Most Common Swinger STI: Trichomoniasis

[00:03] [Guest] Welcome to Swinger University, your horizontal enrichment program offering you the naked facts about swinging.
Here are your hosts, Ed and Phoebe.
This is Ed and this is Phoebe.

[00:23] [Ed] Today we’re talking about Trica Maniasis.
Trica what?
It is the most prevalent non-viral STI worldwide.

[00:38] [Unknown] Effecting approximately 3.7 million persons in the United States, according to the CDC.

[00:47] [Ed] Many people mistake this parasitic infection for bacterial vaginosis or BV due to the similarities.
We also talk about the emotional impact of getting an STI, which sucks.

[01:05] [Phoebe] Yes.
We think Trica Maniasis aka Tric is common in the lifestyle and we’re going to tell you how to detect it, how to avoid it and how to treat it.
What’s interesting is the 3.7 million affected individuals is just an estimate.
Since the CDC does not track this as a reportable disease.
This topic may seem scary or disturbing, but our goal is to educate and provide answers to an STI you may be experiencing or may encounter.

[01:44] [Ed] Trica Maniasis is caused by a parasite.
Gross. And what the hell?

[01:52] [Unknown] Since only 30% of those infected develop any symptoms and symptoms come and go, it’s a really crappy STI that’s very hard to tell if you’ve got it or not.

[02:04] [Phoebe] Yes.
It’s more common in women than men.

[02:11] [Unknown] Yes.

[02:12] [Phoebe] Men can get it and typically have no symptoms.

[02:17] [Ed] Great.

[02:18] [Phoebe] The incubation is about four to 28 days as with most STIs.
It’s a very wide range of less than a week to up to three weeks or more.

[02:32] [Ed] Almost all infections are kind of in that.
Four days to a month, kind of a period.
I never know exactly.

[02:40] [Phoebe] Exactly.

[02:42] [Unknown] So how does it happen?

[02:45] [Ed] Well, pre-come, semen, vaginal fluids, get on or inside your penis, vulva, or vagina.
So fluid transmission.
It’s as simple as that.

[02:57] [Unknown] Sex without a condom.

[02:59] [Ed] Sharing sex toys.

[03:01] [Phoebe] Touching infected fluids, then touching someone else like hands.

[03:07] [Ed] Fingering somebody and then fingering somebody else and then fingering somebody else.
Yay!
You’ve got trick of anisis and you’ve got trick of anisis and you too.

[03:19] [Phoebe] Penis to vagina.

[03:21] [Ed] Vagina to penis.
Or vagina to vagina.
Oral transfer can occur, but it’s very uncommon.
I mean, the mouth is pretty good at handling and killing bacteria.
Yes.
It’s pretty hard in general to get diseases through the mouth.

[03:40] [Phoebe] It is.

[03:41] [Unknown] Even HIV.

[03:43] [Phoebe] So what body part is affected?
For women, it’s your vulva, your vagina, your cervix, your urethra.
For men, it’s there, urethra.
And in both sexes, it can be the mouth and throat, but it’s rare.
It’s a very, it’s a possibility.
It has happened, but it’s rare.

[04:05] [Ed] Much less common, yeah.

[04:07] [Unknown] Yes.

[04:08] [Ed] Where are the symptoms?

[04:09] [Phoebe] Oh, golly.
I’ll talk about the women, because I’m sure you don’t want to talk about that.

[04:14] [Ed] I love talking about women except for this.

[04:17] [Phoebe] As women, oh my goodness, we get the foul-smelling vaginal discharge.
The genital itching, painful urination, inflammation.
Lower abdominal pain, painful intercourse.
Symptoms that get worse during menstruation.

[04:36] [Ed] Yeah, so if you’ve, if you’ve ever been in a playroom or on the dance floor at a swinger event
and had a very strong fishy smell, kind of walk past you, it’s probably not BV.
We had actually thought it was BV, but doing the research for this episode,
we figured out it’s actually probably trick-and-beniasis.
Yeah.
The odor is, is kind of the giveaway for that.

[05:03] [Unknown] Right, right.

[05:06] [Phoebe] Although, oh my gosh, I don’t know, we have an update coming on BV.
And while it does still have an odor, it’s kind of hard to tell.
Honestly, it could go either way.
But because BV affects every woman, but not everyone gets the foul-smelling smell.
Right.
And you could have symptoms with BV that you don’t even know about.
Right.
You don’t have odor, you don’t have smell, you don’t have itching, you don’t have nothing, but you have it.

