How to know if you have chlamydia?

how do you no if you've got clymadia and will you always have it if you've got it?

This is information from WebMD.com:

Chlamydia is one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases in the U.S. This infection is easily spread because it often causes no symptoms and may be unknowingly passed to sexual partners. In fact, about 75% of infections in women and 50% in men are without symptoms.

How Do I Know if I Have Chlamydia?
It is not easy to tell if you are infected with chlamydia since symptoms are not always apparent. But when they do occur, they are usually noticeable within 1-3 weeks of contact and can include the following:

Chlamydia Symptoms in Women

Abnormal vaginal discharge that may have an odor
Bleeding between periods
Painful periods
Abdominal pain with fever
Pain when having sex
Itching or burning in or around the vagina
Pain when urinating

Chlamydia Symptoms in Men

Small amounts of clear or cloudy discharge from the tip of the pen*s
Painful urination
Burning and itching around the opening of the pen*s
Pain and swelling around the testicles

How Is Chlamydia Treated?
If you have chlamydia, your doctor will prescribe oral antibiotics, usually azithromycin (Zithromax) or doxycycline. Your doctor will also recommend your partner(s) be treated as well to prevent reinfection and further spread of the disease.

With treatment, the infection should clear up in about a week or two. It is important to finish all of your antibiotics even if you feel better.

Women with severe infection may require hospitalization, intravenous antibiotics (medicine given through a vein), and pain medicine.

After taking antibiotics, people should be re-tested to be sure the infection is cured. This is particularly important if you are unsure that your partner(s) obtained treatment. Do not have sex until you are sure both you and your partner no longer have the disease.

you need to go to the doctor
if you have it and dont get it treated and will effect your fertility
and can make you infertile

Chlamydia is a common sexually transmitted disease (STD) caused by the bacterium, Chlamydia trachomatis, which can damage a woman's reproductive organs. Even though symptoms of chlamydia are usually mild or absent, serious complications that cause irreversible damage, including infertility, can occur 'silently' before a woman ever recognizes a problem. Chlamydia also can cause discharge from the pen*s of an infected man.

If untreated, chlamydial infections can progress to serious reproductive and other health problems with both short-term and long-term consequences. Like the disease itself, the damage that chlamydia causes is often 'silent.'

In women, untreated infection can spread into the uterus or fallopian tubes and cause pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). This happens in up to 40 percent of women with untreated chlamydia. PID can cause permanent damage to the fallopian tubes, uterus, and surrounding tissues. The damage can lead to chronic pelvic pain, infertility, and potentially fatal ectopic pregnancy (pregnancy outside the uterus). Women infected with chlamydia are up to five times more likely to become infected with HIV, if exposed.

To help prevent the serious consequences of chlamydia, screening at least annually for chlamydia is recommended for all sexually active women age 25 years and younger. An annual screening test also is recommended for older women with risk factors for chlamydia (a new sex partner or multiple sex partners). All pregnant women should have a screening test for chlamydia.

Complications among men are rare. Infection sometimes spreads to the epididymis (the tube that carries sperm from the testis), causing pain, fever, and, rarely, sterility.

Rarely, genital chlamydial infection can cause arthritis that can be accompanied by skin lesions and inflammation of the eye and urethra (Reiter's syndrome).