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Abortion - sex after abortion

Expert: Pat G - 10/30/2009

Question
QUESTION: I had an abortion saturday the 24th october,today is the 28th which is fours days after and my boyfriend and i had sex today,is it likely that i will get an infection even if they gave me a dose of antibiotics,which was just two pills after my abortion?if i will get an infection what will be my first signs?

ANSWER: Hello, kellyann,

If you are still bleeding, an infection is entirely possible. Your uterus is open to the outside world and raw. In order to do an abortion, they scrape away everything, and they have to cut away the placenta. So this provides a direct link to your bloodstream. And not every type of infection can be prevented with antibiotics. Viruses, for example, cannot be prevented. HIV is a virus, for example. There are many nasty STDs that can be transmitted. If your boyfriend has ever slept with anyone else, you are definitely at risk. If you don't want to have another abortion, or a pregnancy you're not prepared for, you should avoid having sex. No method of "protection" really works (though a person may be lucky a few times). Any kind of penetration in any opening of your body can lead to infection or other nasty diseases, such as cancer. It's simply not in your best interest, and if your boyfriend doesn't care enough about you to protect you from his transmitting a disease to you, I'd sure look for someone else.

You may not be bleeding, but your uterus may still be open to the outside world. The cervix may be open.

As for what the first signs would be, it entirely depends on what kind of infection. I'll give you some examples. HIV will not even register for about six months. At that time, a simple test will show that a person is positive. Some STDs show up as herpes lesions, for example, but these happen erratically. They never go away entirely; a person is affected for life in most cases. Some STDs won't show up until a woman tries to get pregnant and finds out she is unable to conceive. Pelvic inflammatory disease is an example of that. Sometimes a woman will develop fever, weakness, sleepiness, and this sort of thing. Sometimes there is pain in the area of the uterus. There's simply no way to categorize the symptoms.

Also, if your uterus was damaged during the abortion (perforated), you could end up with E. coli from the intestines in your uterus, for example. You don't even have to have sex, but because sex causes internal movement in organs, it could be a factor.

You really deserve better. You should never have had to have an abortion in the first place. Abortion is dangerous and can kill you. Please don't take these kinds of chances with your life. Let me know how you do. Stay safe!

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I am not bleeding,and i didnt bleed during the sex,also both my boyfriend and i had out std test done two months ago and all our test were negative,we are in a committed relationship and i hope he is being truthful to me,i believe he is......anyway my other question is,Do you think i will still get another infection other than stds and should i take antibiotics again as a precaution,since i was only given a dose of 2 pills right after the abortion?Thank you so much for all your help and advice i truely appreciate and will take better care next time,God bless you.....

ANSWER: Hi, kellyann,

Thank you for the very kind rating!

I trust that the tests they ran were thorough. It should also be mentioned that even when a person appears to be free of certain infections, there are plenty of others. Also, a woman can get pelvic inflammatory disease just from having an abortion. There are any number of organisms that cause PID. I've had family members who have PID, and they only had sex with the person they married, and likewise, their husbands. There are a lot of micro-organisms that can cause this type of problem. Another really common form of infection is Chlamydia, which is a more specific disease. Sometimes a woman can get chlamydia in her cervix, and usually this would be found with a Pap smear. Again, this is something a woman who has been faithful to a faithful husband, both virgins when they married, can contract. There are just lots of organisms out there, and they have their place. In some cases, the body SHOULD have some of these organisms elsewhere, but not in the uterus. The problem with taking antibiotics is that to begin with, they only work for bacteria, and there are viruses and fungus, and any number of other agents that can cause infection. The second problem is that taking antibiotics isn't good for you, because it indiscriminately kills good bacteria as well. You normally have a colony of good bacteria in your stomach and intestines, and if you kill that off, it can cause serious problems. I don't even know if you can get an antibiotic without a prescription in Canada, but generally speaking, you can't in the States.

Having an abortion certainly did open you up to infections in the uterus. And once you had the abortion, sex would provide a source of infection. But taking antibiotics is not the answer.