[05:40] [Ed] Yeah, asymptomatic is the worst because you’re transmitting it and sharing it with the community,
but you don’t even know you have it.

[05:49] [Phoebe] Right.
The key is you cannot transfer BV, but with trick-and-beniasis, you can, because it’s a bacteria.
Correct.
So there are ways and situations, and like I said, we’ll talk about this in the follow-up episode for BV.
There are ways and situations that you get into that will, how do you want to say, offset your body,
and you can get BV, right?
Let’s just go into it just a little bit.
I know I’m doing this.

[06:25] [Ed] You’re rabbit-hoaling.

[06:26] [Phoebe] I know I’m rabbit-hoaling.
You’re at an event.
You drank too much of them.
You normally would.
It’s going to throw off your pH.
You are using different lobes because there’s different people in the room and you’re using their loob.
That’s going to throw off your pH.
You used a condom that maybe you’re latex sensitive.
That’s going to throw off your pH.
The condom itself may throw off your pH.
It’s got spermicide and it’s going to throw off your pH.
You’ve been playing for two days.
You’ve been sitting in a hot tub for eight hours a day.
It’s going to throw all these things that you don’t normally do.
It’s going to freak your body out and then, yeah, you probably get BV.
It’s not the fact that you’re playing with someone else.
It’s the situation that you’re in.

[07:05] [Unknown] Right.
It’s situational.

[07:07] [Ed] It’s situational.

[07:08] [Phoebe] Yes.
Things you wouldn’t normally be doing.

[07:11] [Unknown] Sexually, that you don’t normally do.

[07:14] [Phoebe] It’s the situation.

[07:15] [Ed] It’s a clarify.
Trichomoniasis is a parasite and not a bacteria.
Oh, sorry.

[07:19] [Phoebe] Yes.

[07:20] [Ed] Parasite.
Yes.
The microorganism is still swimming around inside of you.
But parasites are not common in your normal flora and fauna.

[07:36] [Phoebe] Correct.

[07:37] [Ed] Correct.
But bacteria are, and the crazy thing with BV, not to dwell too much on it,
is it’s too much of the wrong kind of bacteria.

[07:47] [Phoebe] Yes.
There’s probably about four or five in your vagina that everyone, they all play together.
They’re all nice.
They’re all nice team mates.

[07:56] [Ed] Keep everything running.

[07:57] [Phoebe] Yes.
But when one of the teams gets out of order, that’s the problem.

[08:02] [Ed] They storm the field.
Yep.
And then all hell breaks loose.

[08:06] [Unknown] All right.

[08:07] [Phoebe] Back on track.

[08:08] [Unknown] Treatment.

[08:09] [Ed] Oh, we’re going to talk about men.

[08:10] [Phoebe] Oh, okay.

[08:11] [Ed] Sorry.
So gentlemen, if you’re, if your junk is itching, that’s never a good sign.
If it is irritated inside your penis, if you’ve got that, that once again, that burning sensation,

[08:24] [Unknown] if you will, while your, it says after your nation, but I can imagine is probably happening,

[08:31] [Ed] while you’re urinating as well, or ejaculation.
So even having an orgasm is going to burn or be irritating.
That’s not good.
And once again, everyone’s favorite discharge of the penis.

[08:45] [Phoebe] Okay.
Let’s move along.
I don’t, you don’t need to elaborate on that.

[08:49] [Ed] Is there a faucet leaking?

[08:51] [Phoebe] I hear a drought.
Oh, my goodness.
Rare cases of trachomoniasis can cause infections of the mouth and throat, just like we said earlier.
Yeah.
And the same thing with BB.
Rare.
Treatment.
Carried with medicine.
Seven to ten days.

[09:09] [Ed] So there’s an antiparasitic that you’re going to take.
And so it’s treated with antibiotics.
Oh, I get to do all the…

[09:17] [Phoebe] Tinnitus all.
I know these things because, you know, trauma…
Metronid.
Metronid is all, and a few others.

[09:27] [Ed] Be sure all partners are treated at the same time.
So if she’s got it, you’ve got it too, even if you’re asymptomatic and vice versa.
If he’s burning, you may be asymptomatic and so you treat everybody at the same time
and abstain from having sex with other partners.

