Are you HPV positive and how do you feel about it?

[wobblywinelover]

Sorry i've seen a few HPV posts on here already but relating to different things. I'm pretty much celibate nowadays but had a positive HPV test via smear this year (no cell changes) but i'm feeling like some sort of leper. I know the virus is common but seriously it's put me off having sex for life now. I've never had an STD before. So because I (was) sexually active at some point i'm now at greater risk for getting cervical cancer? Not exactly encouraging news is it. I've no idea who I got it off but am viewing certain exes with extreme suspicion. Am I destined to lock myself away in a darkened room for the rest of my life staying away from men? (which is probably my best option right now) Why don't they go through this sort of stuff. Very anxiety inducing. Sorry shamelessly posting for traffic on here

If you already have HPV then what would be the benefit of locking yourself away?

@Amima

If you already have HPV then what would be the benefit of locking yourself away?

well so that I couldn't pass it on to anyone else! If I have sex with another man who goes on to have sex with another woman then she's got to have yearly smear tests and worry about herself then hasn't she. That's why. I don't want to put anyone else at risk

Oh seriously! Give you head a wobble and chill out! I have had HPV (wasn't in my latest smear). Millions and millions of people have it, some fight it off and some don't. Some get cell changes (me! Had minor surgery)

All fine, I moved on, got my smear every few years. I have bigger things to worry about that a poxy little virus

Thanks for your reply but honestly there's no need to say to me to 'give my head a wobble'.

Yes, I have it, and have had to have quite a lot of treatment for high grade cell changes as a result.
I think it's a massive overreaction on your behalf to feel like a leper tbh... This is so, so common and we shouldn't really be perpetuating these themes of shame around it. It hadn't occurred to me to feel shame or embarrassment about it before I read your OP.

I have HPV, or at least I have had in the past. I had a period where I needed 6 monthly smears due to cell changes, then it all went back to normal and I have smears as regular.

I have given it absolutely no brain space since I went back to having normal smears, and the only time I did think about it before then was because of the cancer risk.

Gently, I think this is a much bigger part of your life than it needs to be.

Okay so maybe the leper comment wasn't great but I do feel like a lesser person because of it. I don't want it and i'm not happy about it. I know it's supposed to be very common but in reality if you told a prospective partner you had it wouldn't it make you feel a bit worried about telling them? It's not the greatest thing to have to admit to? I personally have very difficult smear tests and to have to go through this every year now and then potentially putting someone else through it I feel a sense of personal responsibility about it.

It's not a big part of my life, I posted it because I saw another post about it. I don't think about it day to day and it's not controlling my life. I just wanted other people's thoughts on it

I had HPV a few years ago, only mild cervical changes so no further investigation was required at the time. I was then put onto a yearly recall smear, and by the following year I was HPV negative. A lot of people’s immune systems can fight it off. But even if yours doesn’t, it is such a common virus. The sexual equivalent of catching a cold.

I really wouldn’t give it any more thought at all, as long as you go to your smears

Thanks Batshit, finally a kind reply. Seriously what's wrong with some people on here. 'Give your head a wobble' isn't really what I was looking for lol. Why can't people be kind? I don't have the opportunity to talk to many women about it so i've posted on here. I don't need abuse lol

People are being kind to you, by telling you you're over-reacting and giving it far too much brain space. On the other hand, I don't know how kind (to yourself or to others) it is to perpetuate the idea that it's something to be ashamed of. You don't have to share info about your sexual health with anyone- tell a new partner that you'd prefer to use condoms. That's all.

The estimate is that 80% of sexually active adults have HPV at some point. You're massively overthinking it OP. I'm not even sure it's something people would think to share with a sexual partner tbh.

People aren't being kind to me by telling me to 'give my head a wobble' explaining things in a kind way is better. Thankyou for some of the kind replies. I feel bad for posting it now after being attacked. It was just something I was a bit anxious about. Please be aware that not everyone has the common knowledge about this sort of stuff. Would some of you talk to your daughters this way if they had it? I'm grateful for the kind replies but some of you need to be a bit kinder with the way you word things. This site is brutal at times. No need!

I really didn't want it because I would have felt exactly as you do OP. I got the vaccine for it privately as soon as it was possible to do so. It can lead to increased risks of all sorts in men and women so I totally get where you're coming from but as long as you are honest with your partner and do what you can to minimise spread then you're doing your best!

I came on this to say that I’ve had it. Resulted in yearly colposcopy and smears. And punch biopsies. Not cool.

But I was told that it’s super common and we can have it without knowing. It’s just bad timing that at the time I had it it was smear time.