HPV info?

Fortunate Son1

Hi all

Someone very close to me has found out they have HPV and are freaking out about it. I've tried to calm my friend down but they are stressing very bad over it. Could someone with medical background or who also has it please give me some info on it (what are the long term effects, relation to hiv, and other viruses, etc.) From my understanding it is not very serious but, help would be very appreciated because my friend is the sweetest person in the world and I hate to see them sad....thanks!

Rygar

It usually isn't very serious, and rarely ever in men, but if your friend is femme she should be continually checked out because it can cause cervical cancer.

small town beck

I understand them freaking out but my understanding is that it is pretty common... something like 80% of women??? That seems high though. You can get it from pretty much any kind of skin to skin contact so even if you only have one partner etc... the only serious part is that she NEEDS to have a PAP every YEAR!!! to monitor ANY change. Cervical cancer is very preventable if caught in the early stages. If any serious changes from her test she may need to go every six months instead of once a year. I think there are plenty of sites out there though with info.

Fortunate Son1

Thanks Rygar!.....my friend is female and she is more concerned abot relation to other things such as hiv....she was given a clean bill and was tested at the end of july.....she is just worried that her tests in the summer came back ok but then why did she get this now

Fortunate Son1

Thanks small town!

GreenTeaDisease

Fortunate Son1 wrote:

Hi all

Someone very close to me has found out they have HPV and are freaking out about it. I've tried to calm my friend down but they are stressing very bad over it. Could someone with medical background or who also has it please give me some info on it (what are the long term effects, relation to hiv, and other viruses, etc.) From my understanding it is not very serious but, help would be very appreciated because my friend is the sweetest person in the world and I hate to see them sad....thanks!

almost 75% of the population has HPV. If the doctor has told her this, they have also probably told her to schedule a cervical colopscopy or biopsy as a precaution. it happens ALL the time. I just had to have one a few months ago. It COULD be serious, but it is not something to freak out about just yet. I was pretty nervous too, but it's very, very common.

Rygar

GreenTeaDisease wrote:

almost 75% of the population has HPV. If the doctor has told her this, they have also probably told her to schedule a cervical colopscopy or biopsy as a precaution. it happens ALL the time. I just had to have one a few months ago. It COULD be serious, but it is not something to freak out about just yet. I was pretty nervous too, but it's very, very common.

I don't think they go for a coloscopy or biopsy unless the pap reveals something abnormal?
I know someone who had to have pre-cancerous cells removed. Fun stuff it would seem.

Fortunate Son1

Thanks Green Tea! Like I said she is most worried about connection to hiv...from my understanding there is none, but she is worried sick about it...her test in the summe came back negative and she waited long enough to take it, but she questions it now that the hpv came up.

GreenTeaDisease

Rygar wrote:

I don't think they go for a coloscopy or biopsy unless the pap reveals something abnormal?
I know someone who had to have pre-cancerous cells removed. Fun stuff it would seem.

well, yes, but if you have any type of HPV, my understanding is that the pap will be abnormal.

fortunate son- I see, she got an STD test or something. in that case, she should go get a pap and full gyn exam. the gyn will tell her all the details. I have never heard of a connection to HIV other than the obvious that people who have one STD are probably more likely to have another. But HPV is EVERYWHERE, and from what I understand, condoms don't protect against it.

My biopsy was on cells that are harder to get to than the usual...it was sooooo painful and I bled for a long time afterward. Luckily though I did not have precancerous cells and my pap was probably just abnormal because I had had my period right before it or had had sex or something. it is a crappy experience, that is for sure, but again, very common.

Fortunate Son1

GreenTeaDisease wrote:

well, yes, but if you have any type of HPV, my understanding is that the pap will be abnormal.

fortunate son- I see, she got an STD test or something. in that case, she should go get a pap and full gyn exam. the gyn will tell her all the details. I have never heard of a connection to HIV other than the obvious that people who have one STD are probably more likely to have another. But HPV is EVERYWHERE, and from what I understand, condoms don't protect against it.

