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General health

_HPV ANYONE?!__

22 replies

Ammy12 · 05/12/2006 21:05

Hi everyone!!

I was diagnosed with HPV (a kind gift from a shit of a bloke) after a cone biopsy at 19. There have been lots of horror stories about it recently as its VERY BIG link (like 99.9% of cases) has been realised. Does anybody here live with HPV and does anyone have any thoughts on it as it fast becomes the biggest life threatening STD? Cheerful I know but it would be nice to know I'm not alone and also not the only person to want to admit it!!

Love Ammy xxxxxxx

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ClementClarkeMoore · 05/12/2006 21:15

I think you need to read up on it. It doesn't need to be disasterous. Huge numbers of women have at some time during their lives.

Your bloke is not necessarily a 'shit'

Ammy12 · 05/12/2006 21:21

erm.......I have!! I'm a nurse!! And I'll be the judge of wether he was a shit or not!! And he was. I'm just wondering about other people in the same boat. And it is disasterous if you have types 16,18,31 or 33 as the risk is more than 99% of getting cervical cancer but there is no way of testing which virus you have until you get cancer. The link has never been realised as being as serious as it is before now and that is a difficult thing for some people to live with. And sometimes its nice to hear from others that understand and feel the same.

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Monkeybar · 05/12/2006 21:23

It's very common and is the reason women have to go for smear tests, as long term infections with a few certain types of HPV can lead onto cervical cancers (but I'm talking YEARS here). Most infections go away as the body deals with them like it does any other infection. I had a biopsy at 25 and needed treatment on my cervix to remove pre cancerous cells and that was years ago and I'm fine.

Ammy12 · 05/12/2006 21:24

Oh and 50% of women have it at some point in their lives but the type that the immune system can usually fight is the one that causes visible warts- not the type that causes cancer. The uncertainty is the hard thing- I reguarly have abnormal smears and have to have loop diathermys and its hard to believe that I wish I had the virus that causes warts!! but I know the prospect is better if you do.

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Monkeybar · 05/12/2006 21:27

If you've had a biopsy, shouldn't it be possible to tell if there are pre cancerous changes to your cervix, which would indicate whether it was wart type or not? And if the damaged bits have been removed, shouldn't that solve the problem? (It did in my situation)

Ammy12 · 05/12/2006 21:30

Medical trials are still actually being on the whole issue. But something that was actually thought very common is not necessarily so. There are a 100 types of HPV. So yes, HPV is common but some types of it are not necessarily. Most are harmless, some are not. In fact 100% of cases of cervical cancer are shown to have high risk HPV. I find it amazing and very scary that people still think its common and harmless.

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Ammy12 · 05/12/2006 21:33

Changes in the cervix occur all the time. In my case I had a cone biopsy which showed HPV the depth of my cervix but I have been told by a gynae consultant I work with that the NHS testing is crude and does not always distinguish different types of virus. He predicted that the first time a person would know either way is by recieving a grade 3 smear.

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Monkeybar · 05/12/2006 21:35

But Ammy, if you've had a biopsy and treatment, then as long as you keep going for regular smears to check that all the damaged bit have gone, (which, being a nurse, I'm sure you will) surely you should be reassured that if anything else DOES develop, it'll be picked up early and further preventative measures can be taken?
BTW I said it was common, I didn't say it was always harmless!!

Monkeybar · 05/12/2006 21:37

Sorry crossed post. Surely as there are only a few types that are high risk, it is safe to say that if you had CIN3, you had at least one of those types, but the removal should have solved the problem. I had CIN2/3 and had treatment, had yearly smears for a few years after and am now back to the regular screening interval

Ammy12 · 05/12/2006 21:38

I always have regular smears. But not everybody does. I know many people who cringe at the thought!

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Monkeybar · 05/12/2006 21:39

I'm just trying to reassure you, and I'm sorry if I'm coming across as patronising, if you work with in gynae, you'll know this anyway!

NotQuiteCockney · 05/12/2006 21:39

I was exposed to a strain a very long time ago. I never got any warts. My (then) partner had very very slow-growing warts that were extremely hard to eradicate. He went through some real horrors to get rid of them. Another previous partner of his had them too.

I had a colposcopy (got to see my cervix on a tv screen!) ages ago, and they found nothing.

I still get a bit twitchy and have to check any suspicious bumps with white vinegar, but I don't worry that much.

ClementClarkeMoore · 05/12/2006 21:42

I'm on one of the trials I've had positive HPV tests for 7 consecutive years until the last one which was negative. I have had a colcoscopy also.

I'm not unduly worried, as MT says I get regular testing it's all I can do.

Sorry your bloke was a shit. If you have/had a lot of partners it could be any one of them, or yourself.

Ammy12 · 05/12/2006 21:42

The thing that I find amazing is that because HPV is a STD women rarely admit they have it. I do because I think I'm at an advantage knowing! But the silent HPV with no visible signs is the dangerous strain. And if women have abnormal changes and have a colposcopy, they are usually informed that HPV is present, but there are many women who never get to that stage. When you have treatment for an abnormal smear, it does not mean you won't have an abnormal smear again. I have had 2.

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ClementClarkeMoore · 05/12/2006 21:44

It is true that women aren't yet routinely testing for the virus and that should change.

Ammy12 · 05/12/2006 21:45

I havent had lots of partners. I have had 2, one of which gave me HPV. I know who it was because I was pregnant when I discovered I had it. Am with new partner now and marrying next year.

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Ammy12 · 05/12/2006 21:47

I honestly don't need reassurance! I was just curious if other women knowingly had it and how they feel about it.

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alibauble · 05/12/2006 21:49

No experience of HPV, but just curious as to how effective you think the new HPV vaccine will be in helping? The first young women/girls have started having it over here in the USA, our health insurance is going to offer it as standard for girls over a certain age.

Ammy12 · 05/12/2006 21:49

Routine screening for virus and virus type is the way to go. That would blow the whole thing out the water but can't see it happening, which is a shame cos it could prevent many deaths ultimately.

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Ammy12 · 05/12/2006 21:51

The vaccine will be fantastic but at the mo you can only get it privately. pants. Everything is done in retrospect with the NHS!

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alibauble · 05/12/2006 21:53

Great isn't it!!! Everyone's jumping on the bandwagon over here. I've got boys, but would certainly be taking any girls of mine for it that's for sure. Why does the NHS stall on these things. We have the means now to protect from something that can be life threatening, yet like other medicines it's viewed as too expensive. Preventative medicine is better surely.

Ammy12 · 05/12/2006 21:55

It is the most bizarre thing I've heard of. A vaccine for a disease that can be cancer causing and we have to pay through the nose while the nhs spends millions on cancer treatment. You couldn't make it up!

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