Hi ho, Ann - a very good question.

First, here is a no bullshit site for ya - www.dph.sf.ca.us/sfcitycli...dchart.asp

as far as being too cautious, - just get as much REAL information as you can and make your decisions from that. Many Dr.s will scare you, and that is fine - that is their job, their career and I certainly respect them - but unfortunately because of all the things that they need to weigh, as well as, frequently, a lack of knowledge (the Dr. title only means they made it through school.)

Ask questions, as many as you need, I'm tired right now so I'm going to sleep, but I invite any other responses for Ann. Any new/more info?

My problem with all the official sites (planned parenthood, CDC, etc) is that although they do provide lots of good information, they're sort of politically liable to provide descriptions of STDs that cover a much wider range of symptoms than are actually clinically present. For example, they may state that a certain STD can take weeks, months or years to develop... whereas clinically, that STD may almost always show up within a few weeks. I've found this to be true for descriptions of symptoms too. Which is why all this can be so confusing: your doc tells you one thing, the internet tells you something else.

So, the most helpful site I've seen is this MedHelp forum, in which questions are answered by an STD specialist, Dr. Handsfield. You have to pay $15 to post a question, which limits alot of crap that is posted to unregulated forums.

Here's the link: www.medhelp.org/forums/STD/wwwboard.html

And a short description, copied from the site:

Questions in the sexually transmitted diseases forum are answered by H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D., Senior Health Research Leader at the Battelle Center for Public Health Research and Evaluation, Seattle, Washington, and Clinical Professor of Medicine at the Center of AIDS and STD, University of Washington. He has authored or co-authored more than 200 STD-related research papers, review articles, textbook chapters and a book, Color Atlas and Synopsis of Sexually Transmitted Diseases, published by McGraw-Hill; is a former president of the American STD Association; and for 25 years directed the STD Control Program for Public Health – Seattle & King County. Dr. Handsfield's opinions are strictly his own and do not represent the views or policies of Battelle or the University of Washington.

"I need a good site to send some people to learn about safer sex which talks about all std's not just one.

Also, I would like to find a site that tells you what to do. "

--

Ann, just read your post a bit more closely, and found another link to add... I know I just criticized planned parenthood in my previous post, but in terms of advice and prevention, they have some pretty good info. Also, for further clarification, I think PP is amazing in many many ways, I just have some minor issues with their symptom descriptions.

This page www.plannedparenthood.org/sexua...ds.htm - if you scroll down to "how infections are passed along" - provides a clear outline of what you're at risk for when you engage in different kinds of sexual activities.