an inflammation of an intra-testicular structure, can cause unilateral testicular pain, tenderness, and swelling.

Basically, if persistent symptoms of painful urination or tender testes are present, it could be due to inflammation caused by a chlamydial infection, and should be checked out.

Symptoms of Chlamydia in Women

Women can also suffer from the signs and symptoms of urethritis due to a chlamydial infection. In addition to painful urination, women can also suffer from frequent and urgent urination.

When women are infected with chlamydia, the bacteria will initially infect the cervix, which can also cause cervicitis. Cervicitis is an inflammation of the cervix, and is frequently asymptomatic, though the infection can wreak havoc while silently coursing through the body. Complications of the infected upper genital tract can cause nonspecific symptoms, with the most common being bleeding between periods and an increase in vaginal discharge.

Untreated cervicitis in women can lead to an inflammation of the upper genital tract, known as pelvic inflammatory disease, or PID. PID can also be asymptomatic, or acute, with symptoms such as lower abdominal or pelvic pain and tenderness in the genital tract. This disease affects reproductive organs like the uterus, fallopian tubes, and the ovaries.

Short-term complications of PID include abscesses, and long-term complications can include chronic pelvic pain, ectopic pregnancy, and even infertility. Symptomatic PID occurs in 10-15% of women who do not receive treatment.

Pregnant people with chlamydia may be at a higher risk for conjunctivitis, preterm delivery, and pneumonia.

How do I Know if I Have Chlamydia?

Even if you don’t have any of the symptoms of chlamydia, infection is still possible. Chlamydial infections that start out as relatively harmless and asymptomatic may trigger bigger and worse infections and health complications, which is why it’s so important for people to stay proactive about their sexual health.

If you discover that a partner has been diagnosed with an STI, you should consider getting tested, even if you used a condom. While infection with protection is unlikely, it’s not impossible, and it;s always better to be safe than sorry about your health.

The CDC also recommends that people in the following groups should consider regular testing for STIs, even if they don’t have symptoms:

Sexually active women under age 25
Women older than 25 with lifestyles that include new or multiple partners
Pregnant people
Young men in settings with a high prevalence of chlamydia, like adolescent clinics, correctional facilities, and STI clinics
Sexually active men who have sex with men

With a commonly asymptomatic infection like chlamydia, it can be easy to bury your head in the sand. But regular STI screening should be a part of anyone’s life when they’re sexually active. No matter the results, you will have peace of mind knowing what’s going on with your body.

How to Treat Chlamydia

Chlamydia is a bacterial infection, and can be treated with antibiotics. As our understanding of antibiotics, bacterial infections, and human health improves, so do the options for people needing treatment.

The tried-and-true method for treating chlamydia has been doxycycline, which is a superstar antibiotic that also helps treat bacterial infections that cause acne.

Another option is azithromycin for chlamydia, which is also an antibiotic, but has a different treatment regimen than doxycycline. While doxycycline for chlamydia requires a 7-day, twice a day course, azithromycin can be effectively taken as a single dose.

Doxycycline vs Azithromycin for Chlamydia

Azithromycin is an FDA approved antibiotic and works as an inhibitor of bacterial protein synthesis. This means that it inhibits bacterial growth, rather than directly killing the organisms. By stopping the bacteria from multiplying, it effectively starves the infection until it’s gone.

Azithromycin permits a shorter course of treatment than doxycycline due to its long half-life, excellent tissue penetration, and intracellular distribution. Azithromycin moves quickly from bloodstream into tissues and readily crosses cellular membranes, showcasing incredible efficacy against intracellular pathogens like chlamydial bacteria.

Azithromycin and doxycycline are equally efficacious in achieving microbial cure and have similar tolerability. This means that 1g azithromycin vs 100mg doxycycline twice daily for seven days offer two different treatment roads to arrive at the same, uninfected destination.

Should I Take Azithromycin for Chlamydia?

If you’ve tested positive and are considering buying azithromycin online for chlamydia, rest assured that Seven Cells makes it an easy, discreet process. While only you and your healthcare provider can make the ultimate decision about your treatment, it may be helpful to learn some more key facts about azithromycin to make a more informed decision.

How Long Does Azithromycin Take to Clear Chlamydia?

Azithromycin usually takes about a week to clear a chlamydial infection, and in some cases can take up to 2 weeks. This means that avoiding sexual contact for about two weeks after taking azithromycin for chlamydia is usually the safest course of action.

Benefits of Azithromycin for Chlamydia

While azithromycin and doxycycline are both very effective antibiotics for chlamydia, there are some benefits that only azithromycin can boast.

Single Dose

First, and most importantly, azithromycin is a single dose treatment, versus the twice a day, seven day course that effective treatment with doxycycline requires. Being able to treat yourself with a single dose has obvious benefits– you’ll have the peace of mind knowing that there’s no chance you’ll forget a subsequent dose and mess up your treatment.

97% Effective

Azithromycin has been shown to be at least 97% effective, and as mentioned earlier, can be just as effective as doxycycline when taken correctly. Because the single dose makes it nearly impossible to take azithromycin incorrectly, it can feel like a no-brainer to anyone who wants to effectively treat their chlamydia in seconds, instead of fourteen times over the course of two weeks.

Order Azithromycin Online Easily

Finally, Seven Cells makes it easy to order azithromycin online, along with a plethora of other wellness and sexual health products that can help you put your health in your own hands. Our mission is to make your life happier, healthier, and easier by letting you cut through the red tape and getting the medications that work for you delivered directly to your door.

Find out more about azithromycin here.