My biopsy was on cells that are harder to get to than the usual...it was sooooo painful and I bled for a long time afterward. Luckily though I did not have precancerous cells and my pap was probably just abnormal because I had had my period right before it or had had sex or something. it is a crappy experience, that is for sure, but again, very common.

Thanks again Green Tea .....yeah she did have a full range of std tests in the summer and they all came back ok....I keep telling her she's worried for nothing , but to be honest I was a little worried about it too....hearing your experiences and that of others makes it better....I'm aware of how common it is, but its different hearing from experienced people....ok all I have to get back to work now but I'll check back on lunch....thanks all for the help!!!

dontloseyourheat

GreenTeaDisease wrote:

.

My biopsy was on cells that are harder to get to than the usual...it was sooooo painful and I bled for a long time afterward. Luckily though I did not have precancerous cells and my pap was probably just abnormal because I had had my period right before it or had had sex or something. it is a crappy experience, that is for sure, but again, very common.

I just want to note that this almost made me vomit.

Danimal

dontloseyourheat wrote:

I just want to note that this almost made me vomit.

Wow! You have a weak stomach huh?

Rygar

GreenTeaDisease wrote:

well, yes, but if you have any type of HPV, my understanding is that the pap will be abnormal.

My bad. I'll trust you on that one, seeing as I'm behind on my paps.

small town beck

My understanding is that you can have normal paps even with HPV


and Rygar catch up on your paps will ya???

Rygar

small town beck wrote:

My understanding is that you can have normal paps even with HPV


and Rygar catch up on your paps will ya???

I'll call the doc right now :P

How's Calhairy treating you?

small town beck

Rygar wrote:

I'll call the doc right now :P

How's Calhairy treating you?

Good stuff Make sure you scoot down ALL the way :rolleyes:

Oh you know.. just sitting at my desk on the 18th floor eating lunch.. Today it smelled like someone shat their pants on the bus and for some reason people like to fall asleep beside ME on the bus ride... but other than that ok.. oh and I just found out that the crime scene I saw on my way to work the first day was indeed a murder outside the Cecil Hotel(which is the local posh place for the homeless to hang out and smoke their crack.. LOL). I mean you just don't have this kind of action on PEI!! LOL

It has been good though and my Oilers vindicated themselves on Saturday night!!! I got to go to a Flames game and sit in the Bell box.. went hiking and it was FAB!!! But so far so good. I am hoping to make a trip to either BC or Seattle and see some of the west


*Sorry to hijack this thread and I don't mean to take away from the seriousness of it*

Fortunate Son1

No worries small town.....my friend has spoken to a nurse at her doctor's office, and feels better about the situation....thanks for your help all!

small town beck

Fortunate Son1 wrote:

No worries small town.....my friend has spoken to a nurse at her doctor's office, and feels better about the situation....thanks for your help all!

Thanks

Glad to hear she is feeling better.

Ahnimus

I haven't read the other posts, here is what I know.

HPV is very common, up to 80% of population have it.

There are upwards of 100 strains of the virus.

4 strains cause the majority of cervical cancer in women

1 strain causes 90% of genital warts

Gardasil vaccine protects against those 4 strains

Most people never have symptoms

Men cannot be vaccinated and are not at risk of cancer (might change as knowledge grows).

Treatment of Genital warts involves either nitrogen therapy or Aldaira cream

Nothing can protect you 100% from contracting HPV, but condoms and vaccine help.

Your life isn't over, it might be the most common and least scarey STI out there, but it is permanent. To avoid the embarassment of dating with HPV, one might try postivesingles.com or stdmatch.net or something of that sort.

If you are a woman, get checked regularly for cell abnormalities and follow your doctor's directions.

Peace.

DOSW

"My friend"

Riiiiiiiiight.

Fortunate Son1

Thanks Ahnimus, very helpful info, I'll pass it along!

DOSW, yes it is a friend...I'd have no problem saying its me if it was.