[09:45] [Unknown] Yep.

[09:46] [Phoebe] And an untreated infection can last months or years.
So you have to do something about it.

[09:51] [Ed] Yeah.
They just keep growing and growing.

[09:55] [Phoebe] And just when you thought you were done…
Round two.
Card girl comes out into the ring.
Ding, ding, ding.
One and five people get infected again within three months of treatment.
So it’s good to get checked three months later or sooner to ensure the infection is gone.

[10:16] [Ed] So is this a reemergence?
Is this you didn’t get them all the first time?
Did they give us any clue?
Did the CDC help with this?

[10:27] [Phoebe] Oh, you know, I’m going to have to follow up on that.
I am not sure why they get reinfected.

[10:35] [Ed] Well, I guess that’s good news is you have something to look forward to in the future.

[10:40] [Unknown] After you get rid of it the first time.

[10:44] [Ed] The gift that keeps on.

[10:46] [Phoebe] It’s just pure evil.

[10:48] [Unknown] I mean, as we said before, infected individuals with those symptoms can pass it to others.

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[11:54] [Unknown] Yeah, you can get it soon after sex with the new partner.

[12:03] [Ed] Like if you can get it within four days, if you are maybe particularly susceptible.
There you go. You have a weekend of fun by Thursday.

[12:13] [Phoebe] How hell is that?
And what’s crappy too is that it increases the risk of getting other STIs, including cervical cancer.
Because it throws off your body’s natural ability to fend off infections.
It’s like your burn victim example, right?
What happens with a burn victim?

[12:35] [Ed] You’ve damaged the system.
Your body can’t fight off infections because it’s so busy trying to fight this infection off.

[12:43] [Phoebe] Yeah, and your skin’s gone.
Your outer layer is gone, which opens the door to other infections.
So you just eliminated some of your natural immunity, basically.

[12:56] [Ed] Yeah, so if you’re sick, your body isn’t equipped to fight off more infections, more issues.
And so you end up with more problems.
And with a cervical cancer, there’s a number of STIs that women get pretty regularly.
HPV is another one, which puts you at a higher risk for cervical cancer.
So your vaginal health, your sexual health is really important for a whole bunch of reasons.

[13:25] [Phoebe] Exactly.
And so, you know, the right thing to do is tell your partners that you have sex with,
that you have turkomanisis, and that they’ll need to be treated.
If you’ve tested for it and you know you have it, if you have the phone numbers of those individuals,
you’re still in communication.
You know, it’s smart to be able to tell them.
But it’s challenging because of that window, right?
Four to 28 days.

[13:53] [Ed] I mean, what was the last partner you had sex with?
Was it the one from four days ago, or was it the one from a month ago?

[14:01] [Phoebe] Right, you could have been to four parties, since especially during Halloween,
and Thanksgiving or Christmas or New Year’s, and then did it, did it, did it.

[14:08] [Ed] I don’t know what you’re talking about.
I didn’t know a whole bunch of people between those time periods.

[14:13] [Guest] You went on a cruise, you went.

[14:15] [Ed] Okay, maybe I did.

[14:17] [Guest] So good luck trying to contact all those individuals.

[14:21] [Ed] Right?
The random people in the party.
On the ship.
You barely got their first names.
If you even remember their screen names.
After.
And you’re going to find out from them later.
Right?
Yeah.
So it’s a thing.

[14:39] [Phoebe] And it’s a risk.

[14:40] [Unknown] And then, you know, even if you do want to do the right thing,

[14:44] [Phoebe] what if you don’t have many symptoms and you have it?
You can’t even do the right thing because you don’t know what you don’t know, right?
That’s why it’s such a frustrating STI.

[14:54] [Ed] Yeah.

[14:55] [Unknown] And.

[14:56] [Ed] Trick and a, trick and a nice is maybe the most important factor in contributing to BV.
And there’s a scientific study.
We’re going to attach it.
It’s going to be in the notes.
We’re going to have all kinds of cool, sciency things attached.
So if you want to read up more about it, if you’re suffering from this or.
You know, just want to know more so that you’re protected.

[15:16] [Unknown] Yeah.

[15:18] [Ed] Definitely read through the notes.

