Dear Doc: Did my cheating husband infect me?

Q Doctor, should I forgive my husband for his infidelities? And in your medical opinion, is there any chance that he has brought some kind of VD into our previously happy home?

We were very happily married until a few years ago, when we started to have little fusses. Mostly, they were about silly things. But once, he got very angry when he caught me having a quick kiss with another man at a dance. It meant nothing to me, but he seemed to take it very seriously.

Soon after that, I began to find evidence that he was fooling around with other women. For instance, after he had been out in the evening, there were stains on his trousers.

And last week, I overheard him laughing on the phone as he told a pal of his that he had been with a 'friend' in Back Road. So what must I do, Doc? I have continued to have sex with him, but now I am fearful that he may have given me some venereal germ.

A Sorry to hear about all this. It seems clear that things started to go wrong a few years ago when the two of you started having fusses about minor things and when he caught you kissing another man. Maybe it was that event that made him think it was OK for him to fool around with other women.

From what you say, he has probably been 'playing the field' recently. And his remark about 'seeing a friend in Back Road' does suggest that he may possibly have been with a prostitute - though that is far from certain. Summing all that up, there has to be a chance that he has picked up a sexually transmitted infection (STI). And if so, he would have given it to you.

Therefore, my advice to you is to get a check-up from your doctor. After that, you should urge your husband to go to marital counselling with you. Some intensive work is going to be needed if this marriage is to be saved.

Q I am a 27-year-old man, and I have been engaged to a beautiful girl for three months. We have sex regularly, and with her it is the best I have ever enjoyed. But last week, I found that I had a curious little bump on my organ. I consulted my doctor yesterday and he diagnosed it as a genital wart. He is giving me treatment.

Well, I looked up genital warts on the Internet, I found that they are caused from having sex with somebody who has a virus. I was a bit shocked by that, Doc! Does it mean that my lovely fiancée, who I adore so much, has been unfaithful to me?

A Genital warts are indeed caused from a virus which is transmitted by sexual contact. But what you have not realised is that there is a very long 'incubation period' before the wart appears. What this means is that you could have caught the virus many months back, or even years ago, from some other girl.

Admittedly, you could just possibly have caught it from your fiancée. But I think that is most unlikely, since you have only been going with her for about three months. That isn't really long enough for the wart virus to have come from her. What is concerning me is this, you have probably now given the virus to your poor girlfriend. So she should have a check-up from an experienced doctor, to see if she is developing any genital warts.

However, please rest assured that your 'lady love' is totally blameless in all this. I am sure she has not cheated on you.

Q Doctor, I get very muddled about my pack of contraceptive pills. My problem is that I often forget one. Does this matter?

A Yes, it does. If you forget pills, then you may end up pregnant. This is particularly likely if you omit to take a pill towards the end of a packet. First of all, I think you should follow the example of many women and decide to take each tablet at a fixed time of day. For instance, you could take it:

When you have your breakfast, or

When you take a mid-morning break, or

When you sit down to your evening meal, or

When you clean your teeth before you go to bed.

Also, it is possible to set reminders on smartphones so that they beep when you are due to take your pill.

If you do forget to take a tablet, then the really important thing is to not to stop taking the pill. As soon as you remember, you should take the missed tablet. If you don't remember until the following morning, that would mean that you end up taking two pills for the day, but that's OK. Further details about what to do if you miss a pill can be found on the leaflet which is inside your pack of tablets.

Q My fiancé cheated on me last night with another woman. He claims that it was 'not his fault', because he says that some friend had slipped a Viagra pill into his drink at a party.

He states that the Viagra had the effect of making him so horny that he had to have sex. So he claims that he could not help doing it with some girl he met at the party. Unfortunately for him, a friend of mine saw the two of them coming out of a bedroom - and told me.

Should I believe his excuse, Doc?

A No. It is absolute nonsense. There is no way that Viagra could make a man feel so uncontrollably horny that he had to have intercourse with whichever woman happened to be around. All that Viagra does is to help a man get a good erection. It does not have any effect on the mind, nor does it turn the man into some kind of uncontrollable sex machine.

So your fiance's excuse is a very lame one. Do you think that you should continue being engaged to this duplicitous man?

Q Recently, I have felt that something has been kind of 'blocking' the way when I have sex with my husband. I went to my doctor, and she said I have a 'prolapse'. But what is that?

A That is very common. A prolapse is a sort of sagging of the womb and vaginal walls. It happens mainly because of childbirth. Giving birth tends to weaken the supports of the womb. Many years later, this may lead to everything 'collapsing'. Sometimes, it is possible to correct it with pelvic exercises. Also, it's possible for a 'gyno' to place a firm 'strut' into the vagina to hold the womb up. But it sounds like you may have to take an operation. If so, I assure you all will be well.