Best place/method for joint STD screening

I'm meeting a girl, and we're both looking to get tested to confirm that we're clean. We would meet within a short time of having test results confirmed.

What are the best options in Pittsburgh for testing? Among the criteria:

- fast results - obviously, waiting a month before getting an answer helps reduce the usefulness
- convenient - easy to schedule, find a place
- pricing - lower is better
- thorough - what does a typical screening look for? Anything in particular that it doesn't?

I figure this is the place to go for info. Not looking to go through my GP doc.

http://www.achd.net/std/clinic.html

Getting screen for hepatitis (all of the letters) is a really good idea if you’re sexually active.

I know it cost quite a bit of extra to get that blood work done but it’s worth it to me.

A second suggestion for where would be your local PP place. Planned Parenthood isn’t the cheapest option out there but it certainly thorough, and discreet.

Finally, although mutual testing sounds like a great idea, how do you know the partner isn’t having sex with someone else in the interim between testing and playing?

Plus, isn’t there an incubation period for many STDs and HIV? So do the 2 of you need to be tested one day, and then tested again a month (6 weeks) later after a month (or more) of complete celibacy?

Guess I’m not very trusting.

The ACHD STD clinic in Oakland is free for the basic tests (syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, HIV) and results take no more than a week. You must request the Hep C test if desired, and it costs $25. No appointment necessary, but hours are limited and depending on how busy they are, you might be in and out in a half hour (summertime when school's out) or you might have to wait there a while to be seen (winter when everyone's stuck indoors).

I think they can only test for the herp if you present with symptoms - not sure if they offer a blood test for that, but it can lay dormant for years anyway and most adults already have an HSV-1 infection (no way to tell if it's oral or genital via blood test).

I go to ACHD twice a year for a checkup. Totally free for the standard screening. They do preliminary tests on the spot to make sure that there are no immediate issues, and the 'final' results take a week. They will call you within a week if there's an issue. If you don't hear from them, you're clear (they also give you a number you can call to confirm if desired). Note that they're supposedly moving to a new facility in the Hill later this year.

Getting screen for hepatitis (all of the letters) is a really good idea if you’re sexually active.

I know it cost quite a bit of extra to get that blood work done but it’s worth it to me.

A second suggestion for where would be your local PP place. Planned Parenthood isn’t the cheapest option out there but it certainly thorough, and discreet.

Finally, although mutual testing sounds like a great idea, how do you know the partner isn’t having sex with someone else in the interim between testing and playing?

Plus, isn’t there an incubation period for many STDs and HIV? So do the 2 of you need to be tested one day, and then tested again a month (6 weeks) later after a month (or more) of complete celibacy?

Guess I’m not very trusting. Originally Posted by ElisabethWhispers

fact

do these med check places offer this?

So does ACHD give you any documentation that verifies that you're clean?

Or is it just 'no news is good news'?

Not on the spot, but you can return to the clinic the following week after the culture results come back and get a printed document if desired. You have to fill out their forms and wait in line to be seen again just to get your results, and they are very inflexible with this.

do these med check places offer this? Originally Posted by Looker151

I'm sure they do, but you likely won't get immediate results either. I had a 'panic' moment years ago and searched the internet for a quick check place. I found stdcheck.com. They charged me $250, I went to Quest to have the blood/urine test taken and I still had to wait a week for the results. It was more like 11 days because I went on a Friday! My point is, learn from my mistake and save some cash and frustration!
IMO, ACHD is the best place to go. The current location is not the nicest facility in the world, but the staff are awesome and the price is right. If there's even a hint of an immediate danger, they'll give you meds on the spot too.
BTW, you go in, register, get called into another waiting room to verify your info, wait to get examined, they ask you a bunch of questions (which I never feel bad about answering truthfully - they're non-judgmental), they take the samples, then you wait a little while for the preliminary results. They call you back in with the results and you're done. I've gone at different times and days and I've never been there for more than 90 minutes.

ACHD cannot test you for herpes. Herpes is not routinely done during STD testing and is THE MOST COMMON STD. Also, there are various tests for herpes. That depends on whether you present with symptoms or you just want to know if you have ever been exposed to it. In the first scenario, you must have lesions to be swabbed, the second scenario is blood test which does not tell if you have herpes 1 or 2 but rather says if you have ever been exposed to it with or without symptoms ever present. A third test is the Western Blot test, available only in the state of Washington unfortunately.

ACHD can only test you for the most basic common stuff mentioned already above.

Another thing to keep in mind is if you want to pay for it or get it free. ACHD basics are free.

If you want full STD check for free go to any fucking ER, they always look for volunteers to get tested, tell them you have no insurance and just want to get tested. I have done it many times. It always worked. Down at Mercy. I got tested for herpes at Mercy 4 times. Thank god all negative, including the blood one.

Lastly, people need to educate themselves on STD's before they freak out and read bullshit on the internet.

Common stuff like chlamydia, gonnorhea etc is easily passed around, however HIV is not that easily passed as many think. As a matter of fact statistics show that having an intercourse with someone HIV positive ONCE and SINGLE TIME, even if exposed to the virus, in small quantities is UNLIKELY TO LEAD TO INFECTION. This DOES NOT mean that it is impossible, it ONLY SUGGESTS that risk is relatively low. This DOES NOT mean that if you keep fucking the same person it won't happen. This ONLY pertains to A SINGLE TIME.

Just go to any ER and have them do it. Do not go to fucking places like QUEST. They charge $150 for a fucking simple herpes test. Not worth it.

If ER wants to know why, tell them you had unprotected sex and want to know your status. By law they CANNOT deny to run the tests.

They never have refused me testing and I have no insurance. They send me a bill, down the toilet it goes. Final result: I got tested and paid NOTHING. I also got the opportunity to yell at them and give them hard time. It was fun. Stick to your guns and you can get all the care free there. This is why those fucking overpaid morons are there. 95 per cent of people going there have NO EMERGENCY.

And we wonder why healthcare costs an arm and a leg?!

And we wonder why healthcare costs an arm and a leg?! Originally Posted by eyecu2

You don't have to wonder. Only a total fool cannot see why. The government and the unrealistic cost of everything in the US which in other words is called CAPITALISM.

There is your answer. A totally failed system , just like socialism just in a different way.

Even if only insured went to the ER, your healthcare wouldn't be any cheaper.

HEALTHCARE is a right, NOT COMMODITY or a service.

Thank God the sisters of the poor are out raising money to test you for dick drip. Throwing the bill away doesn't make it free, it just makes you a deadbeat.

Just go to any ER and have them do it. If ER wants to know why, tell them you had unprotected sex and want to know your status. By law they CANNOT deny to run the tests.

They never have refused me testing and I have no insurance. They send me a bill, down the toilet it goes. Final result: I got tested and paid NOTHING. I also got the opportunity to yell at them and give them hard time. It was fun. Stick to your guns and you can get all the care free there. This is why those fucking overpaid morons are there. 95 per cent of people going there have NO EMERGENCY. Originally Posted by tatasddd

So the guy who posts fake reviews here also scams and rips off Hospitals like a lowlife thief. Why does that not surprise me