[15:19] [Phoebe] I got up close and personal with my OBGYN.
I just straight outside.
Hey, I’m a swinger.
Can you test for this, this, this and this because it could be these other things.
Because she knows I’m married and in a mon…
Well, thinks I’m in a monogamous relationship.

[15:32] [Ed] The assumption is.
The assumption is.

[15:34] [Phoebe] Until you tell them differently and then they go, oh.
Well, let’s test you for this, this, this, this and this.
Right?
So the more information that you give your healthcare provider, the more they can help you.
And honestly, of the three people that I’ve told, like OBGYNs, they don’t judge.
They don’t even blink.

[15:53] [Ed] They don’t even blink.

[15:54] [Phoebe] They’re trained to not.
Of course, I secretly hope that they are swingers themselves because.
Because why not?

[16:01] [Ed] Well, we’ve had some pretty cute.
I’ve had very cute doctors.
Man, nurse practitioners and stuff.
Yes.

[16:07] [Phoebe] I know.

[16:08] [Unknown] I wouldn’t be surprised.

[16:09] [Phoebe] Well, and we know that nurses.

[16:11] [Ed] And we all move nurses.

[16:13] [Phoebe] In the lifestyle.
So I’m like, what?

[16:15] [Unknown] Nurses and doctors.

[16:18] [Phoebe] All right, all right.
So, you know, emotional ramifications.
You’re going to have frustration, anxiety, fear, you have rejection.
You’re going to feel a little isolated.
You’re going to feel guilty or embarrassed.
Shame on feelings of filth or contamination.
It’s gross to have something change about your body.
You’re like, what the fuck is happening?
This is disgusting.
It’s not normal.
I don’t know what’s going on.
It’s fucking freaky.

[16:51] [Unknown] Well, and it puts a huge bend in your normal daily activities.

[16:58] [Ed] Because you’re on a new regiment of medicine.
You can’t have sex with your partner.
Right.

[17:04] [Phoebe] It impacts your quality of life with your love, your partner, your one and only.

[17:10] [Unknown] And the sensations like having a really crappy like yeast infection, like really bad.
Yeah.

[17:19] [Phoebe] I mean, I hate it when I get a paper cut because it impacts my life.
Right.
It it hurts me all day long.
I’m always bumping into it.
It stings with lemon juice and soap and hot sauce and all the other.
Like, can you imagine, right?
Yeah.
I don’t even like how that feels.
So the longer it takes to heal, the more your quality of life is impacted.
So that’s crappy.
I keep saying crappy, but it’s crappy.
And your mood and personality are compromised due to worry and fear of other serious complications.
Because sometimes you don’t always know what’s going on.
And then you have to call and make a doctor’s appointment.
It’s just all very…

[18:03] [Ed] 5MD and you’re ruling out.
It’s not a bubonic plague and it’s not Ebola.

[18:09] [Phoebe] Fresh eating disease and all the horrible things that you see.
Of course, they show you all the nasty photos up front.
Right.
So totally get it.
So, you know, just try.
Yes.
Try to not overstress, but…

[18:24] [Ed] There is hope to be honest with your healthcare provider.
Yes.
And get tested for these kinds of things.

[18:30] [Phoebe] All right.
So how are we supposed to prevent getting this if we want to go play in the lab still?
Like, what the fuck?
I mean, is this going to stop us now from just doing…
No.

[18:40] [Unknown] Sex with others?

[18:42] [Phoebe] Doing sex with others?
Having sex with others?
Having the sex.

[18:45] [Ed] Having the sex with others.
Having the sex.
Sexy time.

[18:50] [Phoebe] So what can I do?

[18:52] [Ed] Condoms do prevent STIs.
So if you’re playing Bearback, you’re at a much higher risk for contracting something
like trichomaniasis or any of the other things.
Yes.
So we can’t stress the importance of condoms or if you really want to go there, dental dams,
and as an alternative to male condoms, penile prophylactics, you can use female condoms.

[19:22] [Phoebe] Yeah.
And we’re going to provide a link to that.
I looked at those.
They’re kind of cool.

[19:26] [Ed] They’re different.
Interesting.
Yeah, they’re different.

[19:30] [Phoebe] They’re interesting.

[19:31] [Ed] It does put the woman kind of in control of what’s going on.

