Treatment
Non-gonococcal urethritis (NGU) is usually treated with a short course of antibiotics to kill the bacteria that caused the infection.
The healthcare professionals at the genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinic or sexual health clinic will arrange your treatment.
If your urethritis is caused by gonorrhoea, this may be treated differently.
Antibiotics
Treatment with antibiotics may be started before you receive your test results. Most people with NGU are prescribed antibiotic tablets or capsules.
This may be:
- azithromycin – taken just once as a single dose
- doxycycline – taken twice a day for seven days
You won't usually need to return to the clinic as long as you've:
- taken your treatment
- made sure that any recent partners have been treated
- not had any sex until a week after everyone has been treated
It may sometimes take two or three weeks for your symptoms to disappear completely.
You shouldn't have sex, including vaginal, anal and oral sex, until:
- you've finished your course of doxycycline, or it's been seven days since you took azithromycin
- you have no symptoms
- your partner or partners have also been treated
Side effects
Antibiotics may cause some side effects, such as:
- feeling sick
- vomiting
- diarrhoea
Informing partners
It's possible to pass on NGU during sex, so it's wise to treat all cases of NGU as an STI and ensure all recent partners have been treated.
You also shouldn't have any kind of sex until you're certain the condition has cleared up.
It's suggested that you inform any person you've had sex with in the last three months, but this timeframe can vary. The healthcare professionals at the GUM clinic can advise you.
Some people can feel angry, upset or embarrassed about discussing STIs with their current partner or previous partners.
However, don't be afraid to discuss your concerns with the healthcare professionals at the GUM or sexual health clinic. They can advise you about who to contact and the best way to contact them.
With your permission, the clinic can arrange for a "contact slip" to be given to your former partner or partners.
The slip explains that they may have been exposed to an STI and advises them to have a check-up. It doesn't have your name on it, and your details will remain totally confidential.
Nobody can force you to tell any of your partners about your STI, but it's strongly recommended that you do. Without treatment, STIs such as chlamydia can have serious effects on a person's health, particularly for women.
Complications of untreated chlamydia include:
- infection of the testicles in men
- infection of the neck of the womb (cervix) in women
- pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) – this can increase the risk of infertility and ectopic pregnancy
Treatment failure
If the symptoms of non-gonococcal urethritis (NGU) don't get better two weeks after you start to take antibiotics, you should return to the GUM clinic or sexual health clinic.
You'll be asked if you took the medication correctly and whether anyone with untreated NGU could have passed the infection back to you.
You may need further tests to confirm your diagnosis and check for any sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
In some cases, you may be given a new prescription for some different antibiotics to treat the NGU.
Page last reviewed: Mon Jan 2020 Next review due: Wed Feb 2020
