People are very funny about sexually transmitted diseases. Despite our society's increased openness about sexuality in general, STDs are still a huge taboo: people find it embarrassing to admit that they've even been tested (even though it's a mature decision to make) let alone if they ever had treatment for a disease. As such, people are always going to great pains to avoid making an appointment for an STD test. They increasingly do internet research to find out symptoms and try and figure out what's wrong with a self diagnosis, even though this really isn't the sort of thing that you should second guess - untreated STDs can lead to infertility, brain damage, heart disease, birth defects and in some cases death. And of course, they can also be spread onto others, giving them the risks as well. If you are in any doubt about your health, or think you have been taking risks, then you should really get an STD test. So although I'm going to outline some of the symptoms that sufferers might see, this is not a substitute to a proper test for two reasons. 1) Many of the symptoms of STDs can be easily confused with those of similar conditions 2) In a good proportion of cases, those with STDs will exhibit no symptoms at all! But with those caveats out of the way, here are the symptoms you might see if you have picked up a sexually transmitted disease: