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I was just diagnosed as being positive for HPV and will have a culposcopy in a few days. I've done some research and have read that once you have HPV that it will never go away. But I asked the nurse at my doctor's office and she said that in some cases, the HPV will just go away and your body will recover on its own. If that's the case, how often does that occur? What are my chances that my HPV will just eventually go away?
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Hi Anonymous,
December 10, 2010 - 7:41amHPV van lead to throat and mouth cancers, so it is especially important to keep up appointments with your doctor so if you were too get a flare up of cell dysplasia it can be taken care of quickly. Your doctor can work with you to develop a good monitoring plan for that. If as explained in the link (below), it is important to use condoms if you are not in a monogamous relationship, and make sure your partner is tested, and knows you have HPV. HPV shouldn't change your ability to get pregnant and have children (I can tell you this first hand, I had HPV years ago and am now a mother). For more information please review the information contained on this website: HPV Information
Good luck and let us know how you're doing.
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Thanks Christine for the information. I also wanted to know if there is no other choice but infect my future partner in the case we want to have children.It seems unfair to me. Related to the throat, mouth cancer...what kind of test should I ask for? I have no idea. I'm glad to hear you are a mother now. That gives me hope...did you have highr risk as well? When you said you HAD, i assume you mean it's dormant, right?
December 10, 2010 - 7:15pmThanks again
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Hi Anonymous,
December 13, 2010 - 1:29pmYour partner can be tested also. It is likely he may already have it, as HPV is the most common STI there is. If you call your doctor or at your next appointment, tell them that you are concerned about throat and mouth cancer based on having HPV. They will tell you all you need to know, and if you have more question, don't be afraid to ask them or to come back here and post again.
In my own personal health, I have not had an abnormal pap smear since delivering my children. It's been more than 5 years since I've had to deal with my HPV. To the best of my knowledge, having HPV doesn't impose any greater risk in pregnancy than not having it.
Warmest regards,
-Christine
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i have a queston i have the low and high risk and im 21 year old i wanna know when those it go away
December 1, 2010 - 11:54amThis Comment
Hi Anonymous,
December 2, 2010 - 9:32amThanks for your question and for finding EmpowHER. HPV is a virus that even after it "goes away", it stays dormant in your system. So it never fully goes away. You need to keep visiting with your doctor regularly to get your PAP smears, and testing so you can make sure to get rid of any abnormal cells if they develop. For more information, please review this information about HPV, and feel free to click the links to the left of the page to see information about low-and high-risk HPV types: About HPV
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Thanks Alison! I just read your comment. I am still confused but I am hoping and praying that I am not contagious, once they say that you cleared this, it is really your only concern, but some people say that although you cleared it you are still contagious and it may still come back later. I almost seems as if no one really knows what's going on with this disease. There are so many different and contradictory informations on that subject, it's very confusing.
November 25, 2010 - 9:38pmI was diagnosed with the type of HPV that could potentially lead to Cancer(which is why I had the colposcopy done) which I believe is what they call High risk and I believe they call the one that causes the warts low risk. Yes, my doctor didn't tell me I had HPV until I called her to ask her a week later, at first, she just said that I had LSIL, which I had no clue what it was since I never had a abnormal pap before. I would love to also test for oral HPV, I need to find out where I can do that.
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From what I have red and and understood once you clear HPV, most likely you wont pass it. I believe they don't really have the answer to this and are still trying to figure out.
November 25, 2010 - 12:04pmThis Comment
I was diagnose with high risk HPV about a year and nine months ago. First, I wish the doctors were more informative.
November 25, 2010 - 11:56amAfter my pap, the gynecologist, called me and said that I had LSIL, and needed a colposcopy. She said that this was nothing and it was not Cancer. I then had an appointment with a specialist to get my colposcopy. He explain to me what LSIL was, and said that it was usually caused by HPV. I then asked, do I have HPV? He told me... well did you not get your test results, I am pretty sure you do. I was silent. He then said... this is nothing, I see this everyday.
No one even told me what strain I had, as of today I still don't know and I am planning on calling the hospital to find out. No one told me that it might possibly go away. I called the ginecologist and she confirmed that I had HPV.
I was terrified about the fact that I had caught something that could potentially give me Cancer.
Since no one really explained to me how this disease works, I started reading online and got even more scared and depressed. I am 38 years old, I read stuff on line saying that it goes away or it never goes away or it stays dormant but you are still contagious, or most women under 30 clear it most of the time, the other ones... not enough case to confirm it. Then I read that you can usually clear low risk HPV, but not high risk HPV. Then all this people concern about oral sex potential lung or mouth Cancer, I mean it was too much.
I lost my health insurance so, although I was suppose to check with the doctor 4 to 6 months later I didn't for about a year and a half. Which made me even more concern.
I finally went to the free clinic about a month ago. Told them about my history, the doctor then proceed to the pap and at the end said everything looks normal but they will do all the test and if everything is fine I wont hear from them, if not they will call me. I didn't hear from them but still wanted confirmation so I went to pick up my test results... the paper said "the HPV DNA reflex criteria were not met with this specimen result therefore, no HPV testing was performed". I asked the nurse she said that HPV was negative and it went away.
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That is great news...most likely, it means that the HPV strain you had was a low-risk strain, and our bodies do "clear" HPV on its own.
Think of it as the flu or cold virus: we always have the virus in our bodies, but our immune systems work so that the virus is not replicating itself to cause symptoms or to be contagious. This is how low-risk HPV works, too. I'm sorry your doctor did not tell you more about your test results, leading you to needlessly worry (and yes, there are forms of HPV that can cause cancer, but I would have to believe your doctor would have told you about this type of HPV).
November 25, 2010 - 2:54pmThis Comment
The FDA is currently going to be holding hearings to determine if they will increase the age limit from 26 to 45 for women which would be a great thing. Hopefully they will make this decision before year's end.
November 9, 2010 - 8:13pmThey are also determining whether to include prevention against anal dysplasia AIN and anal cancer in with the others of cervical dysplasia, CIN, vaginal VaIN and vulvar VIN which are already indications for prevention with the current vaccine. 80% of anal cancers are caused by HPV 16 and 18 and although studies have only been done with MSM, men who have sex with men, physiologically this should make no difference and should be just as effective for women.
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