[19:35] [Phoebe] And it covers the entire vulva area.
So if you, you know, you really want to protect that area and that’s important to you,
I say go for it.
And then you can still swing and feel comfortable.
Right?
I don’t think anyone’s going to freak out.
It’s not like…

[19:53] [Unknown] I don’t know at all.

[19:54] [Ed] It’s just an having use them before.
It’s kind of an unusual sensation.
It’s more apparent that there’s a barrier than with a regular condom.
I see.
But I will say give them a try.
It’s always fun to try new things with sex.
So if you’ve never tried them, I say go out and buy some and give them a shot.
See what you see what you think.

[20:17] [Phoebe] I was going to order some, but the website I went to, there was this…
You had to fill out a form and it wasn’t just free.
It was like…
You couldn’t just like order them.
Like off of Amazon.

[20:31] [Ed] Did another source.

[20:32] [Phoebe] I need to because…

[20:34] [Unknown] Anyway.

[20:35] [Ed] Well, when you get them, I’ll try them out with you, honey.
Okay.
Just, you know, just for scientific purposes.

[20:41] [Unknown] Of course.

[20:43] [Phoebe] You can have some preventative measures by limiting your play to partners,
whom you feel you have a very genuine and honest relationship with,
that you can talk with them about their sexual health.
And you trust that maybe they don’t play too far outside their circle.
That will help alleviate some of the fears and stress and concerns with STIs.

[21:10] [Ed] Right.
Potentially people who are maybe less prolific with spreading the love,
or maybe prefer less random concerns with people.

[21:22] [Phoebe] And then, you know, the last thing is your nose is going to tell you everything.
If you smell an odor in the play room, just stop.
Don’t take the risk.
Even if you don’t know what it is.
It’s totally not worth it.
It smells funky.

[21:35] [Unknown] Just…

[21:36] [Phoebe] Leave.
You know?
So…

[21:41] [Ed] Yeah.
And the long and short of it, because it is fluid transferred,
even with a condom, it’s going to come up over…
I’ve worn condoms for a while.
And you get the juice all over.

[21:55] [Guest] Yeah.

[21:56] [Ed] So it’s not like the condoms really preventing anything other than your rethral contact.
But it’s definitely…
It’s all over your balls and the base of your shaft.
So…
Right.
The fluid is there.

[22:07] [Phoebe] Right.

[22:08] [Unknown] So if the female has it, then it’s going to get all over you.

[22:13] [Phoebe] And then if you don’t wash up well, then you’re just going to pass it to the next person,
even though you have a condom on.

[22:20] [Ed] And there you go, pollinating the flowers with the worst possible thing.

[22:24] [Phoebe] Yeah.
I know.
But…

[22:27] [Unknown] Some of the risks…

[22:30] [Phoebe] It is a risk, you know?
And these are kind of those calculated risks that you have to weigh when you’re getting into swinging.
Yeah.

[22:38] [Ed] And the big thing too, another thing we didn’t have it in our notes, but…
Wash between partners.

[22:45] [Phoebe] Uh-huh.

[22:46] [Ed] Definitely switch condoms.
Like if you’re not already changing condoms, you’re doing it wrong.
Yeah.

[22:50] [Phoebe] I will have you wash between partners, for sure.
Yeah.

[22:53] [Unknown] Because I’m sensitive to just a lot of…

[22:57] [Phoebe] My pH is very sensitive, and I’m sensitive to other bacterias.
And if I introduce too many random things at once, I do tend to get a flare up.

[23:05] [Unknown] So…

[23:06] [Phoebe] Yeah.

[23:07] [Ed] Take a water break.
Take a little bird bath for the balls.

[23:11] [Unknown] My goodness.

[23:14] [Phoebe] So, you know, we found a way to navigate around this in the lifestyle, and it’s worked.
If you…
Like I said, if you play with that closer knit circle, then you’ll most likely have a better communication
among the women who let you know if something’s off, and they can’t play.
If you’re in a play room, you don’t have that sensitive nose to detect it,
then rely on your partner or a swing or sister who has your back, or your pussy’s best interest.
This also may mean you cannot throw all caution to the wind, and you need to be a bit more aware of your surroundings.
Who has it, who’s hand touched what, and if the bed sheets are clean?
All in all, you can still have a good time.
You might just need a little strategy or direct communication from time to time.
Be sure to check out all of our links on this topic for further information.

[24:07] [Unknown] Thanks for listening.

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