I do have a couple of suggestions. First, you can take a heavy dose of Vitamin D3 for ten days. I have found a form called No Shot, from Superior Source. It's little lactose pills with D3 in them. I have a 5000 IU dose. I take ten of them a day (I have a longstanding infection that is fairly serious, that I'm treating). In Canada, you don't get nearly enough sunlight to cause your skin to form sufficient Vitamin D. Vitamin D fights all kinds of infections, and has been shown to be helpful to avoid breast cancer, and other things you wouldn't suspect. Superior Source has a web site: http://www.cvc4health.com/ If I were in your position, I'd probably take 50,000 IU for ten days, and then follow up with a maintenance dose for awhile, possibly a very long time. Another thing I might do is take colloidal silver for ten days. You can get a number of different brands. It is good against viruses. Antibiotics won't touch viruses. Along with this, I occasionally drink a few swallows of Kombucha. This is the best pro-biotic I have found; it's very powerful. It has to be kept refrigerated. I don't know if you can get that in Canada, either, but I can get it readily. You may have heard of pro-biotics. The advantage of getting a dose of pro-biotics is that it will overwhelm bad bacteria and put them back in their place. Finally, please be aware that eating foods with sugar in them can compromise your immune system. The best way to boost your immune system, then, is to stay away from these foods, which includes things like molasses, and the natural forms of sugar (there is an exception or two, but I haven't paid any attention, because I don't want to eat them, either). Also, don't replace sugar with artificial sweeteners, because they have some serious problems as well. But sugar immediately lowers your immunity for awhile. If you want something with sweet flavor, good sources of sweetening are Stevia, Xylitol, and Agave nectar. There are good recipes for "sweets" with these ingredients. If you do these things, most likely you won't have a problem as a result of your abortion, but in the off chance that you will, you will just have to watch for symptoms. Any kind of abnormality should be investigated. But at best, taking an antibiotic will only help with one particular type of infection, but not touch anything else, and at worst, will do grave damage to your good bacteria, which will give your bad bacteria a boost in the long run. You can also develop resistant strains of bacteria by taking antibiotics gratuitously. There are always a few bacteria in any population that are resistant, but killing off the ones that aren't will give the others a chance to establish themselves.

Do some research on the internet about how to build your immune system. Go to the sites of natural healing. You will learn a great deal that will be really useful.

You have said you are in a committed relationship, so I'd like to comment on that. While you two may be faithful to each other, and have agreed in so many words to be faithful, it's not the same thing as getting married. The difference is that when you get married, it's a public act, and that means the world knows that you are in a committed relationship. The result of this is that people will help you two to stay faithful to each other. Just wearing a wedding ring can make a difference on whether or not people approach you for a casual relationship. People have said that the piece of paper you get from the government doesn't mean much. In some ways, I agree. It does provide a couple with access to things like inheritance laws, which will assure that the spouse will get the estate and not the government, in case of death, and that the children likewise will get the estate. So there are benefits from getting that certificate. An alternative, which won't provide those benefits, but still provide the community support which is so helpful, is to have a common law marriage. A common law marriage doesn't involved the government. In some jurisdictions, the government doesn't recognize a common law marriage. But here's how this is done. The two of you get together with family and friends, and publicly declare that you are married to each other, and then have a celebration. So I would seriously consider these alternatives. Talk to your boyfriend about wanting to make your commitment public.

Good luck to you. Feel free to come back any time and let me know how you are doing, or if you have more questions or concerns. You're welcome, and God bless you, too.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: First i must thank you for all your suggestions,you have been so helpful,am so happy i can talk with you,you are truly amazing.If i take the vitamin D and drink some probiotics as you said,then you think i might be ok?am still little bit worried especially because am returning to my country in December,am from St Vincent so am going there to be with my parents for a while and am worried if something go wrong since they don't know about my abortion,i am praying it all works out for me.....thanks again,have a blessed night.

Answer
Hi, kellyann,

Thank you so much for the kind rating and appreciation. I'd recommend you also do 10 days of colloidal silver, because it addresses different pathogens.

The main thing is that usually it's unwise to get an abortion to conceal a pregnancy from your parents, because if you do have a complication, they'll find out anyway. However, it would appear that there haven't been any immediate complications, so you may be all right. However, it is very important that when you do become pregnant again, you tell your doctor. He will need to make sure that if you develop any complications from your prior abortion, he can deal with them. The most important problems to watch for are miscarriage or extremely premature birth (which can lead to birth defects, such as cerebral palsy, epilepsy, or autism), or problems at the time of birth, such as placenta previa or prolonged labor. The treatment for the tendency for miscarriage and prematurity is for the doctor to fasten the cervix shut until time for birth. This problem is caused by the cervix being damaged during the time it is forced open to do an abortion. Also, if this was your first pregnancy, be especially vigilant for breast cancer. It can hit while you are still young. Mammograms are not a good idea; there are other tests that are much more accurate. Vitamin D can also help prevent this, and for that reason, a maintenance dose would be a good idea.

I hope and pray for the best for you. You're welcome.

Also, be sure and be alert for possible emotional repercussions, and if you have any, get some counseling. Please take care, and you also have a blessed night.

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