|
First of all, go out and buy some condoms, they aren't that expensive and they solve SO many problems; hell, if there's a branch of planned parenthood near you you might even be able to get some for free (I'm associated with the Planned Parenthood group here and we hand the things out all over campus for free). As for the test, the easiest and cheapest way is to go give blood; it won't catch everything, but they're fairly thorough as far as screening blood, and if they find anything they'll call you. Seeing your doctor (or some of the people at planned parenthood) is probably the best way to get information though, and I'm sure they can do more complete tests.
Keep in mind that most STD's aren't visible, especially the really nasty ones (that can take years to show symptoms), and even things like genital worts don't exhibit any signs in the majority of people carrying the virus (HPV or genital worts are actually extremely common, I've heard as high as 30% of the population carries the virus). As far as the crazy stories, I've never heard of anything like that, but then I've only had blood tests done (which I have done before each partner and require them to have done as well, it's a good practice to get in to).
__________________
"Whenever you find that you are on the side of the majority, it is time to reform."
-- Mark Twain
|